“Art Is Your Human Right: The Artistic Campaigns of Bob and Roberta Smith” at the William Morris Gallery in London is a showcase of works chronicling London-based artist Bob and Roberta Smith’s (the pseudonym of Patrick Brill) campaigns for art education.In 2013, Bob and Roberta launched the Art Party with Crescent Arts, Scarborough to better advocate the arts to Government. It is not a formal political party, but rather a loose grouping of artists and organisations concerned about the role of arts and design in schools.“Art Is Your Human Right” comprises film, placards, sculpture, banners, and even the artist’s slogan-covered campaigning van. Highlights include the text work “Letter to Michael Gove” and the specially commissioned film “Art is Your Human Right: Why can’t politics be more fun?William Morris was himself a passionate believer in equality in the arts, writing: “I do not want art for a few, any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few.” The exhibition draws attention to this shared philosophy with interventions throughout the Gallery’s permanent collection.Commenting on the exhibition, Bob and Roberta Smith said: “This show takes forward my campaigns, which have been purely about art education, to thinking about art as fundamental to freedom of expression for all of us.“Morris had a deep understanding of the importance of art in every part of our lives which really speaks to me. I want the Mayoral candidates in the 2016 election to sign up to my ‘Morrisian pledges,’ and I am inviting the public to get involved and help me spread the word.”To find out more about “Art Is Your Human Right” and the artist’s campaigns for art education, BLOUIN ARTINFO got in touch with Bob and Roberta and asked a few questions.What is the motivation and inspiration behind “Art Is Your Human Right:The Artistic Campaigns of Bob and Roberta Smith” at William Morris Gallery?Art around the world is under threat. Whip the blogger, imprison the poet, lock up the artist, blow up the ancient city, and what you are saying is that your vision does not matter, that you will have no legacy, and that your life means nothing.In this country we are telling children art, poetry, music, and dance is of no importance. This means that our children will not develop their voices and we won’t be hearing from them as adults. I think to defend the arts is to defend something fundamental. The arts is about free expression, and free speech is a human right.In what ways do you translate and interpret your message into a visual language and vocabulary?I work things out by writing them down. I try to write clearly, but with style AND URGENTLY. When I paint my thoughts on boards I do so quite expressively. I swap colours around and change scale to create emphasis on certain areas; but this is intuitive and sometimes contradicts the sense of the text. I think hand-painted texts become an “ident” for the idea. The visual impact of the work inhabits the politics and the meaning of the text.The exhibition features the new work “Dear Mayoral Candidate...” Could you explain the basis of this work and what it entails?I stood against Michael Gove in the 2015 election. In my film “Art is your Human Right” you can see how I got on. Afterwards, I thought that I don’t want to do that again. Principally, because democracy is not very democratic. I felt sorry for the other candidates and the people in Surrey Heath who are not conservatives and who will never have a say in what goes on in their area. The experience made me a fan of proportional representation. In 2016 there will be an election for mayor. I would like them to mention the arts on the campaign. The Arts agenda is my effort to pressure the mayoral candidates to defend the arts when they seek our votes.How does your message manifest aesthetically in the works presented in “Art Is Your Human Right: The Artistic Campaigns of Bob and Roberta Smith”?The aesthetics is pretty un-synthesized. In large part I do what I do and I am not self-conscious about it. I am influenced by conceptual art and Situationist approaches, but I am also driven in a way which is not reflective or analytical which means my work lives somewhere else. I am not sure where it lives but that does not bother me. I am very concerned about communicating directly with the public. I don’t want to rely on the art world to interpret what I do.Could you give a bit of an insight into the “Art is Your Human Right: Why can’t politics be more fun?” film that has been specially commissioned for the exhibition?“Art is Your Human Right: Why can’t politics be more fun?” follows me on my campaign trail against Michael Gove in Surrey Heath. The film is fun. It is mostly shot on a Sony hand-held camera with an SD card; but some parts of it were made on my phone. It’s rather primitive and I only realized half way through that I should film some cut-away shots. This means the pace of it is very YouTube-like and rather crude. But I think it is watchable in a straightforward way.My friend the filmmaker and writer John Rogers made an excellent job of editing it. He made part of the film. That early part of the movie flows much better. There are some great shots of Michael Gove and me. My favorite part is the “Victory” Rally he held in Cobham a few days before the election. It’s the sort of local politics that is thankfully too crude for national life; but the incumbent politician being driven through the town on a fire truck is somehow acceptable in the shires. I am proud of that part. It exposes the charade of the election in safe seats.Video by William Morris Gallery. Courtesy William Morris Gallery
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