This publication was produced to mark
The Rock & Roll Public Library exhibition
TION EXHIBITION PRODUC
in Venice 2015
Alteria Art
TO SPECIAL THANKS
MEDIA PARTNER
James Putnam ׀Lauren Jones
VE:News
Simon Jobson ׀Matthieu Pigasse Enrico Ladisa ׀Luca Berta
William Alderwick ׀Tom Bright
PHOTO CREDITS
Raoul Shah ׀Russell Bestley
All R&R Public Library images:
Leo Williams ׀Jane Ashley
© Peter Stevens
Donald Smith ׀Chris Salewicz
Gordon McHarg III ׀Crispin Chetwynd Ade Sabini
Other images: p10 © Karsten Bott
SUPPORTED BY
p12 © Justin Piperger / Kate MacGarry p37 (bottom right) © Pennie Smith
Dr. Martens with additional backing from Les Inrockputibles
Hard Rock Cafe (Venice)
© Leo Williams
p38 © Gerald Jenkins
p41 © Johnnie Shand Kydd
DESIGNED BY
London College of Fashion, UAL
Charlie Behrens
printed & bound by Anglia Print Ltd
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The Rock n’ Roll Public Library exhibition under The Westway, 2009
CU R
S AY S E S ’ ATO R
I first saw The Rock and Roll Public Library in 2009 when it was exhibited in a vacant office unit under the Westway by Portobello Road. Although I’m a fan of the Clash’s music, it was the eclectic
nature of Mick Jones’ collection and the general experience of
attending the show that I found inspiring. Having a personal in-
terest in the notion of the artist as collector and the presentation of a collection as an art form led to the idea of showing
this version of The Rock and Roll Public Library at the 56th Venice Biennale. Therefore I feel it is important to provide some background to illustrate how this remarkable collection fits into
the wider context of contemporary art. Collecting and archiving
have been an intriguing feature of art practice since the begin-
ning of the 20th century when artists began to incorporate the
found object (objet trouvé) into their work. By the 1960s some
artists of the Pop art and Fluxus movements presented assemblages and installations of objects they had collected that often related
directly to contemporary social history. A subsequent tendency
emerged where entire collections might be presented as an art
installation, an entity artists sometimes call ‘library’, ‘museum’
or ‘archive’ where they assume the role of collector, historian and archivist.
One of the precursors of this genre, between collection and production, was Joseph Cornell (1903–1972) who accumulated large
quantities of ephemera relating to his fascination for silent movie stars. He carefully organized this material in files and
archive boxes to be subsequently incorporated into his ‘shadow
box’ and ‘dossier’ works. The Rock and Roll Public Library relates
to the Pop art notion of blurring the boundary between art and
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Joseph Cornell Et Les Surréalistes à New York (2013-4), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon
life or as Claes Oldenburg maintained, “I am for an art that grows up not knowing it is art at all”. In fact during the 1960s Oldenburg himself built up a collection of what he thought represented
stereotypes in American consumer society and he referred to it
as a ‘museum of popular objects’. Oldenburg’s Mouse Museum (1965-
1977) comprised a vast collection of 385 found and fabricated
miniature consumer objects,
toys and popular knickknacks
displayed in a series of con-
toured vitrines configured in
the form of a Mickey Mouse
which he presented at Documenta
V in Kassel, in 1972. Marcel Broodthaers (1924–1976), who was
also included in Documenta V,
created displays of collected
objects with his most noted work
Musée
d’Art
Moderne,
Départment des Aigles, produced in different versions
from 1968-72 that he called
‘Sections’ that comprised over 300 objects in various media all representing eagles.
Marcel Broodthaers — Musée d’Art Moderne, Départment des Aigles, 1972
Around the same time Andy Warhol, who was also an obsessive col-
lector began creating his Time Capsules where he selected items
from the enormous quantity of letters, photos, magazines, gifts
and ephemera that he accumulated daily. He selected much of this material to store in brown cardboard boxes. From 1974 until his
death in 1987 he had created 612 finished Time Capsules which give
an amazing insight into Warhol’s private life as well as illus-
trating the social and artistic scene during his lifetime. Peter
Blake, an artist originally associated with the Pop art movement has over many years collected all kinds of printed matter and
objects in his studio which he often integrates into his work
like ‘A Museum for Myself’ (1977). Since the early 1990s Karsten
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Karsten Bott – One of Each installation (2011), Kunsthalle Mainz
Bott has been creating large scale installations that comprise
of selections from his Archive of Contemporary History founded
in 1986. He makes a meticulous computer inventory of all the ob-
jects selected which he classifies under various sections. His
intention in part is to forge emotional links between peoples’ individual life histories and the history of their surroundings
and environment. His installations often include a specially
constructed raised platform to view all the objects that are
displayed directly on the ground in the manner of car boot fair.
The Mexican artist Dr Lakra has amassed a collection of curios-
ities, vintage toys, books, magazines, scrapbooks and vinyl records from flea markets. These provide a rich source of imagery
for his drawings and tattoos. His installation of LP records together with his chosen selection of music was included in the
exhibition at the Barbican Art Gallery, London entitled Magnificent
Obsessions: The Artist as Collector (2015).
Way before he started playing in bands, Mick Jones was an avid
childhood collector who began by acquiring footballer’s autographs,
sci-fi comics and music related items. Since the 1970s and during
his various band tours he has accumulated a massive collection
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spread over four West London
warehouses that he regards as a
‘work in progress’. The title The
Rock and Roll Public Library really refers to Rock and Roll in
a more generic sense meaning not only cool stuff but represents a whole attitude to collecting. The
very use of the term “library”
which suggests something quiet,
sedate and reactionary juxtaposed
with Rock and Roll which alludes
to loudness, excitement and revolutionary youth is a statement
in itself. The greater part of the library comprises material of a diverse nature that range
from books, records, militaria, toys, games and miscellaneous
items. There are around 10,000
books alone that cover an enormous range of culturally related
subjects — music, film, art, drugs, crime, sport, and war while there are also thousands of films on
VHS tapes. The specifically music
Dr. Lakra — Installation at Magnificent Obsessions: The Artist as Collector (2015), Barbican Art Gallery, London
related aspect of the library
includes all kinds of rock and
roll memorabilia relating not only to Jones’ own career but also to that of other bands and
solo artists. This includes stage
clothes, instruments, flight cases,
records, amplifiers and recording
gear, posters, books, punk-era
fanzines, autographs, letters, photos, hand written lyrics, back-
stage passes, t-shirts and other merchandising.
This miscellany of The Rock and
Roll Public Library represents
an important historical informa-
tion resource and archive. The
fascinating relationship between
history, archive and memory was
first addressed in the 1960s by
the French writers Guy Debord, Michel Foucault and Jacques
Derrida. In his seminal work
‘Society of the Spectacle’ (1967), Debord, referred to what he called
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‘the paralysis of history and memory’ and interviewed in the 1970s, Michel Foucault talked about the notion of ‘popular memory’ as
relating to unofficial histories of ordinary people. In Archive
Fever, Derrida proposes a convincing argument that although the
archive is a public entity, it is also a repository for private
and even intimate personal details. He makes a deconstructive analysis of the whole notion of archiving with its roots in law
and the evocative relationship between truth and authority.
‘Official’ history is both the affirmation and denial of the ‘truth’ since it has the power to exclude as much as the power
to include.
In this respect The Rock and Roll Public Library offers an alternative history to that preserved in official archives and museums. It contains material that isn’t necessarily dependent on
aesthetic criteria or taste to be collected. Besides the unique,
rare, limited edition and valuable items much of the collection
is what museum curators and official archivists would consider historically insignificant, the sort of material that could be
acquired in junk shops, flea markets and car boot fairs. But iron-
ically it is often just such ephemera that other people throw out
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and museums initially disregard
that later becomes rare and historically important. Much of this material is oddly arresting in
its ordinariness, but it all holds
‘truths’ and perhaps its most appealing quality is the very ran-
domness of its existence that
allows the viewer to make personal
connections with the intimate
memories embedded in every item.
To Jones it’s important that when people see this eclectic col-
lection they relate to it personally and may exclaim, “I had one
of those, I played with that toy, I bought this record, I went
to that gig, I had that t-shirt” etc. Jones realizes that his own
identity is not just shaped by his band experiences but instead, by a whole myriad of cultural experiences symbolized by what he
has collected over his lifetime. It represents the polar opposite
of most popular music museums like the British Music Experience
at the O2 Arena, that for all its corporate investment appears
bland and impersonal and lacks a sense of intimacy and vitality
of The Rock & Roll Public Library. This is about the raw, gritty nature of Rock and Roll and in keeping with this ethos the chosen
venue is not a grand Venetian palazzo but a deliberately low-key and friendly space.
Like many other musicians Jones originally went to art college and this may well be significant in finding a link between making
music and making art and in turn their interrelation to popular
culture, fashion and youth movements. Jones possesses an artist’s acute sense of observation that’s reflected in his considered
choice of acquisition and sense of placement. While the tradi-
tional collector tends to discriminate between objects, the artist
is often more like an archivist who accumulates with no declaration of what specific value or cultural significance that material
may hold for future users. However it is Jones’ eye for detail
and juxtaposition of unlikely objects that make
it so unique. Rather than presenting everything
in a neat, self-consciously tasteful way he has a penchant for the over-the-top almost kitsch
look and he believes this potpourri of diverse
colourful material helps to create a visual
thrill for the visitor.
The physical context of The Rock and Roll Public
Library belies its true significance or potential resonances. It leaves traces to explore
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‘unofficial’ histories, the forgotten personal memories entombed
within the artifacts. It is permeable to investigation and re-
search by future generations of students — there is no certainty about who will access it or how it will be read, interpreted and
it can, therefore, accumulate different layers of meanings. The
Rock & Roll Public Library is an organic entity; it expands notionally by continuous research and readings. It is not an end
point but a starting point, a repository for the future that
contains truths, secrets and forgotten histories waiting to be rediscovered.
m a n t u P Apr Jam e s
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25
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Steel Toe Shoe (Dr. Martens — Black)
10 Hole Boots (Dr. Martens — Red)
10 Hole Boots (Dr. Martens — Black)
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E K R A L C R E P O O C N H JO
The most recent acquisition to The Rock &
Roll Public Library is a talking canvas
presented by the celebrated performance poet John Cooper Clarke. Evidently
Chickentown is the first in a series of
new editions of his poems that will be
featured in a forthcoming art exhibition. JCC’s biting, satirical, political and
very funny verse, delivered in his unique
rapid-fire performance style, resonated
with the punk and youth culture of the
late 1970s. He became known as the “Punk
Poet” or “The Bard of Salford” and toured with all the seminal bands; The Sex
Pistols, The Clash and Buzzcocks. His
influence lives on and can be heard in the
satirical and keen social observations of the songs of the Arctic Monkeys who
acknowledge JCC as a huge inspiration.
EVIDENTLY CHICKENTOWN The fucking cops are fucking keen
Colour scheme is fucking brown
To fucking keep it fucking clean
Evidently Chickentown
The fucking chief’s a fucking swine Who fucking draws a fucking line
The fucking pubs are fucking dull
At fucking fun and fucking games
The fucking clubs are fucking full
The fucking kids he fucking blames
Of fucking girls and fucking guys
Are nowehere to be fucking found
With fucking murder in their eyes
Anywhere in Chickentown
A fucking bloke got fucking stabbed
The fucking scene is fucking sad
Fucking stay at fucking home
The fucking news is fucking bad
Fucking neighbour fucking moans
Waiting for a fucking cab
The fucking weed is fucking turf The fucking speed is fucking surf
“Keep the fucking racket down This is fucking Chickentown”
The fucking folks are fucking daft Don’t make me fucking laugh
The fucking pies are fucking old
It fucking hurts to look around
The fucking chips are fucking cold
Everywhere in Chickentown
The fucking beer is fucking flat
The fucking train is fucking late
The fucking flats have fucking rats
You fucking wait you fucking wait
The fucking clocks are fucking wrong
You’re fucking lost and fucking found
The fucking days are fucking long
Stuck in fucking Chickentown
It fucking gets you fucking down Evidently Chickentown
The fucking view is fucking vile For fucking miles and fucking miles
The fucking train is fucking late
Fucking babies fucking cry
You fucking wait you fucking wait
Fucking flowers fucking die
You’re fucking lost and fucking found
Fucking food is fucking muck
Stuck in fucking Chickentown
Fucking drains are fucking fucked
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LE B O N ER TI M T S B E W E U S and
The artist-duo Tim Noble and Sue Webster were invited to choose
a small selection of objects from the Rock and Roll Public Library. They share Mick Jones’ collector instinct for gathering cast-off objects of contemporary culture and make assemblages of them for their celebrated shadow sculptures. According to Noble, “Breaking
into Mick’s brain is like discovering nuggets of time — it scares me how much more of this he may have. How does he say no once he has obsessed and coveted and taken possession? It’s one man editing these nuggets of time.”
The influence of music on their
art, particularly punk rock has been of great importance to them
and as a teenager Webster saw the Clash play at Leicester, De Montfort Hall in 1984. They sometimes collaborate with musicians
and emerging young bands and presented performances by S.C.U.M. and Bo Ningen at previous Venice Biennales.
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