Page 30 - Studio International - November 1974

Edinburgh itself is suspect. Most Scots north Mafiosi fundamental thinking. And Beuys too — he was
of Dundee and west of Livingstone regard it as The lineage of the conference may well have revealed as much more an academic (in the best
full of English types and false sophistry. Yet started with the Edinburgh performance by sense of the word), than anything else. The
the Festival is there to be exploited, and Richard the 784 Theatre company. A band of young latter part of his statement (I unfortunately
Demarco himself is the child of such ambiguity. socialist actors and some Gaelic singers brought missed the start) was very much in the nature
His incredible energy and cheerfulness (often in together by John McGrath in 1973. In their of a university seminar, giving and taking and
the face of total chaos) is the product of play The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, picking up on points made earlier in the
Edinburgh and its stuffy culture. He is a small Black Oil the exploitation of Scottish Oil by conference — and scrupulously tolerant of some
Irish-Italian. He is still a very competent the Americans was constantly referred back to crass pieces of self-indulgence by his audience.
drawing-master. He has . no money. (No the successive exploitation of Scottish land and The conference emerged then, as having
breeding, no culture, you can hear them say.) Scottish workpeople and Scottish cannon-fodder some of the characteristics of a good rally. But
He has changed much over the years. He would by the English. With considerable wit the then the speakers nearly all disappeared after
be inhuman if he were not cynical — yet unlike device of revolutionary theatre took on a special their own contribution was over. There was
most of us he hides his cynicism deep. He role: indivisibly welding Pan-Scottish poetry little overlap between the architectural mafia
introduced Beuys to Britain three or four years and Marxism. and the artists taking part in 'Edinburgh Arts'.
before he was acceptable in London. And over Meanwhile, a couple of architectural students As an art event, it had strange consistency.
the years he has brought to Edinburgh the had begun their own campaign. Originally As a political event it was only partly successful.
Australians, the Germans, the Yugoslays, the coming from the College in Dundee, they As a sortie by Richard Demarco into planning
Austrians and (perhaps most significantly — for embarked upon a long project which was to politics, it was left very much out on a limb in
this background) the Cricot Theatre company document the pil problem, and must lead to relation to the rest of 'Edinburgh Arts'. Taylor,
of Tadeus Kantor. In last year's production of some planning proposals. The 'two Daves' Angus and the rest should have made an
Lovelies and Dowdies, lay the symbolism of Dave Taylor and Dave Angus immediately set exhibition in a more public place. Price and
suffering and of coercion where we, as an off for London and the Architectural Beuys would have had a tremendous amount to
audience, were marched, shouted at, herded, Association where they could spend two more talk about, Bucky should have met some art
tied, and involved in an atmosphere reminiscent years developing their work. From this base students, and Soleri not kept back just for a
of both 'Kanal' and a field hospital. The they researched (despite the witholding of their smart (official festival) lecture. These guys are
director (and several of the cast) were originally scholarships by Dundee), and produced a key too dynamic to be allowed to near-miss. If I
from an art rather than a theatre background, document on the Scottish Oil issue in the form carp, it is because I believe that Ricky has
and the piece took place in an extraordinary of the June 26, 1974 issue of The Architects' something, but in his rush to do it all, he
building — sad, crumbling — and precisely at Journal. Eventually meeting-up with Demarco, mustn't forget what is happening under his nose.
one with the Cricot atmosphere. Damp, craggy they became the inevitable choice as convenors
walls, flaking metal stirrups, a stable-like floor of the conference. But since they are architects Conference
were draped with the deliberate calico coats on (and presumably good at repairing roofs) it must On the first morning, Dr Gavin Strang — the
iron hangers, the calico drapes that were wound not be assumed that the conference was to be in government spokesman on energy for Scotland
round sections of the audience, and there was any way an architects' gathering. Both Taylor — was posed against Donald Bain — of the
the dusty black garb of the actors, the wailing and Angus are characteristic of the mood Scottish National Party. Immediately, the
black violin and the Poorhouse — for this is amongst young Celtic socialist architects at notion of 'Scottish Interests versus UK
what the building had been it remains an this time: the heritage of the big blustering Interests' emerged. 'The Scots,' said Bain
indelible image. architect marching in with a master plan is `are the white negroes of Britain', and he called
The continued rape of Scotland by the symbolically akin to the oil rig itself — a for Britain to become another Benelux. Should
English: they and the Americans in their 'megastructure' which is in turn as distasteful as not the Scots be more like the Norwegians than
standard accents and their smooth buildings. the mega-nature of the organizations that make the Belgians? This was a pitched confrontation,
The conference must come from the both possible. Here we return to the essentially but such predictableness was broken by Gerald
underground: it must weep for the suffering of 'underground' or anti-establishment nature of Laing, the next speaker, and the only artist —
the Scots — just as the year before the black the conference, which Demarco himself apart from Beuys — to take part. I quote his
violin wept. To sustain such a fantasy there symbolises in all that he has done. Yet it had text at length since it captures the real spirit of
was a sacrifice. As one organizer put it 'Leith to be a political event — and it had to be the Black and White Oil Show.
Town Hall would have been more appropriate'. opportunist. It had somehow to create an
Leith Town Hall is presumably waterproof, atmosphere of action. And the final paradox `So oil has been discovered under the North Sea,
well-lit, moderately warm, and in the may well be that it was only at certain and for Scotland happiness is just around the
ship-building (rather than the university) part of moments that it came alive. corner. Let me say first that I doubt it, and
town, and not demanding of the organizers that To the architectural mafia, news leaked out remind you that if oil is treated as a fairy
they spend those precious pre-event days that Buckminster Fuller, Paolo Soleri and godmother, then one must remember that on
repairing the roof rather than making the Cedric Price would be in town simultaneously: the stroke of midnight the glass coach will turn
conference known about. A conference is to do a rare occasion. And curiously, Bucky Fuller back into a pumpkin. The Cadillac will rust.
with ideas, information, and above all was appearing on the same day as Joseph Beuys. Even if it does not rust, if it is made of stainless
communication. This matters more than The notion of Fuller (average lecture 5 hours) steel, or better still replaced every year, thus
symbolism. The oil issue is pertinent. And it and Beuys — who last year at 'Edinburgh Arts' ensuring boring and wasteful employment on
involves time. It involves action. The major made his twelve-hour lecture (and between the assembly lines for countless industrial serfs,
decisions are probably irreversible: with them have a very parallel respect and guru-like it will fail to sustain itself as a desirable object.
Scotland as a pawn in the game of balancing reputation) was worthy of Demarco at his best. Remember how quickly the toy pails. Do
international payments. North Sea oil (light oil) But was it relevant? How much were they any of us know, off hand, whether or not there
has to be traded with Arab oil (heavy oil) in involved? In the event, Bucky, who is now are any astronauts in space at this very moment?
order that we can use it as motor oil. It is the 79 years old, was just what the conference Space travel is already a bore. For God's sake,
collateral with which to float a sinking Britain needed: admittedly not strictly to the point, let us try to learn from the experience of others.
Britain mark you, not Scotland: and but wonderful in bringing optimism and an And in the case of material prosperity, it is to
here is the emotional crux of the conference. almost child-like recognition of the need for America that we must turn, and witness the

188