STRIKING AT THE HEART OF ART

At the age of twenty-seven Stewart Home went on strike. Previously active as artist, organiser, writer and publisher, Home had been a provocative presence on the arts scene. Renowned for his disregard for the conventions of the art circuit and with a determination to subvert the dogma of both left and right politics, Home had come to art after a background in punk bands and involvement with groups like Class War.

As a writer and publisher, Home frequently blurred the definitions between pulp fiction and high art theory. In his gallery based work Home similarly undercut the standard practice of culture. .

Late in 1989 Home was preparing to go on Art Strike. The idea, imported from America, is that all artists, curators, critics should refuse involvement in cultural production from January 1990 to January 1993. The intention is to 'Dismantle the cultural apparatus. .

Home has said he realises he is perhaps the only UK Art Striker. 'I don't expect a huge response,' he states, 'but what's important are the questions something like this posses. Hopefully it is as much about triggeringdoubts as anything else.

Home's hard-core disavowal of an art system he sees as corrupt and in support of the state is perhaps the mostradical of strategies. Elsewhere, other artists andactivists have sought to subvert existing definitions inother ways(_)

Nik Houghton first published in Artists Newsletter, December 1990.

Art Strike Start

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