when they were "students 5"...

found this ad in an old advertising/design industry mag, from 1959 which contains various articles and ads related to art directors, graphic arts services, package design, tv commercials, fonts, printing, etc.

the ad says: "we use gas & electricity! eat with knives, forks & spoons from dishes! sit in chairs & wear wrist watches! live in authentic bohemian settings! visit or send for free newspaper article! we are "students 5".

and then a list of the members: don moore, jerry mcmillan, patrick blackell, joe goode, and edward ruscha....!

i have no idea if this was a sort of anti-ad, intervention artwork, or if these guys were looking for some kind of work. if indeed this was an artwork of sorts, then it certainly pre-dates goode and ruscha's entry into the artworld, as well as ruscha's early bookworks, which certainly developed out of an interest in the language of graphic design, art direction, etc. i would certainly love to see one of the newspaper articles they sent out!

wall batterton was also part of the group, possibly a bit later. wall recently had a show at pharmaka gallery and their site included a text by ruscha about wall. here's the bit where he discusses the students 5 group: “As students, we were always searching for names for the surface area an artist happens to work on. We called it a working area; then, we called it a “playing field.” Wall once referred to it as a “construction site” amusing us to no end. My mind keeps referring to a small painting he once did of a desert landscape. In his construction site, each object, item or thing displayed had gone through a period of scrutiny, then it was put to use in the picture. Likewise, all the pictures on display in this exhibition have gone through similar moments of introspection, adventures and accomplishments.”