From One Revolution To Another
The Carte Blanche program at Paris’s Palais de Tokyo involves the selection of a contemporary artist to act as curator for an exhibition, effectively giving the artist the freedom to design the type of exhibition that they themselves would like to see. In 2007 the job was given to the Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone. In 2008 it was the British artist Jeremy Deller’s turn.
The role of curator is not unusual for Deller, as over the last fifteen years he has frequently incorporated curatorial strategies into the production of his work. Deller’s rationale for ‘From One Revolution to Another’ focused on how shifts in culture are influenced by broader technological innovation. He attempted to demonstrate this by showcasing his penchant for folk and outsider art.
The exhibition was split into five different sections, most of which could be separated by the theme of nationality. The largest section was the British themed Folk Archive (1999-2005), Deller’s well-known collaboration with Alan Kane. Here, a hodge-podge of artefacts loosely interpreted as British folk art were collated and represented either through photographic means or by presentation of the actual objects. Included in the display was a retrospective of the banners of Ed Hall, who has been making banners for associations engaged in social and political causes for over twenty years. In a separate gallery space, the British theme continued with Deller’s All That is Solid Melts into Air concentrating on the impact of industrialisation on post-1960s British Rock ranging from David Bowie to the Happy Mondays.
Over in a French themed display the story of the Golf Drouet club in Paris was told (an influential venue in the development of French rock and pop