To do this I began to look at the common cliché that artists produce very little to no work, even going as far as producing nothing and still calling it art. I began to look into the various art movements that began to arise in the 1970's, in particular the rise of Process Art - art that focused entirely on the process of production and is not concerned with the overall outcome. From this I concluded that, under this pretence, it would be entirely possible for me to submit a blank sleeve to the competition, as a great deal of thought and research had gone into the conception of the idea, but coincidently there was ultimately nothing physical to show for it. If it were argued that there was no great thinking behind this blank sleeve it could be counter-argued that one can still call it art, because I (the creator) am an artist and I am able to make that claim. This argument is influenced by another new art process called anti-art that arose at around the same time.
During a tutorial I discussed these ideas and they were well received. However it was also discussed that although the idea quite probably could have worked at any other time, the inclusion of a John Lennon track in the competition briefing would mean the submission of a blank cover could draw obvious links with the famous Beatles' White Album, thus completely erasing any and all meaning behind this idea. In an attempt to rectify this I looked at the concept of submitting nothing at all, and taking my liberties as an artist and calling the blank space that would be auctioned off 'art', but again, in a competition aimed at designers rather than artists, an idea as conceptual as this has the potential to be completely lost.
This concept was still interesting to me however, and so I looked for other ways to convey the same idea. I looked into the idea of creating a mock up of an exhibition label to be placed on a wall, as a way to document the 'nothing' that would be presented as art. This would defined the concept in clearer terms and provide a physicalness to what would otherwise be an empty space. I created several versions of the mocked up gallery label.
Separate from these ideas I also looked at the common rumour that artists like to steal ideas from each other in order to gain exposure and fame, and in particular, art students. My thought was to replicate the work of a well known artist who had already entered the competition in previous years in order to to replicate their fame and popularity and gain exposure for myself. For this I chose visual artist David Shrigley, simply because his humorous work and rough handwritten style would be the simplest for me to recreate as my own.
I created multiple phrases to write in his style, including 'if it gets me famous I'm in', and the phrase 'See Dee' intended ironically as the competition is based solely around vinyls. I intend for these works to be submitted under his name rather than my own. I would submit these designs digitally so I would be able to use the digitalised typeface of his handwriting to make the works appear authentic.
I also looked to the artist Damien Hirst to create 'an art students recreation' of his famous spot works, but hand drawn and using only one colour, with a disclaimer stating that 'I like Damien Hirst but I only like the colour blue'. This design would be hand drawn in blue pencil and submitted physically.
My final idea was to play on the fact that students, and in particular art students, have very little money to buy the supplies they need to work, and so this tongue-in-cheek design would consist solely of a handmade album sleeve from high-end card stock. It would include the barcode and price tag, and a disclaimer reading '*this is all my budget would allow for'. This design would be hand crafted and submitted physically.
