David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :

'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)

(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.
(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.


06 September 2009

free pencil movement : CARTRAIN v HIRST

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"On top of Cartrain's arrest, his father, aged 49, was also arrested on suspicion of harbouring the pencils although he was subsequently released."

Here's the full report by Chris Irvine at the Telegraph (UK) :

Last year Cartrain was ordered by the Design and Artists Copyright Society to hand over collages based on Hirst's famous diamond-encrusted skull, For the Love of God, and pay the £200 in profits he made.

In an act of revenge, Cartrain visited Hirst's installation Pharmacy in July, which was being shown as part of Tate Britain's Classified exhibition until it closed last month, and removed a few of the rare "Faber Castell dated 1990 Mongol 482 Series" pencils.

Cartrain then made a mock "wanted" posted that read: "For the safe return of Damien Hirst's pencilers I would like my artworks back that DACS and Hirst took off me in November. It's not a large demand... Hirst has until the end of this month to resolve this or on 31 of July the pencils will be sharpened. He has been warned."

But the stunt backfired when the antiques squad from the Metropolitan Police arrested the artist, informing him the pencils were worth £500,000 as part of the overall installation which was valued at £10 million.

Cartrain is now on bail until September 11, and if convicted, the incident will be one of the highest value modern art thefts in Britain.

"I went to the Tate Britain and by chance had a golden opportunity to borrow a packet of pencils from the Pharmacy exhibit," Cartrain told The Independent.

"The same day (sic) I made up a fake police appeal poster advertising that the pencils had been removed from the Tate and that if anyone had any information they should contact the police on the phone number advertised.

"A few weeks later I went out and I returned home to find out the art and antiques squad from New Scotland Yard had called round with a warrant for my arrest."

On top of Cartrain's arrest, his father, aged 49, was also arrested on suspicion of harbouring the pencils although he was subsequently released.

A spokesman from the Tate Gallery said: "On Saturday 4 July 2009, a member of the public removed a box of pencils from the desk in Damien Hirst's installation Pharmacy. The matter is being investigated by the police."

Below, the 'police' poster outside the Tate Britain.



The poster advertised as a limited edition print at 1ooArtworks, above which it now states : We are sorry to say... For legal reasons this print is on longer available.



Also from the 100 Artworks site :

All posters are signed with one of hirst's pencils.
Signed and numbered by the artist.
Limited edition of 40
Size 21x29 cm approx.

The artwork comes with an official Cartrain cardboard mount just like the artist's street pieces. The mount is stenciled on one side and is not glued to the artwork.


detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something . . .

LOGOS/HA HA

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