Tuesday, 23 April 2024

Textile Details


"It’s No ******* Computer Game!!", by Thalia and Ian Campbell. (Photo: Lydia Cole)

 

Title of Textile:It’s No ******* Computer Game!!
Maker: Thalia and Ian Campbell
Country of Origin: Wales
Year Produced: 2012
Size (cm): 140cm x 120cm (including loops and bordure)
Materials: A mixture of man-made fabrics
Type of Textile: Banner
Description:

This banner, the latest of several hundred arising out of Thalia and Ian Campbell’s life-long work for peace, confronts the inhumanity of drone warfare.

In the 1980s, Thalia and Ian were actively involved in the Greenham protests against nuclear weapons in the UK, and were closely connected to the worldwide peace movement. “[Our] post cards of banners inspired by Greenham were sold internationally”, Thalia remembers. “… they were … parcelled up to send …around the world. […].” Often the establishment banned them from public display, fearing their power to incite protest.

“It’s No ******* Computer Game is our ‘drone for peace”, state Ian and Thalia. Made of light materials, it can be sent off and used worldwide. Drones, and their predecessors, V1s, V2s (long range artillery weapons used in WWII), land-to-air missiles and cruise missiles all have a strong connection to Wales, with military testing ongoing since the 1970s. Today, full-scale drones are flown over the military range in Cardigan Bay, controlled both by Aberporth and from a remote location.

In this banner, the seven stars under the black drone symbolise the bombs that can be launched by drones, but are also placeholders for “any swearword that crosses your mind when thinking about the inhumanity of drone warfare”, as Thalia explains with a twinkle in her eye.

http://www.birdchildsandgoldsmith.com/acatalog/Thalia_Campbell_Banners.htm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rZOIPTIUMU

Owner: Thalia and Ian Campbell collection
Location: Pembroke, Wales
Original / Replica: Original
Photographer: Lydia Cole
Provenance:



Textile exhibited at: Stitched Voices / Lleisiau wedi eu Pwytho, 25/03/2017 - 13/05/2017
Threads, War and Conflict, 3/04/2019 - 29/04/2019



Textile Detail Image(s)