The above photograph is a gelatine silver print mounted on aluminium created by conceptual artist Victor Burgin in 1976. Burgin created work with direct political intent and this particular photograph which is part of an eleven part series of works entitled UK76 is no exception. At first glance we as the audience is confronted with a bleak black and white photographic representation of Britain in the 1970’s. To the left of the photograph is a poetic verse which speaks of an exotic paradise in the form of advertorial speak ‘Wander down a winding path. Onto gentle sands.’ In the words of Victor Burgin “No art activity is to be understood apart from the codes and practices of the society which contains it” therefore we as the viewer must consider the time in which the image was made in order to gain an understanding of the piece. Beneath the verse are the words ‘Today is the Tomorrow you were Promised Yesterday’ (also the title of the piece) which represents the dashed hopes and dreams of a working class society, whose reality is a stark contrast to the idyllic lifestyles fed out by the media.
Bibliography
http://www.frieze.com/issue/review/victor_burgin/
The 20th Century Art Book: Mini Edition [Paperback] Phaidon Press Limited
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