THE K FOUNDATION BURN A MILLION QUID
A film review by Nicholas Parrott
Copyright 1995 Nicholas Parrott
ABERYSTWYTH FILM FESTIVAL
Watch the K Foundation Burn a Million Quid The K Foundation at Ceredigion Museum Sat 11/11/95
I must confess that Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty were once heroes of mine. In 1992 they set the charts alight, were the top selling singles band in the UK, recorded one of the best albums ever (The White Room) and scooped top band from the Brits Awards. They did it with detachment, breaking all the rules along the way. Rumours of their personal indulgences, lawsuits over unauthorised sampling of Abba's music, a collection of wacky vehicles (including a US cop car, ice cream van and military combat vehicle) and wild publicity stunts all went to fuel the legend of pop's wildboys. Then they retired, claiming that they would never make another record, and set up the K Foundation.
Two years on they withdrew all the K Foundation's assets from the bank, headed up to Jura and burned the lot in a fireplace in an empty croft. This is the only record of that event. A one-hour home movie of two guys burning a million pounds. Entertainment it is not. The K Foundation smile and chat as they flick one fifty pound note after another onto a burning fire. Visually it is as exciting as watching paper burn, but there is a morbid fascination involved. The audience fidgets nervously, wondering if this is 'art' or a personal form of therapy, asking themselves what on earth possessed these two guys to do such a thing. Were these guys for real or is it just another of their notorious publicity stunts?
If there was point to the exercise it maybe it was just that, to get people talking. After all, money is the most important symbol in our society (witness the hysteria unleashed by the Lottery) and to wilfully destroy it is akin to an act of heresy. Here's the K Foundation burning a million smackers. Is it art? Is it a social statement? Or is it just sad ? Not surprisingly it made a lot of people angry and many questioned the collective sanity of the K Foundation. But it did get people talking, all the way to the bar and out the other side again.
Having burned a million quid, made the home movie, and made a documentary about it (screened on Omnibus two weeks ago), the K Foundation are now keeping silent. They've done the interviews about why they did it and are now refusing to answer all questions on the subject, feeling that they've exhausted its potential. Permission for the planned showing of the movie in a prison in Glasgow was withdrawn at the last minute. The K Foundation has disbanded itself, being financially (and creatively) bankrupt. The question on many people's lips was what will they do next? Unless they make another record who really cares ?
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