History
Acting as catalyst or instigator, Jeremy Deller creates provocative works about social history or recent events that encourage us to look at one kind of ‘culture’ through the lens of another. The History of the World flow diagram maps ‘a thought process in action’ which connects traditional Brass Bands with Acid House music. The work shows that the two musical forms have a lot in common; they are both types of British folk music with strong northern roots, and have at times been associated with civil disorder. The Battle of Orgreave documents a re-enactment of an actual, violent conflict during the 1984/5 miner’s strike. The installation It Is What It Is originated as a project to provoke conversations about Iraq. Its centrepiece is the tangled, burnt-out corpse of a car which was destroyed in a bomb explosion in Baghdad.
Still from The Battle of Orgreave (An Injury to One is an Injury to All) 2004 / Still from The Battle of Orgreave (An Injury to One is an Injury to All) 2004 / Baghdad, March 5th 2007 2009, from It Is What It Is / The History of the World 1997