On Saturday 9th July 2005, twenty-three teams raced across London as part of Tate Scavengers. Their aim was to win £1000 cash and have their work exhibited at Tate Modern.
Tate Scavengers was an expanded version of World Scavengers, devised to engage audiences in the production of an artwork, using participatory performance to reflect on the ways contemporary art is produced. A wry comment on the operation of capital in the art market and the relationship between visual and performing arts, Tate Scavengers questions what it is that constitutes art.
At 10 a.m. the teams were issued with a set of 100 art clues. These led them to locations around the capital where information or an item had to be gathered, recorded or made. Some clues were simple, others more cryptic.
At the end of a long, hard day the teams returned to Tate Modern to have their submissions judged. The judges were very strict. Teams were awarded points (to the value of the clue number) for correct items only. A few points were awarded for ingenious but erroneous submissions. An awards ceremony was held and the winning team left Tate Modern in a limousine. They were richer by £1,000: the total ticket revenue of the event.
The following day the collected items were displayed in a one-day exhibition.
Tate Scavengers was devised and created by artist Joshua Sofaer, assisted by Stacy Makishi and produced by the Interpretation and Education department of Tate Modern.
The Thrill of the Chase
How better to understand Duchamp's iconic urinal than go in search of a real one, asks Natalie Brierley [New Statesman 25.07.05]
The game was over. As we turned the corner and saw the clamps on the car wheels, our hearts sank. Moments earlier our team, "Hackney empire", had registered for Tate Scavengers, Tate Modern's 100-clue, London-wide scavenger hunt. Yet Southwark Council, it seemed, had already dashed our dreams of success. (Although, looking on the bright side, at least we could offer ourselves as clue 42: "Anything stuffed.")
Tate Scavengers was created by Joshua Sofaer, a provocative performance artist with an eye for detail. Everything about the event was perfect, from the beautifully painted team badges to the austere judges and Bob, the "Bulldozer Security" man guarding the £1,000 cash prize.
" People rarely come to Tate Modern to look at the paintings," said Sofaer. "They come for a date or a coffee." Tate Scavengers encourages participants to engage with art in a more purposeful way - and even to become artists themselves. The day after judging, scavenged items would be exhibited in Tate Modern. "It will be an exhibition of rubbish in one of the most famous museums in the world," Sofaer said gleefully.
For us, the challenge lay in finding the unfindable. "I'll be surprised if anyone gets clue 100," Sofaer had said. And after an hour of simulated "uncontrollable tears" in a council office, the clamps were off the car and we were back on the road. When, 20 minutes later, I had persuaded a local man to part with his outdoor toilet (clue 100: "You've got to be taking the piss"), we were back in the game.
What followed was a blur: an all-day frenzy of cutting lawns, baking, knitting, sawing Yellow Pages, filling tins with human hair, cooking a bird's head and making voodoo dolls from sponge, guns from cooked rice, igloos from sugar cubes and dogs from soap. "I'd like a spoonful of whiskers," said Craig the academic to the local Turkish barber (clue 48: "A tablespoon of five o'clock shadow). "You want shave?" came the reply. "No, just the hair from someone else's." "You want shave?" "No, just, oh, never mind, thanks."
The tension was, quite literally, nail-biting (clue 83: "A tablespoon's worth of red varnished toenail clippings"). But the crunch came when Craig phoned, panicking that a toilet would not do for clue 100, as it was a reference to Duchamp's Fountain. "It's got to be a urinal," he insisted. Alan the artist came to the rescue. Minutes later, we were at his studio in Bow, relieving the building of its out-of-use urinal, which was duly disguised in a jumper for a quick getaway.
By 6pm, we were frantically unloading our wares on to the judging table. We emerged with a very satisfying 2,979 points and, being the only team to have got the urinal, were feeling hopeful. "Flash the cash, Bob," said Sofaer, and Bob opened the briefcase to applause from the crowd. "And the winner, with 2,995 points, is . . ." I understand now how Tim Henman feels.
Then I noticed clue 71 staring at me from our table: "Where is this? 020 7407 2679." Answer (to save you time), London Bridge. It was written in my own fair hand, but I hadn't shown it to the judge. Seventy-one points. It was ours. We'd won - but the moment had passed and the winners had already been showered in champagne and whisked off with their £1,000 in a black limo. Never have I been so disappointed to realise that I had won something.
The exhibition, however, was a fantastic success. Though the exhibits were essentially a pile of rubbish, they shone above the Herzog & de Meuron architectural models in the Turbine Hall below. Tate Scavengers was a test of humour as much as creative genius. Next year, we'll be back with a new name: "The empire Strikes Back".
Tate Scavengers Credits
Tate Scavengers was devised and created by Joshua Sofaer
Assisted by Stacy Makishi
Produced for Tate Modern by Sophie Howarth
Assisted by Caroline Brimmer and Melanie Lenz
Judges:
Abigail Davies, Christopher Hewitt, Claudia Boultan, Daryl Beeton, Emma Grace, Jeremy Killick, Jiva Parthipan, Jon Fawcett, Shelia Ghelani, and Silvana Maimone.
Bouncer:
Robert O’Toole
Cabaret Costumes by Rose Chandler
Body Stocking Painting by Matt Lipiatt
Scavengers Badges by Robin Whitmore
Photography:
Manuel Vason
DVD:
Design: Rebecca Hunter
Camera: Mike Eley
Editor: Gregor Lyon
Directed by James Kent
Tate Scavengers was made possible with financial assistance from Tate Modern, Awards For All, Better Bankside and Outsmart.
With thanks to:
Adrian Hardwicke, Akiko Usami, Chris Berry, Edith Slee, Giles Semper, Jane Burton, Jason Sharkey, John Bracken, Mike Hatch, Patrick Duvall, Patrick Hudson, Peter Moon, Remi Getowski, Ruth Findlay, Sandra McLean, Simon Bolitho, Synthia Griffin, Tracey Ferguson, Will Renny, and Zoe Allen.
Acknowledgements:
Aquarium, Southwark Cathedral, Southwark Tourist Information Centre, and Thames Clippers.
Joshua Sofaer is a Research Fellow at ResCen, Centre for Research into Creation in the Performing Arts, Middlesex University.
The Teams:
Team 1: Monica Conway, James Conway, Tim Robinson, and Sarah Robinson
Team 2: Natalie Brierley, Ruth Paton, Alan Bond, and Craig Moyes
Team 3: Jen De Burgh, Peter Gillings, Sharon Bridgeman, and Neil Best
Team 4: Emma Hart, Danny Lock, Lizzy Hayes, and Tim Park
Team 5: Barry Mason, Ten, Roger Seaward, and Linda Morris
Team 6: Clare Owen, Anne Hurst, John Owen, and Catherine Hurst
Team 7: Doug Bailey, Nick Boston, Luke Price, and Andrew Cochrane
Team 8: Tim Barnes, Liam Krupp, Fraser Mills, and Matthew Harper
Team 9: Steven Bishop, Rachel Pelly, Paul Shaw, and Ronan Cantwell
Team 10: Sue Evans, John Mangold, Valerie Brown, and Dave Allen
Team 11: Alexandra Lee, Matilda Anderson, Katie Johnson, and Martin Garthwaite
Team 12: Eleanor MacNair, Keiron Fairnington, Nick Edwards, and Jim Edwards
Team 13: Zoe Gregory, Polly Swinscoe, Trevor Norris, and Zoe Michenson
Team 14: Jennifer Smith, Caroline Barnett, Jonathan Drayton, and Oliver Drayton
Team 15: Rosie Cressey, Emily Levis, Dan Gregory, and Oliver Golden
Team 16: Jack Horner, Tim Grimsditch, Gavin Mann, and Tanya Silkin
Team 17: Tess Watts, Genevieve Kantoch, Sophia Russo, and Emily Cody
Team 18: Pollyanna Clayton-Stamm, Andrew Leach, Rebecca French, and Andrew Mottershead
Team 19: Tim Knowles, Rupert Stokoe, Tony Eccles, and Andy Gilder
Team 20: Sarah Tomlin, Liam Hudson, Daniel Buchan, and Stuart Rison
Team 21: Hugh Thorn, Caroline Price, Simon Setter, and Eliza Flanagan
Team 22: Kate Sanders, Sanaa Shaikh, James Moore, and Beth Carroll
Team 23: Phoebe Brooks, Carla Pont, Ben Martynoga, and Sam Hopkins