Edward Wadsworth

From electric guitar to machine gun, popular means of protest exemplify the limited means with which resistance is expressed in the face of overwhelming technological and political opposition. In this work Inventory interrogate the clichés of action and counteraction, culture and counterculture, and the possibility of an inversion or détournement of these moribund tropes.

The sculpture is presented alongside a poster designed by Edward Wadsworth, commissioned by the London Transport Board to advertise the City’s Lord Mayor’s Show of 1936. The poster bears images of a Vickers heavy machine gun and a Lewis automatic rifle to illustrate the theme of the Show: ‘Defence and Rearmament’. Upon issue it was widely criticised: a Daily Mirror columnist wrote: 'If we are to show the beauty of the engines of war to a peacefully travelling public, why not have the guts to show the effects of these instruments. Or would pictures of bullet-riddled bodies be a trifle unseemly?' An official defended the work: 'a grim statement and a grim reminder of the significance of modern warfare', however the posters were withdrawn from circulation. Wadsworth, in the Daily Express, remarked 'If people object to this poster, they must object to the Lord Mayor’s Show. Better cancel the whole thing. We shall see if any papers run pictures of the Show. You’d better not, I suppose? After all, what’s a little poster?'