Alan, or Patrolbot No. 6 to his friends, had a dark secret. He was a Metropolitan Police Patrol Unit with limited AI (for difficult on-the-spot decisions) and had been patrolling the same area of South London for a number of years. During this time he had seen a distinct rise in graffiti, street art and tagging and had been busting heads for lesser crimes as long as his memory banks could recall but at some undefined point during the last twelve months he had taken the unilateral decision to become a graffiti artist. Why? He couldn’t be entirely sure. Maybe it was a faulty circuit. Or maybe not.
He didn’t want to find out and had so resolved to keep it concealed during his 6 monthly maintenance service. One thing he was sure of (and was infinitely proud of) was that ‘Alan’ was up all over his borough. No one had more pieces up than he. He made sure of that as he knew all the local patrol times. Now his skills were improving it was time to move onto bigger and better things…
For this bad lad I was just messing around with some old stencils I found but really quite like how this one turned out. It’s on A3 paper. Let us know if you’re interested in him…
Every once in a while I look at what’s happening to the world and wonder. Then it somehow percolates through my brain and I decide to do another picture. This one came about after reading about the Opium Wars of the 19th century whereby the British came to define term ‘gunboat diplomacy‘. Then a swift look at the news today reveals how little things have really changed in almost 200 years. It’s always about the biggest stick – as lovingly displayed by this armoured police sergeant.
He’s A3 in size and is made using the magic of spraypaint, stencils and screen printing. Signed on reverse.
‘There’ll always be an England, while there’s a country lane’ or so the patriotic song made famous by Vera Lynn goes. Apparently it was written in the summer of 1939 and became hugely popular on the outbreak of World War II. Now whilst i’m not English I do live in London and have a certain affinity for England and, by extension, the English. It’s heartening to know that all the brave British soldiers who laid down their lives to defend our green and pleasant land did so in order that their progeny could bring the country to a standstill by rioting in the street – all to get their hands on the latest free stuff – trainers, computers, phones and the like. There’s nothing like having a good cause to fight for…
Now whilst i’m not about to pretend that there aren’t certain segments of the population who have a legitimate grievance over certain issues I’m pretty sure that rioting and looting is probably not the best way to get your voice heard in a democratic country. Maybe it was the voice of youth galvanised by the guerilla looting tactics employed by those who clearly only had financial gain in mind that led this to become a nationwide event. Or maybe the footsoldiers of capitalism were merely showing off their new found solidarity by rising up and showing The Man just how they run thing’s round here. Either way it was an ugly episode and one worth examining.
For those unfamiliar with the song and to commemorate last year’s youth rebellion I’d like to present Vera Lynn’s version for your listening pleasure (complete with lyrics). I’m surprised the rioters weren’t singing this en masse when they raised a people’s army and tried to seize control of the state by storming the ancient seat of democracy. Oh wait a second, I’m getting confused again aren’t I? They were just rioting for a laugh anad a new pair of Nike’s. My mistake…
In order to maintain our membership of the urban artist elite we are legally obliged to do a couple of these ‘social commentary with a cheeky twist’ style pieces every year. My favourite touch is the tiny rioter conducting the burning of the local JD sports store. Keep your eyes peeled for the next one as it may have even more obfuscated meaning, sarcasm and hidden irony…
Having just read the oh-so-scandalous news that the policeman who pushed over Ian Tomlinson during the G20 riots will not face charges over his death I thought it a good time to put forward a couple of bits of our work which reflect my current feelings on the matter. The fact that he is an ‘elite‘ officer apparently trained for public order containment should surely stand for something but obviously not. No wonder this hardly makes me feel safer…
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