I had a break from it all yesterday; this exhibition is due to close on the 4th of March and I swerved away from the Jewish Tailoring exhibition at the Museum of London because there was disruption on the Elizabeth line, and that one's on for longer.
The London Bridge area was thronging with tourists, which I suppose is a good thing. I was intrigued to see a container restaurant covered in giant red ants made by a member of the Mutoid Waste Company. I remember them from the late 1980s; they were often present with their customised buses and lorries at festivals and demonstrations, and my friend Saffie Ashtiany commissioned an upside-down bathtub light fitting for a video that she made. During the shoot, they all parked up outside to watch. I was a runner for her videos at the time, but on that particular one there wasn't much running and I could stand outside and wonder at the feats of creativity that they'd undertaken to construct their vehicles.
Once I'd got to the museum, I was appalled to have my photograph taken. No other museums do this, and I was so taken aback that I didn't protest (this time). But I'm not going there again, because it's an infringement of people's civil liberties. Having this happen in the same week that I was told I had to use the NHS app to order future prescriptions, then watching the app connect to my doctor's surgery, all ready for the information to be sold off to the corrupt multinational Palantir, I've had enough of data-gathering for one week, and indeed a lifetime.
So I suppose it was apt to be seeing in exhibition that concentrates mainly on propaganda and textiles. There were some truly beautiful examples of prints made to promote often macabre Communist, Western Allies and Nazi principles, and a triumphalist Boris Johnson We Got Brexit Done tea towel. There was a red pro-Trump kippah exhibited next to a red Pussy Riot beanie. By far the best exhibits were the prints, because of the fact that they were designed to graphically and ingeniously illustrate wartime escape routes, political dogma, and positive depictions of heavy industry. There were also dresses made from farm-feed sacks, and Japanese clothing with factories printed on them in subtle greys and silvers.
There was a lot missing (I've been interested in this subject for years). There wasn't any Soviet agricultural propaganda fabric, for instance, and there was a gaping hole where the curators couldn't see Capitalism because of being in the middle of it. Every single branded garment that we wear is an advertisement not just for the brand but for our stifling (and lethal) embedded-ness on the Capitalist system and the way it drains our creative energy and physical resources. This is propaganda, right in front of our noses, and is just as significant as a Chairman Mao tapestry or a Third Reich headscarf.
Anyway, as you can see, there was a lot of food for thought at the exhibition. I regretted never being able to make the NHS headscarf that I designed probably ten years ago- it was simply too expensive to manufacture, and I wanted to make something that people could afford to wear.
Water under the bridge, water under the bridge.
So I came home with a head full of angry bees and wound down by replacing all of the vocals that I did on Gina's track yesterday, this time using a much better microphone. I will put a little bit of guitar on it later and then do a mix, either before or after I meet Kath Tait for a cup of tea. Heading in different directions, we bumped into each other about a month ago in Clerkenwell, and it was she who asked expectantly if I am going to release a bitter song. Well thanks Kath, yes, now I am since you asked, and I have been thoroughly enjoying re-learning it before I record it. Sometimes you need to shove dignity to one side, and just go for an empowering and cheering slab of revenge. Yay!
No comments:
Post a Comment