The K Foundation Burn a Million Quid was an action on August 23, 1994 in which the K Foundation (art duo consisting of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty) burned cash in the amount of one million pounds sterling in a used boat shed at Ardfin Estate on the Jurassic island of Scotland. The money represents most of the K Foundation fund, which Drummond and Cauty earned as The KLF, one of the most successful pop groups in Britain in the early 1990s.
Incineration was recorded on the Hi-8 video camera by K Foundation collaborator Gimpo. In August 1995, the movie - Watch the Burn Foundation a Million Quid - a tour around the UK, with Drummond and Cauty inviting every audience to argue about the burning and its meaning. In November 1995, the duo promised to dissolve the K Foundation and refrain from public discussion about the 23 years of arson, but Drummond spoke of arson in 2000 and 2004. Initially, he was not converted, but in 2004 he admitted to the BBC that he is sorry to burn money.
Collaborator Chris Brook edited and compiled a book, K Foundation Burn A Million Quid, published by Ellipsis Books in 1997. Compiled stills from movies, events accounts and audience reactions. One picture in this book shows a house brick made from fire ash.
Video K Foundation Burn a Million Quid
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Like The KLF, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty were the world's best-selling singles act for 1991. They also enjoyed great success with their album The White Room and number one hit single - "Doctorin 'the Tardis' - as The Timelords In May 1992, KLF staged a show that heated up at the BRIT Awards, and retired from the music industry not long afterwards in an enigmatic way.
According to their own records, neither Drummond nor Cauty save any money they make as The KLF; it's all plowed back into their fancy production. Cauty told an Australian writer Big Issue in 2003 that all the money they earned as The KLF was spent, and the royalties they collected after retirement amounted to about a million pounds:
I think we make about Ã,  £ 6 million. We pay almost half of the taxes and spend the rest for production costs. When we quit, production costs also stopped, so over the next few months we collected cash surpluses that still came from record sales; this amounts to about Ã,  £ 1.8 million. After taxes, we went with about  £ 1 million. This is money which then becomes the Foundation fund of K for 'the progress of creation.'
Initially, KLF's earnings will be distributed through funds for struggling artists run by K Foundation, Drummond and the new post-KLF art project, but, Drummond says, "We recognize that struggling artists have to fight, that's the whole point." Instead, they decided to create art with money. Nailed on the Wall is the first artwork produced by the Foundation, and the main part of the planned art exhibition, Money: The Majority of Cash . Consisting of one million pounds of cash nailed to a pine frame, the piece was presented to the press on November 23, 1993 during the buildup for the Foundation's announcement of the "winners" of their "worst artist of the year award", Foundation K award art.
Maps K Foundation Burn a Million Quid
Decision and burning
During the first half of 1994, the K Foundation attempted to draw the gallery in the staging of Money: A Major Body of Cash, but even old friends Jayne Casey, director of the Liverpool Festival Trust, could not persuade the main gallery to participate. " 'Tate, in Liverpool, wants to be part of the 21st Century Festival that I follow,' Casey said.'I suggested they hold a K Foundation exhibit at first they push, but they look nervous about the personality involved. 'A brief fax of the... gallery curator, tells Casey that the K Foundation money show has been done earlier and more interestingly,' making Drummond and Cauty obligated to pursue other options. The duo is considering taking exhibitions across the former Soviet Union by train and to the United States, but no insurance company will touch the project. An exhibition at Kilmainham Prison in Dublin was then considered, but shortly after August date was set for it from the duo change their mind again. "Jimmy said," Why do not we burn it? "Drummond remembered." He said it in a light way, I guess, hoping I'd say, 'No, we can not do that, let's do this...' But it seems like the strongest thing to do. "Cauty:" We just sat in the cafe talking about what we would spend on the money and then we decided it would be better if we burned it. That was about six weeks before we did it. It's too long, a bit of a nightmare. "
The journey of deciding to burn money to decide how to burn money to really burn is a long buck. Jim Reid, a freelance journalist and the only independent witness to arson, reported various schemes that K. Foundation considered. The first was to offer Nailed To The Wall to the Tate Gallery as "K-Foundation Heritage 1995 to the Nation ". The requirement is that the gallery must agree to display the work for at least 10 years. If they refuse, the money will be burned. The second idea was to hire Bankside Power Station, "the future site of the Tate Gallery extension and the impressive building downstream of the South Bank", as a bonfire place. In KLF's guerrilla communications style, the posters will appear on August 15th with the legendary 'The 1995 K Foundation of Testament for the Nation', under which there will be a picture of Nailed To The Wall on the horses and two flames fire. the thrower lying on the floor. On the 24th of August a new poster will rise, exactly the same as the first except that this time his work will burn. "
The K Foundation's final solution to their "one million pound" issue is somewhat less showbiz, but dramatically however, the Foundation has decided that making a public spectacle of the event will reduce its impact. On August 22, Reid, Drummond, Cauty, and Gimpo landed at Islay Airport at the Inner Hebrides and boarded the ferry to Jura Island, which was formerly the site of a rattan-burning man ritual by The KLF. Early in the morning of August 23, 1994, in a boathouse abandoned in Jura, Drummond and Cauty burned the money. Burning was witnessed by Reid, who later wrote an article about the action for The Observer , and was filmed on the Hi-8 video camera by Gimpo collaborators. When the burning started, Reid said he felt guilty and shocked. This feeling, he said, quickly turned into boredom.
The money took over an hour to burn when Drummond and Cauty put £ 50 worth of money into the fire. According to Drummond, only about $ 900,000 of the money was actually burned, with the rest flying straight up the chimney. Two days later, according to Reid, Jimmy Cauty destroyed all the films and photos of burning evidence. Ten months later, Gimpo reveals to them that he secretly keeps a copy of it.
Movies
Watch K Foundation Burn a Million Quid starts with a brief description of the show, and then consists of Drummond and Cauty throwing Ã, Â £ 50 notes to the fire. Burning the whole amount takes about 67 minutes. NME writes:
At first, Cauty was restless and said he did not think his money would burn up because it was too wet. The camera shows 20 thick bundles of Ã,  £ 50 notes, each bundle containing Ã,  £ 50,000 in new bank notes and sealed in plastic. When the money is on, Drummond starts laughing as he and Cauty stand on a small fireplace that throws  £ 50 worth of money over the fire. Cauty constantly lighting the flames with a large wooden board and at one stage burns his hands with a burning tone. As the fire began to dim, he ran around the floor sweeping the stray note into the fire. The cameraman shows the view from outside the building with a scorched record of £ 50 coming out of the chimney.
In November 1995, the BBC aired the documentary edition of Omnibus about The K Foundation titled A Foundation Course in Art . Among the recordings of the broadcast is a scene from Watch K Foundation Burn a Million Quid . Thomas Sutcliffe, reviewing the program at The Independent , writes:
The Omnibus film about this charming couple is in part a rearguard action in their ongoing battle for recognition (and victory - for some, however art is what appears in the Omnibus). It is also a modern fairy tale of what an artist is - will the artist say so, or do you need gallery validation? "You can not just decide you're going to be an artist," said one gallery owner, who made you wonder how else the call could operate. Lottery system? Election secret-ballot?
For my (though little) money, the video recording the exhausting sacrifice is a very interesting job - somewhat more provocative than some of the contemporary works I've seen. For established galleries, the media used (video, bank notes, fire) is clearly embarrassing, but if material poverty does not disqualify artwork (bricks or lard fat, say) why sacrifice material?
Tour playback
The first public screening of Watch the K Foundation Burn a Million Quid in Jura on August 23, 1995 - exactly one year after burning. "We feel we have to face them and answer their questions," said one of the duo. Two weeks later an advertisement appeared on The Guardian , announcing a movie world tour over the next 12 months at "relevant locations". The second screening was at the music industry convention In The City on 5 September in Manchester. After the movie was played, Drummond and Cauty held a question and answer session with the theme "Is It Rock'n'Roll?". A week later, the couple traveled as guests of the alternative B92 radio station to Belgrade, where a post-screening discussion entitled "Is it a crime against humanity?" Unauthorized screening at the BBC Television Center is limited and Drummond and Cauty are escorted from the building.
On the weekend of November 3, 1995, the film was screened at several locations in Glasgow, including in football matches involving Celtic and Rangers; the planned checks in Barlinnie prison were canceled after the Scottish Prison Service withdrew the permit. Glasgow's artistic community is widely welcomed by screenings. More public screening at Glasgow Green on 5 November was announced by various newspapers, but no record shows ever happened. Foundation K disappeared from Glasgow; they then issued a statement that on 5 November 1995 they had signed a "contract" at Cape Wrath in northern Scotland agreeing to end the K Foundation and not talking about burning money for 23 years.
Despite the reported moratorium K Foundation, a further national film screening organized by Chris Brook took place as planned. On each of the screenings, Drummond and Cauty announced that they would not answer questions after the movie; instead, they will ask questions to the audience. The screenings are held in Bradford, Hull, Liverpool, Cheltenham Ladies College, Eton College, Bristol, Aberystwyth, Glastonbury Tor and Brick Lane, London.
Brick Lane filtering - on December 8, 1995 - was previewed on NME , and was busy chaotic. Originally planned to park the car, but frost and snow conditions forced rethinking and playback was moved into the room, to the basement of the nearby Seven Stars pub. Hundreds of people jostled to watch the screening of the film, which was eventually abandoned in part because of its narrow conditions. The NME Preview has claimed that after the movie's playback will be cut and the individual frames sold to the public. Gimpo, the owner of the film, did not intend to do so, but after the screening was almost overwhelmed by a mob who wanted to take home a piece of film.
Gimpo continues to feature films at shows such as literary festivals and underground movie nights for years since the initial tour. On August 23, 2007, after a screening in Berlin, Germany, the DVD disappeared briefly. A few hours later, the film was released on several BitTorrent trackers.
Burn as theme
Ritualistic burning has become a recurring aspect of the work of Drummond and Cauty. In 1987, the duo discarded a copy of their debut copyright infringement album - The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu's 1987 (What Happened a Fuck?) - by burning them on a Swedish field. The show is portrayed on the back arm of their second album, Who Killed The JAMs? , and is celebrated in the song "Burn the Bastards". During the summer solstice of 1991, they burned a 60-foot (18 m) rattan man. It is recorded in the film KLF The Rites of Mu .
Because the K Foundation, Drummond and Cauty threatened to burn K-Foundation's prize money awards (Gimpo fumbled with matches and lighter fluids when, at the last minute, Rachel Whiteread accepted the prize). In the seventh K Foundation press ad they asked, "What are you going to do with a million pounds?
Reactions and analysis
Jim Reid's work appeared on The Observer on September 25, 1994. This is "one of the strangest stories of the year," he reminded readers. "It's strange that almost everyone who comes in this magazine will have trouble believing a single word, weird because every last point and coma of what is to come is the truth." "It took about two hours for the money to burn out," he added. "I see it up close, it's real It comes from a bona fide security firm and is not exchanged anytime on our journey More importantly, perhaps, after working with the K Foundation, I know they can do this."
The Daily Express contained the story on October 1, 1994. They reported that a scorch note of £ 50 was discovered by islanders, who have no doubt burning has actually occurred. Drummond and Cauty were seen eating at a hotel bar in the Jura before leaving with two suitcases, the newspaper reported.
The Times followed by an essentially the same story on October 4, 1994, adding that the burning "[has] made many people on the island confused, disbelieving and angry". Ã, Â £ 1,500 has been handed over by local fisherman to Islay police: "Sergeant Lachlan Maclean checks money with both banks on Islay and with Customs and Excise, which pronounces it original." I called Drummond in London and told him the money had been found. I asked if it was hers. He said he would contact his partner, Mr. Cauty. So far he has not called back ' ".
The media returned to the story seriously in October and November 1995, previewing and then reviewing the Foundation Course In Art , and reporting on the K Foundation tour launch. Watch K Foundation Burn a Million Quid .
An October 1995 feature quoted by Kevin Hull, the BBC documentary maker responsible for Omnibus items, said he had found "children a bit depressed, and almost in a state of shock". "Everyday I wake up and I think 'Oh my God, I've burned a million quid and everyone thinks it's wrong ' ", Cauty told him.
A piece in The Times on November 5, 1995, to coincide with a screening in Glasgow, reported that the K Foundation had no compelling reason to burn money or views on what, if any, actions were represented, but concluded "The K Foundation may not change much or be challenged, but they certainly provoke thousands of people to question and analyze the power of money and responsibilities of those who have it and what can be more artistic than that? In the same edition, witness K Foundation art awards, Robert Sandall, wrote that the Foundation's award, the art of a million pounds and burning all "entertaining, and quite sharply satiric", but "the art world has chosen not to think. as art].... The general view remains that the preoccupation of the K Foundation with money, though undoubtedly sincere, is not at all genuine. Although they do not spend all their life savings along the way, other artists, especially Yves Klein and Chris Burden, has been here before. "
The Guardian reviewer TV skeptic. "Snag is, K people always deal with myths and spread confusion, so nobody believes they're really burning money, and if they do, they're going crazy."
Reactions later
In subsequent years, combustion is mentioned regularly in the media, with Drummond and Cauty often being relegated to the cultural status of "those who burn a million quid".
An article in February 2000 in The Observer newspaper reiterated that the duo had actually burned a million pounds. "It's not an action, they're really doing it.If you want to upset Bill Drummond, you call him a hoaxer.'I know it's real, 'an old friend and a colleague of his group KLF told me," Because after that, Jimmy and Bill look so tormented and haunted. And frankly, they've never really been the same since ' ".
The 2004 listeners' poll by BBC Radio 6 Music saw The KLF/K Foundation come second after The Who on the list of "excess stones".
Former Drummond protagonist Julian Cope was not impressed, claiming that Drummond still owed him. "He burned a million pounds that he did not own, and some of them were mine.people had to pay off their creditors before they pulled such ingenious intellectual acts."
Legacy
On September 17, 1997, a new movie,
this Brick , premiered. The film consists of a three-minute shot of a brick made from the ashes of burned money in the Jura. It was featured in the Barbican Center before Drummond and Cauty's appearance as 2K.
On September 27, 1997, K Foundation Burn A Million Quid (ISBNÃ, 0-9541656-5-9, ISBNÃ, 1-899858-37-7 paperback) was published. The book, by Chris Brook and Gimpo, contains a still image of the film and its transcriptions of Question and Answer sessions from the tour. It also includes the timeline of K Foundation activities and the galena essay including one from Alan Moore. Ellipsis publishers promoted the book with an advertisement that mimics the K Foundation model - "Why does the Ellipsis publish the Burn Foundation A Million Quid?" they asked.
Initially, Drummond did not repent, told The Observer in 2000 that he could not imagine feeling sorry unless his son was sick and that only "expensive clinics" could cure him. In 2004, however, he admitted to the BBC the difficulty explaining his decision. "It's difficult to explain to your children and it can not be easier." I wish I could explain why I did it so people would understand. "
Notes and references
External links
- Watch K Foundation Burn a Million Quid on IMDb
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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