Title: 'The Living Office' Catalogue no: 4602 Medium/Material: Size (inch):

	About the work:		WORKS IN SERIES
	In this exhibition a group of artists secured a prime location in the heart of London: Shaftsbury Avenue and close by Convent Garden. The four or five storey building was occupied by one business only, who used only half of the ground floor leaving the remainder empty. For this exhibition the other half of the ground floor was used for ‘Eyewitness.’ We each allocated a space that would be suitable for the work we had in mind. I was very interested in the space and on exploring, a lot of things went through my mind. I was struck by a corner, which had been partitioned by glass and offered a self-contained ‘office’ - in an office. This was no doubt for a manager or supervisor: a place for observation. My idea for this space was that I would sub-let this space and, after all in the heart of London, would command a good rent. I was sure that it would attract a lot of interest for the duration of three months which was the anticipated duration of this exhibition. At this stage, the Company, who owned the building was concerned about the idea, but the curator managed with various explanations, to convey the message that it was a very serious piece of art and so it was allowed to go ahead. Amidst concerns about money exchanging hands, In lieu of rent to myself, we agreed that viewers could be asked, at their discretion, to make a contribution to charity. It was not at all easy to let someone enter into a short term ‘let’ and as a condition of the space they would have to allow the public access ‘without let or hindrance’. In the end a group of architects did so, and I am pleased to say they did enter into the spirit of it all and utilised the space fully installing a phone line and other necessary equipment, holding meetings, completing projects, conducting their day-today business, as the public viewed form outside the glass partitions. The interesting thing about this piece was that the meaning and connotation of the piece would fluctuate according to whom the le was given. The work would take on a different meaning had it been let to, for instance: Army Recruitment, the Police, Minicab or Antique dealer.