The following proposals and projects were made with the realisation that the proposal is a medium that allows limitless possibilities for the imagination. It also has the attraction of being very cheap and easy to produce.

The dominating themes that run through my proposals are absurdity and failure; absurdity ensures that the proposals are confined to the sheets of paper they are written on, and also guarantees failure to realise the proposals.

1. Miscellaneous proposals.

These proposals were created and sent with the intention of soliciting rejections; a rejection letter representing a successful failure.

Proposal for Franklin Furnace 1999

Proposals for New Work UK, Chisenhale 1999

Proposals for Work & Leisure International

Proposal 1

The £2000 commission will be used solely for the payment of petty fines. Examples of fines that could be incurred are:

• Fines for travelling on trains without a valid ticket
• Car parking fines and fines to release a clamped car
• Library fines
• Urinating in a public place
• Cycling offences
• Allowing a dog to defecate in a park
• Littering

There will be no time limitations on when the fines have to be incurred by but ideally I would like to incur as many fines in as short a period as possible.

This performance will be re-presented in a gallery exhibition by the display of the fine tickets and receipts. If the £2000 commission has not been fully spent by the time of the exhibition dates, new fine tickets and receipts can be added whilst the exhibition is running. Other things that will be presented along with the aforementioned documentation are residual materials and props from the performance. Examples could include:

• The display of overdue books from libraries that are incurring fines whilst they are being displayed.
• A container filled with urine collected whilst being fined for urinating in public.
• A car/cars could be illegally parked outside of, or close to, the exhibition spaces.

The performance will be complete when the £2000 commission has been fully spent.

Proposal 2

The dawn bird chorus will be recorded. The recording will be used to awaken birds by amplifying and playing back the recording.

There is no specific site required for the performance and it can be varied to suit the differing venues (i.e. Manchester, Hull and Nottingham). However, the site does need to be somewhere that has many birds. Another consideration would be the disturbance of people. A nature reserve or large garden/park would probably be the most viable sites.

The performance can be presented in a number of ways, and either by live performance or through documentation, as the whole process will be filmed, or by both. For example, the playback of the recording could be performed every morning for the duration of the exhibitions in each venue, with the film footage being screened during the day, so that each day's footage would be different. Alternatively, just a single, edited documentary of the performance could be made which would be screened at the venues.

The £2000 commission would be used to fund the hire of equipment needed for the performance eg. amplification equipment, projection equipment, cameras etc.

The inspiration for this performance was being woken at 5 o'clock in the morning by the dawn chorus. This performance can be seen as an attempt to exact some retribution back at nature.

Assorted proposals

2. Anonymous Proposals.

The following proposals were sent anonymously.

Articule

Chisenhale

PROPOSAL FOR THE CHISENHALE GALLERY:

The Chisenhale will be filled with a constant stream of people for the duration of a show. People will be hired for the sole purpose of streaming through the gallery. In the centre of the gallery will be placed something really good that does not exceed the dimensions of 50cm wide, 50cm long and 150cm high. The people will be instructed to follow a set route around the gallery ensuring that they stream past the really good thing. The use of barriers or fences may be required to keep the stream ordered.

At all times during the opening hours there shall be a constant of 575 people within the Chisenhale. The hired people will stream through the Chisenhale at the rate of one person entering and one person exiting every one second. 18575 people will be required for each day of the show. While the gallery is closed the really good thing shall be covered up.

No one will be allowed to enter the space unless they have been specifically hired to enter the space.

No one will be allowed to enter more than once.

It is permitted for the people to tell others what they have seen.

The duration of the show will be a minimum of one day.

For each day of the show, the Chisenhale will open at its normal opening time of 1.00pm. When it opens, 575 people will already be present in the Chisenhale.

The first person of the day will enter at 12.50pm and 25 seconds so that at 1.00pm there will be the full 575 people in the building. Continuing at the rate of one person entering and leaving the Chisenhale per second, 18000 more people will enter the space until the 6.00pm closing time. The last person shall exit the Chisenhale at 6.09pm and 35 seconds. No one shall be present in the Chisenhale for more than 9 minutes and 35 seconds.

Ideally, from a financial position, it would be best if the people hired for the participation in this show were unpaid volunteers. However, if this is not possible then payment for the people may be required.

Conductors Hallway

PROPOSAL FOR THE CONDUCTORS HALLWAY:

The Conductors Hallway will be filled with a constant stream of people for the duration of a show. People will be hired for the sole purpose of streaming through the gallery. In the centre of the gallery will be placed something really good that does not exceed the dimensions of 50cm wide, 50cm long and 150cm high. The people will be instructed to follow a set route around the gallery ensuring that they stream past the really good thing. The use of barriers or fences may be required to keep the stream ordered.

At all times during the opening hours there shall be a constant of 153 people within the Conductors Hallway. The hired people will stream through the Conductors Hallway at the rate of one person entering and one person exiting every one second. 21753 people will be required for each day of the show. While the gallery is closed the really good thing shall be covered up.

*No one will be allowed to enter the space unless they have been specifically hired to enter the space.

*No one will be allowed to enter more than once.

*It is permitted for the people to tell others what they have seen.

The duration of the show will be a minimum of one day.

For each day of the show, the Conductors Hallway will open at its normal opening time of 12.00pm. When it opens, people will already be present in the Conductors Hallway.

The first person of the day will enter at 11.57pm and 27 seconds so that at 12.00pm there will be the full 153 people in the building. Continuing at the rate of one person entering and leaving the Conductors Hallway per second, 21600 more people will enter the space until the 6.00pm closing time. The last person shall exit the Conductors Hallway at 6.02pm and 33 seconds. No one shall be present in the Conductors Hallway for more than 2 minutes and 33 seconds.

Ideally, from a financial position, it would be best if the people hired for the participation in this show were unpaid volunteers. However, if this is not possible then payment for the people may be required.

Eye Level Gallery

PROPOSAL FOR THE EYE LEVEL GALLERY:

The Eye Level Gallery will be filled with a constant stream of people for the duration of a show. People will be hired for the sole purpose of streaming through the gallery. In the centre of the gallery will be placed something really good that does not exceed the dimensions of 50cm wide, 50cm long and 150cm high. The people will be instructed to follow a set route around the gallery ensuring that they stream past the really good thing. The use of barriers or fences may be required to keep the stream ordered.

At all times during the opening hours there shall be a constant of 157 people within the Chisenhale. The hired people will stream through the Chisenhale at the rate of one person entering and one person exiting every one second. 18157 people will be required for each day of the show. While the gallery is closed the really good thing shall be covered up.

*No one will be allowed to enter the space unless they have been specifically hired to enter the space.

*No one will be allowed to enter more than once.

*It is permitted for the people to tell others what they have seen.

The duration of the show will be a minimum of one day.

For each day of the show, the Eye Level Gallery will open at its normal opening time of 12.00pm. When it opens, 157 people will already be present in the Eye Level Gallery.

The first person of the day will enter at 11.57pm and 23 seconds so that 12.00pm there will be the full 157 people in the building. Continuing at the rate of one person entering and leaving the Eye Level Gallery per second, 18000 more people will enter the space until the 5.00pm closing time. The last person shall exit the Eye Level Gallery at 5.02pm and 37 seconds. No one shall be present in the Chisenhale for more than 2 minutes and 37 seconds.

Ideally, from a financial position, it would be best if the people hired for the participation in this show were unpaid volunteers. However, if this is not possible then payment for the people may be required.

Mercer Union

PROPOSAL FOR THE MERCER UNION:

The Mercer Union will be filled with a constant stream of people for the duration of a show. People will be hired for the sole purpose of streaming through the gallery. In the centre of the Main Gallery will be placed something really good that does not exceed the dimensions of 50cm wide, 50cm long and 150cm high. The people will be instructed to follow a set route around the gallery ensuring that they stream past the really good thing. The use of barriers or fences may be required to keep the stream ordered.

All three sections of the Mercer Union (the Main Gallery, the Project Room, and the Window) will be used. At all times during the opening hours there shall be a constant of 209 people within the Mercer Union (60 in the Project Room, 15 in the Window, and 135 in the Main Gallery). The hired people will stream through the Mercer Union at the rate of one person entering and one person exiting every one second. 25409 people will be required for each day of the show. While the Mercer Union is closed, the really good thing shall be covered up.

*No one will be allowed to enter the space unless they have been specifically hired to enter the space.

*No one will be allowed to enter more than once.

*It is permitted for the people to tell others what they have seen.

The duration of the show will be a minimum of one day.

For each day of the show, the Mercer Union will open at its normal opening time of 11.00am. When it opens, 209 people will already be present in the 3 parts of the Mercer Union.

The first person of the day will enter at 10.56am and 31 seconds so that at 11.00am there will be the full 209 people in the building. Continuing at the rate of one person entering and leaving the Mercer Union per second, 25200 more people will enter the space until the 6.00pm closing time. The last person shall exit the Mercer Union at 6.03pm and 29 seconds. No one shall be present in the Mercer Union for more than 3 minutes and 29 seconds.

Ideally, from a financial position, it would be best if the people hired for the participation in this show were unpaid volunteers. However, if this is not possible then payment for the people may be required.

Anonymous Proposals Project

The following project was installed at Urban Romantics, a group exhibition in Southampton, 1999.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PARTICIPATION IN THIS PIECE OF WORK:

Write your name and address in the space provided at the bottom of the proposal.

Place your proposal in one of the addressed envelopes and seal.

Place sealed envelope in the container provided. The envelope will then be collected and sent on your behalf.

Please note that once the proposal has been sent, the sender should take full responsibility for the resulting correspondence from the Franklin Furnace.

The Franklin Furnace fund for performance art annually grants money for the finance of new work (for 1999, the grants were US$2000 - $5000).

I am allowing the sender of the proposal to claim full ownership of the proposed idea.

If funds are allocated, the sender shall be the sole recipient.

Although it is my idea I wish you to propose, any connection with the proposal that I may or may not have does not concern me.

The nature of the proposal is one of absurdity, futility, and failure. The object of this project is to gain endorsement for futility.

A total of 43 proposals were sent

3. Performance Labels

The following labels were installed in Winchester School of Art, 1998.