Jen Reid and the Case of Bristol's 'Fourth Plinth' After Colston
I still stand by my original thought that I was happy to see Colston being toppled into the Bristol harbour last month; 150 years being long enough to gain the kind of status that will ensure people are angry at its removal by such process that it was. The status conferred on this statue over time proving that statues don't teach history but they do promote hero worship and bigotry. But, I have to admit my feelings as to how the situation has played out since is something that has really put me in a quandary.
The fact that Marc Quinn worked on installing the Jen Reid statue without anyone's permission is problematic for many, a number of people having pointed out that Quinn is a rich, white, London based artist. The reason I would question the move is that, as James Baldwin points out when talking about culture, the influence from outside becomes yet another form of colonisation, just replacing the old regime with a different set of colonisers. Culture has to be built from within as part of the structure, part of the fabric of the community from which it stemmed. That said I do believe Quinn’s move to be a pertinent one that has exposed a little bit more of how society perceives what is going on at the moment.
Quinn is from a generation of artists that are no strangers to controversy, many of them, Quinn included, having been part of the Sensations exhibition in 1996; an absolute coup in terms of marketing. Quinn talks in his biography about his work embodying ideas around ‘what it means to be human in the world today’ through identity, genetics, environment and media. In this respect his sculpture of Jen Reid ‘A Surge Of Power’ is not stepping outside of the remit that he has stated for his entire career, therefore not disingenuous in that respect. Neither do I quite agree with the idea that his status as an establishment artist who has works fabricated, rather than having personally worked on them, can truly negate his input at this point. Fabrication is a part of the contemporary conceptual art production landscape, used by both established artists and students still at University. The argument about the legitimacy of fabricated artworks being the work of the named artist still rumbles on but regardless it is still a widely used method and is generally accepted. Much has been said about his status in the art world and his position of privilege as a rich white male artist, supported by an art world that is propped up by venture capitalism and rooted in an iniquitous racialised system of capitalist oppression. In this I agree there is a big problem, but maybe there is a long view that needs to be addressed that allows this action to become another cog in the machine that will eventually lead to permanent positive change.
I do not think it is for me, or anyone else, to question Quinn’s motivation for wanting to create this work. We have to accept that he is the last word in terms of his stated intentions regardless of whether or not people choose to believe it. There are two significant factors in this act of ‘establishment sponsored subterfuge’. One, is that Jen Reid was happy to work with Quinn and speaks glowingly in terms of what she thinks of the sculpture and the way the project was handled. Reid should absolutely not be criticised for this. Secondly, Quinn stated that the sculpture was an interim project, not intended to be permanent, whilst they decided what to do with the empty plinth. With this in mind Reid and Quinn should both be happy with the outcome of the project as it has done everything it set out to do, including being removed. More on that aspect later.
In relation to the furore that has surrounded the placement of ‘A Surge Of Power (Jen Reid)’ a number of issues are raised. First, the nature of the ‘art establishment’ - can it ever be a part of societal or underground movement / change whilst also being establishment? and therefore do artists have to remain apart from the establishment if they wish to perform functions that relate to social justice? In the case of the Reed/Quinn sculpture there is an argument to be made for the sculpture in terms of the means of its production. Could a non-establishment artist working underground, with little or no budget, pull off such an act so quickly, without being caught and in such a whirlwind of media. No one did, so we can assume not in this case. Although in a bizarre turn of events a mannequin dressed as Jimmy Savile did momentarily adorn it at an earlier point. The media surrounding this has also been questioned as problematic, the fact that they utilised all of their connections to involve the press in the most effective possible way. Promotion of art in the public realm is a real problem and hard to pull off at the best off times so in fact Quinn as an artist is well placed to do something that will be noticed. The fact that he gains from this arrangement is a by-product of his action and unavoidable as the public love a celebrity. Two things have happened in terms of media attention; people are talking about what constitutes public artworks and what should go on the plinth whilst revisiting the subject of Colston and slave trader monuments. It is rare, and at the moment, after Brexit and Coronavirus, a welcome change to find art making headlines in the news. Quinn had another bonus being on the same night as Banksy, another 21st Century media darling, made the headlines for his Covid Train Carriage in London. Here the establishment tries, and succeeds in the eyes of the press, to make a credible contribution to social justice through art actions. Art of any kind rarely makes news unless it is the yearly panning of the Turner Prize, yet here, the media friendly activities of the establishment manage to put the subjects of social justice and the relevance of public art into the spotlight. It is now important that the independent and grassroots activists and artists try to capitalise on this. Also, a side note: Quinn decided to work with Channel 4 to promote his undercover activities. In terms of media, Channel 4 I suspect is more inclined, due to their radical stance when it was formed in the early 1980’s, to take a positive view on his activities unlike most of their rivals.
As for the statue being removed, well . . . what to say about that! It is amazing how quickly the wheels of bureaucracy can move when they are called into action to quell something that they themselves have not sanctioned. I have been following the story of the Colston statue for a few years thanks to Bristolian artist contacts on social media who have been talking about it for a long time now. The dumping of Colston’s bronze likeness in the Bristol harbour was a watershed moment in a long running dispute that has gone nowhere over the years. This year becomes that time to reflect on our actions historically as a nation, and to assess where we think we should be as a society in the years to come. There has been a lot of flack for the artist, not the work, in relation to ‘A Surge Of Power' (Jen Reid)’ but there has also been a lot of positive comments from the people of Bristol in terms of how much they liked it. After the anti-BLM commentary that ensued post-Colson, with our Home Secretary using the media to decry the actions of the protesters and demanding they be prosecuted for vandalism, this surely is a win however small and however it was achieved. There has also been a criticism for the lack of context, Black voice, provided to accompany Quinn’s action. Again it is definitely a point that he could be pulled up on but, try as I generally do, to bring out a positive, maybe that is up to everyone else now. Black Lives Matter and all other artists and activists now have a soapbox thanks to the piece on which they can hang their context. The work then belongs to them as much as it may physically or conceptually belong to someone else.
The piece has, as everyone will already know, been removed from the plinth with the offer that the artist can take it back or donate it to the collection at Bristol Museum. It will be interesting to see what happens there! My hope would be for a complete contextualisation of both statues in relation to the real history of our nation; a display in which the Colston statue, having been dredged from the bed of the harbour, is placed, unrestored and lying down in the museum. Nearby the statue of Jen Reid, not on a pedestal but at floor level looking us all in the eye. Also, an information board giving a potted history of the 2020 action/intervention and Colston’s background; his ‘philanthropy’ but also his awful activities that allowed for his ‘philanthropy’. Here there would be a sense of balance being brought to the matter and that it is not about Black domination - a trope often used by racists when arguing against such things as BLM, and the idea espoused by such people that in giving to Black people something must therefore be taken away from white people. Maybe the people of Bristol will choose Quinn’s statue of Reid, maybe they will come up with something else but whatever happens now the conversation is out there and the debate has become a much more nuanced one since the original event.
Of course this is just my opinion and I am sure that many will disagree with it, but I will state here that it is not my intention to insult anyone with these views. Unless they are a racist, then I do not care! I hope that in my lifetime we will see some of the more colonial minded individuals die back allowing for new growth to emerge and a different path that will lead us into the future.
Bruce Davies | July 2020
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