This Folk Archive is a collection of folk art ranging from relics from festivals and celebrations across Britain to works from the present day. It's described as being at 'the seam between art and anthropology'
The compilation of works are not likely to often be described as 'contemporary popular art from the UK' however this is exactly how the authors/organisers describe these works.
Deller, in an interview said "the driving force for folk archive is the everyday creativity that we see all around us in the UK, there is a section on politics which inevitably touches on civil unrest and disobedience but that is only a part of a much larger show."
in the start of the book, it's prefaced with "‘For those interested in an anthropological approach, we must apologise for the rather too knowing misuse of the phrase “archive” and an artistic casualness with details. For all involved in the folk or vernacular cultural scenes we must similarly apologise for the cheap “folk” shot and a fly-by-night plundering of whole worlds."
This suggests it's not as much of a formal archive as the name suggests.
The art featured is what the authors felt had a different spin on traditional British objects, such as a tea cosy thought in an interesting way.
The Guardian says: "Folk art is hard to define, and the show seems to lend itself to blurring boundaries. Some of the work is by untrained artists, some by the art-school educated and some created by unknown fingers in the grime on the back of white vans. Cakes have equal footing with trade union banners and decorative brickwork has parity with an artist's photographs."
This means that everything is equal, which is very different to today's view of art; painting is generally more prestigious and well thought of that photography; perhaps because photography is so easy to get into these days with smart phones and cheap cameras, whereas with painting it's less saturated in the world we live in and our day to day lives.
This work intertwines the old and the new, and the weird and the everyday.
In some aspects, this is the same theme as what i aim for my photos to be like; I want to combine today with the history of my location, and bring awareness of the British history surrounding the place.
The compilation of works are not likely to often be described as 'contemporary popular art from the UK' however this is exactly how the authors/organisers describe these works.
Deller, in an interview said "the driving force for folk archive is the everyday creativity that we see all around us in the UK, there is a section on politics which inevitably touches on civil unrest and disobedience but that is only a part of a much larger show."
in the start of the book, it's prefaced with "‘For those interested in an anthropological approach, we must apologise for the rather too knowing misuse of the phrase “archive” and an artistic casualness with details. For all involved in the folk or vernacular cultural scenes we must similarly apologise for the cheap “folk” shot and a fly-by-night plundering of whole worlds."
This suggests it's not as much of a formal archive as the name suggests.
The art featured is what the authors felt had a different spin on traditional British objects, such as a tea cosy thought in an interesting way.
The Guardian says: "Folk art is hard to define, and the show seems to lend itself to blurring boundaries. Some of the work is by untrained artists, some by the art-school educated and some created by unknown fingers in the grime on the back of white vans. Cakes have equal footing with trade union banners and decorative brickwork has parity with an artist's photographs."
This means that everything is equal, which is very different to today's view of art; painting is generally more prestigious and well thought of that photography; perhaps because photography is so easy to get into these days with smart phones and cheap cameras, whereas with painting it's less saturated in the world we live in and our day to day lives.
This work intertwines the old and the new, and the weird and the everyday.
In some aspects, this is the same theme as what i aim for my photos to be like; I want to combine today with the history of my location, and bring awareness of the British history surrounding the place.
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