IS GOD A CUNT?

7 June 2005

If you want to know why I was ever motivated to ask such a banal question as ‘Is God A Cunt?’, read the text that I wrote for the pamphlet The Daffodils. After that, if you need to know more, read the two further pamphlets on the subject The Blackcap Returns and Roll Over Jenny Holzer. They were all written in 2002. I am writing this in 2005.
Whatever was going on then in my head seems to have split into two strands of work. There is the ongoing giving away 40 bunches of daffodils every year to total strangers and there is this bit. The daffodils bit I feel comfortable with. I like doing it. I want other people to do it. I think it is a good thing. This bit – the asking the question ‘Is God A Cunt?’ bit – I’m not too sure about. For a start, I don’t know if it is even worth asking the question. Other days I think it is the only question worth asking, way beyond ‘to be or not to be’ in the big question stakes. On the day that I posed it, it was my way of saying, ‘What the fuck is all this about and why?’
Then there are the telephone lines, the Yes and No ones. I kept them open until last December (2004). I was never bothered about totting up the responses. In a sense, whatever the result was, it would be irrelevant. I think it was more important to me that the phone lines existed and people could phone them and say what they wanted, than me using them to come to any supposed conclusion. Some people’s responses were far more than just a simple yes/no, they varied from being pertinent, thoughtful, angry or funny to completely missing the point. A couple of people had rung the wrong number but left an answer anyway. At one time I thought I would edit all the Yes answers together and then all the No answers and release it as a 7-inch 45rpm vinyl single. The winning answer would be the A-side and the loser would be the B-side. But when it was pointed out to me that there was a sort of fashion for contemporary visual artists making 7-inch 45rpm vinyl singles, I went off the idea. In the end it wasn’t my fickleness about what I think would be a good idea or not that stopped me doing the record, it was that there kept on being power cuts in my workshop. Every time there was a power cut it would wipe all the messages on the digital answer machines. Divine intervention or just bad planning on my part? I dunno.
The main reason for me wanting to lift my pen or even think about this question again is not really about all this stuff but to document in words what has happened to the Is God A Cunt? painting.
The painting was made as a sort of after-the-fact response to the New Religious Art exhibition at the Henry Peacock Gallery. I was asked to take part in the 2002 Clerkenwell Literary Festival. I proposed that I would do a performance piece where I would stand up in front of a load of people, ask them if God was a cunt, and in some way have their responses documented.
To this end I made one of the text paintings I do. Just black letters on a white background. Just the words IS GOD A CUNT? Then I put some text together for a poster that could hang on the wall next to the painting. The text read:

NOTICE

THE PAINTING HANGING ON
THE WALL TO THE LEFT OF
THIS NOTICE WILL BE
CONSIDERED COMPLETE ONCE
EVERYBODY WHO WANTS TO
RESPOND TO THE QUESTION
POSED IN THE PAINTING HAS
ADDED THEIR RESPONSE
ONTO THE CANVAS.

And that was that. I planned to give my presentation in a pub called The Foundry. I was expecting it to be a low-key affair. A couple of dozen people, a bit of a chat and maybe a pint or two.
Then on the morning of 18 July 2002, the day that I was doing the thing, I got a call.
‘You seen the cover of the Islington Gazette, Bill?’
Now I don’t think I’ve ever knowingly seen the cover of the Islington Gazette but seeing as I was living in rural Buckinghamshire there was no chance of me seeing that particular issue on that particular morning. As I write these notes in early June 2005 I have a yellowing copy of the cover of this paper. The banner headline reads ‘FOR GOD’S SAKE’, the sub-headline reads ‘Church outrage over insulting festival event’. The rest of the text reads:

An event at this week’s Clerkenwell Literary Festival entitled ‘Is God A ****?’ has been branded ‘blasphemous’ by church leaders.
The debate, hosted by anarchist and former pop star Bill Drummond, is being advertised as ‘the great theological debate of our time’.
Taking place tonight (Thursday) in The Foundry, Great Eastern Street, it promises to attract a large audience – although cynics suggest the turnout will be due to its shocking title.
Greame Jardin, who worships at St James’ Church in Clerkenwell Close said: ‘We live in a society where what is acceptable in ordinary language and jokes has changed.
‘However, it still appears ok to use one of the most unpleasant of all sexual swear words to describe the almighty and thus and therefore insult just about every religious group.
‘An event viewed by many as blasphemous and grossly unpleasant simply calls into question the motives of the festival organisers.
‘Did they really intend to be offensive to as many people as possible?’
Offended parties believe the organisers could be prosecuted under British blasphemy laws, which state that publishing language which vilifies the Christian religion or the bible is illegal.
In a further twist, a misprint in the Guardian Guide to the Clerkenwell Literary Festival as Is God A Coat – prompting        Turn to page 3

As I only have the front cover, what was on page 3 will have to remain forever a topic for conjecture.
This is not what I wanted. I want what I do to stay as far away from this sort of exposure as possible. In the past things I have been involved in have received mass exposure and this has undermined what I intended them to be about. Journalists have to turn whatever they can into stories that can sell papers, that’s their job. It’s just I don’t want what I do to be turned into a front-page story for a local newspaper. We have had enough of newspapers feigning shock, anger or ridicule at what they perceive contemporary art to be up to for the sake of titillating their readership.
On my way into London that afternoon I got a call from Front Row, the Radio 4 magazine arts programme. They wanted me to go in and defend what I was doing. I declined the invitation. By the time I got to The Foundry the place was rammed and there were at least a couple of hundred people outside trying to get in. What were they expecting? Who were they expecting? I pushed my way through the throng with the painting, the framed poster and a fistful of pamphlets, I climbed on a table, called the place to order and got on with my stuff.
It took about 30 minutes to say my piece. Then I left the painting hanging on the wall with the framed poster next to it. People immediately swarmed around it, clutching pens or pencils, all wanting to leave their mark. I headed out, got into the Land Rover and headed for home.
I think what I was afraid of was that people would presume I was trying to say something provocative in an attempt to get media coverage and in turn live up to a reputation that some people perceive me to have. I nearly knocked the thing on the head there and then.
When I drove back into London to pick up my bits and pieces from The Foundry on the following Monday I was pleasantly surprised with the way the painting looked. It was already covered with dozens of comments. Maybe nothing that profound, but from an aesthetic point of view I thought it was great. And that was not all. I had started to get emails in response to the question. I will stick two or three of these emails at the end of this text.
Neal Brown, the curator of the original New Religious Art exhibition, contacted me again. He was wanting to restage the exhibition as part of that year’s Liverpool Biennial and wondered whether I would be interested in taking part. I said yes and explained how the thing had progressed and asked if I could do a presentation in much the same way as I had done at The Foundry.
Ideas developed. I had four books made, A3 in size. The pages were all blank. On a black cloth-bound cover, in gold embossed lettering, was ‘Is God A Cunt?’ Below that, also gold-embossed, were the words ‘If you feel the need to respond to the above question, please do so in this book’.
My contribution to the exhibition was to be copies of the pamphlets The Daffodils, The Blackcap Returns and Roll Over Jenny Holzer, as well as the above books. I understood they were going to be presented in as discreet a way as possible. Right at the end of the exhibition run I was going to come with the painting and do a presentation. I was expecting no trouble.
And then it happened all over again. Front page banner headlines again. The Daily Post, the Merseyside morning paper, went to town on the story. ‘OLD CHURCH ARTS STORM’, read the headline. Then:

Artists have been branded ‘offensive and deliberately provocative’ for exhibiting a blasphemous sculpture in Liverpool’s oldest Catholic church.
The artwork includes a visitor’s book where people are encouraged to answer the question ‘Is God A C**t?’
Members of the city’s Christian community were last night angered by the exhibition, in St Peter’s Church, Seel Street, which includes a number of provocative art works such as the skulls, pictured right.
Ruth Slater, of the Liverpool-based community standards association, accused the work of gratuitously aiming to shock.
She said, ‘I think it is outrageous but they want it to be provocative and offensive especially to people of the Catholic faith.
‘Anyone who believes in God from any faith, would be upset by it.’
The book forms part of a box-shaped installation, decorated by a group of artists including Turner Prize nominee Tracey Emin that reaches almost to the ceiling. It was created by Bill Drummond, a former member of the early ‘90s dance-pop act The KLF, the group best known for making an artistic statement by setting fire to £1m in cash.
Last March, he opened two phone lines for people to phone and vote on the controversial question. Visitors to the exhibition, part of the Liverpool Biennial arts festival, have left messages in the book.
One distressed contributor wrote: ‘I think it is a totally disrespectful question to ask, especially in a church.’
Another added: ‘God must be a c**t if he made all of you lot in his own image.’
The installation stands in the centre of the church, which became disused six years ago and has been sold by the archdiocese for conversion into offices.
It is surrounded by the building’s original frescos and stained glass windows. Exhibition curator Neal Brown said the installation aimed to open up discussion about religion on the streets of Liverpool.
He said: ‘It brings the religious debate to the junkies and the homeless people in language that is familiar to them and makes it accessible to them.
‘We have all sorts of people coming in including people who were members of the congregation and the response has been overwhelming.
‘The work has got people talking about God and what they believe.’ He added: ‘I can see why some people would be upset by the work but I believe the net benefit is greater.’ The Glory of God – New Religious Art exhibition runs until October 12.

I didn’t think anybody was really shocked. I thought it was just a local paper wanting to stir up a local controversy. Front Row was back on the phone wanting me to go on air to defend my art. I declined, thinking that it didn’t need defending.
The show opened. On the second day the first of the Is God A Cunt? books got nicked. I was pissed off as it was already filling up with quite reasoned responses, and a smattering of the usual base drivel as well.
I assumed that it was local scallies that had nicked it. On 1 October the Liverpool Echo, the evening paper, ran the following story.

Art Stolen From Church
A £1000 reward has today been put up after the theft of a controversial artwork.
The missing work by ex-pop star Bill Drummond, which asked the question Is God A C**t? was stolen from St Peters Church in Seel Street. It was one of the exhibits in the Liverpool Biennial’s independent event.
Ex-KLF star Drummond exhibited the visitor’s book as part of a 30ft installation. The book was stolen on September 25.
A Merseyside police spokeswoman said the reported theft was being investigated. Anyone with information about the book should call 0151 236 0446.

On the letters page of the same edition were the two following letters:

Blasphemous art
I am appalled at the article (September 20) about the church art which truly is blasphemy – an insult to any person who believes in God to abuse His name with a vile four-letter word.
I am old and I know the background of St Peter’s, Seel Street, which was the very first Catholic church built in 1776 for people to follow their own Catholic Faith. I and many of my ancestors were baptised and attended there.
These so-called artists are without conscience entirely to put up a banner of infamy which insults almighty God.
Mrs Elizebeth Teresa Basset
Pensioner, Aigburgh

Disgusting display
I was disgusted at the so-called art exhibition in the shell of St Peter’s church.
For almost 200 years this building was a focal point of family life and community involvement for the generation who fought and endured the hardship of the World War I and my own generation in World war II.
The men in the services and their families who suffered the horrors of air raids gained the hope and belief to carry on their lives thanks to the clergy and helpers who formed the body of the church.
Is the culture created by these people to be trampled and spat upon by the promotion of this modern culture?
T J McCormick, Kirkby

Then a couple of days later there was a letter in The Tablet, Britain’s weekly newspaper for Roman Catholics. I don’t have a copy of this letter, but basically it was from the person who had nicked the book and they felt the need to tell the world why.
Things settled down. No one took the bait of the £1000 reward, and a few weeks later I came up to Liverpool with the painting to do my presentation. There was no swarming throng, just a few dozen folks, the types you might see at the opening of any contemporary art event. I clambered on to what had once been the altar and addressed them. I can’t deny it felt strange standing where generations of priests had stood before me saying Mass. All that stuff about bread and wine turning into flesh and blood from the same place where I was trying to turn my words into responses on canvas. There was part of me that felt like a bit of a fraud, especially when I realised I was trying to play the audience for laughs.
Once I had said whatever it was I needed to say and left the stage, leaving behind the painting propped up on a couple of easels for those that felt the need to leave their responses, I disappeared into what I guess must have been the vestry once but was now acting as my dressing room. I was sitting there drinking a can of beer when one of the organisers of the event burst in.
‘Bill, someone has got your painting on the floor and is cutting the canvas out of the frame.’
I had two contradicting responses, each cancelling the other out. One was to let him carry on doing what he was doing as it was what the painting deserved. The other was to go out there and beat the fuck out of him for daring to show such disrespect for my artwork.
Instead I ambled out. What I found was a man in his 30s armed with a small Swiss Army-style knife slowly cutting out the canvas from the fame. He had already done three sides.
‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m responding to what you said on the poster.’
‘And once you have cut it out what are you going to do with the canvas?’
‘Roll it up and stamp on it.’
Up until that point no voices were raised. Encircling us were all the opening-night art-show types. It was like being back in the playground, all around you are the other kids egging you both on to throw the first punch. Then the bloke who was running the bar burst through the circle.
‘Are you the sod that took my knife?’
He grabbed the knife off the art vandal and headed back to the bar.
The knife, it seemed, had a corkscrew on it that he was using to open the wine bottles. I disappeared back to the vestry to carry on with my beer drinking and unwinding. When I came out again I found a couple of the bar staff sewing the canvas back together again. One of them had some needlepoint thread and needles in her bag. I let them finish, then packed up, loaded everything into the Land Rover and started the long drive home down the M6 and M1.
That was almost three years ago. Since then I’ve only taken the Is God A Cunt? painting and its accompanying poster for the occasional spin. Mainly to bars in cities far from home where I am already doing something related to my work. What usually happens is that I clamber on to a table unannounced and call the place to order, launch into my piece and then hang around for a while while people put their responses on to the canvas. It seems to work for me this way. It doesn’t involve media of any sort. I have no grand vision of what it is about or where it’s going or reasons to stop doing it, or reasons to carry on either. But on it goes and will do until everyone who wants to has made their response.
That said, there’s been another idea starting to develop in my head. For that I made another painting, identical to the first one in every way except the Is God A Cunt? words were painted by me with more care this time.
The plan with this one was to drive across the USA from the Kitty Wake Beach where the Wright brothers first flew their plane on the Atlantic shore to somewhere on the Pacific coast. I would drive across in my Land Rover with my new Is God A Cunt? painting strapped to the side of it. Wherever I stopped on the way I’d climb on to the bonnet (hood) of the Land Rover or on a barroom table or take to the pulpit of an open church and launch into my thing. After I’d sliced the USA in half with my question and drive, I would have something worth having.
Then someone told me that the word cunt has nowhere near the same resonance in the US as it does here in the UK. This brought me crashing back down to the fact that maybe I was doing all this because the word cunt is the only one of our traditional swearwords that still has any sort of offensive power. Even then it wouldn’t be as offensive as asking the question ‘Is God A Paki?’ I don’t know if that’s enough to stop me wanting to make my crusading drive across the States.