Fuuk Off Back To London

There are still tell tale signs kicking around that Cauty and Drummond have been in town. I'm not sure this is all it seems, though, as I gather the participants were actively encouraged to denigrate the event and criticise the organisation as much as they liked. I did see some reaction on Twitter to that effect and it was pretty obvious what was going on. I'll wager this is part of the same campaign given the Badger Kull compliant use of the word Fuuk as opposed to its more usual spelling.

It does, however, raise an interesting point about the event. Not so much the choice of Liverpool as a venue - where else should it have been held? but the exclusivity of it. For a start £100 is a pretty steep price to pay to get into the inner circle and the mostly secretive nature of what was going on was deliberately designed to keep non-participants at bay.

There was an interesting discussion at lunch on Saturday about this issue but there was no reconciling differing views. From what I gather, everyone who took part was really into it. But then they would be wouldn't they - who is going to admit to having paid £100 for a shit time. On the other hand from where I was standing - on the outside I had a great time. I didn't get to see the book stamping because I was away and I couldn't get into the panel about the burning of £1m.

But I did see the ice cream van and the procession. It was entertaining watching events unfold on Twitter and Facebook and I loved reading the nightly reports on Getintothis. I could enjoy the spectacle without paying a penny. So, maybe it comes down to a question of choice. Stump up the cash and fully take part, or not and get a limited view.

Art costs money where ever you put it. 400 people each paying £100 generates £40,000. That doesn't seem to me to be a cynical money making exercise on the part of Cauty and Drummond. A three day event such as this won't have given them much in the way of profit save loose change.

They never did blow up the ice cream van. Cauty was apparently asked if they would. "Nah" he said, "We've just had it MOT'd". I was also wrong about my earlier theory of them removing all the signage from the van. It looked like that was what was happening at the time, but apparently not. It was still a Mumu van for the procession. Maybe that's how they'll cover their costs - by selling it.

So, yeah. Fuuk Off Back To London if you like, but please come back soon.