In 2012, Grayson Perry released a documentary made with the BBC called “All in the Best Possible Taste. Grayson said he was interested in how much people buy into the myth of where their place is in society. Throughout the documentary Grayson analyses the different tribes and how we form our identity to give ourselves a sense of belonging or allegiance. He travelled across England to meet a variety of people from an array of backgrounds. This journey across the different social classes is then translated into the journey of Tim Rakewell, the fictional character in Perry’s tapestries.
The motivation for this project seems to be Perry’s fascination with how class and taste are so tightly entwined, especially in the British society.
“The British care about taste because it is inextricably woven into our system of social class. I think that – more than any other factor, more than age, race, religion or sexuality – one’s social class determines one’s taste” - Grayson Perry.
The documentary uncovers the fact that taste has an emotional bond to it. The working class have a strong sense of identity, therefore taste is often a testament to being loyal to the ‘clan’. This was facilitated a lot easier during the Industrial Revolution where every local worked in the same mills, when to the same stores and ate at the same places but this allegiance still lives today, but through watching the same TV shows and sharing the same hairstyles.
A review of the documentary poses the question, “How could the concept of taste be said to exist when everyone looked the same?” This links perfectly into my project as Hudson may be making reference to people in the same social class wearing a ‘uniform’ that means that there is no concept of taste within that social class. However, with working class clothing being worn or appropriated across all social classes, does taste exist nowadays? Is it tasteless to use the working class uniform as the latest fashion trend?
References: Art Council Collection (2018) The Vanity of Small Differences. [Leaflet] London: Arts Council Collection.
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