Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship - autonomous ...

incidental people
have the effect of strengthening artists’ existing political commitments.
Stuart Brisley, who chose to work on the shop fl oor of Hille Furniture
factory, proceeded with his placement in a manner that will sound familiar
to any artist working site- responsively today: the main task was social
(earning trust) rather than realising a sculptural object. Going to the
factory three to four days a week while also holding down a teaching job,
Brisley chose to focus on the department with the most onerous work, the
metal- polishing room. Workers were initially suspicious of an artist foisted
upon them by the management, and it took time to gain their confi dence.
Brisley initially began by asking questions about how the production line
could be improved. Unsurprisingly, the answer was a sceptical ‘why?’,
since the workers habitually felt that no one was interested in or listened to
them, even though they had many questions and criticisms, which Brisley
in turn began to relay to the management. As an outsider this left him feeling
empowered, since he could begin to initiate change. One of his
contributions was painting the polishing machinery in the colours of football
teams chosen by the workers; another was to introduce large mobile
noticeboards which could be pushed around the factory fl oor, so that workers
could exchange information and communicate with each other. 13 He
also made a sculpture using 212 Robin Day chairs, which when stacked
formed a complete circle, ‘a syndromic sign of the factory line itself’.
Stuart Brisley speaking to workers at Hille Furniture Company constructing his sculpture of
stacked Robin Day chairs, Haverhill, Suffolk, UK, 1970
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