Paul Clough
Born 1950. He came to Trinity Hall College, University of Cambridge to study architecture, but within a few days decided to study History of Art instead. First got involved with Kettle's Yard as an undergraduate. He became the first live-in curator after the Edes moved out in 1973 - his first job. A second curatorial post was created and filled by Roger Malbert (also interviewed).
Paul's interview gives an insight into the daily life of running Kettle's Yard including looking after elderly neighbours in the adjacent bungalows. He talks about the music at Kettle's Yard and musicians who played there. Some of the exhibitions in the then new gallery are described. He mentions his increasingly fractious relationship with Jim and the enormous relief when he left. He had a few weeks handover with the next curator, Jeremy Lewison (also interviewed).
By: Robert Wilkinson
Length: 4 hour 4 mins
Media: On 5 tracks over different dates (Nov 08 and Jan 09) and summary
Interview id: MYKY27
Changes to concert programming after the Edes left in 1973
View: Transcript Theme: Music
Jim initially went on programming the concerts from Edinburgh so the first year he booked up who the musicians were and then, I think, found that that was too difficult and I found it pretty difficult because I had no... really, all that I knew was that someone would turn up. I hadn't been involved in the pre-arrangements and so... it never happened that anyone let us down but I probably didn't even have a contact phone number to follow up if there was a problem. Diana [Gordon] was a wonderful find. Diana had retired very recently as a producer for Radio 3 and she had a wonderful network with impresarios and agents and she knew who was interesting and some of the people who played in the house, Lindsay Quartet comes to mind, were definitely on her personal network and Diana and I worked together very well, very amicably. She had her domain and really I only encroached on that domain in two ways: one, I put out the chairs and put them away again still and stood up at the beginning and, you know, got hush and then went to the green room to get the performers out but; two, I provided the evening meal for them and so I have had at my table and eating my food the most... funnily enough a far wider and more stellar selection of musicians than of visual artists, considering that Kettle's Yard is primarily a visual place. That was a very beautiful part of the job and nothing ever took away the enjoyment of the music for me.
Direct link to audio: .mp3
Jim's musical tastes and recording concerts in 1973-74
View: Transcript Theme: Music
You could identify Jim's taste. It was pretty conventional and... Ravel and perhaps Benjamin Britten's earlier works, easier works, were about as far as he would go in terms of departing from the canon that starts with Bach. But there was a hideous part of this which, after about 18 months I managed to discontinue, which was that Jim made the University buy two, for their time, quite good cassette recorders and I was supposed to record each evening's music and post the tape to Edinburgh which was of course an idea of him being able to be in touch. It had a slightly creepy element to it, of Jim being there in spirit if not in flesh but far, far more of a problem for me was that various of the musicians had copyright ab-dabs when hearing about it and although the understanding was that when booking them, Jim would clear this, perhaps he didn't always remember to or perhaps they didn't notice what they were saying yes to.
Direct link to audio: .mp3
The aesthetic of Kettle's Yard leaves a lasting impression
View: Transcript Theme: House as artwork
Kettle's Yard gets under your skin. Kettle's Yard, especially if you experience it the kind of way I did, alters the way you look at things and my guess is that in the rooms of most of the people that you've interviewed, if you've interviewed them in their own settings, you will have been able to see bits of the Kettle's Yard aesthetic and it's more than just pebbles, it is a distinct aesthetic. That actually is one of the extraordinary things about Jim's achievement and one of the things that Kettle's Yard gives and offers - it produces or promotes an aesthetic which was not fashionable at the time he created it, it has becomes fashionable and I think he is not the only exponent of it, but there is something very influential about the conversion of those four little cottages. So, you're likely to see echoes of it if you're a visually aware person all over the place, all over the world, and that's something that Kettle's Yard has given me that I don't have any regrets about. Jim was human and the mistake about Jim Ede is to put him into a position of suggesting that he isn't human, or wasn't human. He had his flaws, I was unlucky enough to be exposed to them big time but that didn't take away from the fact that he had very great gifts.
Direct link to audio: .mp3
Transition from private home as first live-in curator, 1973
View: Transcript Theme: House as gallery
It was very all-pervading as a job, there was almost no privacy. My flat was where my... when Roger joined as the invaluable, wonderful number two, that was where we had our coffee together. My bedroom was actually the security route for getting in and unlocking the burglar alarm so I couldn't even sleep in if I was having a day off because somebody else had to track through the bedroom in order to get the alarms off and that, in a silly, little way... a big, little way... that's an indication of how the place had never been designed or conceived to work as a... as anything other than a house, where the purpose of living there was to operate the house, for its public purpose. People would be talking Kettle's Yard as they walked past, sometimes accurately, sometimes inaccurately, there were times when I longed to rush out and berate them but it was quite funny what one heard through that door. Roger Malbert arrived and, like me, he was... well, at the time I was 6'2'' and had a 28'' waist and Roger's build was pretty similar and I did once hear somebody standing outside the door saying, "oh yes, you just pull this bell and a thin, young man comes out".
Direct link to audio: .mp3
