Responses to the rising sense of political crisis through the 1970s provided a potent arena in which to address the role of art in society. Artists associated with听conceptual art听began engaging with issues of representation, labour and gender 鈥 often to polemical ends. Two themes were prominent; opposition to the anti-union legislation and rising unemployment under the Conservative government of Edward Heath, and at the same time the growing awareness of the need to advance the rights of women in the workplace. This repurposing of conceptual art was in some ways a return to original principles seeking a close re-engagement with the wider听world.
惭补谤测听碍别濒濒测
Antepartum听1973
Film, 8 mm transferred to DVD, black and white, no sound
90 second loop
Courtesy the artist and Pippy听Houldsworth
Antepartum is a single close-up shot that records the artist stroking her abdomen, at full term, as the unborn baby moves. In 1978, writing about the film Sarah Kent听noted:
First of all it is an assertion of female creativity and intelligence; secondly an analysis of the process of socialisation by which, she believes, women are taught to regard themselves as intrinsically second rate; and thirdly a fusion of the 鈥渇eminine鈥 role of motherhood and the 鈥渕asculine鈥 one of making art.听听
Kelly was among a group of artists in London who were influenced by the experimental film movement, and notions of real time and duration are central to Antepartum鈥檚 repetitive gesture. The film was a prologue to Kelly鈥檚 iconic听Post-Partum Document.
颁辞苍谤补诲听础迟办颈苍蝉辞苍
Industrial Relations Bill听1971
Film, 16mm transferred to DVD, colour, no sound
3 minutes
Courtesy the听artist
Conrad Atkinson made this film in response to the Conservative government鈥檚 Industrial Relations Bill of 1970 (the Act of 1971), which restricted trade unions rights and led to strikes by dock workers and听miners.听
Atkinson鈥檚 film is symbolic and enigmatic, and sees the artist walking across different landscapes and holding different signs that reproduce the surrounding environment. On other occasions Atkinson used film to document specific industrial disputes, such as that at Brannan Thermometers factory in Cleator听Moor.听
The film was included in the exhibition Art Spectrum London held at the Great Hall of Alexandra Palace in August听1971.听
顿补谤肠测听尝补苍驳别
Social Consideration, Communication and Observation听1971
A woman putting out her washing in London
Film, 8mm transferred to video, colour, no sound
3听minutes
A Documentation of Bradford Working Life, UK 1974
First Situation. 2nd Study: The Grinding听
The Second Situation. 2nd Study: Traditional Combing
The Third Situation. 1st Study: The Verson Press
Fourth Situation. 1st Study: Study of a Packer
Film, 16mm, video, sound, black and white
32听minutes
Waitara Freezing Works, Taranaki听1974
Boning Calves
Video, black and white, sound
10听minutes
Cantavieja, Study of Work in a Spanish Village,听Spain 1975
Scything Wheat
Video, black and white, sound
7听minutes
All works courtesy of Darcy Lange Estate and Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New听Zealand.
Darcy Lange鈥檚 singular body of work brought issues from conceptual art to film and video, but stood outside of the increasingly closed spheres defined by emerging theories of video art and structural/materialist film. Lange鈥檚 projects reflected on feedback, process and the constituent elements of installation听practice.听
Lange鈥檚 systematic studies of working life reflected his fascination with British class and power structures. For example, his studies of work in Bradford鈥檚 factories became performance analysis; they searched the monotony of the work. Lange鈥檚 critical practice was based on duration, the interrelationship of media听and a desire to effect social change. In this respect, Lange sought 鈥榯o prevent what I make from becoming an end in itself 鈥 not dissimilar to the loved art听object鈥.