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I. INTRODUCTION
Today, not many books are written about Keith Arnatt and
even less about his photography. Most of the information about
his work can be found in various catalogue articles and several
essays. Although the essays written in these catalogues shed
some light on his pre-photographic and touch upon some of his
photographic work, they are limited in information. Thankfully,
Arnatt was an artist who, even though he seemed to care little
about the success of his work, did not mind discussing his
work with others and when doing so, he was very clear about
his ideas and accomplishments, thus reducing the possibility of
others misinterpreting it. However, this is more applicable to
his early works than for his photographic work. Due to the fact
that at that time photography was not considered to be a form
of art or, at least, any form of serious art, artists that were
associated with it were usually quickly disregarded. In the
second half of the 20th century photography became a more
prominent medium, but it was usually used in combination
with other mediums, rarely on its own. So how did Arnatt go
from being a known Conceptual artist to an unknown
photographer?
work that way at all now; things I do now are the result of []
discovering something in the process of working; I do
something and then reflect upon it. [26]
So, the difference lies in the change of his approach, where
the former has been described as intuitive, whilst the latter
stood for logical [and] pre-ordained procedures [27]. The
shift can be attributed to both personal reasons and to the
societys lack of understanding and appreciation of his
conceptual work. The personal reasons for the change could be
associated to Arnatts altered behavior and his change of
priorities. Critics attribute this change to an unfortunate
accident that Arnatt had suffered at his house in Tintern Abbey
in Wales. On one recorded occasion when Arnatt mentioned the
accident, he merely stated: It changed the way I feel about a
lot of things [making me] develop a terrific attachment to [Wye
Valley] [28]. The change in his personality Duncan
Wooldridge attributes to the accident where Arnatt fell from
the top of a ladder [] and was never the same [becoming]
quiet, evasive and introverted [29]. He believes that this fall
affected Arnatts artistic development and instigated the shift in
his artistic direction, which could be traced in his 2007
exhibition in the Photographers Gallery. However, the only
medical evidence that we have which could explain Arnatts
changed personality is the fact he had Alzheimers disease and
even then we do not know the severity of the disease.
Photography to Arnatt presented a new world filled with
unexplored subjects and ideas. Similar to his transition to
photography which was to be expected, his decline from the a
relatively known Conceptual artist to an unknown
photographer was gradual as well. According to his close
friend David Hurn, the sole reason that Arnatt became
prominent was that people and critics where interested in his
work at the time and that people came to him [30].
According to Charlotte Cotton it all went downhill after the
show in the Tate [31]. The show was held in 1972, where
Arnatt exhibited all 230 gallery staff photo cards [32]. In his
opinion the exhibit was a success, but in reality people
perceived it differently. According to Grafik, the personnel
removed their photos one at a time and that resulted in the
exhibit being closed before it was planned to. David Alan
Mellor mentions that Arnatt was far from affected by these
developing events, jokingly naming them the disappearing
act [33]. After the exhibit, and when he turned to photography,
the galleries seemed to have lost their patience with the
unpredictable artist. His 1980 series, on the other hand, were
not so known in the art world, but instead gained their fame in
the photography world which was still rather separate from
fine art [34].
IV. THE WORLD WHICH I SEE, THE WORLD OF THE RUBBISH
TIP