Harry Kipper
Encyclopedia
Harry Kipper was the pseudonym created by the performance art duo the Kipper Kids
who were known as Harry and Harry Kipper. Based on a family friend of Kipper Kid and performance Artist, Brian Routh
, the name Harry was added as a first name for each Kipper Kid in 1971. When The Kipper Kids, Martin von Haselberg and Brian Routh
coined the name Kipper Kids, they were originally called Harry and Alf Kipper and had two distinctly different characters. Because von Haselberg and Routh could never remember who was Harry and who was Alf, they dropped the name Alf and decided to call each other Harry. At the same time they decided to make their characters identical. The Kipper Kids as Harry Kipper and Harry Kipper were born in 1971..
In the '90s, the pseudonym "Harry Kipper" was appropriated and made into a fictional character invented by the multiple-identity underground movement Luther Blissett
. The story was created and propagated that Harry Kipper, a British
conceptual artist, had mysteriously gone missing on the Italian
-Yugoslav border whilst on a biking tour of Europe
, allegedly with the intention of tracing the word Art
across the continent. The target of the prank was a popular Italian family TV show with a particularly aggressive right-wing bent. Shortly before the show was to be aired, it was revealed that Kipper and Blissett never existed and the episode had to be pulled off the air to the great embarrassment of the producers. This prank served a double purpose, first it demonstrated how easily the media are manipulated, and second, it introduced Luther Blissett as a figure that lives entirely in the media space. .
The Kipper Kids
The Kipper Kids are contemporary artists who live and work in New York, USA, and Scarborough, United Kingdom.-Biography:Martin von Haselberg and Brian Routh are a performance duo...
who were known as Harry and Harry Kipper. Based on a family friend of Kipper Kid and performance Artist, Brian Routh
Brian Routh
-Biography:Brian Routh was born March 9, 1948 in Gateshead, County Durham, United Kingdom. He grew up in a working class family with parents that were considered rebellious talkers and story tellers. Brian Routh's, mother's grandfather “James Diston” was a bare knuckle prize fighter who ran a...
, the name Harry was added as a first name for each Kipper Kid in 1971. When The Kipper Kids, Martin von Haselberg and Brian Routh
Brian Routh
-Biography:Brian Routh was born March 9, 1948 in Gateshead, County Durham, United Kingdom. He grew up in a working class family with parents that were considered rebellious talkers and story tellers. Brian Routh's, mother's grandfather “James Diston” was a bare knuckle prize fighter who ran a...
coined the name Kipper Kids, they were originally called Harry and Alf Kipper and had two distinctly different characters. Because von Haselberg and Routh could never remember who was Harry and who was Alf, they dropped the name Alf and decided to call each other Harry. At the same time they decided to make their characters identical. The Kipper Kids as Harry Kipper and Harry Kipper were born in 1971..
In the '90s, the pseudonym "Harry Kipper" was appropriated and made into a fictional character invented by the multiple-identity underground movement Luther Blissett
Luther Blissett (nom de plume)
Luther Blissett is a multiple-use name, an "open reputation" informally adopted and shared by hundreds of artists and activists all over Europe and the Americas since 1994...
. The story was created and propagated that Harry Kipper, a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
conceptual artist, had mysteriously gone missing on the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
-Yugoslav border whilst on a biking tour of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, allegedly with the intention of tracing the word Art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
across the continent. The target of the prank was a popular Italian family TV show with a particularly aggressive right-wing bent. Shortly before the show was to be aired, it was revealed that Kipper and Blissett never existed and the episode had to be pulled off the air to the great embarrassment of the producers. This prank served a double purpose, first it demonstrated how easily the media are manipulated, and second, it introduced Luther Blissett as a figure that lives entirely in the media space. .