Having never previously been to Liverpool, I had no idea where I was going, so at lunchtime I headed to the Dead Perch Lounge to meet up with whoever was there. We had to be at a place called Constellations at 1pm to be allocated our volunteer jobs and we were all nervous, wondering what these mysterious jobs would be and what was expected of us. I had chosen 'singer' from the list we were shown, but we simply had no idea what we would be selected for.
Constellations was another art space, based in the middle of an industrial estate near to Liverpool's China Town. We filed into a large room with a stage at the front, draped in white. Two people came onto the stage, Oliver Senton, actor, and Daisy Eris Campbell, theatre producer and daughter of Ken Campbell. They showed us a large, grey book, which we were required to write our names in, along with the jobs we had been given.
Oliver began to read out the lists of jobs, with the names of the people selected for them. The jobs started off as quite normal sounding, such as 'choir member' and 'bass player', then quickly changed into the weird and wonderful, including my job, Ragwort Scatterer. I wasn't entirely pleased, it was hardly a prestigious sounding job like being a member of the choir, but I still didn't really know what I was supposed to do. The card instructed me to meet outside the Florrie after the Rites. We were told that there would be a new band formed, called Badger Kull. Badger Kull would make one song, 3 minutes long. They would perform it once, at the Graduation Ball, then they would split up forever. Some of the jobs included 'Badger Kull superfan', who was required to start hyping the band online.
Once the job allocations were done, we had a few hours downtime, so I went to the British Music Experience in the Cunard Building near the Albert Dock, which I really enjoyed.
At 7pm, we congregated outside the Black E, once a chapel, they boast that they were the first public art space in the country. The entrance is quite spectacular, we enter a beautiful circular stone atrium and ascend stairs at either side. The KLF speakers are on display once again in the atrium. We were given a pound coin, but no explanation, so many of us dashed to the bar with it! In the main room, there was a large screen showing the word 'WHY?' And indeed, this was the question. Why DID the K Foundation burn a million quid on the island of Jura 23 years ago to the day?
We listened to a panel of 5 people, who gave us their own personal opinions of why they could possibly have done such a thing, ranging from a history of chaos, magick and art to a theory that it was 'quantitative tightening', taking money out of circulation to relieve the Bank of England of a little of their responsibility. Witnesses were called, including Gimpo, who is a close friend of Bill and Jimmy, a journalist who was there at the time of the burning, and John Higgs, who wrote a book about the coincidences and weirdness connected with the JAMs activities.
At the end, we were asked to vote by putting the pound coins in a bucket which matched the theory we wanted it to be. Our decision was that the KLF burned a million quid because of a long standing tradition of art and magick. The JAMs were called to the witness stand and confronted with this theory. Bill said to Jimmy off-mic 'was that what it was?' to which Jimmy shrugged. He asked Jimmy what he should say, Jimmy replied 'just say whatever'. So Bill took the mic and announced 'Whatever'. The place erupted in uproarious laughter and we fell in love with the pair just a tiny bit more.
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