Bang
Stompie Garden
Big
Me and Stompie
Bang
Boom
Passing through
My ‘BIG £ANG / BOOM & BU$T’ flags went to London to be put down the gun barrel of Stompie the Soviet T-34 tank that is sited in a community garden in Bermondsey (I think this sort of thing is usually called an ‘intervention’). For those of you asking, “Why?” The flags were made for my ‘Flag of Convenience’ exhibition at Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery, and use the phrases “Big Bang” and “Boom and Bust” for their meaning in economics, rather than the pop-art noises of a child’s pop-gun. They are supposed to illustrate AJP Taylor’s assertion that:
“No matter what political reasons are given for war, the underlying reason is always economic.”
Stompie was in the Czechoslovakian Army and was used in the putting down of the Prague Spring Revolution of 1968. Later, it went on to be used in Ian McKellen’s 1995 film version of Richard III, and Russell, who owns it now bought it from the film company. It regularly gets repainted by graffiti artists and was due to turn XR Pink the day after I took these photos, but alas a weather forecast had other ideas. Thanks to my friend, advertising photographer Toby, who did all the clambering about.
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