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Communiqué § 4

Communique § 4 was developed as the latest in an ongoing series of writing projects which have addressed the interaction of fiction and theoretical engagement within the field of art. Rowlands’ research addresses the current ‘fictional turn’ in writing as art practice. This writing charts a journey through marginal histories of communalism, self-presentation and collective agency. The project involved primary archival research, including in the International Times and ICA archives. Drawing on these sources, Rowlands’ account uses a fictionalised narrative in describing the latent radicalism of particular political and communitarian subjects. The resultant documentary fiction informs and figures the writing as art practice.

The research and publications have shaped debates within the emergent field of ‘art writing’, as evidenced in extensive reviews. Communique § 4 was cited in Frieze Magazine as an example of ‘wit and experimental artistic endeavour’ and listed as one of the most significant outputs of 2008. It was published by the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London, as part of the ICA’s celebrated ‘Nought to Sixty’ programme, and distributed as an e-book via the ICA website and through the sixth issue of ‘Nought to Sixty: 60 Projects, 6 months’ (October 2008, pp. 24-5). A chapter by Rowlands, including extracts from Communique § 4 and accompanied by an essay on the research by Jennifer Thatcher, was published in the Nought to Sixty book in 2009.