Auction of The Plinth by The Times
26 June 2006
This auction is not just of the empty plinth, but includes a documentation of this phenomenal event, with correspondence and representative pages from the worldwide Media coverage.
Together these have become a new work, entitled Another Day Closer to Paradise.
It is intended as a celebration of the huge reaction, which is in part laughter described by the missing head, part recognition of how so many aspects of the sculpture and the event came together and made it perfect but more importantly an expression of the fascination people have with the visual arts.
The vast coverage of the story and the consequent discussion visible in the papers and on the Internet reveals widespread confusion and concern about the state of the arts and also a willingness to question why it is like it is.
I hope that the publicity of the auction will serve to keep this discussion going.
Throughout the whole event I've made a point of saying that in no way do I blame or feel vindictive towards the Royal Academy or the Summer Exhibition staff or the selectors, that I have huge respect for the undertaking, that I am very concerned about the degree of awkwardness and embarrassment they have suffered, and while I would have thought it simpler to just remedy the mistake when it was reported to them and declare it accurately as an error in handling instead of saying it was submitted as two separate entries and not their fault and that they preferred to stick with their version of my work, this is not the slightest bit important compared with the totally unexpected global response.
A condition of this auction is that I donate 50% to charity. At first I thought I would choose the Royal Academy itself hoping to demonstrate that we are both on the same stage, that even through our mistakes we are involved in a cultural performance about the state of the world.
However, I have now chosen a medical cancer support charity for personal reasons.
It's been said that the art world is a stage on which our strengths and weaknesses, our love of life and our blind-spots are explored. Artists allow themselves to become representatives of the culture, to act out the condition of our civilisation though their education, ability, powers of observation, wit and sense of responsibility, accepting that these may result in cultural mistakes as well as triumphs, because from that point of view the vital interests and the invisible influences in our society become visible.
This chance event of the plinth being mistaken for a sculpture indicates a blind-spot that needs to be remedied if the arts are to move on.
I see this as an opportunity for many people to explore how art works in creating the quality of the place where we live, to become more aware of how Art both reflects Society and affects Society.