Old and battered but still running.

I think Hans Clausen was a wee bit cheeky when he handed in this pretty little toy truck. Apart from the worn out paint it is still in good working order, and I have a feeling he is quite attached to it, but since he wanted to take part in the project he had to find some faults with it. More than the paint job, he also found the lacking safety of the truck a cause for concern. No safety belts etc. OK, so maybe he wasn’t really that bothered about the safety aspect of the toy, but since I had a  bit of a culture chock with the whole health and safety paranoia sweeping Britain since I lived here a few years ago, I decided to make that the theme for this piece.

Nice new paint job, all in Bauhaus style basic colors.

Every time I see a sign telling me not to do something, I can’t help but read it also like telling me to do it. -Don’t cross this line! implies that there should be some pretty good reasons for me wanting to cross it.

Text art with a hand made touch.

Most text art uses a non hand made finish. Maybe because most text based artists don’t really like to use their hands that much. I love to use my hands, and I also often find a place for text on my sculptures, so I solve that with careful thin brush strokes.

What is the cultural significance of a skip hire truck?

So many of the basic objects surrounding us in our everyday are covered with texts warning us for something or telling us what to do. Someone said that the average westerner today produces more text in their lives than the entire world before Christ. I don’t know how true that is, but counting emails and texts it could be I guess. But the texts surrounding us on objects and walls still mostly have two very basic messages – Don’t do that! or Buy that!

Always sign and date. The magic of text on all artworks.

Object no. 27