Marx says NO to the EEC – Nordic artists against the 1972 EEC membership campaigns (original) (raw)

Abstract

In the autumn of 1972 Norway and Denmark held national referenda in connection with both countries’ pending applications for membership to the European Economic Community. The art historical comparative case study of GRAS (Norway) and Red Mother (Denmark) reveal contrasting artistic responses to the debate. Situated politically on the far left the groups approached the campaigns against the EEC from a similar standpoint, however, the artistic output and commitment was symptomatic of their inherent national conditions. Political and national traditions, as well as artistic influences, are means to understanding the imagery produced up until the referenda. The art posters produced on either side of Skagerack displayed precursory indications of the national outcome of the EEC membership issue through subject matter, scale, size and output. Furthermore the national ad hoc campaigns against European membership were structurally embedded in the national political landscape, which is reflected in differing ways in both the Norwegian and the Danish artists’ work. This case study from my research on Scandinavian artist workshops at the end of the sixties, discusses a direct link between the artist and the people, in what can be seen as propaganda, which reveals that in certain national cases in the West artists can propagate movement of the people in differing directions although they operate under similar circumstances and politics.

Anna Sandaker Glomm hasn't uploaded this paper.

Let Anna know you want this paper to be uploaded.

Ask for this paper to be uploaded.