| Formation | 1997–1998 |
|---|---|
| Founded at | University of Leeds |
| Defunct | 2000 |
| Type | Artist collective |
| Location |
|
Membership | 11–15[1][2] |
| Affiliations | Conceptual and performance art |
| Website | Official website  |
Leeds 13 was an English artist collective. The group formed in 1997–1998 at the University of Leeds, West Yorkshire. All thirteen third-year students taking the four-year BA (Fine Art) were members: nine women and four men. Their degree had two parts, marked with equal weight: art history and theory, and studio practice. In studio practice, each student was expected to produce original artwork for an end-of-year exhibition. Members of Leeds 13 rejected this convention. Instead, they cooperated on two conceptual works and unconventional exhibitions. These proved controversial but received top grades.
Going Places (1998) provoked public debate on activities acceptable as contemporary art. Leeds 13's members pretended to take a week's holiday on the Spanish Costa del Sol (English: Sun Coast), an activity generally regarded as leisure. But the students said it was work: they had made art and the exhibition through their trip. The holiday story matched the popular stereotype of art students as lazy and irresponsible. Many UK mass media organisations ran the story without checking if it was true. A few days later, the group revealed the holiday was an elaborate simulation bringing the media response to a frenzy. Leeds 13's members all received first class for their third year.
The Degree Show (1999) examined the art world: exhibitions and relationships between both works and stakeholders. The group curated a corporate-style art exhibition. They showed a diverse collection of work by other artists worth a total of £1 million. The media and art critics objected to a final-year exhibition without any original work by the student artists. But the examiners supported the concept: exhibition as a group artwork. All the members of Leeds 13 graduated with first class degrees, and most continued working together until mid-2000.
Leeds 13 was "... trying to counter the traditional notion of the artist as an individual creator of specific objects.",[3] according to the artist's statement for The Degree Show. In contrast, they worked as a group producing one-off events that defied the art market. Going Places has continued to attract interest for pushing the boundaries in contemporary art and as a well-executed media hoax.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Harney (2000)was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Royal College of Art (1999)was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Leeds 13 (11 June 1999). "No Artist is an Island". The Times Higher Education Supplement. London. p. 18. Retrieved 3 September 2023.