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Leeds 13 was an English artist collective formed in 1997–98 at the University of Leeds in West Yorkshire. All the third-year BA (Fine Art) students were members: nine women and four men. The degree consisted of art history/theory and studio practice. For studio practice, each student was expected to produce original artwork for an end-of-year exhibition. The members of the group rejected this convention. Instead, they cooperated on two conceptual works, which proved controversial but received the top grade.

Key Information

Going Places (1998), the group's first and best known work, provoked public debate on contemporary art. Members of the group secured donations towards mounting the end-of-year exhibition. They then appeared to take a week's holiday on the Spanish Costa del Sol (English: Sun Coast) supposedly paid for with the donations. The trip was claimed to be art and the arrival back in the UK, witnessed by guests including their tutor, was the exhibition. First published in a student newspaper, the holiday story was widely covered by news media over the next few days. BBC national radio news then interviewed a member of the group. He revealed that the holiday had been an elaborate simulation and the donations had not been spent. The hoax was covered as both news and entertainment. All the members of Leeds 13 received first class for their third year.

The Degree Show (1999) examined art exhibitions. Leeds 13 curated and mounted a corporate-style exhibition with a diverse collection of work by other artists worth a total of £1 million. The final-year art students's claim that the show was a group artwork proved controversial. The exhibition was covered by some newspapers, most of whom had been hoaxed by Going Places. All the members of Leeds 13 graduated with first class degrees, and most continued working together. However, later works went largely unnoticed. Leeds 13 was last active in Paris in mid-2000.

Leeds 13 "... [tried] to counter the traditional notion of the artist as an individual creator of specific objects.",[1] according to the artist's statement for The Degree Show. In contrast, its members worked as a group producing one-off events that defied the art market.

Going Places (1998)

[edit]

In the academic year 1997–98, there were 13 third-year fine art students at the University of Leeds:[2] nine women and four men.[3][4] The degree had two parts, which were marked with equal weight: art history/theory and studio practice.[5] For studio practice, the students decided to work together as a group. Their tutor was artist Terry Atkinson. According to an art history assessment of the group, Atkinson's anti-pedagogy and his emphasis on the practice of art rather than the aesthetic objects produced were key influences.[2]

Concept

[edit]

The project brief was "come up with something thought-provoking",[6] according to Martin Wainwright in The Guardian newspaper. The students aimed to start a public debate on the nature of art, particularly the boundaries between activities acceptable as art and those that were not.[7] They designed a work to attract interest from the media who they hoped would distribute news of the work to the public. To be newsworthy, it had to be controversial.[8]

The controversies were choosing an activity not generally accepted as art and the students's willingness to deceive others. They would pitch a conventional end-of-year art exhibition and ask for financial donations to mount the show. The students would then appear to take a week-long package holiday on the Costa del Sol. On their return, they would claim that they had made art and the exhibition out of themselves and their trip.[7][9] Journalists would be told that the donations had been spent on the holiday, so the group would be accused of misusing donors's money.[10] Later, the reality would be revealed, the holiday had been a simulation and the donations had not been spent.[11] By removing the misuse of donations controversy, the students hoped the public would reconsider their preconceptions of art and artists.[12]

If the work provoked public debate on the nature of art then the students would consider it a success. They called their project Going Places.[7]

Preparation

[edit]

The students applied to their representative body, Leeds University Union, for money to mount an exhibition. They were granted £1,126.[13][14] The only business sponsor, later mentioned in media coverage, was a Leeds art shop owner who donated £50.[9][15]

Evidence for the holiday included a performance art event, stories, props and suntans. The group's supposed return from Spain would be staged at the local international airport for invited guests.[11] The students convinced the airport authorities to simulate a flight from Málaga on the announcement boards then let them exit arrivals.[4] The guests would gather in a Spanish-themed art space before the event at the airport.[11]

The students would claim to have spent six days swimming, sunbathing and enjoying the nightlife on the Mediterranean coast.[16][17] They forged airline tickets, baggage labels,[18] and the frank on a postcard apparently sent from Spain to their tutor. Spanish-themed props were collected to use as souvenirs.[11] They also added local colour to a set of photographs supposedly taken on their holiday.[18] Beach shots were actually taken on the North Sea coast at Cayton Sands, Scarborough, North Yorkshire.[6] Pool shots were taken at a private open-air swimming pool in Chapel Allerton, Leeds.[19] A blue lens effect gave the photographs a Mediterranean look.[11] Other backdrops included bars in Leeds and a Gaudíesque mural at a Spanish-themed nightclub in Cayton Bay.[6]

In the week before the event, the group hid in their student accommodation to use a suntanning bed and fake tan.[11] They built up a skin tone that they later critiqued as "... (perhaps a shade too orange) ...",[20] in the Going Places artist's statement published by The Guardian.

Holiday and response

[edit]

On the evening of 6 May 1998,[21] around 60 guests,[16] including Atkinson and head of department Ken Hay,[8] arrived at East Street Studios, Leeds.[21] They found recorded flamenco music playing and sangria to drink but no artwork or students. After half an hour, an air stewardess appeared and led the guests to a bus that took them to Leeds Bradford Airport. There they witnessed the students arriving back from their holiday.[11] The students told the guests the holiday story,[22] invited them to the airport bar and, after a couple of hours, paid the bill with the last of the donations.[16][23] With 13 spokespeople to tell the story,[12] the group waited for interest from the media.[18]

The holiday story spread across campus to the Leeds Student newspaper whose journalists interviewed members of the group.[11] On Friday 15 May, Leeds Student ran "Con Artists' Spanish Rip-Off" on the front page continuing inside with "And They Call This Art?"[24] Two days later, the national Sunday Mirror newspaper picked up the story.[9] Regional newspapers the Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post followed on Monday.[8][15] By the morning of Tuesday 19 May, when the hoax was revealed, the holiday story was on television and radio,[11] and in national morning newspapers including the Daily Express, Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and The Times.[23][25][16][17][3] Details of the story varied between sources.[a]

Newspaper reports covered both support for and objections to Going Places. In support, the students told The Daily Telegraph they aimed "... to force people to discuss whether there was any limit on what could be described as art." They continued explaining the holiday with "This is leisure as art." and "It is art and it was an exhibition."[16] Atkinson said "It was quite a coup de théâtre. They were lucky because the plane could have been 12 hours late." to the Yorkshire Post.[8] And he told The Times "It's definitely art, but whether it's good or bad art is another thing."[14] A university spokesman was neutral on what the students had done but positive about the value for money they had achieved.[16] The objections were later summarised as "... indignation at the cheek of lazy students declaring that their holiday was an artwork, and moral outrage over the misappropriation of funds." by curator Ralph Rugoff in Frieze magazine.[26]

Some newspapers also ran opinion pieces on the holiday as art. Leeds Student said it was neither creative nor original because millions of people take package holidays every year.[13] Using the group as the latest example, the Yorkshire Evening Post condemned modern artists as more skilled at self-promotion than producing aesthetic objects.[27] The Daily Telegraph contrasted Atkinson's opinion with those of two art critics. Brian Sewell said "Of course it's not art. But it may be they don't believe a word of what they are being taught and are taking it to its logical conclusion." Richard Dorment said "This is not a good work of art. It seems to me on the edge of being a hoax and quite a good joke. I think the joke wins."[16]

The students planned to replace the story of the holiday with the reality of the hoax in the next issue of Leeds Student due on 5 June.[14][28] But they "... decided to confess early when the issue became 'very hot'."[14]

Hoax and response

[edit]

On Tuesday 19 May 1998, a member of Leeds 13 appeared on the BBC Radio 4 morning news and current-affairs programme Today. He revealed the holiday was a simulation and the donations had not been spent.[11] Later that day, the Yorkshire Evening Post checked the facts about the group's arrival with a manager at the airport. This confirmed that the arrival had been staged so the holiday was a hoax.[4]

The next day, most newspapers focused on the donations and deceptions. The Yorkshire Evening Post interviewed the art shop owner who said he had suspicions when a member of the group turned down his offer of a £150 discount on framing in favour of £50 cash.[29] Members of the group considered donating the money to charity,[6][19] but they decided to pay the grant back to Leeds University Union.[b] The union demanded a letter of apology to the city's students for publication in Leeds Student. The group's members refused, so they were banned from their student representative body.[28]

A few newspapers ran opinion pieces on the hoax as art. Cosmo Landesman, who interviewed members of the group for The Sunday Times newspaper, was sceptical about their "... postmodern prank."[30] He struggled with the students's view that a concept produced by a group should be accepted as art like an aesthetic object produced by an individual.[30] The students responded to Landesman's piece saying he had missed the point.[12] On 27 June, The Guardian published the artist's statement for Going Places attributed to Leeds 13, the first known use of that name in the media.[20] A Leeds Student comment section editor wrote an open letter criticising Going Places.[31] According to Leeds 13, the letter said their project was a boring and empty sham (the Letters page is missing from the online copy of that issue). The members wrote an exasperated reply,[32] which was published, heavily abridged, in the next issue. They complained about their punishment from Leeds University Union and, having critiqued the letter writer's knowledge of art history and theory, they questioned his authority to judge their work.[33]

Among those who accepted Going Places was art, opinions on whether it was good or interesting were mixed. Atkinson said it was good because it raised issues including the activities acceptable as art and the way media organisations fed off each other.[34] Hay told The Guardian that "[The students] have got everyone talking about the very things—the nature of art and its relationship with life—that lie at the heart of the course."[6] The Guardian's art critic Adrian Searle wrote Going Places was a fantastic work that played with popular preconceptions.[6] At the end of May, The Times Higher Education Supplement published "Talented Artists or Just Con Artists?" As well as Atkinson and Hay, the piece quoted artist John Stezaker who found the fictional trip interesting and deserving of the top grade. However, two lecturers from other universities said Going Places was neither good nor interesting. One said it only showed the mutual dependence of art and media. The other contrasted the students's blatant deceptions to Duchamp's ambiguity about whether his conceptual works were sincere. Both lecturers had concerns about the negative effects of the deceptions on those who had been hoaxed and on the reputation of artists.[34]

As well as news, the hoax was also covered as entertainment on television. The day after the reveal, members of the group appeared on The Big Breakfast.[19] Later that week, panellists on Have I Got News for You were asked about the "Costa del Spoof" (from a headline in The Independent).[35] Germaine Greer was positive saying the project was art and the students should receive A grade. The other three panellists were less enthusiastic.[36] Leeds 13 members summed up Going Places with "During our brief foray into the limelight, we have added greatly to the jollity of the nation."[12]

In July, all the members of Leeds 13 received first class for their third year. According to a BBC News report, "Examiners praised them for challenging popular perceptions about how art is produced, taught and criticised."[37]

Leeds 13's place in art history was explored by Rugoff in the September–October edition of Frieze magazine. Rugoff wrote that Going Places was a "... perfectly executed double whammy." It had provoked "... a minor journalistic frenzy ..." and a public debate on the nature of art but he did not think the results had been illuminating. More interesting was that by distributing news of the work the media had added new facets to it. Rugoff said that Leeds 13, and contemporaries Decima Gallery, were the first artists to make the media their principal medium. He labelled them neo-publicists.[26]

Going Places and its "... media frenzy ..." were mentioned in The Times Higher Education Supplement news highlights of 1998.[38]

Exhibitions

[edit]

The Going Places artist's statement said "We have produced no tangible end object for market, ..."[12] A Leeds 13 member explained the art was the impression their work created in people's minds.[34] In spite of this, Going Places featured in three art exhibitions.[c]

Go Away: Artists and Travel at the Royal College of Art (RCA) Galleries, London ran 17 April – 6 May 1999. Mounted by RCA students on the MA (Visual Arts Administration), the exhibition included works by over thirty artists. Leeds 13 showed Going Places holiday photographs, ephemera and a video of the television coverage.[40]

f.k.a.a. (formerly known as art) at The Wardrobe, Leeds ran 16–18 March 2000 and featured work by local artists.[41] Members of Leeds 13, who graduated the previous year, showed a collection of Going Places artefacts wrapped and priced. These included a bikini top for £69.96, a Frisbee for £110, men's shorts for £80,000 and the holiday photographs in an album for £13 million. A member of the group explained to the Yorkshire Post "It's not really a finished project, it's a processing of the items, that they themselves have become legitimate as art."[42] In his review of the exhibition, Wainwright said the zest of Leeds 13 had attracted others to revitalise visual arts in the city. But he also noted concerns that the group's critique of the art market and its prices was becoming ridiculous.[41][d]

In 2019–2020, an exhibition was mounted to mark 70 years of Fine Art at the University of Leeds. It featured both Going Places and Leeds 13's final student project The Degree Show.

The Degree Show (1999)

[edit]

The original members of Leeds 13 continued into their fourth and final year.[12] They were joined by two new members,[43] but one original member did not graduate.[5]

Concept

[edit]

Members of the group were interested in art exhibitions and two types of relationships in the art world. First, the relationships between works of art that gave each one its significance relative to others. Second, the relationships between art world stakeholders including artists and private sector patrons. The students decided to produce a corporate-style exhibition. It would feature a diverse collection of existing works by other artists as "... conceptual props, ...",[1] according to the artist's statement later published in The Times Higher Education Supplement. They would present the exhibition as a group artwork and call their project The Degree Show.[44]

Preparation

[edit]

Members of Leeds 13 secured corporate and local business sponsorship for the exhibition.[45] Property developer Hammerson hosted the show in West Riding House, Leeds.[44] The students also secured works, worth a total of £1 million,[46][47] by over thirty artists. They included sculpture by Duchamp and Barbara Hepworth, bronze by Rodin and Henry Moore, paintings by Margaret Harrison and Damien Hirst, collage by Kurt Schwitters, a poster by Jeff Koons, photographs by Jo Spence, the BANK fax-back service and performance by Decima Gallery.[48]

Leeds 13 hung, lit and secured the work. They also produced the catalogue, wall labels and advertising.[1] The introductory essay was a collage of art writing. It explained the concept using a Hugh McDiarmid quote "... 'the greater the plagiarism the greater the work of art.' If we can accept this dissident posture we can take this exhibition as a work of art in itself."[49]

Response

[edit]

The Degree Show was open to the public 8–18 June 1999.[50] Leeds 13's tutor Ben Read told The Times that students normally showed original work. He continued by asking "Have they made these works their own art?" Read concluded that the exhibition had stimulated debate on the nature of art.[51]

The show was covered in the regional and quality newspapers, most of whom had been hoaxed by Going Places. As the students had not produced original artworks for a second year, questions were asked about what they had been doing.[52][47] The response to The Degree Show as a group artwork was negative. An art and philosophy lecturer wrote that the work was not good art. In his view, the show failed to critique corporate art exhibitions because it looked exactly like one.[53] Two art critics were quoted in both The Guardian and The Times. Matthew Collings dismissed The Degree Show as "... appropriation art, trendy but moronic." David Lee said it "... confirms the important point that the path to success in modern art is through notoriety. It sounds like a complete abrogation of responsibility as a degree show."[46][51]

In contrast, the response to The Degree Show as an exhibition was positive. According to a Leeds gallery owner, who lent £140,000 worth of bronze, the mounting of the show was excellent.[46] She also appreciated the inclusion of work by artists with Leeds connections: Hepworth, Hirst and Moore.[54] David Shepherd, who exhibited two paintings, said the show was a good opportunity for the public to view a diverse collection of work.[46] And Read noted it had more visitors than any of the department's previous exhibitions.[51]

The group's members received upper second class for The Degree Show, the studio practice half of their marks.[55] This was added to their individual marks for art history/theory. The day after the show opened, the students received six first and eight upper second class degrees.[54][5] But seven students appealed saying the examiners had rushed marking The Degree Show before taking industrial action. Their appeal was successful, and by September all 14 members of Leeds 13 had received first class degrees.[55]

After graduation (late 1999 – 2000)

[edit]

Leeds 13 continued after its members graduated but later works received little media coverage.

A Christmas Pudding for Henry was a multi-artist programme on the culture of Leeds which ran from mid-October to mid-December 1999.[56] According to the Leeds 13 official website, the group participated and produced Floiner (1999), but no independent source has been found to confirm this.

In March 2000, Leeds 13 revisited Going Places at the f.k.a.a. exhibition.

By May 2000, 11 members of the group were in Paris promoting the Batofar cultural centre and restaurant as artists-in-residence. They staged playful interventions in formal spaces: the Louvre and the National Library.[57] According to the official website, Leeds 13 also produced A Play on Grass (2000), which appears to be its final work. Again, no independent source has been found to confirm this.

Continuing response

[edit]

A BBC Introduction to Modern and Contemporary Art by Paul Glinkowski was published in 2000. Glinkowski wrote that Going Places was "... possibly the most outrageous game in British art history." He categorised the work as challenging both the rules and the rulers of the art world.[58]

Going Places was the first example of simulation in art critic John A. Walker's book Art in the Age of the Mass Media (3rd ed.) published in 2001. Walker wrote the work was a prank by the student artists to pay the media back for their barbed coverage of contemporary art. He mentioned The Degree Show in passing. Walker suggested alternative careers for the by-then-graduate artists in public relations or journalism.[59]

In 2009, RTÉ Radio 1 broadcast Grand Art in The Curious Ear series of documentaries, which covered Going Places as one of two performance artworks from the late 1990s costing around £1,000. A member of Leeds 13 explained how the work unfolded then how it was produced.[11]

Beating the Bounds was a 2013 Reith Lecture by artist Grayson Perry on BBC Radio 4. The lecture examined the idea that anything could be art. Perry used Going Places as an example and hoped the work was a parody of that idea.[60][e]

Seventy years of Fine Art at the University of Leeds was marked by an exhibition which ran 4 December 2019 – 4 April 2020. Leeds 13 showed a video on Going Places and a catalogue from The Degree Show. The exhibition was co-curated by Griselda Pollock an art historian with the university. In the studio guide, Pollock focused on the radical anti-pedagogical and feminist aspects of the group and its works.[2][f]

Notes

[edit]

Citations

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c L13 1999b.
  2. ^ a b c d Pollock 2020, p. 10.
  3. ^ a b c Wilkinson 1998.
  4. ^ a b c Allan 1998.
  5. ^ a b c UoLPO 1999.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Wainwright & Searle 1998.
  7. ^ a b c d Chapple et al. 1998, p. 3.
  8. ^ a b c d e McIntyre 1998a.
  9. ^ a b c Prince 1998.
  10. ^ a b Chapple et al. 1998, front page.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Kelly 2009.
  12. ^ a b c d e f L13 1998b, p. 13.
  13. ^ a b LS 1998.
  14. ^ a b c d Whitworth 1998.
  15. ^ a b c Hurst & Allan 1998.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h Reynolds 1998a.
  17. ^ a b c Harding 1998.
  18. ^ a b c L13 1998a, Clues and Forgeries.
  19. ^ a b c McIntyre 1998b.
  20. ^ a b L13 1998b.
  21. ^ a b L13 1998a, splash page.
  22. ^ L13 1998b, p. 12.
  23. ^ a b Cooke 1998.
  24. ^ Chapple et al. 1998, front page, p. 3.
  25. ^ a b Brooke 1998.
  26. ^ a b Rugoff 1998.
  27. ^ YEP 1998.
  28. ^ a b Llewellyn 1998.
  29. ^ YEP 1998b.
  30. ^ a b Landesman 1998.
  31. ^ Rickett 1998.
  32. ^ L13 1998a, And Finally.
  33. ^ L13 1998c.
  34. ^ a b c Utley 1998.
  35. ^ Jury 1998.
  36. ^ HIGNfY 1998.
  37. ^ BBCN 1998.
  38. ^ Sanders 1999.
  39. ^ L13 1999a, Works > Decima.
  40. ^ RCoA 1999, front cover, pp. 6,104.
  41. ^ a b c Wainwright 2000.
  42. ^ Makel 2000.
  43. ^ RCoA 1999, p. 112.
  44. ^ a b YEP 1999.
  45. ^ L13 1999a, Sponsors.
  46. ^ a b c d Wainwright 1999.
  47. ^ a b Miller 1999.
  48. ^ L13 1999a, Works.
  49. ^ L13 1999a, Introduction.
  50. ^ L13 1999a.
  51. ^ a b c Sherwin 1999.
  52. ^ Barnes 1999.
  53. ^ Rodway 1999.
  54. ^ a b Reynolds 1999.
  55. ^ a b Utley 1999.
  56. ^ Joyner 1999.
  57. ^ Harney 2000.
  58. ^ Glinkowski 2000.
  59. ^ Walker 2001.
  60. ^ a b Perry 2013.

References

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Leeds 13

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Leeds 13 was an English artist collective comprising thirteen final-year fine art students at the University of Leeds, formed in 1998 and best known for their conceptual and performance art projects that blurred the lines between reality and fabrication, particularly the media hoax "Going Places." The group's inaugural project, Going Places (1998), involved staging a fictitious holiday to Malaga, Spain, using fake holiday snapshots from Scarborough, sunbed tans, and manipulated photographs to simulate a Mediterranean getaway, all funded by over £1,000 in grants from the university students' union and local sponsors. The deception culminated in a fabricated "return" exhibition at Leeds Bradford Airport, complete with an actress portraying an air hostess and announcements of their arrival flight, which initially tricked local and national media into reporting the story as a scandalous misuse of funds. Upon revealing the hoax on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the collective sparked widespread debate on journalistic gullibility, the ethics of art funding, and the role of performance in contemporary art, generating over 135 pieces of coverage across print, radio, and television. For their degree show in June 1999 at West Riding House in Leeds, the Leeds 13 shifted focus to themes of authorship and plagiarism, curating an exhibition of 38 real artworks by artists like Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, and Henry Moore, without including any of their own works, to provoke questions about originality, value, and institutional validation in the art world. Despite controversy, including a temporary ban from university premises by the students' union for perceived dishonesty in the earlier project, the examiners awarded the group first-class honours, praising their innovative challenge to traditional perceptions of art production and criticism. The collective's work, which emphasized media's complicity in constructing narratives and the performative nature of publicity, left a lasting impact on discussions of conceptual art in the late 1990s, though the group disbanded after their graduation without further major collaborative projects.

Background and Formation

Group Members and Composition

The Leeds 13 was a collective comprising thirteen third-year BA Fine Art students at the University of Leeds who united during the 1997–1998 academic year to pursue collaborative conceptual art practices that emphasized provocation and critique of artistic norms. The core members were Victoria Anderson, Laura Baxter, Simon Clark, Matthew Dunning, John Crossley, Hannah Foot, Benjamin Halsall, Christian Hersey, Siân Jones, Jen Larkin, Sarah Thornton, Eleanor Welsh, and Susannah Wesley. The group formed organically within the university's program, where students coalesced around shared interests in challenging individualism through joint projects that integrated theory, performance, and media engagement. This collaboration was influenced by the program's emphasis on anti-pedagogical approaches, fostering a dynamic among the participants. Key figures within the group included John Crossley, who represented the collective in various media appearances, and Sarah Thornton, who managed interviews and public communications, such as those with broadcasters like . Siân Jones also contributed to public-facing roles, including radio and television discussions.

Academic Context at

The BA program at the in the late , housed within the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies, placed strong emphasis on , performance practices, and the subversion of traditional artistic conventions, integrating theoretical critique with hands-on experimentation to develop students' critical voices. Tutors such as Terry Atkinson, who taught in the fine art studios from 1977 onward, played a pivotal role in this orientation, drawing on his background in to encourage anti-hierarchical and interdisciplinary challenges to institutional norms. The program's departmental ethos, established in 1949 under the influence of modernist art historian and local figures like Bonamy Dobrée, prioritized arts education as a means of social and cultural inquiry over technical training, fostering an environment conducive to collective student projects that questioned power structures and embraced radical experimentation. This legacy was reinforced by tutors including , who from 1977 introduced feminist and cultural into the , particularly in final-year modules on theories and institutions, inspiring pre-group student initiatives that blended , critique, and collaboration. Leeds's broader art scene in the contributed to this provocative milieu, with the opening of the Henry Moore Institute in 1993 as the UK's first dedicated sculpture gallery, which hosted contemporary exhibitions engaging media, , and social issues, alongside established venues like Leeds City Art Gallery that supported emerging, boundary-pushing practices. The city's post-punk heritage from the 1970s and 1980s, intertwined with the university's department through alumni bands like , further amplified a culture of media-engaged, experimental art that influenced student work. Student funding in this era included mandatory maintenance grants administered by Local Education Authorities (LEAs), supplemented by discretionary awards for art-specific needs such as study trips, with LEAs receiving central government support under section 209 of the to cover approved expenditures on educational travel and materials. These mechanisms, which provided up to £2,265 in means-tested grants by the mid-1990s, enabled art students to pursue ambitious, off-campus projects aligned with the program's innovative .

Going Places Project (1998)

Concept and Preparation

The core concept of the Going Places project emerged as a intervention by the , a of 13 s at the , who proposed simulating a group holiday to Malaga on the as a form of "artistic ." This idea critiqued the of , the role of media in shaping public perception, and the mechanisms of art funding by repurposing a grant for a fabricated experience rather than a traditional . The project was envisioned as a that blurred the lines between authentic artistic practice and , inspired by the group's academic exposure to and feminist art theories emphasizing over . Ideation began in early 1998, when the group, leveraging their position within the university's program and its access to resources, discussed alternatives to conventional end-of-year shows during internal meetings. By early 1998, they formalized the hoax element through collective deliberation, electing two members as chairperson and to streamline and ensure egalitarian participation, including accommodations for childcare among group members. The planning phase extended into spring 1998, focusing on logistical setup without any intention of actual travel; instead, the group prioritized fabricating evidence to sustain the illusion of a funded trip. This timeline allowed them to secure a £1,126 grant from the , applied for under the guise of funding a multi-media installation, which they left untouched to heighten the critique of public arts expenditure. To develop the necessary artifacts, the group assigned tasks based on individual skills, with members handling , prop acquisition, and documentation. They forged travel documents such as tickets and boarding passes, gathered souvenirs including Spanish beer cans, crisp packets, , red roses, and posters, and staged photographs using lens filters to depict local sites—like a Leeds outdoor pool and the —as Mediterranean destinations. Additional preparations involved hiring sunbeds for artificial tans and sourcing duty-free-style items to mimic a post-holiday return, all coordinated collaboratively to maintain the project's deceptive integrity during the planning stage.

Execution and Initial Public Response

In May 1998, the Leeds 13 executed the Going Places project by staging a collective disappearance for one week, during which the group members hid locally in the countryside and their homes to avoid detection while fabricating evidence of a research trip to Malaga, . They holed up behind dark curtains, ignored doorbells and phones, and ventured outside only in balaclavas and hooded tops; a hired sunbed in a cellar provided artificial tans to simulate sun exposure. Logistical challenges arose in coordinating these alibis, including maintaining from university staff and peers, using subterfuge like internal postal systems for forged communications, and ensuring consistent evidence without slip-ups during the absence. To build the illusion, the group drew on prior preparations of fake documents, such as tickets and boarding passes, and created visual props including Spanish artefacts like bottles and . Photographs were staged with lens filters to depict local sites—the as the Mediterranean, a Leeds outdoor pool as a Spanish beach, and nearby bars as Malaga venues—while a with a hand-crafted was sent to their tutor, Terry Atkinson, claiming the trip's necessity for istic research. The project was initially announced via press releases and university statements as a legitimate, grant-funded endeavor exploring travel's role in contemporary practice, with the £1,126 from the presented as support for a multi-media installation. The staged return amplified the execution: guests were bused to Leeds-Bradford Airport to witness the group's "arrival" with luggage, duty-free items, and the fabricated tans, followed by sharing of holiday snaps and drinks at the East Street Studios opening. Early public responses were supportive, with the endorsing the initiative through its funding and no initial doubts raised. Local media, including the Yorkshire Evening Post, covered it positively on May 18, 1998, under the headline "Abroad canvas for free-holiday students," lauding the innovative "study abroad" as a fresh artistic approach. The Student newspaper echoed this enthusiasm, and the story quickly gained traction in national outlets like the Sunday Mirror and BBC Radio 4's Today programme, framing it as a bold, creative experiment.

Hoax Revelation and Media Backlash

In May 1998, the Leeds 13 unveiled their hoax during an appearance on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, confessing that the Going Places project was entirely fabricated and that they had never traveled to Spain. They admitted using photographs taken in Scarborough, sunbed sessions for fake tans, and local Leeds sites dressed to resemble the Costa del Sol, all to interrogate notions of authenticity in art and to demonstrate media susceptibility to sensational stories. The group had secured approximately £1,126 in funding from the University of Leeds Students' Union, which remained untouched and was returned. The revelation ignited widespread media coverage across national outlets, amplifying the initial reports of the supposed holiday into a full-blown controversy. The Guardian ran a front-page story headlined "Is it art or a week boozing on the ?", while the Daily Mail questioned, "Is this really high art? Or simply a student trip to the Costas at our expense?". The Times described the work as a "cheap ," and the Yorkshire Evening Post labeled the students "Con Artists!" in its front-page coverage. An interview with the group by in The Sunday Times portrayed the project as a skeptical "postmodern prank," highlighting the media's role in its propagation. Public and political backlash was swift and intense, with accusations of and squandering public funds—despite the money originating from sources—fueling perceptions of a taxpayer rip-off and sparking among conservative commentators. Opinion pieces debated the project's legitimacy, pitting it as either provocative art or an irresponsible stunt, with the spokeswoman Anna Richards describing it as "lying" and "dishonesty." The controversy resonated as a symbol of , evoking dismay in mainstream British over perceived artistic excess. The Leeds 13 defended the as a deliberate conceptual strategy to expose media hype and blur the boundaries between and , arguing that the ensuing frenzy became integral to the work itself. Group member John Crossley later reflected that it raised awareness of media fallibility, though he acknowledged the unease of the , emphasizing that "the ends justified the means" in testing stereotypes about . Their tutor, Terry Atkinson, endorsed the approach, stating that "the relations of distribution… have become part of the production," framing the media's involvement as an extension of the artistic process.

Academic Assessment and Exhibitions

The grading process for the Leeds 13's "Going Places" project awarded all thirteen members first-class honours marks, with examiners commending the work for its innovative challenge to perceptions of production, teaching, and criticism. This assessment recognized the project's conceptual boldness, even as it provoked widespread controversy over the use of student union funds. The initially supported the academic validation through its examiners, but faced mounting pressure from the and external critics, leading to a defensive stance amid intense media scrutiny that included up to 70 daily press inquiries handled by university staff. Tutor Terry Atkinson played a key role in this validation, having fostered an anti-pedagogical environment that encouraged critical and collective approaches to practice, influencing the group's subversive strategy. Exhibitions of the project's hoax artifacts, including fabricated photographs, tickets, and souvenirs, were displayed in 1998 at the as part of the "Going Places" presentation, where visitors were transported by coach to for the staged reveal. These elements were later incorporated into group shows, such as the 2019 "Lessons in the Studio" exhibition at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery, which highlighted the Leeds 13's collective challenge to traditional assessment systems. In the art world, the project received praise from some critics for its prankish wit reminiscent of and its provocation in the vein of like , who similarly engaged media , though it ignited debates on ethical boundaries in . This reception contrasted sharply with the public media backlash, underscoring the divide between artistic innovation and broader societal expectations.

The Degree Show (1999)

Concept and Curatorial Approach

The Leeds 13's degree show in 1999 represented a deliberate extension of their provocative artistic practice, shifting from the fabricated narratives of their previous project to a curation of established artists' works valued at approximately £1 million, presented in lieu of original student creations. This core concept critiqued the conventions of curation, the perceived value of art, and the expectations surrounding degrees, positioning the exhibition as a intervention that questioned authorship and institutional validation. By forgoing personal production, the group emphasized the curatorial act itself as the artwork, drawing on influences from traditions to highlight how context and presentation construct meaning. In the planning phase during early 1999, the group—initially comprising 13 members but expanding to include the returning collaborator Victoria Anderson, forming a of 14—selected works from around 15 prominent artists, including , , , , Rodin, , and Sir , with a nod to Hirst's influence on contemporary appropriation strategies. Loans were secured without any intent to purchase, negotiated directly with galleries, artists, and private collections, while the group hired a professional venue in central and developed supporting materials like labels, lighting, and a catalogue filled with theoretical citations rather than descriptive texts. This process built on the of their 1998 Going Places , which had already primed public and institutional scrutiny, but focused solely on recontextualizing existing pieces to underscore themes of appropriation and perceptual context. The curatorial methods centered on a thematic exploration of "appropriation" and "context," wherein no new works were created by the Leeds 13; instead, borrowed pieces were installed to mimic a high-profile gallery exhibition, prompting viewers to interrogate the boundaries between original production and mediated display. This approach challenged the individualism inherent in degree assessments, advocating for collective authorship and feminist-inspired critiques of hierarchies, as informed by their academic environment at the . Challenges arose in negotiating these loans and obtaining university approval for the submission, compounded by lingering skepticism from the prior , which required rigorous documentation of and authenticity to assuage concerns from lenders and examiners.

Exhibition Details and Critical Reception

The Degree Show by Leeds 13 opened in June 1999 at West Riding House on Albion Street in Leeds, running until June 18, and was staged on the building's 19th floor. The exhibition showcased approximately 38 loaned works valued at nearly £1 million, including sculptures, paintings, and videos by prominent artists such as Auguste Rodin (Méditation Dite de la Porte, valued at £40,000), Henry Moore (a sculpture worth £100,000), Damien Hirst, Marcel Duchamp, and Sir Alfred Gilbert, alongside pieces by contemporary figures like David Shepherd (Granny's Kitchen and The Last Refuge). These high-value items were secured through legitimate loans, marking a shift from the group's prior hoax, and the show emphasized institutional elements like professional mounting, lighting, hanging systems, labels, advertising, security devices, posters, handouts, and a printed catalogue. Positioning themselves exclusively as curators rather than creators, the Leeds 13 designed the exhibition to interrogate the art world's structures, relationships between artworks and stakeholders, and perceptions of authenticity, with and explicitly noting the borrowed status of all pieces to underscore themes of access and presentation. The preview attracted local VIPs, tutors, and a half-dozen participating artists, while the overall event drew substantial crowds fueled by the group's lingering fame from the 1998 Going Places hoax, leading to heightened attendance and security measures. National media coverage intensified, with reports frequently referencing the earlier controversy to frame this as a bolder, "real" follow-up endeavor. Critical reception was divided, blending admiration for the group's audacity with skepticism over its artistic merit in the wake of their hoax reputation. The Guardian hailed it as "another coup," praising the professional execution and the students' success in assembling such prestigious loans. Supporters included University of Leeds tutor Ben Read, who loaned a Barbara Hepworth piece and endorsed the conceptual rigor, and artist David Shepherd, who contributed works and expressed approval. David Lee of Art Review commended it as a "shrewd point" on how notoriety drives the contemporary art market. Conversely, critic Matthew Collings dismissed the show on Channel 4 as "totally boring" and "moronic," arguing it lacked depth beyond gimmickry, while some observers questioned its originality given the precedent of Going Places. Despite the mixed responses, the exhibition's scale and media buzz solidified its role as a provocative capstone to the group's undergraduate work.

Graduation Outcomes and Appeals

Following the June 1999 degree show, the Leeds 13 collectively received initial marks equivalent to a 2:1 classification for that component, which constituted 50% of their final BA degree. This grading prompted outrage among the group, especially given that their prior "Going Places" project had earned first-class honors, and led seven members to formally appeal the assessment. The appeal, heard in September 1999, centered on procedural irregularities, including a rushed evaluation process influenced by industrial action from the Association of University Teachers that had pressured external assessors. The university's appeals committee upheld the challenge, revising the degree show marks upward to first-class level for all 14 participants based on the exhibition's innovative curatorial framework, which interrogated authorship, exhibition practices, and the art market through appropriated works by artists such as Rodin, Henry Moore, and Damien Hirst. This outcome elevated the entire group's final degrees to first-class honors. The group graduated in late 1999, marking the formal closure of their undergraduate tenure at the . In reflections on the process, members noted how the collaborative projects, including the degree show, redefined the boundaries of their degrees by shifting emphasis from individual studio production to collective conceptual inquiry and critique of institutional norms. The 13's experiences contributed to the department's evolving legacy in supporting conceptual and interdisciplinary approaches, influencing subsequent policies that encouraged social, critical, and collaborative practices in art education.

Post-Graduation Period (1999–2000)

Immediate Aftermath and Dissolution

Following their degree show in June 1999, the 13 continued to attract significant media attention, with reports highlighting the exhibition's ambitious curation of loaned works by prominent artists such as and , valued at nearly £1 million, and the ongoing debate it sparked about artistic authenticity in the wake of their previous . This coverage reflected a mix of admiration for their conceptual boldness and skepticism, as some critics and attendees suspected another layer of deception, underscoring the persistent public and critical fascination with the group's provocative approach. In statements around this time, the group emphasized a shift toward individual artistic exploration post-graduation, signaling their intent to pursue independent careers while reflecting on the collective's role in challenging art world conventions. Personal reflections from members later indicated that the intense media scrutiny created initial challenges in transitioning to solo work, including feelings of overwhelm from the national spotlight. By early 2000, after a residency at Paris's Batofar cultural centre where eleven members staged interventions like throwing oranges into the Louvre's fountains to comment on urban space, the collective wound down its activities. The group ceased collaborative activities later that year as members pursued individual paths in the art scene. Early archival efforts included compiling press clippings and project documentation, with members preserving materials through personal websites and later collaborative online archives to maintain a record of their contributions.

Final Collaborative Efforts

In 2000, eleven members of the Leeds 13 collective traveled to as artists-in-residence at the Batofar, a cultural center and restaurant housed in a converted on the , where they were commissioned to create work reflecting on urban space usage. This independent funding from the Batofar supported a series of site-specific public interventions, marking a departure from the group's earlier large-scale, media-engaging projects toward more intimate, interactive explorations. The residency was integrated into the "Batofar cherche Londres" festival, which highlighted British artistic contributions through electronic music nights followed by daytime outdoor events. The execution involved playful performances in iconic Parisian locations, including throwing oranges into the fountains outside the and staging a game of bowls using an orange at the , which led to the group's temporary expulsion from the library grounds. These actions, occurring outdoors on a afternoon starting at 4 p.m., invited public participation in a "game on the grass" to critique and engage with the constraints of public spaces in an international urban context. Smaller in scale than prior endeavors, the project emphasized ephemeral, low-key interactions rather than elaborate installations, aligning with the Batofar's focus on alongside music and dining. It garnered modest media coverage in British and French outlets, with Batofar director Julie de Muer describing it as a success that attracted significant visitor interest without sparking widespread controversy. This final effort facilitated the transition to individual practices, as members began pursuing solo careers in , curating, and related fields post-residency.

Legacy and Cultural Impact

Long-Term Media and Academic Responses

Over time, media coverage of the Leeds 13's "Going Places" evolved from immediate outrage in 1998 to more reflective retrospectives in the and beyond, framing it as a clever of journalistic practices. In a 2001 analysis, art historian John A. Walker described the project as a deliberate prank by young artists aimed at retaliating against the media's frequent derision of , highlighting how the hoax manipulated press narratives to expose their . By the late , interviews with group members, such as one in , emphasized the personal toll of the media frenzy while underscoring the work's success in challenging stereotypes about artists and funding. Academic discourse has positioned the Leeds 13 within broader discussions of hoaxes in contemporary art, often linking it to the provocative tactics of the Young British Artists (YBAs) in the 1990s, though debates persist on whether such deceptions prioritize ethical concerns or innovative boundary-pushing. Walker's examination in his 2001 book situates the hoax as an example of artists using mass media against itself, sparking conversations about authenticity and public perception in art practice. Later scholarly reflections, including those in art theory texts on performance and media intervention, praise the project's ingenuity in subverting institutional norms but critique its potential to reinforce skepticism toward public arts funding. Cultural critiques in the and have increasingly viewed the as a prescient exposure of media , where tabloid headlines amplified moral panics over minor grant misuse to public indignation. A 2022 Vice podcast featuring Leeds 13 members revisited the event as a cultural milestone, detailing how the staged holiday provoked widespread debate on taxpayer-supported art while demonstrating the press's vulnerability to fabricated stories. pieces up to the mid-2010s, including those in British art journals, argued that the hoax illuminated systemic issues in arts patronage, such as the scrutiny faced by experimental works amid lottery-funded initiatives. Despite these analyses, gaps remain in coverage, particularly regarding the dynamics of the group, which comprised nine women leading a bold provocation against institutional and media ; academic literature has offered limited exploration of how this female-majority composition influenced the project's reception or broader feminist readings in art hoaxes. A 2025 Guardian feature on historic fake images reinforced the hoax's enduring legacy as one of Britain's most notorious media deceptions. As of November 2025, no significant new analyses on these gender aspects have emerged.

Retrospective Exhibitions and Recognition

Interest in the Leeds 13's work has been revived through several exhibitions since the early 2000s, often contextualizing their projects within broader themes of and institutional critique in . The group participated in post-graduation shows around 2000, such as the f.k.a.a. exhibition, which revisited elements of "Going Places" and explored themes of and . These inclusions underscored the enduring relevance of the Leeds 13's approach to blurring and media spectacle. A significant revival occurred with the 2019–2020 "Lessons in the Studio: Studio in the Seminar" at the ' Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, marking 70 years of the department. The show featured archival artifacts from the Leeds 13, including fabricated holiday photographs displayed in a digital photo-frame and compilations of contemporaneous press and television news coverage screened on monitors. This presentation framed their 1998 "Going Places" project and 1999 degree show as pivotal examples of the department's radical pedagogical experiments, integrating , , and of artistic . The collective's legacy has also been recognized in scholarly works on and media, with their cited as an early instance of in mass-media contexts. In John A. Walker's 2001 book Art in the Age of the , "Going Places" is presented as the inaugural example of such simulation tactics in contemporary practice, influencing discussions on art's interaction with and . More recently, a , "How We Conned the British Press," offered a modern retelling of the 13's story, interviewing former members and reconstructing the media frenzy to illustrate its impact on perceptions of and authenticity. This digital format extended the hoax's narrative reach, positioning it as a precursor to contemporary discussions on and viral misinformation in . As of November 2025, no major new physical exhibitions have emerged, though institutional archival access remains available through the dedicated Leeds 13 pbwiki site, which hosts digitized documents, images, and timelines for researchers. This online resource supports potential digital revivals, such as virtual s or podcasts, maintaining the collective's materials in an accessible format. The Leeds 13's projects have exerted a broader influence on pranks and student-led s, serving as a model for using media to interrogate institutional power structures. Recent analyses, such as those in 2024 reviews, describe their work as a "classic " that inspired subsequent cheeky strategies in , emphasizing authorship over individual stardom. Their tactics continue to resonate in discussions of performative interventions by emerging groups challenging norms.

Individual Member Trajectories

Following the dissolution of the Leeds 13 collective in 2000, individual members pursued diverse paths in , often integrating elements of conceptual and media-driven practices into their solo endeavors, while navigating the dual-edged legacy of the group's notoriety. Many transitioned into roles in , curation, and , leveraging the media-savvy approaches honed during the 1998 "Going Places" project and subsequent degree show. This experience, as reflected by member John Crossley in 2009, instilled a heightened of publicity's role in , emphasizing projects with inherent value over mere , though it also brought personal challenges like public scrutiny and stigma associated with the . John , one of the group's key conceptual artists, continued developing media-interrogative work post-graduation, maintaining an active presence in the art community. In 2009, he publicly recounted the Leeds 13 media frenzy as a formative ordeal that shaped his cautious engagement with publicity, advising emerging artists to prioritize substantive content amid potential exploitation. By 2019, had donated his personal archive of Leeds 13 materials to the , underscoring the project's enduring influence on his practice and its archival value in discourse. His trajectory exemplifies how the collective's tactics informed individual explorations of and in art. Laura Baxter, another prominent member, channeled the group's curatorial experience into an academic career focused on arts management and events. Since 2002, she has worked at the in roles including Programme Leader for and, as of 2025, Course Leader for BA (Hons) Wildlife Media, where she organizes exhibitions and collaborates on interdisciplinary projects, building on the high-profile events coordinated during her Leeds 13 tenure. This path highlights opportunities arising from the group's fame, transforming early collaborative hoaxing into professional expertise in arts facilitation. Ben Halsall shifted toward and design support for artists, applying the collective's innovative presentation strategies to digital and tools. As of 2025, he works as a sessional lecturer in the Media, Art, and Performance program at the , aiding artists and educators in exhibition and production workflows, having previously taught creative technologies at institutions including Metropolitan University. His career illustrates the integration of Leeds 13's publicity tactics into practical, behind-the-scenes roles that sustain artistic communities. While specific details on other members remain limited due to privacy considerations, patterns emerge of mid-career professionals in , curation, and , with some fading from public view to avoid ongoing associations with the hoax's controversy. As of November 2025, updates on the group are sparse, with no documented major reunions or collective revivals, allowing individuals to redefine their practices independently of the Leeds 13 spotlight.

References

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