Page 37 - Studio International - January 1973

Behavioural Art

`THE ARTIST AS AN INSTIGATOR OF CHANGES IN SOCIAL COGNITION AND BEHAVIOUR', DOCUMENTATION
ON RECENT PROJECTS BY STEPHEN WILLATS, IS AT GALLERY HOUSE, LONDON, FROM 12 JANUARY 1973.

The prevalence of scepticism amongst artists spectator were superseded by involvements with
has in some sense been a contributory factor in groups of people and later with whole social
the move towards a more theoretically groups. 1968 began a shift not only in his
sophisticated art in recent years, perhaps to methodology but also in his ideological
compensate for the ramifications of a realm premises. His earlier speculations about sense
empty of ideas or meaning. Many artists of this data were replaced by investigations of the
generation in Britain have reacted to the current `social structures' which determined the status
proclamation of 'anything goes' by attempting to of art (and its objects). Maintaining an
bring to bear criteria which would invest in art ideological instability is perhaps reflective of his
some meaning, be it ideological, theoretical or ideology. His work now requires an enormous
political. The presumption of art as an 'open amount of data which he collects from certain
concept' and the need to establish some inherent prespecified (specified by the preceding project)
meaning in the term 'art' may well seem an social groups in the form of questionnaires,
irreconcilable paradox: 'The paradoxical nettle interviews, etc., based on their own rule
always to be grasped is that of reconciling the art structures. The results of the analysis of such
work's status as an empty form with its being an data may lead to the regrouping of his 'audience'
assembly of meaningful signs' (`Rules of under criteria more pertinent to his specific
Thumb' — Victor Burgin, Studio International, objective, but from the initial stages of the
June 1971). Some would reject the paradox as project the ideas which he is manipulating are
illusory, and others have embellished the notion given some 'feedback' into the social groups
of an open concept with the more sophisticated immediately involved in the project. The groups,
notions derived from modern analytical he believes, will then articulate themselves and
philosophy. Steve Willats, however, has viewed their relationships to other social groups. Each
art in cybernetical terms as a relatively closed social group receives information which is
system with self-regulating features. His encoded in accordance with the characteristic
motivation has been to give to art some meaning language structure which determines that social
in a social context and to this end he has grouping. Throughout, there is little distinction
adopted cybernetics both as tool and made between his investigatory and didactic
convention. 'Cybernetics, Cognitive Psychology, capacities. The method is essentially
Information Theory and the modern sciences of hypothetico/deductive and so criteria of 'linear'
communication and analysis have increased in progress are not inapplicable in evaluation of his
their importance to the artist (as they have in work — he feels that only now, after about ten
other areas of society) for apart from providing years of work in this area of inquiry, are his
signals/models of the evolutionary direction of models reaching a satisfactory degree of
society motivating a directed vision, they have sophistication. He works for the most part
enabled a critical re-assessment of strategies/ within the social structure which determines
tactics to be made. This has subsequently led to habits, rules and goals which in turn establish
the problem of meaningful operation within the operational basis of art and, by extension, all
different social contexts'. (Willats : 'Cognition art (if one can assign to Willats's work some
and Control'.) prescriptive intentions, as I believe one can).
In recent years Steve Willats has exerted The operation of this work is in the
great influence, through his teaching and work, ideological realm, but ideology is no mere
5. There were two Description Sheets at the back of
the West London Manual; these were aimed at on an enlarging group of artists and students. `guiding light'. He is in no way adopting a
enabling participants to construct rearticulated Strangely, though, his work (a lot of which has pre-subscribed ideology as a rigid framework of
mental models of aspects of their social environment.
Participants were asked questions concerning the been based in Ipswich and Nottingham) has not criteria to map the course of his work. Rather he
items depicted on the Description Sheets, the had the same order of influence outside the attempts to shift his objective premises and even
answers to which they recorded in the Manual. For confines of his group, even though papers and aspects of his theoretical groundwork upon the
instance, a participant was asked to describe a
typical 'B' in their neighbourhood, and its social what he calls 'theoretical models' have been basis of his investigations.
function. 'B' being a picture of a local published since 1965. He was widely An acknowledgement of the necessity (or
tobacconist's shop known to participants misinterpreted as being a kinetic artist in the inevitability) of working simultaneously as an
6. There were two Association Sheets in the West heyday of kinetic art. But his earlier 'models' observer and as a participant in these
London Manual; participants were asked to select an were electronic analogues for many of his more investigations of social structures is accompanied
item on the first sheet and link it with an unlikely one recent involvements. At that time he used
on the second sheet, describing the associations by a further acknowledgement that his
between the two objects cybernetic notions of homeostasis and investigations and interactions undeniably
self-regulating systems to present complex exemplify the role of the artist he prescribes.
systems of input and output as heuristic or His work is simultaneously an investigation of
'problem-solving' mechanisms for the social codes and their accompanying 'rule
spectator/operator. Concerns with the single structures' (which affect the accessibility of his
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