Aktion! or, C.E. Fudge unmasked.

I don't know, nothing for ages and then two posts in a day. This is advertising H.A. Schult's 1970 performance piece 'Aktion 20.000km'. Schult travelled across Germany in a Citroen Diane, recording his thoughts and experiences on tape, and photographing people and things he saw on the way. At each stop he sold his photographs, used maps, tapes and spare bits of car. In Schult's own words; "A whole land as an environment ... For twenty days people have reacted who have never heard about art."

As a postscript to my adventures with C.E. Fudge, I can now reveal the great man's identity. Professor Colin Fudge is Pro-Vice Chancellor & Vice-President of Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and I have contacted him with regard to returning his portfolio of pictures. No answer as of yet but I wait with bated breath. Many large thank-yous to Chris Marsden of Huddersfield gem and Manchester Modernists, who provided this (and much more) information on Professor Fudge. Please check out the links as Huddersfield's Queensgate Market is definitely of interest to readers of both this blog and Found Objects.

It feels strange knowing the identity of C.E. Fudge. The young man who boldly travelled to the farthest corners of modernist Britain, from Cumbernauld to the Chelsea Drug Store, is now revealed as a Professor and an expert in his field. I wonder if he had any inkling he would end up in Australia, or as a senior figure in an educational establishment. Probably - people like that are both talented and driven, with a will to succeed in their chosen field and a willingness to take risks that can offer them professional and personal fulfillment. However, if it wasn't for people like me - beetling around charity shops and second hand book dealers when they could be writing that CV - nobody would have seen Professor Fudge's wonderful photographs in the first place. I do have some work-related things to do tonight, but might just do a bit of scanning first...