User:Jack kilburn

FOUND ART KEEPERS
The Found Art Keepers or F.A.K was created under the new liberal democrat/conservative government of 2010. It was set up with the aim of allocating and controlling spaces that are deemed to have artistic value.

Origins F.A.K began in a small church social hall in 2007. Their volunteer work was noticed and personally complimented in 2009 by David Cameron. However it wasn’t until 2010 that the founding members were invited to attend a meeting where they were looked upon for advice on how to tackle not only the problem of street art, but the lack of money the government wanted to give to the Arts sector. In 2010, with the plan of cutting art fund, the new coalition government made plans to create a commission which would control what is seen as inspiring as well as what is considered art. Its intention is to narrow the input of inspiration to artists. The governments prediction is that with less inspiration or ‘controlled inspiration’ less money needs to be spent on aspiring artists as work would be more similar and therefore require less of a varied range of materials. Also less teachers as the work can be taught by one art teacher instead of several differently skilled art teachers. Furthermore with the preservation of artistic areas, the government sees little necessity for more.

Method Currently, the Found Art Keepers methods are subtle and non aggressive. The main action taken by F.A.K consists of stickering objects and walls specifically to note the areas artistic value. The area is then maintained by the commission. Spaces can also be cordoned off as well as whole buildings The laws placed on the space prohibit altering and modifying the area without permission. To date, Found Art Keepers have 109 FAK spaces.

Criticism With F.A.K formation, opposition to the new organization grew. Students, in particular, have seemed concerned that art will become uniformed similar and eventually stagnant. This opinion has been highly criticized by the coalition government who in a statement made January 2011 said that, ‘all artists can go about on their journey and create what they like…as long as it from what we tell you.’

The rise of the F.A.K activists In early 2011, a street art group emerged that targeted specifically F.A.K. They named themselves F.U.K or F**king Unbelievable Kaos-a intentional pun on the legal commission. It used the same methodology to promote areas that they say, ‘have been left in a disgraceful state by the new government.’ F.U.K states that their objectives are ‘to peacefully illustrate the futility of attempting to control art’.