The Future of Art

Johnny Messum (1989, B) discusses his stunning new art venue, Messums Wiltshire, and the future of the art world.

How did your time at Radley sharpen your interest in art and art history?

Radley has a fantastic art department, and some brilliantly passionate teachers. They were different enough to make learning interesting and talented enough to know how to coach and guide. Hands-on making has massively diminished in schools: 70% of kilns in non-fee-paying schools have been shut or taken out, making the places where you can use these facilities rarer than they should be. At Radley, I had access to so many incredible things that I would not have been able to do otherwise. I thoroughly appreciated the liberal but not anarchic approach.

What did you do after leaving Radley, and how did you enter the family business?

I spent some time delving into an artistic career, and then went to Edinburgh University to study History and Art History. After that, I went to Christies before joining my father in support of his business, David Messum Fine Art. He had put all four of us through Radley and this was the recession period of the 90s. I could tell that he could do with some help and also that there was an opportunity for me to make a start in the art world.

What is Messums Wiltshire, and why did you decide to develop it?

Family businesses survive on evolution and I became increasingly preoccupied with two things. First, a question that had riddled me since my time at Radley: what was art really for? Second, what would our family business look like in 30 years? In the end the two questions merged into one and, quite rightly, my father said if that was what I made of the future of the art world then I would be better off on my own. Of all the excellent advice he has ever given me, that was by far the best! Messums Wiltshire, in Tisbury near Salisbury, is a pioneering multi-purpose gallery and arts centre celebrating the creative endeavour. At its heart is a recently restored 13th century monastic barn with over one third of an acre of floor space. It is reputed to be the largest thatched barn of its type in England.

What’s the history of the barn, and how did you come to choose that space?

The barn was actually a follow-on from an idea I had first had in 2008 for The Magazine, a gunpowder magazine in Hyde Park, built in 1805, and now run by the Serpentine Galleries. Back then I had wanted to introduce what I called ‘layered access’ to art, to broaden the reasons and entry points for engaging with art, and to celebrate the making process. We had plans for a restaurant, vegetables growing in the landscape, and courses in making. Thankfully it was not selected, although it is pleasing to see that we overlay with some of the designs and concepts presented there.

Our building in Tisbury was built by the Abbess of Shaftesbury in 1279. It is now part of the Fonthill estate, and it offered an opportunity to create my vision here in the country. This move away from London is part of the wider de-centralisation of the art world which has seen increased funding and support for galleries such as Tate St. Ives, Baltic Centre, Gateshead, and The New Art Gallery, Walsall, among many others. I had always taken the view ‘build it and they will come’, if offer is good enough. Art, ultimately, is not about corner store convenience. As the saying goes: the journey is as important as the destination.

For me, the process was not finding a building but rather, find the way the building wants to go. Each region, each building

and community, has its own charisma so you have to come to it the other way round. Rather than pressing into the landscape by dint of will, instead let the building and the landscape come to you and follow the path that presents itself. Our magnificent barn is all about the dramatic moment when you first enter, so programming leads in that direction. For this reason, we enrolled performance into our programming from the outset. In 2019 we opened a second gallery space in what was the old cowsheds, and a restaurant called the Mess which now boasts an incredible leading chef.

What are the strategic goals for Messums Wiltshire?

The creation of Messums Wiltshire was about broadening the ways into art. Many venues are free to enter, and that’s a wonderful thing, but accessibility is about more than just the physical. The idea of ‘ownership’ in regard to the venue troubled me – it lacked any collaborative element.

The most universal point we can all share is in the process of making. Humans have an incredible faculty to understand how things are made, particularly through handling and the act of crafting and creating; the involvement of visitors in activities is an important part of what we do. Messums Wiltshire is open for schools to visit at no charge on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and we have a creative studio for onsite courses that are often fully booked.

The lodestone that all of this circulates around is to own, appreciate, and participate in art as part of an understanding of why things are made, and how. It is applicable across all forms of creativity, each having reference to each other. You can compare making with problem solving in logistics or construction. Ultimately, it is the force of evolution that wills to be different.

We are a part of our planet, and only now dimly recognising our connections and responsibility for the environment. Assuming that we are disposed to do the right thing 51% of the time, we are likely to get there, eventually. The arts are a non-verbal language that we can use to share ideas with each other, far quicker than a lengthy essay. So, our strategic goals are to build a community that feels engaged in the arts, and to support creativity with a view to seeing it encourage and facilitate problem-solving in a wide variety of applications.

What changes do you see in the way that people view and ‘consume’ art?

For the past twenty years we have had zombie formalism (a phrase coined by artist and critic Walter Robinson describing the financialisation of new artworks by speculative collectors known for ‘flipping’ artworks for near-term profit) where the trade was everything. Consumption has, in effect, become the art form. But there is a difference between consumption and transaction. We are more aware now of the material value connected to what we do; to live is inherently a carbon producing act, so we need sound information to help us make better choices. Art has always thrived as a relationship between the audience and the creative opportunity. Objects have the power to connect us to our rich and wonderful past, even zombie formalist ones - albeit with irony.

How do you think the art world can influence the way our society develops?

My view is that art is a language that can be spoken by everyone, and I would suggest that an artist’s concerns are really no more than an expression of our collective concerns. Top of the conversation right now is the environment: how we reduce our carbon footprint and adapt to a different way of living together. Creativity has a part to play in enabling the conversation around gender, race, and other areas of friction that we see in society. While it isn’t any one person or sector’s role to influence society, I think we do need to find consensus otherwise we are all working from differing positions. Our role in the art world is to facilitate conversations and raise awareness. During lockdown we started holding talks on active environmentalism, hearing from experts, and allowing audiences to reach their own conclusions. Art has a role to play within communities, and it is with communities that we can start to build consensus.

Will art galleries continue to remain relevant as we enter the digital age?

Relevance is key here, because the answer is that unless you correctly read the landscape of what digital can offer, and also what is unique to real life experience, you cannot remain relevant. It’s possible the future could see a swing away from viewing art ‘in the flesh’, but already I know of businesses that regret abandoning their physical spaces. There’s so much to say for experiencing an object with all the senses. This is something that the digital age has yet to master, but perhaps it will.

Would you install an artwork by an autonomous machine or robot at Messums?

I can’t see why not, and I think it is highly likely that the Elgin marbles or other contested objects will be replicated using 3D manufacturing processes in the future, to be more widely shared and enjoyed by audiences. Does the possibility of a digital intelligence creating an artwork that satisfies the senses sound plausible – yes, although I can’t say it sounds hugely appealing. In regard to digital art, there’s a lot to think about these days. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), for example, are the product of an exciting banking revolution, blockchain, but their relation to digital graphics does not mean that they have anything to do with art. In my opinion, they are simply a pipe cleaning exercise for something more exciting and meaningful to come.

What’s next for you and the business?

We are launching a restaurant at Messums Wiltshire with the goal of getting a Michelin star in the next 18 months. We will also be supporting emerging choreography in contemporary dance, and working with a town council on the east coast to build a unique destination for art in that region. Most of all I hope the business will continue to engage and interest its artists, staff, and visitors.