- Venue
- Mablethorpe
- Location
- East Midlands
Beacon Art Project
990:Genral History of other areas
Saturday 20th October 2007
Will Young spotted at Gerardo’s café? Paul Whitehouse seen chatting to residents, and Jools Holland at the local library. Beacon seems to have surprisingly attracted a new glamorous audience as it sneaks into the sleepy seaside town of Mablethorpe.
Whether the residents welcome Beacon with open arms is questionable or whether they notice its arrival at all, is even more questionable, as Beacon’s chameleon like qualities enable it to merge inconspicuously into wherever it is staged. The Beacon Art Project is now in its forth year, and has grown considerably from its first venture in 2004. What with a more refined mix of artists and ambitious works, plus the curatorship of regular Frieze writer Sally O’Reilly, the question that plays on my mind is whether Beacon has kept its humble qualities firmly within the root of the project. This year Mablethorpe is presented with both brazen performances and subtly almost unnoticeable pieces in a variety of locations including the boatshed, car parks and the local church.
As I wandered, attempting to follow my map that was thrust towards me as I left the coach I was targeted without warning and subjected to my first performance. Approached by something that Wouldn’t look out of place on the set of 1960s slapstick American comedy ‘The Munsters’ I was presented in silence a seaside poundshop item ( an England window sticker) before it continued lurking down the road with his black cloak and oversized papier-mâché like skull head,’ whilst the residents of Mablethorpe look on in puzzlement. It wasn’t until later that I was gleefully informed this was artist Tim bailey’s contribution to Beacon.
The highlight of Saturdays performance’s surly goes to Cees Krijnen and Greta Blok’s powerful autobiographical performance, pumped full of both drama and adrenalin whilst looked upon by a healthy crowd of an odd mix of flabbergasted residents and submerged ‘arty types.’ This made the hairs on my arms stand on end, (or maybe that was just the sea breeze). Krijnen’s performance and much of his practice of the past seven years evolves around his mothers bitter divorce battle with her husband, his farther1. The performance, starting fittingly within the Dunes Family Entertainment Centre provided the perfect ‘venue’ for this grand finale. We watch Krijnen slowly losing his temper with his interrupting arrogant farther played by fellow artist Julian Maynard Smith, until he decides to take action and leaves the building enticing the audience and his mother (who was busy indulging herself in fudge won at last nights talent party open event) Into the dunes car park. An Unaware but curious audience took some persuasion to vacate the warm inside where Krijnen and his mother were happily spending time upon children’s rides, To the second concluding part of the performance where Krijnen and his mother vented his anger via directing a JCB digger to smash into a builders skip, in which inhabited his farther. The audience almost acting as jury as Krijnen prosecuted his farther via a deluge of skip bashing, in retaliation to his fathers actions of the past years.
Inevitably but not surprisingly the end of the performance became a performance within itself. The JCB’s engine was turned off, leaving a eerie silence punctured only by splattering of claps and the odd donkey cry, and like a school fight between students at school been halted by a teacher, the Beacon crowd scarped back into Mablethorpe’s sleepy surroundings like naughty school children, denying they knew anything of the ‘happening.’ With the scratched car park surface as it’s only signification of its existence.
Whilst been whisked back home, upon the coach, a pivotal part of Beacon in getting people to its obscure locations. I sat chuckling to something I overheard, an older resident explaining her Beacon experience through a admirably honest simile, it went something along the lines of ‘Beacon is like a drunk uncle without his false teeth using his armpits to fart along to the national anthem at a Christmas party.’ However amusing this is it importantly highlights Beacon’s co-directors (John Plowman and Nicola Streeton) underlining passion, the act of taking the all too often overindulgent urban art and presenting it within new rural settings. Consequently bringing art to a rural audience not normally exposed to such ‘drunken uncles’ which can only be admired.
On a final note, there were no Young, Holland or Whitehouse this was merely a teasing performance initiated by London based artist Jessica Voorsanger, as she toys with our fascination of celebrity and social status. Which is just as well, as the only celebrities you would find at Beacon this year would have been a Amy Winehouse impersonator at last nights ‘glitzy’ unusual talent contest. Who walked away with her prize. This contributes to Beacon, despite its growth remaining a satisfyingly humble experience, although I believe the performances work best when they are given a little push towards the residents rather than simply fading into the background and becoming barley noticeable. But with a scheduled three aside football match on a hexagonal pitch and another Cees Krijnen performance and not to mention all the surprises lurking in Mablethorpe nooks and crannies, tomorrows visitors are certain to face oddities around every corner. But maybe that’s Beacon’s charm, the ability. to present the unexpected to the unsure.
Right, I’m off to daydream about who I would like to place in a skip and throw around a car park…. oh the possibilities are endless.
And in the meantime, watch out for Beacon sneaking up in a town near you next year….
Notes1. Cees Krijnen is ambassador of divorced Women of the Netherlands,
