The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman - Grayson Perry @ British Museum

Grayson Perry and Kenilworth AM I

Alan Measles is unimpressed with the twenty-first century. He sees the Facebook generation distracted by their smartphones and obsessed with celebrity. The multimedia collage of modern life makes it hard for an upcoming god to establish himself without a web presence.

Grayson Perry

As we climb the central staircase of the British Museum's Great Court we stumble upon a very bizarre object: a pinky chopper with a teddy bear shrine attached above its back wheel. Situated by the entrance to The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman, the motorcycle is an invitation for a trip to the world of imagination of Britain’s most eccentric contemporary artist Grayson Perry.

Tomb Guardian, 2011

It was back in 2010, when the existence of the almighty Alan Measles was revealed to the unaware humanity. Alan is an ancient god who stepped down to our mortal world and inhabited the body of Grayson Perry’s cuddly teddy bear. The same year artist constructed a vehicle, which would be worthy form of transport for god and together with Alan they drove on a spiritual journey to Germany to make peace with his childhood enemy.

The concept behind the show is based upon the idea of pilgrimage, which is explored on many levels. The physical pilgrimage is represented by Perry’s quest to Germany, but also it is the two-year research through the British Museum collection that artist undertakes in order to gather the objects that would compliment his own creations. Finally it is the path of his professional life that leads him step by step to this prestigious event. The arrangement of the exhibition space automatically turns anyone who enters it into a pilgrim as well. From the very beginning we are unknowingly destined to reach the final chamber, which hosts the sacred work, and our ultimate reward, The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman.

Pilgrimage to the British Museum, 2011

The metaphorical pilgrimage for both the artist and the spectator is the spiritual journey within oneself; the spectator’s journey into the artist’s mind, the artist’s creative journey into the depths of his own imagination and finally the message that the artist sends to the spectator urging him to revisit his own imaginary world. It is the pilgrimage back to ones roots, both personally (childhood) and, when we are confronted with the artifacts of our civilisation, as a whole of humanity.

The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman is Grayson Perry’s homage to the legions of anonymous craftsmen, who with the work of their skillful hands defined cultures and civilisations around the planet.


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