CHRIS BARR interview

words: DAN HANCOX
illustration: VENTED SPLEEN

In the ongoing battle to make art more than just the plaything of a minority elite, some use more direct methods than others. Being fortunate to live in London, I have - according to the Guardian Guide - xxx free exhibitions open to me this week, and I could go to an art talk or workshop every day of the week if I wanted to. As the Tate Modern's fifth birthday approaches it's worth reflecting on how well certain institutions have opened up the idea of visiting a gallery as a viable day-out to increasing proportions of society. (Take the Turner Prize, which like it or not now impinges on most people's consciousness annually, even if it's just through "this isn't art!" hatchet jobs in the national press.) But even given this superficial progress, there is still clear blue water between the art community and, well, 'ordinary people'.

The extent of connections between an artist and their community is one of the implicit questions asked by a recent project by Chris Barr, a 24-year old grad student at the University of Buffalo on America's east coast. 'Chris Barr is Available on Thursday' has an ingeniously simple concept at its core: for each Thursday in March and April (nine in total), from midnight to midnight, Barr was willing to be your bitch. Using his website as an appointments diary, members of the public were invited to schedule him to do whatever they liked, providing the activity was not 'highly illegal' or liable to cause him 'significant financial cost' or 'extreme physical danger'.

What followed was two months of peculiar, challenging, and hilarious Thursdays. The project immediately sparked interest on the web, and Barr's diary quickly filled up: with requests for lifts to doctor's appointments, directions to phone relatives with birthday greetings, and other day-to-day tasks. Just as prevalent were the less banal suggestions of those that saw potential in Barr's services beyond the personal. David asked Barr to write a letter persuading his girlfriend Megan that premarital sex was okay, Kate asked him to go to confession on her behalf (" Most of my sins are sloth-related, but feel free to make some more up") , Kareem instructed him to hand out bananas in the park, while Anna's bidding was that Barr turn up at a private view in Buffalo and critique the paintings. Reading his appointments diary, each of the entries contains its own little story. About half of the instructions are accompanied by photos, but even those without are brimming with narrative - the story of the instruction and instructor, the story of Barr carrying out the task, and the relationship between 'master and servant'.

Intriguingly though, when given the opportunity to land an art student with nine hellish days of awkward situations, embarrassing stunts, and sleepless nights, the malevolent and anonymous forces of 'the public' decided to make nice. Barr's itineraries are full of instructions to reach out, to make contact, to build bridges; they even let him get some sleep. When given the opportunity to make an artist their slave, the public made him their envoy.
"This project has restored my faith in others"

Chris Barr answered my questions over e-mail:

Is this your major graduate degree project?

No, I am still in my first year of the program. However, this is a direction I aiming my research.

How did it come to fruition - have you wanted to do something like this for a while?

I am currently taking a course titled “Practicing the Actual” in which we are looking at the implications of documenting and altering our everyday life. Upon inspecting my own daily life, I found that it was drastically compartmentalized. I was also interested in the way social forces and structures aid in the construction of identity. So I thought the planning of my day would be a nice way to look at some of these structures, such as efficiency and the relationship between efficiency, technology and capitalism.
With this work I am also exploring interests in performance, and the notion of blending art and life.

Are your friends and family being supportive? Has your unavailability on a Thursday caused any problems?

It has set up an interesting situation with my friends and family, in that they are scheduling me to do things in order to hang out with me. It has been slightly more demanding than my work would normally be, but I don’t think it has really phased fazed anyone.

Have you enjoyed your 'assignments'? Do you think you ought to be enjoying them - or is this a benevolent contribution you're making to a community?

It’s really hard to not enjoy some of the assignments I’ve been asked to do. People are really quite clever with the ways they are willing to spend my time. It is exciting for me because I am generally quite shy and reserved, and working in this way allows me to get outside of myself and recreate myself in a way I wouldn’t normally. I don’t feel what I am doing is significantly charitable, because it has expanded my own life in ways I never would have imagined.

Do you think it endearing that people are posting assignments like 'Chris should relax in any way he finds best'?

This project has restored my faith in others. Not only have the vast majority of the requests been remarkably positive, many have also shown concern for my health and well-being. Surprisingly, the public has allowed me to sleep through most of the night, even though I have offered a whole 24-hour day.

Are any significant trends emerging in people's requests? There seems to be a lot of 'call my friend and tell him 'happy birthday' 'I miss him'' or similar - are people using you to reach out?

Yes, the patterns that have emerged have been amazing, especially the birthday requests. I think that people have this great desire to know that someone is thinking about them, and I am offering them a type of connection that is often lost with digital technology. There is a type of personalization that keeps coming up in the requests that I think people really are missing from their everyday lives.

How does flash-mobbing fit into the scheme of things - are you a fan?

I’ve never participated in a flash-mob, though I find them to be a fascinating phenomenon. Certainly this project has parallels with flash mobs in the way these temporary actions are organized via the Internet. I’m a real fan, unfortunately my geographic location has prevented me from getting in on the action.

How many unpalatable/illegal requests have you had? Do people push their luck? Did you do something "slightly illegal" at 3am on March 17?

Surprisingly, I have had very few unpalatable/illegal requests, especially considering the amount of requests that I have received. I have had a few requests to shove things in my posterior, but otherwise nothing too bad. As for my slightly illegal action, I illegally downloaded a track from the new Doves album.

You say on your website that one of your aims is to investigate the issue of "artist as social organizer" - how is 'the artist' doing in this respect? I'm assuming you're getting quite a few hits on your website?

When I started this work, I felt that there was a significant risk of it failing because of its dependency on the audience as content providers. Now I regret ever underestimating the public’s willingness to participate, especially when empowered with creative rights to the work.

The site has received over 13,000 unique visitors, and I have received around 500 requests. The difficult part has been figuring out how to deal with issues such as double bookings. It really is a shame that I will never get around to all of the requests that have been submitted, however I am planning on posting everything that I have received to the site when the project draws to a conclusion. Maybe someone can take up where I leave off.

Have there been any especially enjoyable/challenging/memorable tasks in particular?

I have really enjoyed tasks that have allowed me to make a one-to-one connection with people. Getting the opportunity to call up a stranger in L.A. for a wake-up call or to wish a 10-year-old boy in Washington a happy birthday is really amazing to me. I will also have to admit that I enjoyed creating a gallery intervention as a task. It was a poignant moment considering the type of artwork I am creating.

Do you have any related projects in mind for the future?

I have some projects in the pipeline that will be exploring similar areas.