Art in ruins and unknown stranger, London 1994, an unpublished project for Frieze

Formed in 1984 by Hannah Vowles and Glyn Banks, Art in Ruins is an English collaborative art practice that was active in the London and Berlin art scenes of the 1980s and 1990s. Together, Vowles and Banks developed an artistic practice based on communication and reflection on their role as artists within the (art)world. They were post-modern, anti-capitalist, anti-apartheid, pro-punk, pro-Marxist and held strong course to make a lasting name for themselves. After a very visible political and artistic phase of activity, Art in Ruins went quiet. When suggested that their silence could be interpreted as a strike, Vowles and Banks countered that ‘it is in no way an art strike (a concept which we consider inappropriate as it implies unionised labour and industrial production)’.

This publication is part of I Wonder What the Silence Was About, a body of work speculating on the (temporary?) disappearance of Art in Ruins by artist Eva Weinmayr. It contains an interview suggested by Vowles and Banks, written for Frieze in 1994 but never printed until now, as well as a complete bio- and bibliography.

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