Artist: Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane
Title: The Greasy Pole
Date: January 08
Place: Egremont
Commissioners and Funders: Co-ordinated by Grizedale Arts with support from the Egremont and area regeneration partnership, West Lakes renaissance, Lord Egremont, Copland Borough Council, The Henry Moore Foundation, Esmee Faribairn Foundation, Egremont Town Council, and Arts Council England.
The pole has been part of the Egremonts annual Crab Fair since 1267 where locals would compete by ascending the Pole to win a prize (usually some meat!) located at its top. The pole was removed for safety reasons from the town centre in 2003, and replaced with Jeremy Deller and Alan Kanes Greasy Pole in 2008. The work was conceived out of an existing relationship between the artists and the town, who were involved in the artists’ project ‘Folk Archive’.
The Pole is constructed of advanced and low maintenance materials with the main structure fabricated in carbon fibre. The pole has a decorative collar which prevents the structure from being climbed outside the Crab Fair, yet can be ritually raised to its top at the start of Crab Fair week, in order to hold the meat prize!
Watch the following two videos and consider the effect that producing public art for multiple cultural functions could have on artists and curators.