Artist Placement Group's Industrial Interventions 1966-1979

Barbara Steveni and John Latham established the Artist Placement Group in Britain during 1966, envisioning artists moving from studios into industrial settings with open briefs and wages from host organizations. Ian Breakwell's 1976 placement with the UK's Department of Health and Social Security involved studying institutional architecture's impact on psychiatric care, including photographing from a locked cell at Rampton high-security psychiatric hospital for a slideshow later omitted due to the Official Secrets Act. David Hall's 1971 placement with Scottish Television produced TV Interruptions (7 TV Pieces), such as Tap Piece, which slowed television's pace by focusing on water filling a tank. Garth Evans documented functionless welded objects as readymade sculptures during a 1969 placement at British Steel Corporation, with context provided by publicist Christopher Patey. George Levantis faced friction during a 1974 placement with Ocean Fleets Ltd, where his refusal to give art classes upset a captain and shipmates discarded his installations. The group's feasibility studies, comprising reports and correspondence, often recorded antagonistic artist-host relationships, challenging traditional artist roles while maintaining art's distinctiveness.