Jeremy Deller is a conceptual video and installation artist whose work often combines art and activism, socio-political history, popular culture and counterculture. Often working collaboratively, Deller combines storytelling and visual ethnographic methods to critique the past and present. Everybody in the Place, An Incomplete History of Britain, 1984–1992 was commissioned for Frieze 2018 and premiered on BBC4 the following year.
Everybody in the Place: An Incomplete History of Britain 1984–1992 is a film about the evolution of Acid House music in 1980s Britain against the backdrop of political and social upheaval. The themes explored in the film were previously referenced in Deller’s work titled The History of the World (1997–2004), a large-scale diagram which mapped the social connections between Acid House and brass bands, which informed Deller’s musical collaboration Acid Brass in 1997.
Everybody in the Place, An Incomplete History of Britain, 1984–1992 centres around Deller delivering a lesson to an A-level Politics class. His creative narrative of Acid House conveys the power of teaching young people about society through art. The film is about forging a sense of community amidst a period of social tensions and change. He conveys the significance of Acid House for the youth in the 1980s, citing the miners’ strike in 1984 as a catalyst for change throughout the decade.
Manchester is referenced in Deller’s film as a contemporary city shaped by music and art. The current issues raised by Covid, inequality, education and politics and the vital role that different cultures have in shaping society have become talking points in recent years. Everybody in The Place: An Incomplete History of Britain, 1984–1992 examines the socio-political history of other works in the collection, in relation to the evolution of rave music as a significant cultural force. Manchester Art Gallery will collaborate with Manchester College for a project called The Future Programme which will use the film as a platform for discussion with A-level Visual Art students.
