Jeremy Deller’s “Battle of Orgreave” was made in 2001, and was meant to be a reenactment of the original battle in 1984 that happened during the miner’s strike in Yorkshire. The Battle of Orgreave was part of a protest done by miners in Yorkshire to shutdown the British coal industry, and is known as a major industrial action. Deller is an English conceptual, video, and installation artist who’s done other pieces that are also as impactful as his Battle of Orgreave, and typically represent a historical or political event that has happened. Jeremy Deller’s Battle of Orgreave can be interpreted in many ways and the importance of time for his piece can be seen throughout, as well as how powerful it was to be redone and how accurate it was to see.
The original Battle of Orgreave, and the reenactment had an impact and effect on people in the town, but for different reasons. The original had a traumatically divisive effect at all levels of life in the UK, as well as tore families apart because of the divided loyalty (Deller, 2002: foreword). For the reenactment, many of the people who took part were actually former miners, and a few former policemen who were reliving the events that they themselves took part in, which can be very impactful. (Deller, 2002: foreword). The Jeremy Deller “Battle of Orgreave” was done so perfectly well it was described more as a piece of social history “re-lived not re-enacted” (Artangel, s.d.). The piece is amazingly accurate because of Deller’s commitment to make everything exactly the same as it was in 1984 (Jones, 2001). The reenactment piece was made to commemorate all the people that suffered from the mines in 1984, and bring back awareness to the cause, because during this Battle many miners suffered severe police brutality where not one officer of the 90 who were prosecuted were convicted (Jones, 2001). Deller made this piece to remind the world of what the miners in 1984 went through, and to let the people from the town the Battle of Orgreave took place in, who suffered, know that they’re still important and supported.
The importance of time and place in Deller’s reenactment piece “Battle of Orgreave” is visible both in the events that occurred before the installation was created, when it was being acted out. The day when the battle reenactment occurred it was said that it unfolded with military precision but came across as though it was real (Artangel, s.d.) Jeremy Deller was 18 years old when he first saw The Battle of Orgreave on the news in his home in 1984, and instantly he was shocked by it and wanted to recreate it as soon as he could (Deller, 2001). At the age of 18 Jeremy Deller was a young adult and could completely understand the importance of the battle that had occurred, and the want to recreate it. Deller started making this piece in 1998 with Artangel, however it wasn’t executed until 2001, this piece took so much time to create because Deller wanted every little detail to be exactly like the original battle “all the way down to the miners’ vintage 1980’s T-shirts” (Jones, 2001). He spent months researching the events that took place on June 18th 1984 “court testimonies, oral accounts, film footage, etc.” (Farquharon, 2001) all to make sure everything was as accurate as possible. Deller spent all his time making sure that there was no associated paraphernalia in the piece that wasn’t meant to be there. He shows the importance of time by how much time he spent trying perfect all parts of the reenactment to make it flourish, as well as the important of time by how he perfectly set up the reenactment so it was laid out exactly like it was during the original battle.
Jeremy Deller created the “Battle of Orgreave” in 2001, since then and before he’s created many other pieces, many in the same style as the Battle of Orgreave. Most of his pieces have some sort of political or social importance in them, that make them more interesting. Jeremy Deller’s 2016 piece “We’re Here Because We’re Here” was done to stand up for the soldiers who lost their lives on the first day in the Battle of the Somme that had been forgotten about by most people (Mehrez, 2017). These two pieces although represent vastly different events, both were very severe, seeing as the Battle of Orgreave was described as a war scene rather then a labour dispute (Deller, 2001). Much like the “Battle of Orgreave”, “We’re Here Because We’re Here” was also done in remembrance of the events that took place at that time and showing to the families of those lost soldiers and miners that they haven’t been forgotten about and didn’t fight for nothing. Another example are the two art creations; “The History of the World” (1997) and “Acid Brass”(1998) (which was made as an expansion off of “The History of the World”). “The History of the World” is a graphic, and textual portrayal of the history, influence, and context for acid house, and brass band music (Wilson, 2009). It is a flow diagram that shows that there are confluences between the two musical movements (Wilson, 2009). “Acid Brass” was made a year after “The History of the World” as a musical continuation piece based on the connections Deller had many in the previous piece (Deller, 1997). In the diagram of “The History of the World” on the acid house side, Deller makes points to Castlemorton (a free rave) which was a festival that had such a huge effect on people it changed a law, just like how the Battle of Orgreave (which had connections to Brass Band) changed a law as well. These two pieces are seen as a direct overture to “The Battle of Orgreave” made in 2001 (Wilson, 2009).
The Battle of Orgreave by Jeremy Deller is a piece full of historical accuracy, and was created to speak up for the miners who suffered and to bring awareness to this unruly battle that occurred. Jeremy Deller had wanted to recreate that piece since he was 18 years old, and when he finally was able to in 2001, after three years of planning and research, he made sure everything was incredibly accurate and it all stood out to every person who saw, including the people who weren’t apart of the battle set up.
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References:
Farquharson, A. (2001) Jeremy Deller At: https://frieze.com/article/jeremy-deller (Accessed on: 10/06/19)
Artangel, (s.d.) Jeremy Deller: The Battle of Orgreave At: https://www.artangel.org.uk/project/the-battle-of-orgreave/ (Accessed on: 05/06/19)
Deller, J. (2001) The Battle of Orgreave At: http://www.jeremydeller.org/TheBattleOfOrgreave/TheBattleOfOrgreave.php (Accessed on: 01/06/19)
Mehrez, A. (2017) We’re Here Because We’re Here At: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/deller-were-here-because-were-here-p82019 (Accessed on: 05/06/19)
Jones, J. (2001) Missiles fly, truncheons swing, police chase miners as cars burn. It’s all very exciting. But why is it art? At: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2001/jun/19/artsfeatures (Accessed on: 10/06/19)
Deller, J. (2002) The English Civil War: Part II {online}At: https://www.artangel.org.uk/project/the-battle-of-orgreave/ (Accessed on: 05/06/19)
Wilson, A. (2009) The History of the World At: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/deller-the-history-of-the-world-t12868 (Accessed on: 03/04/20)
Deller, J. (1997) Acid Brass At: https://www.jeremydeller.org/AcidBrass/AcidBrassMusic.php (Accessed on: 03/04/20)
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