Eventstructure - John Latham (1992)
Excerpt fr. John A. Walker’s Glossary of Art, Architecture & Design since 1945, 3rd. ed.
artdesigncafé | cafe library | Published 11 June 2011
This text is an excerpt from Walker’s 1992 glossary previously published by Library Association Publishing, London.
Eventstructure
Eventstructure is a theoretical notion propounded by the British artist John Latham in the years since 1954. Latham’s assumption was that time is all-important, hence Eventstructure encapsulated the idea of structure in events or through time, rather than structure in space. Processes became more important than products. In 1967 Latham’s ideas were adopted by three artists— Theo Botschuijver, Jeffrey Shaw and Sean Wellesley-Miller— who formed, in Amsterdam, the “Eventstructure Research Group” (ERG). The purpose of ERG was to devise an alternative to “museum art” by staging events in the street and at public festivals. They encouraged audience participation and adult play by providing PVC inflatables, some in the form of tubes floating on water. Their work was described as “operational art” and vaunted as “an art of real consequences”.
See also Air Art, Participatory Art, Public Art, Street Art.
References and further readings
> John Latham. “Eventstructure”, Studio International, 174(892), September 1967, p. 82.
> “Concepts for an operational art...”, Art & Artists, 3(10), January 1969, pp. 46-9.
> Terry Smith. “Eventstructure Research Group in Australia”, Studio International, 184(948), October 1972, pp. 149-50.
> Jeffrey Shaw. “Eventstructure Research Group”, Mewspaper (Royal College of Art), (22), April-May 1974, pp. 3-4.
ads by artdesigncafe
Facebook comments
