AGREE/DISAGREE/NOT SURE Allan Forrester Parker
AGREE/DISAGREE/NOT SURE In AGREE/DISAGREE/NOT SURE statements similar to those used in Psychometric tests are placed in conjunction with landscape pictures and images of installations found throughout Britain and occasionally abroad. Psychometric tests are given to individuals to assess their suitability for certain types of work. The tests are designed to expose personality traits which may have been overlooked during interviews. There are many such tests and in general respondents are asked to “agree” or “disagree” by ticking boxes beside various statements. Typically, a test may contain around four of five hundred such statements. The results are then evaluated and the conclusions are fed back to the respondents or to their potential employers. In many of the following images we see the landscape either as a creation in its own right or as fulfilling a designated function. In a crowded country the landscape is obliged to accommodate the interests and aspirations of its citizens – which are frequently in conflict with one another.
THESE DAYS PEOPLE JUST DON’T TAKE THINGS SERIOUSLY ENOUGH
most countries WOULD BE much BETTER OFF AS DEMOCRACIES
I think I am more strict about right and wrong than most people
FANTASY IS AN Essential PART OF THE HUMAN PSYCHE
I HAVE NO REAL IDEA OF HOW THE FUTURE BECOMES THE PAST
ON THE WHOLE I PREFER ROMANTIC FICTION TO ADVENTURE STORIES
IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO CONVINCE SOME PEOPLE OF THE TRUTH
SOMETIMES I PRETEND TO KNOW MORE THAN I REALLY DO
SUCCESS IS MAINLY A MATTER OF WILLPOWER
It’s OK to get around the law as long as you don’t actually break it
I AM FASCINATED BY FIRE
FROM TIME TO TIME I HAVE DREAMS THAT ARE BEST KEPT TO MYSELF
IT IS BEST NOT TO THINK TOO DEEPLY ABOUT CERTAIN THINGS
DISOBEDIENCE TO ANY GOVERNMENT IS NEVER JUSTIFIED
I GET ANXIOUS IF I THINK THINGS ARE GETTING OUT OF CONTROL
I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A GREAT DISCOVERY
SOME THINGS ARE JUST BEYOND THE understanding OF ORDINARY PEOPLE
I FIND IT TO HARD TO START A CONVERSATION WITH SOMEONE I DON’T KNOW
EVERY SO OFTEN I FEEL AS IF SOMETHING BAD IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN
I LIKE READING ABOUT HISTORY
AGREE/DISAGREE/NOT SURE This book accompanies the exhibition: Terrain Vague: enchantment, dysfunction and the landscape 26 July – 25 August, 2007 Whitecross Gallery, 122 Whitecross street, London EC1Y 8PU +44 (0)207 253 4252 www.whitecrossgallery.com info@whitecrossgallery.com all photographs Š Allan Forrester Parker Tel: 020 7831 7094
www.allanforresterparker.co.uk
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publishers Edition of 500 Book design & Publication: Pure Land Press, 42 Theobalds Road, London WC1X 8NW Tel: 020 7831 7094 www.pureland.co.uk pureland@dircon.co.uk