Transcript of a conversation with Jeremy Deller and David Haslam

Participants
JD: = Jeremy Deller
DH: = Dave Haslam

Recording starts

DH: So when you got the commission from the Festival, what made you choose a procession particularly?

JD: Well, I think the Festival wanted a big, open, free public artwork of some description with a performative element and, to be honest, I think a procession is probably the most efficient way of doing a lot of things at the same time. It’s quite spectacular but you can tell a story, there’s different elements to it, it doesn’t have to be one thing, it can be a number of things; and also I think a procession in itself as a form is very appealing to most people. Most people understand what it is. I mean the title I gave the piece is pretty pathetic to be honest, calling it ‘Procession’ but I just couldn’t think of anything else to call it, but I should have called The More the Merrier, in retrospect, but I didn’t. But anyway … So I just thought you can combine music and all sorts of things in a procession. You can have virtually anything you want in a procession, so I just thought that was a great kind of way to celebrate the Festival, in a way.

DH: And you previously did a procession of a kind in San Sebastian, which was called A Social Parade.

JD: Yeah.

DH: What was that about and how does this one differ?

JD: Another bad title really! But that was very much about a very specific town, a very conservative town in Spain, in the Basque region. It has a very specific political make-up, a very strong folk culture. So I ignored both of those things and did a procession of people who have similar interests, like people who are blood donors, for example, and people who do martial arts classes, blind people, and so on. That was much more simple than this, much more low key. It was really the town showing itself to itself. So it was like holding a mirror up on the town and showing a kind of subtext of life in the town. What I did in Manchester was a lot more elaborate – as if you saw it you’d realise – and a lot more fantasy as well.

DH: And also I mentioned to somebody who’s been working with you on the Procession for months, and I pointed out that the word process appears in the word procession.

JD: That’s a good point.

DH: And he was gobsmacked at that news, and he said that you would have already worked that one out yourself.

JD: Well, you know what? I didn’t, I hadn’t worked that one out.

DH: [Laughs]

JD: But you’re right.

DH: And I think that’s one of the things that struck me, being a little bit involved in the project, is how you’re very interested in it as a process and the research involved and the beginnings and the preparation, and then the aftermath and the exhibition is all part of it for you. I mean, what is the work? Is the work the procession itself, or is the work the process?

JD: These are really good questions Dave! [Laughter] And that’s a really tough one. Well, let me go back a bit. The process is always very enjoyable, it’s not stressful in the way that like putting on a procession when you think it’s going to rain in the morning like two hours before; that’s really stressful. But the process is really actually quite relaxing and a lot of fun, I’d like to think, just driving around, popping into shops and meeting people, especially in a part of the world where people are actually quite forthcoming and willing to talk to you and quite willing to take part as well. That helps too.

So the process is very much part of it, and we had a bit of a problem with this business about smoking, as you might have known. One of the Councillors, who I doubt is here, realised we were having smokers in the procession, and we got very worried because we thought people might pull out of the procession because of it, because they thought they were taking part in this controversial thing. But actually they didn’t and I think that one reason they didn’t was because they knew us. We knew these people, we didn’t just ring them up once and chat to them about stuff. We were kind of seeing them on a continual basis really, and I think that helped. So the process helps in a number of ways, that people can trust you because you’re asking a lot of people really to do that, give up their time and make things and take part.

Was I happy with it? I was very happy with it. My main concern was the weather obviously, and actually we were going to do something called The Rain Made Us, which was going to be some sort of float with artificial rain falling on people, but it became a bit too theatrical so we didn’t do that, so that’s another thing we didn’t do. But yeah, I was very happy. I was very happy that there was a big audience.

DH: Were you happy that Andy Murray got knocked out and there was therefore not Live from Wimbledon?

JD: I was thrilled! [Laughter] I was so happy.

Recording ends 5:00