Crap-per Art

This passed us by – slipped into our junk folder – can’t think why. We think they’re trying to raise money to introduce public conveniences in India. Here in Homerton things haven’t been the same since they closed the toilets on Brooksby’s Walk. Funny how the richest man in India is giving us Anish Kapoor’s Olympic scrap metal thing at the end of our road for however many billion rupees and we’re sending his compatriots urinals. Something very Dada about all of this. Anyhow, that’s a whole other story. Lots of ‘famous’ artists like Jamie Shovlin, John Isaacs, Maggi Hambling and Sam Taylor Wood have adapted toilet signs and apparently people bought them in an auction raising £40,000. If this idea wasn’t brilliant enough already some proper famous people also had a go at ‘art’ (Beuys has a lot to answer for). These included the country’s current and previous Prime Ministers, a minor member of the Royal Family and Geri Halliwell. There is too much to say about this and, at the same time nothing at all. So, briefly, David Cameron’s is the most cynical – getting your kids to do it might seem cute on the surface but it is empty and exploitative (no surprise there). Gordon Brown has written a weird note on his about boys being nice to girls and, like those letters to the kin of dead soldiers, it is illegible (but comes with a typed transcript to avoid confusion). Gerri Halliwell drew herself in that nationalist mini dress (of course).