Publicity outputs, Leeds 13-style (2009)

Accompanying John Crossley’s reflection of experiencing a full-on UK media-frenzy, we show an aspect of their "performance art". At least 135 pre-Internet media coverage results: TV, radio, and print media.

John Crossley , Nell Gair , D.M. Gray , Siân Jones , R.J. Preece (ADP)
Art Design Publicity at ADC | 22 July 2009 | Re-release: 29 October 2021 | Updated 29 October 2021
leeds 13 artists

The Leeds 13 at the time of Going Places were: Laura Baxter, Simon Clark, John Crossley, Matthew Dunning, Hannah Foot, Christian Hersey, Siân Jones, Jenny Larkin, Sarah Leech, Emma Robertson, Sarah J. Thornton, Eleanor Welsh, and Susannah Wesley. Victoria Anderson and Ben Halsall are also members of the artist group.

To read a reflection by John Crossley of personally experiencing the Leeds 13’s publicity outputs, click "Leeds 13’s John Crossley: I survived a national media frenzy".


> The Leeds 13 publicity outputs, I mean "bibliography"


Friday, 15 May 1998: The "Spanish holiday as performance art"


Print media

(15 May 1998). Con Artists’ Spanish Rip-off – Art grant funds holiday in sun. Leeds Student. (Front page).

(15 May 1998). And they call this art? Leeds Student, pp. 1-3.



Sunday, 17 May 1998


Print media

R. Prince. (17 May 1998). The Artful Dodgers. Sunday Mirror, p. 11.



Monday, 18 May 1998

Print media

Mike Hurst and Richard Allen. (18 May 1998). Abroad canvas for free-holiday art students. Yorkshire Evening Post, p. 1. (To access story, go to this framed site, and click link "More hysteria".)

(18 May 1998). Comment: Common sense takes a holiday. Yorkshire Evening Post.

Trina McIntyre. (18 May 1998). There’s an art to getting a free holiday. Yorkshire Post, p. 1. (To access story, go to this framed site, and click link “More hysteria”, then scroll down.)


Radio

(18 May 1998). BBC Radio 5 Live (5pm) with Sarah Thornton, and Ruth Wilkin, a Leeds University Student Union representative.

(18 May 1998). Aire FM, (12pm) with Siân Jones.


Television

(18 May 1998). Interview of Simon Clark on Calendar news programme, ITV Yorkshire.



Tuesday, 19 May 1998: Day of revealing a surface—"Spanish holiday" was staged in northern England.


Print media

Richard Allan. (19 May 1998). The Con Artists! Yorkshire Evening Post, front page.

Chris Benfield. (19 May 1998). Sun, sangria—and the meaning of Art... Yorkshire Post, p. 3.

Chris Brooke. (19 May 1998). Is this really high art? Or simply a student trip to the Costas at our expense? The Daily Mail, p. 3.

Harry Cooke. (19 May 1998). Students use grant for holiday. The Express, p. 10.

Luke Harding. (19 May 1998). Is it art or a week boozing on the Costa del Sol? The Guardian, front page. (To access story, go to this framed site, and click link "The Truth".)

Emma Jay. (19 May 1998). Piss Artists. The Sport, p. 7.

Nigel Reynolds. (19 May 1998). Students make an exhibition of themselves. Daily Telegraph, p. 3.

Paul Wilkinson. (19 May 1998). Students’ art was in the right place. The Times, p. 3.


Radio

(19 May 1998). Announcement. BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

(19 May 1998). BBC Radio 4’s Today program, interview with John Crossley. (Announcement that actually the "Spanish holiday" art performance was staged in northern England).

(19 May 1998). Interview with Leeds 13 tutors Ken Hay and Terry Atkinson; and Time Out art critic Sarah Kemp. BBC Radio 4, Front Row (7.15pm).

(19 May 1998). BBC Radio Leeds Live (12pm) with Leeds 13 tutors Ken Hay and Terry Atkinson, and Leeds University student union representative Ruth Wilkin.

(19 May 1998). Oxygen Radio, Oxford student radio, with Siân Jones.


Television

(19 May 1998). News report on the Leeds 13 controversy, ITV Evening News, ITV.

(19 May 1998). Look North report on the Leeds 13 controversy, BBC Leeds.

(19 May 1998). Report on the Leeds 13 controversy, Channel 4 News.

(19 May 1998). Report on the Leeds 13 controversy, Sky News.



Wednesday, 20 May 1998


Print media

Louise Jury. (20 May 1998). Going Places? No we only took a trip to the Costa del Spoof. The Independent, p. 5.

Nigella Lawson. (20 May 1998). Why shouldn’t art be a reflection of the Sol? The Times, p. 18.

Trina McIntyre. (20 May 1998). Celebrities now... the art student hoaxers. Yorkshire Post.

Nigel Reynolds. (20 May 1998). Art students faked trip to Costa del Sol. Daily Telegraph, p. 13.

Adrian Searle. (20 May 1998). Guardian, p. 3. (Searle’s art-critical response accompanies Wainwright’s article, listed below.)

Martin Wainwright. (20 May 1998). Life, art and the Costa del Cayton. The Guardian, p. 6.

Damian Whitworth. (20 May 1998). Students’ work of art was cheap forgery. The Times, p. 9.

Jim Wilson. (20 May 1998). Students’ hoax holiday was a trip to the Costa Bravado. The Scotsman, p. 5.

(20 May 1998). Costa packet? No, holiday “was a hoax”. Shropshire Star.

(20 May 1998). Students ’only went to Scarborough’. Daily Mail.

(20 May 1998). Comment: Lessons learned from prank. Scarborough Evening News.

(20 May 1998). Hoax ’ruins it for other students’. Yorkshire Evening Post.

(20 May 1998). By the way. The Express, p. 26.


Radio

(20 May 1998). Leeds Student Radio, interview with Matthew Dunning and Eleanor Welsh.

(20 May 1998). Radio Ceredigion, interview with Siân Jones.


Television

(20 May 1998). Channel 4 Big Breakfast (8am).



Thursday, 21 May 1998


Print Media

(21 May 1998). [Two comments by readers: Mark Herman (Director of Little Voice and D.E. Evans]. The Guardian, p. 21.


Radio

(21 May 1998). Leeds Student Radio, interview with Hannah Foot.

(21 May 1998). Leeds Student Radio, interview with John Crossley and Christian Hersey.



Friday, 22 May 1998


Print Media

John Wellington. (22 May 1998). Naivety Costa them a packet. Yorkshire Evening Post.

(22 May 1998). Mixed reviews for art students’ hoax (comments by readers J. Clargo, K.C. Sutton, and R.H. White). The Times, p. 23.

(22 May 1998). [Photo of performance documentation and caption]. Times Higher Education, back page.


Television

(22 May 1998). BBC 5 Live, Nigel Clark Late Night Live (11pm).



Saturday, 23 May 1998


Print Media

(23 May 1998). Letters: Student owe city an apology (by J. Swallow, public relations student). Yorkshire Evening Post.


Television

(23 May 1998). BBC 5 Live, Late Night Currie with Edwina Currie (11pm), interview with Simon Clark and Emma Robertson.



Sunday, 24 May 1998


Print Media

Nicholas Barber. (24 May 1998). Call a prank a prank, and leave art out of it. Independent on Sunday.

Cosmo Landesman. (24 May 1998). Fakers who fooled themselves. Sunday Times, News Review, p. 7.

(24 May 1998). [Comic strip: Antrobus]. The Observer.



25-31 May 1998

(25 May 1998). Lawyer gives reward to hoax students. Yorkshire Evening Post.

(26 May 1998). Students’ hoax (Letter: I.A. Johnson). The Times.

(26 May 1998). Essence of art (Letter: M. Parrott). Yorkshire Post.

Glyn Evans. (27 May 1998). Tipyn o Addysg. Y Cymro, p. 7.

Leeds 13. (27 May 1998). Thieves, hoaxers and blaggers. Do they mean us? The Guardian, G2 section, pp. 12-13.

(28 May 1998). Student hoaxers told to say sorry. Yorkshire Evening Post, p. 3.

Sean French. (28 May 1998). The Leeds University art students’ hoax belongs to a fine tradition of practical japery. Remember, if you will, one Horace De Vere Cole... New Statesman.

Neil Pickford. (29 May 1998). Top marks for students! Scarborough Evening News.

Alison Utley. (29 May 1998). Talented artists or just con artists? Times Higher Education, p. 18.

(29 May 1998). Union bans art fraud students. The Times.

(30 May 1998). Ancient & modern [Comment by P. Jones]. The Times.

Oliver Pritchett. (30 May 1998). The art of finding the way out. The Times. (Mention.)

Germaine Greer. (30-31 May 1998). Mastering the art of selling yourself. Financial Times. (Greer argues that Going Places was a "masterpiece".)

Leeds 13. (May 1998). Open letter. Leeds Student. (To access story, go to this framed site, and click link “And finally”.)


June 1998

(1 June 1998). Pranksters appeal to fellow students. Yorkshire Post.

Leeds 13. (1-7 June 1998). Our Costa caper fooled everyone. The Big Issue in the North, pp. 16-17 and cover.

(4 June 1998). ABC Radio Australia, interview with Eleanor Welsh.

(5 June 1998). Why art has lost the plot. Ilkley Gazette.

C. Llewellyn. (5 June 1998). Broken Arts for hoaxers. Leeds Student, p. 5.

(5 June 1998). Sometimes, a little silence can be golden. Yorkshire Evening Post.

John Windsor. (6 June 1998). Con artists; Always suspected conceptual art was a bit of a hoax? It is now - spoofing with attitude is taking off all over. The Independent, features, p. 44.

(8 June 1998). Radio 4, Front Row (7.15pm).

(8 June 1998). Look North BBC News, (1.30pm, 6.30pm).

(8 June 1998). Five Live Channel 5 News (12.30pm).

(8 June 1998). BBC Radio Leeds (5.45pm).

(9 June 1998). BBC 24 News.


July-December 1998

(July 1998). Platinum Rogues. Loaded, p. 15.

(12 July 1998). Leeds 13, Letters, Leeds Student, p. 7.

(13 July 1998). Top marks for holiday hoaxers. Yorkshire Evening Post, front page.

(13 July 1998). Comment: Artful dodgers... but going places. Yorkshire Evening Post, p. 6.

(14 July 1998). Top marks for ‘Costa Scarborough’ students. BBC News Internet website.

(14 July 1998). ’Hoax’ art students hailed. The Guardian.

Paul Wilkinson. (15 July 1998). Students win top marks for art hoax. The Times, p. 11.

Geraldine Bedell. (26 July 1998). Day & Night, Mail on Sunday Review, p. 10. Part of an article on British contemporary art.

Richard Allen, Mike Hurst, and Martin Wainwright. (1998). Bredt lerret for gratis ferierende studenter: om de 13 fra Leeds (A broad canvas for students taking a free holiday: on the Leeds 13). UKS: Forum for Samtidskunst (Norway), issue 3, pp. 86-9.

Vladan Šír. (1998). Going places. Umelec, 4, p. 7.

Ralph Rugoff. (September/October 1998). Yours sincerely. Frieze, 42, pp. 64-69. (This excellent essay offers an art historical context of the Leeds 13 media intervention.)

John Windsor. (3 October 1998). Art: Eat your heart out, Damien (not literally). The Independent, pp. 42-45 (Mention).


1999

In the following year, the Leeds 13 again hit the media concerning their degree show that featured another exploration of "perceived reality". This featured not their own art objects, but that of well-known artists including Damien Hirst, Rodin, and Henry Moore. Their work took the form of a "successful" art show, including "labels, advertising, catalogue, hanging systems, lighting", etc. Victoria Anderson and Ben Halsall were also part of the group, and the Leeds 13 became a group of 15 artists. Now onto the press clippings...

Claire Sanders. (1 January 1999). Who made a splash? Times Higher Education, pp. 14-5. (Photo and mention on hard copy version.)

Owen Oppenheimer. (May 1999). Smells like team spirit, the case of the Leeds 13. Casco Issues, no. 5, p. 5. (Interview).

(13 May 1999). Leeds 13 have high hopes for latest art venture. Yorkshire Evening Post.

J. Wellington. (28 May 1999). Students on a spoof too far. Yorkshire Evening Post.

(June 1999). The Leeds 13. The Leeds Guide. (Degree Show preview).

Martin Wainwright. (8 June 1999). Art hoaxers bow out with the real thing. The Guardian, p. 6.

Graham Barnes. (8 June 1999). Leeds 13 go out in (other artists’) style. Yorkshire Post.

Andrew Hutchinson. (8 June 1999). Hoax students keep us guessing... Yorkshire Evening Post, p. 3.

Phil Miller. (9 June 1999). Leeds 13 set new agenda for final year. The Scotsman, p. 24.

Nigel Reynolds. (10 June 1999). Students display the art of borrowing by degrees. Daily Telegraph, p. 8.

Martin Wainwright. (10 June 1999). Top marks for hoax students. The Guardian.

Adam Sherwin. (10 June 1999). Holiday hoaxers put on a first class show. The Times, p. 10.

Diane Spencer. (11 June 1999). Sacrebleu! Nun’s honour attacked; The week in view; Opinion. The Times Educational Supplement, issue 4328, p. 4. (Mention).

(11 June 1999). Events; Briefing; Noticeboard. The Times Educational Supplement, issue 4328, p. 26. (Mention).

Leeds 13. (11 June 1999). No artist is an island. Times Higher Education, p. 18.

Peter Hill. (25 June 1999). Worth a Damien? Times Higher Education. (Mention.)

(11 June 1999). Gang’s parting shot is an insult. Yorkshire Evening Post.

Leeds 13. (July 1999). a-n magazine, pp. 6-7.

David Rodway. (2 July 1999). Readers’ reactions. Times Higher Educational Supplement.

Peter Hill. (6 August 1999). What are the facts behind the superfictions? Times Higher Educational Supplement. (Mention.)

David Whittaker. (September 1999). The rise and fall of the artist’s statement. Art Review (UK), vol. 51, pp. 50-1.

Alison Utley. (17 September 1999). Leeds 13 win their appeal for a first for art. Times Higher Education.

Absolutearts.com. (2 December 1999). Announcement: MASS MoCA welcomes MOCI Curator, Superfiction Expert. (Listed as artists to be discussed by artist-speaker Peter Hill.)

Brian Ashbee. (December 1999-January 2000). The end of art. Art Review (UK), vol. 52, pp. 62-3.

White Cube website / Damien Hirst catalogue listings page. (1999). Leeds 13 - Fine Arts. The Degree Show, University of Leeds Fine Art, Leeds.


2000-09: Entering art history...

P. Glinkowski. (2000). A BBC introduction to modern and contemporary art. London: BBC, pp. 35-36.

(March 2000). The guide to hoaxes. Esquire, p. 178.

Jo Makel. (17 March 2000). They fooled us once—but £13m for hoax snaps... they have to be joking. Yorkshire Post.

Alfred Hickling. (18 March 2000). The simply priceless art of money-making. Yorkshire Post (Analysis section), p. 15.

Mark Inglefield. (18 March 2000). Leeds 13. The Times (London), p. 22.

(April 2000). Extracts from: The encyclopedia of photofictions. Photofile, issue 59, pp. 14-24.

Kathleen Wyatt. (21 June 2000). Shock horror? It’s all a question of degree. The Times (London), p. 2.

Martin Wainwright. (17 March 2000). In the art of the city. The Guardian. (Mention.)

Adam Sage. (22 May 2000). British pub grub whets Paris appetite. The Times. (Mention.)

Tony Harney. (23 May 2000). Flashes of inspiration. Yorkshire Evening Post.

(23 May 2000). In the news. Leeds Reporter, 453. (Mention.)

Kathleen Wyatt. (21 June 2000). Shock horror? It’s all a question of degree. The Times (London). (Mention).

John A. Walker. (2001). Art in the age of mass media (3rd ed.). London: Pluto Press, pp. 166-167.

Gemma de Cruz. (December 2001- January 2002). As thick as thieves. Art Review (UK), vol. 53, p. 62. (Mention).

Roy Harris. (2003). The necessity of artspeak. London: Continuum, pp. 202-3.

Liz Hoggard. (10 August 2003). This summer, I shall mostly be taking a balcony holiday… The Guardian. (Mention.)

(November 2003). ITV1’s TV’s Greatest Cheats, Yorkshire Television.

Martin Wainwright. (18 October 2004). Artists’ colony realises a dream for Leeds. The Guardian. (Mention.)

Peter Hill. (23 October 2004). Collection by the collective. The Age (Melbourne, AUS), p. 7. (Mention).

Peter Hill. (23 April 2005). Collective invective; Visual arts. Sydney Morning Herald, p. 18. (Mention).

Charles Heslett. (11 March 2006). Hoaxer’s square deal. Yorkshire Evening Post. (Mention.)

John Crossley. (20 July 2009). Leeds 13’s John Crossley: "I survived a national media frenzy". Art Design Publicity at ADC.

(20 July 2009). Publicity outputs, Leeds-13 style. Art Design Publicity at ADC.

Ronan Kelly. (3 October 2009). The Curious Ear: Grand Art. Documentary on One RTÉ.ie Radio 1. (with link back to this article).

To be continued...