Art Funded by you

Working Within a Defined Context

Stephen Willats, 1978

© The artist

This work resulted from a project sponsored by the Port of London Authority which took place at the West India Docks in 1978. Willats became artist in residence there, sharing the working day of the London dockers who were then facing redundancy. Photographs of cargo handling are interspersed with photographs of lockers, filing cabinets and foodstuffs. The words inscribed on the panels are a mixture of company regulations and the dockers' own coded phrases. The whole conveys a powerful sense of a workplace with its own strong rhythms and routines.

More information

Title of artwork, date

Working Within a Defined Context, 1978

Date supported

2006

Medium and material

Perspex framed panels containing photographic prints, photographic dyes, Letraset, gouache & ink on card

Dimensions

Each: 152 x 76 cm

Grant

5000

Total cost

17100

Content note: This object record is part of our archive and has not been updated since it was first published. It may contain inaccurate information or outdated language. Please get in touch if you think this record should be amended.

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