Week 6 - Provocations Presentation - Tue 29.10.2019

A performance presentation - I took on the role of an insurance sales person from the 'no win-no fee' claim adverts

Insurance script ~ entanglement, interruptions and collisions:

Do you like to go to exhibitions and interact with the artwork? Are you concerned about your safety in public exhibitions? Have you tripped, fallen or suffered trauma as a result of an artwork? If so, you can sue the artist, gallery or installer and close the exhibition down to keep others safe.

If you've suffered a personal injury or been made ill while experiencing an artwork, you may be entitled to compensation. It doesn't matter whether you were at fault, generally not exercising common sense or following the rules of engagement, we're here to help sue the artist on your behalf, disregard the artist’s intentions and ruin the experience of the work for future audiences. Talk to us about the possibility of making a personal injury claim under a No Win No Fee agreement.

We began our practice of closing down exhibitions to protect the audience in 1971 with Richard Morris’s Bodyspacemotionthings, an interactive display of rope swings, logs, seesaws and concrete tubes; it was closed after 4 days due to visitors experiencing rope burns, splinters and bruises. Tate resurrected the exhibition in 2009, this time 23 people were injured but Tate’s medical team were on hand. http://mentalfloss.com/article/27440/9-really-dangerous-pieces-art

Personal injuries can happen in many different unexpected ways. Most of the time in public exhibitions it will be due to misuse of an object, or lack of personal awareness, such as Doris Salcedo’s Shibboleth (2007), a large tear was gouged out of the gallery floor, 15 audiences members tripped or fell in to the large void, 4 were severe enough to claim for compensation. Regardless of the fact it was their own negligence to blame they still made a claim towards the gallery and the artist.

A personal injury isn't always visible like a bruise or a broken bone; the words 'personal injury' describe many different types of harm that can befall you in your daily life. That's why our personal injury solicitors are experienced in dealing with everything from slips and trips to issues of migraine and headache. Recently audience members have been complaining about artworks making use of florescent and strobe lighting. Although the gallery has placed a disclaimer on the wall and addressed the issue, they still believe that these art works should be more well guarded or not shown at all. https://hyperallergic.com/484150/art-spaces-should-be-more-mindful-about-their-use-of-strobe-lights/

Everyone is entitled to go about their everyday life in safety. Unfortunately, the fact is that every year a couple of people are injured or made ill by their own carelessness or negligence when participating in a public artwork. When an incident occurs which causes them to be injured or become ill, they may be able to claim the art work is at fault and raise a press storm to push for compensation.

In short, if you've sustained a personal injury that was your fault - even if you were partly at fault – you can probably cause a gallery to stop others from further enjoying that art work in the manner intended. Talk to the gallery today about making art a non-experiential medium, view it from the safety of your barriered off distance, cloud the intentions of the artist with claims of safety and public risk. This is the circumstances behind Ai Wei Wei’s sunflower seeds, a work that was intended for emersion, for walking. Fear was raised regarding dust particles and the exhibit became ‘view only’. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/dust-up-at-tate-modern-as-curse-of-turbine-hall-strikes-again-2108191.html

Every personal injury claim is different, as is the level of education and common sense present within the art world audience so the final figure of compensation you might receive and whether the artwork remains on display depends on a number of factors such as the severity of your injuries, how famous the artist is, and how much press the controversy will bring about.

If you want to ruin the experience of public installation art for future audiences, continue to behave in an erratic manner, hold complete disregard for the artist’s intentions and ignore all health and safety advice given by the gallery. To make your claim call: 800 KeepArtBoring. 

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/visitor-injured-on-first-day-of-tate-black-hole-exhibit-6783094.html

https://www.slatergordon.co.uk/personal-injury-claim/

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=accident+claim+advert

http://mentalfloss.com/article/27440/9-really-dangerous-pieces-art

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/8290076/Tate-Moderns-sunflower-seeds-contain-lead.html

Article on Hyperallergic - Art Spaces Should be More Mindful About Their Use of Strobe Lights

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/dust-up-at-tate-modern-as-curse-of-turbine-hall-strikes-again-2108191.html

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/8067119/Tate-Modern-closes-sunflower-seed-exhibit-to-the-public.html

I dressed for the event but the internet connection was weak and I had to perform it as an audio piece only.