LONDON.- The Live Art Development Agency and Tate Research are delighted to announce that Anne Bean and Tim Etchells will receive Legacy: Thinker in Residence awards of £30,000 each.

The Legacy awards have been set up in recognition of the breadth of influence of Live Art practice in the UK today, and to acknowledge its achievers and achievements over the last few decades. These two awards celebrate artists whose outstanding bodies of work have tested the nature and possibilities of live practices and who have had a demonstrable influence on the development of the Live Art field.

Bean and Etchells will carry out extensive research throughout 2009 addressing the legacies of performance in art historical contexts, examining the processes and challenges of archiving live work and looking at aspects of their own performance practice in relation to these. Following this, they will translate their findings into the creation of their own legacies, that may take the form of new artworks or publications.

Lois Keidan of the Live Art Development Agency said “Live Art is often an ephemeral and fleeting experience. It raises many questions about what it might leave behind and poses challenges for the artist, the archivist, the art historian, the scholar and the audience alike. Legacy: Thinker in Residence Awards will provide Anne Bean and Tim Etchells with the unique opportunity to examine these issues.”

Nigel Llewellyn, Head of Research at Tate said: “These are pioneering awards which will mean that that the legacy of live art can be thoroughly examined by two outstanding practioners. I have no doubt this research will yield extremely valuable material which will not only shed light on current practice but which will also form a basis for future thinking in this area.”

Following a national nomination process begun in August 2008 and involving over fifty key UK curators, writers, and thinkers, a longlist of forty-nine artists was drawn up for consideration. From these, twelve of the UK’s most influential and inspiring artists were invited to submit proposals on how they would approach the idea of legacy.

The final decisions on the awards were made by a selection panel comprising: Lois Keidan and Daniel Brine (Live Art Development Agency); Nigel Llewellyn (Head of Tate Research); Lizzie Carey-Thomas (Curator Tate Britain); Vanessa Desclaux (Curator Tate Modern); Michael Morris (Director, Artangel); Stella Hall (Creative Director,Newcastle Gateshead Initiative), Claire MacDonald (Centre Director, International Centre for Fine Art Research, University of the Arts London); David A Bailey (senior curator, Autograph); and Mark Waugh (Director, A Foundation).

Panellist Claire MacDonald described the winners as “two brilliant artists who speak to the present condition and the history of performance in distinctive and powerful ways”.

Legacy is a one-off initiative developed in collaboration between the Live Art Development Agency and Tate Research. It is financially assisted by Arts Council England and the Live Art Development Agency.