EWAN, Ruth 'All things are common (Stephanie)' poster stack (2008)

Ruth Ewan, 'All Things Are Common (Stephanie)' 2008

A stack of 2,500 free posters first presented at Liste, Basel.

Ruth Ewan's (b.1980, Aberdeen) work engages brilliantly with social politics, protest and propaganda, unearthing forgotten heroes and idiosyncratic historical laws and customs to generate a deeper understanding of our present attitudes to radical ideas and social justice. Not heeding the usual warnings, she has worked on numerous projects with young children and small animals, of which this beautifully produced poster is one example. Several versions of this print have been made, each time the image is coloured in by a different child and reproduced as a free poster stack. The first version 'All things...(Stephanie)' was distributed at the Liste Art Fair in Basel in 2008, and again at Sandra Buergel gallery in 2009. Subsequently, three different versions were made for each of the touring venues of the exhibition in which the work was included, Rank: Picturing the Social Order 1516 -2009, which originated at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art - for exhibition information visit http://www.ngca.co.uk/home/default.asp?id=147

The work itself is derived from a copy of an early 17th century engraving satirising the Anabaptist belief in the sharing of common goods. The image, re-drawn by Ewan, has been coloured by a 12 year old girl from Buckhaven, Scotland. Each time it is shown again, Ewan specifies that the work should be re-coloured by a different child. Socialists, including Friedrich Engels, adopted Thomas Müntzer, a German Anabaptist and rebel leader of the Peasants’ War, as an icon of early class struggle. They believed Müntzer was a revolutionary who utilised biblical language to articulte his radical ideology and promote a new egalitarian society. One of his battle cries was omnia sunt communia, all things are common.

Free and wide distribution of her work is an important aspect of Ewan's practice. This and several of her other booklets and multiples are available by request through her website: www.ruthewan.com

PRICE, Seth "8-4 9-5 10-6 11-7"

Seth Price's work as an artist often concerns itself with modes of distribution, the commodification of art works and other objects by society, and ways of evading or subverting these norms. Distributed by the ICA as part of their exhibition Dispersion held in 2008 (titled, incidentally, by Curator Polly Staple after an essay of the same name by Price), 8-4 9-5 10-6 11-7 was available as a free download for the period of the exhibition, and can still be found on the ICA website by following the link below. According to the exhibition information, "8-4 9-5 10-6 11-7 is part of Price’s ongoing series Title Variable which focuses on music as a mutating resource, and is made up of an eight hour continuous mix of dance music from the last thirty years. The title refers to the eight hour working day, whether one is in, say, a unionised labour job (8-4), a typical office job (9-5), the cultural world (10-6) or running a boutique (11-7)."

Follow this link to the download:

http://www.ica.org.uk/18772/ICA-Exhibitions-clips-and-media/Seth-Price-84-95-106-117.html