K Foundation
|
|
The K Foundation was an arts foundation set up by Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty in 1993 following their retirement from the music industry. Essentially the K Foundation consisted purely of the money that duo made as The KLF. From 1993 to 1995 they spent the money in a number of ways including a series of Situationist-inspired press adverts and an extravagant subversion of the art world, in particular the Turner Prize. Most notoriously, when their plans to use the money as part of a work of art fell through, they burnt a million pounds in cash. The K Foundation was wound up on November 5th, 1995 when Drummond and Cauty signed a contract with the "rest of the world" agreeing not to discuss the burning for 23 years.
| Contents |
K Foundation adverts
The first manisfestation of the K Foundation was a series of adverts in UK national newspapers (both in the magazine supplements of the quality broad sheets and in the tabloid press). The first adverts were cryptic referring to "K Time" and advising readers to "Kick out the clocks". There was also an advert for their single K Sera Sera which was "Available nowhere ... no formats" and which was not planned for release until world peace was established.
Turner Prize subversion
- Main article: K Foundation art award
Later adverts asked the public to "Abandon all art now" and then invited members of the public to vote for the worst artist of the year. The 1993 Turner Prize was being judged at the same time, and both awards had the same shortlist of four artists. The prize being offered by Drummond and Cauty was £40,000 which was double the £20,000 offered for the Turner Prize. The K Foundation's award was for the year 1994, as if to prove that the K Foundation were ahead of the rest of the art world (although since Drummond and Cauty are numerologists with an obsession about the number 23 it should also be pointed out that 1 + 9 + 9 + 4 = 23).
Channel 4 broadcast coverage of the Turner Prize, during which three K Foundation TV adverts were broadcast - these announced the "ammending of art history". The eventual winner of the Turner Prize was Rachel Whiteread, who 'coincidentally' also won the K Foundation Prize for worst artist of the year. Whiteread initially refused to accept the K Foundation award, but after being told that the money would be incinerated, she reluctantly accepted and later donated the money to struggling young artists.
The K Foundation burn a million pounds
On the August 23 1994, in a boathouse on the island of Jura, just off Scotland, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty incinerated £1,000,000, an act that required the biggest cash withdrawal in British history. The burning was witnessed by an old friend and freelance journalist Jim Reid, who subsequently wrote an article about the act for the Observer, and filmed on Super 8 by their friend Gimpo.
Jim Reid admits to feeling first shock and guilt and about the burning, but after about 10 minutes this became boredom. The money took well over an hour to burn as Drummond and Cauty fed £50 notes into the fire. Drummond now says [1] (http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1220512,00.html) that only about £900,000 of the money was actually burnt - the rest flew straight up the chimney. Apparently local residents were searching the shoreline for charred and singed banknotes for days. The press also reported that one of the islanders handed £1,500 into the police - this was not claimed and was returned to the finder. [2] (http://www.libraryofmu.org/display-resource.php?id=389) [3] (http://www.libraryofmu.org/display-resource.php?id=388)
The K Foundation destroyed the copy of the film - they felt that the public had to have faith that the burning had taken place. It was 10 months later that Gimpo revealed to them that he had secretly kept a copy.
Why did the K Foundation burn a million pounds?
- Main article: Watch The K Foundation Burn A Million Quid
Exactly one year to the date of the act (August 23 1995), Drummond and Cauty returned to Jura for the premier screening of the film, now known as Watch The K Foundation Burn A Million Quid.
The film was then toured around the UK (with one showing in Belgrade as well) over the next few months, with a Q&A session at the end of each screening where members of the audience asked Drummond and Cauty why they burnt the money and also offered their own interpretations.
However Drummond and Cauty quickly became bored of the questions - they felt that nothing new or interesting was coming forward. So, on November 5 1995 Drummond and Cauty signed a contract agreeing to wind up the K Foundation and never to speak about the money burning for a period of 23 years, ending November 5 2018. The contract was signed on the hood of a rented car which they then pushed over the edge of the cliff at Cape Wrath. The contract was also announced in the final K Foundation press advert.
On September 17 1997, the 3 minute film This Brick is premiered. The film consists of one 3 minute shot of a brick made from the ashes of the money burnt at Jura.
On the September 27 1997 a book written by collaborator Chris Brooks and Gimpo entitled K Foundation Burn A Million Quid was published by Ellipsis. The book contains stills from the film and transcriptions of various Q&A sessions from the tour.