MISSION COMPLETE

That's me done.

My wee offbeat look back at what life was like for my generation growing up in Dundee during the 1960's - 1970's - 1980's has now reached journeys end and so I'm away to put the time-machine back in the garage and chuck the cover back on.

For those of you who find Retro Dundee for the first time after this date, here is a quick overview.

It started up back in summer 2008 and all the items I have posted (over 1300) are still available to view in the Blog Archive running down the left side of the main layout. You can click on the dates to open up the content and you can scroll through the material month by month or by their title. There is also a Search Box top left if you are looking for something specific where you can scroll through the posts it finds.

You'll find a mixture of photographs, adverts, audios, film footage, publications & ephemera on all sorts of subjects relating to Dundee's retro decades - school, fashion, bands, events, pubs, art, sport, restaurants, gigs, shops and on and on. So if you were kicking around town during this period, there's a good chance you'll spot a few things here you'll enjoy seeing again.

You won't find much in the way of official academic historical accounts as this is more of a retrospective trip off the beaten track than an everyday visit to the museum and library.

The majority of stuff has come from my own personal collection but quite a few others have contributed too.

As for the "Followers" who have been keeping their eyes on Retro Dundee for a while, well there will be no more new posts, so I suppose nothing else for you to follow here anymore.

Thanks for visiting it regularly, and also for those who supplied genuine comments, much appreciate the added extra info.

I will, of course, keep Retro Dundee up & running for as long as I'm around, or as long as time will allow, so unless Google's Blogger shuts down or something, Retro Dundee will remain on the Internet to bamboozle researchers & historians and it will still be kept active for you to drop in, send stuff or leave comments.

I'll also keep my Retro email open should anyone want to get in touch - and stating the rather obvious, you'll find the address top left of the layout where it says "Contact".
Remember, it is just the regular daily posts I've stopped, not the site, I will still be continuing to add fresh content to Retro, so keep sending material in - there's lots of gaps to fill..!!

Anyway, can't stay here yacking all day, I've got a ton of other things lined up ready to be cracking on with, so it's time for me to set off for cyber-pastures new and move on to my next bundle of Internet activities.

That's yer lot then.

Eh'll awa now.

GG

P.S. - Check out my other Retro Dundee related sites...

Dundee Band Index - Dundee Gig Time Machine - Tayside Bar - Bruce's - The Bowlin' Alley - Word From Dundee (fanzine archive) - Associates Gigs.

Lots more Retro Dundee music goodies to dip into!

Links to all at top of page.

BROWN STREET ARTWORK - 1985

Here's a couple of examples of public artwork that sprang up in the 80's, and both done by the same artist.

I took the top 2 pictures in 1985 in Brown Street near the junction of Miln Street.

They are the work of Stanley Bonnar, who is now more known for his sculptures.

The tree shadows were freshly painted when I snapped them but a quick glimpse at the same area on Google Street View shows that although the trees are still there, they have faded quite a bit and the wall itself is rather grubby now.

As for the dog, well it seems that has since been put down.

The bottom image is from a leaflet I have and lets you see what the place looked like when they were side by side.

BRAHMS AND LISZT AD -1988

This creepy ad from 1988 is for Brahms and Liszt who were based in the Overgate.

They sold a mixture of greetings cards, posters and fun novelty items.

POSTERN GATE AD & PHOTO

The Postern Gate was a pleasant wee arty gift shop in the Nethergate in the 70's & 80's, run by Edith Cunningham.
It had all sorts of craft styled goodies as you can tell from the advert.
I used to pop in quite regularly to top-up my art postcard collection!
The ad is dated 1977 and the photo was taken in 1985.
They changed the intrusive traffic light into a quaint lamppost for the illustration too!

CRAFT CENTRE ADS - 70's

Here's a couple of ads from the 70's for The Craft Centre in the Nethergate.
They specialised in arty gifts made from a variety of materials.
The basic top ad with just the shop name on it is from 1978.
The one underneath with the Beatrix Potter style mouse, is dated 1977.

ATTIC ARCHIVE POSTCARDS

The Attic in Union Street produced a set of postcards that were given out to visitors.

They featured some of the correspondents Pete Horobin was communicating with.

Each postcard has the image of a correspondent made entirely from the content of the letters they wrote to each other. These were done using the original cut and paste method, sentences and words physically cut from a page then reassembled and photocopied into these excellent portraits shown above.

So as a wee memento from Retro's recent visit to the Attic, here are the people in the cards above - Chris Horobin (Pete's brother) - Jack Saunders - Stefen Szczelkun - Susan Young - Mark Pawson - Philip Pilkington - Karen Strang - Barry Mitchell.

There is a good 2 part video up on Youtube made in Budapest showing the mountain of material from the Attic Archive they have in storage in the Artpool Gallery.

Boxes and boxes of stuff from Union Street being dipped into!

They go under the title of "From A to A - New Directions" (2 videos).

Here are the links -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUUsa5EQjYE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HppxEPH42c

Courtesy of The Attic Archive.

FOOD ART ACTION

A photo of Pete Horobin with another nude model, this time under the title - Food Art Action.

I think that's a rabbit - or maybe a baby ET..!!

Courtesy of The Attic Archive

HOPE FOR DUDS POSTER - 1981

[The success of Destruction/Creation led to two more live events in Laing’s – Open Sandwich and Hope For Dud’s – the latter being a multi-media happening with music by Boo Hooray, Aaga & Erasmic Super Foam, projections by Neil Watson, Sid Ozalid’s stand-up poetry, plus an action by the Principal Player highlighting the politics of the fishing industry in Scotland.]

This is the poster for the "Hope For Duds" event that took place on 20th June 1981, as described above.
Below is another track by The Principal Players called "This Principal Player Has A Dog" - recorded live in a flat in Hawkhill by Pete Horobin and Erasmic Super Foam member, John Butler, whose hacking staccato guitar technique energetically chisels out a pretty funky backdrop!

Courtesy of The Attic Archive.

DESTRUCTION / CREATION - PART 2 - 1981

[Over the winter of 1981/82 a group of Principal Players met daily in the DATA Attic to improvise with domestic utensils, regular instruments and second-rate machinery. A few of their recordings survive as audio cassettes, some of which have been digitalised.
Listen to the Elephants – recorded live in the DATA Attic one winter afternoon by the Principal Players - Pete Horobin, Gerry Mitchell, and Tam McGibbon.]

Continuing with Horobin's journal, above is the lowdown on the the 2nd half of the Destruction / Creation event at Laings

Below is the "Listen To The Elephants" track recorded by The Principal Players (plural). A whimsical wee jam session that had them beating out their best Johnny Wakelin jungle rhythm, and with Pete doing a rather fine impression of Barbara Woodhouse!

Courtesy of The Attic Archive.

DESTRUCTION / CREATION - PART 1 - 1981

[The first public performance by the Prinicipal Player – and in fact the first work of performance art in Dundee – took place in February 1981 at Laing’s in Roseangle, which at the time served as the art college union. Horobin’s Destruction/Creation resulted in the destruction of all the inadequate and unnecessary paraphernalia of his painting course, including the tearing up of his diploma, pieces of which were then distributed among the audience. The action emphasised the inadequacy of a visual artist to communicate when compared to a rock band, symbolised in this instance by Boo Hooray.]

The top image is the poster for the Destruction / Creation event at Laings in Feb '81.
It was also used as the cover of a journal that documented the event in its various stages, featuring Pete in action along with Boo Hooray on stage and an engrossed group of art students!

Courtesy of The Attic Archive.

THE PRINCIPAL PLAYER - EARLY 80'S

[THE PRINCIPAL PLAYER
Throughout the ten-year DATA project, Pete Horobin used several names - Principal Player, Acrobat, Monty Cantsin and Karen Eliot. The Principal Player was the first born and performed many actions – publicly and privately – in Dundee. These actions invariably examined the ordinariness of everyday activities – politics – improvisation and experimentation. Actions were scripted so that anyone could act out the role of the Principal Player. Scripts were sent through the post to correspondents and put up in Willie Frew’s pub on the Hawkhill.]

Shown above are 3 of the scripts the intro caption refers to.
These were put up on display in Willie Frew's for all to read - or in the case of the top example - scribble over!
Below is a recording Pete made when in Principal Player mode.
It was done at 3.00 a.m in the DATA Attic, using tape machines, a radio and various timpani.
It's called "Star Chant" and he adopts a Robert Wyatt style of vocal on this one while the wheezing, whirring and purring melodious machinery sets the hypnotic ambiance!

Courtesy of The Attic Archive

PETE HOROBIN AND VAP - LATE 70'S

[THE ACCESSIBILITY OF THE ART OBJECT
1977 - punk exploded in the Scottish cultural landscape Pete Horobin and Harry Nelson hitch-hiked to France. While they travelled - by erratic stops and starts - southwards - they sang those classic lyrics made popular by Plastique Bertrand - Ca Plane Pour Moi. The Tom Robinson Band - 2-4-6-8 Motorway. Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner. This emotional energy seemed to make everything possible – even hitch-hiking through France!
St Tropez - while lying half-asleep Horobin glanced across a space of a few metres towards a line of nubile – honey-coloured - female bodies - petite triangles covering their sex - nipples erect on pert breasts – oh so inspirational in that moment that he thought he should begin putting his art into a common space where it would have to fend for itself - instead of continuing to place it in the protected environment of a gallery. It is unlikely that naked female breasts alone nourished this epiphany so we have to consider other possible sources of inspiration such as – the very precariousness of hitch-hiking itself and the close proximity of Fluxus artist Ben Vautier in Nice - implying a viral attack.
Whatever – the virus was carried back to Dundee where Horobin began to mass-produce hundreds of small collages. Two hundred of these were distributed to people by a random process which combined an invented code imposed on the local telephone directory. It was extremely unlikely that any of the originals would survive - if any did Horobin reckoned they deserved to become works of art - therefore his criterion for establishing what might be termed a work of art was based upon that item's survival.
Horobin’s tireless activities attracted the attention of two Edinburgh-based artists – Tom Wilson and Dick Ross – who suggested he join them to form Visual Arts Promotions (VAP). The combined energies of Ross & Horobin were formidable – the public’s opinions on Scottish art were recorded in the street – art had to become more socially interactive or die! Products – comics and badges, postcards and books - were packaged like ubiquitous commodities and sold cheaply in commercial galleries.
The complete documentation of The Accessibility of the Art Object and Visual Arts Promotions is archived in the National Library of Scotland and is publicly available by arrangement.]

Some examples of VAP/Pete Horobin product above...
1st - Badge collage.
2nd - Collage drawing.
3rd - Envelope collages.
4th - Page from collage book.
5th - Postcard collages.

Courtesy of The Attic Archive.

JUNK INTO ART - ART INTO JUNK - 70's

[Sometimes it is almost impossible to say - or to remember - from where exactly an idea originates. Is it, for example, associated with a dream in the depths of the sub-conscious or closer to the surface of one’s awareness? Whichever, Pete Horobin awoke with the concept of amassing a vast quantity of junk material and inviting a number of artists to work with this pile of waste turning it into art objects over a period of time before returning everything back to source. A cyclical process - a life cycle of sorts - a metaphor for the perpetual never ending continuum of creativity.
Horobin at this time - 1978 - was a member of the Dundee Group (Artists) Ltd based at Forebank Studios - an extant Catholic primary school. The Dundee Group was established in 1975 by a small collective of Duncan of Jordanstone graduates - Bob McGilvray, Jack Morrocco, Barry Mitchell, Peter Gibb and Pete Horobin. The group recruited new members and attracted the financial support of the Scottish Arts Council. By the time Horobin proposed his idea of transforming waste materials the group comprised around 15 members - not all of whom had sympathies with the project’s aspiration. However the project had already been endorsed by Cairn – an artist-run collective in Paris - who were interested in participating in the recycling process and exhibiting the documentation in their gallery. Unlike DGA, Cairn was self-financed and autonomous and comprised creative people from all disciplines, not just the visual arts.
The collected waste materials came from Dundee industries and domestic sources and was deconstructed over a two-week period in April 1979 by those who accepted an invitation to participate - they included Arthur Watson, David Mach, John Macallum, Phil Barker, Andy Stenhouse and Frances Pelly. Dominique Haneuse and Bernard Crespin came over from Paris as guests of Pete Horobin.
The event, unlike other exhibitions at Forebank, was not a commercial venture. No artworks were for sale - instead they were further deconstructed as waste in a radical anti-art statement, which was ground-breaking in Scotland. For the first time the complete creative process - which always includes destruction - was conspicuously demonstrated publicly – not behind the closed doors of the artist’s studio – and spectators were forced to consider the transience of the art object as well as its cultural worth when fabricated from waste materials.
The documentation of the event was later installed in Cairn’s gallery where all the photographs and associated texts were laid on the floor and covered with a layer of clear industrial polythene so that viewers had to walk over the data to examine it in detail. This had the effect of demonstrating the ephemeral nature of waste materials and the non-commercial value of the documentation itself. The documentation had taken on a life and identity of its own quite separate from the event that it recorded and historicised. Now condensed within a small box made from recycled cardboard and relocated at Dundee University Archives it forms an intimate installation that can be explored on a tabletop or exploded to fill a gallery.]

Photos featuring some of the works and artists involved...
1st & 2nd - Installed photographs by Dominique Haneuse.
3rd - Arthur Watson at work.
4th - The Cairn installation.
5th - Phil Barker at work.
6th - The Warrior by Andy Lang.
7th - Welded steel & jute by John McCallum.
8th - Work by David Mach.

Courtesy of The Attic Archive.