The Glasgow Miracle:

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TE2/1977/6

Michael Craig-Martin – Artist Talk 1977

Michael Craig-Martin RA is a contemporary conceptual artist and painter. He is noted for his fostering of the Young British Artists, many of whom he taught, and for his conceptual artwork, An Oak Tree. He is Emeritus Professor of Fine Art at Goldsmiths. Jal Milroy recalls the flooding in the main gallery during the installation period of this exhibition. All attempts to stem the water failed until Milroy had the idea to adopt a strategy similar to one of the main pieces on display by Craig-Martin in which four buckets are suspended on floating base. Milroy placed a bucket on a platform that could be hoisted up into the ceiling where it collected the water and could later be lowered and emptied.

Date Recorded: 1977

Length: 64 min, 03 sec

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Additional Information

Artist talk. Begins in blackout, no picture. A man is speaking to audience in an American accent. He talks about the history of his work and the travel of its current exhibition, noting that he will be showing slides from his expanding research. He invites participation, conversation and questions on behalf of the audience. At 12 min, 36 sec, a tracking wave finally cuts into picture. The stationary camera is placed at the back of an dark, elongated room at the rear of an audience. The camera zooms in and out from a series of projection images on the opposite wall. At 44 min, 40 sec, the projector is cut for two minutes and the lights switched on. When the projection images continue, the man with the American accent (Craig-Martin) can be seen sitting at a table to the right. He opens up the his talk to discussion from the audience. The camera zooms and pans between Craig-Martin and the audience. Ends on a shot of Craig-Martin at a table, in the middle of receiving a question from a man in the audience. A tracking waves cuts the footage.