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- A memorial for the Birmingham Pub Bombings of 1974
- By Chris Lee
- Dedicated to my parents Edward and Anne Lee
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- On 21st November 1974 IRA bombs exploded at two Birmingham
pubs – the Mulberry Bush and the Tavern in the Town. They blew up
within minutes of each other and a third bomb failed to explode. A vague
and effectively useless warning had been issued for one of them.
- Twenty-one people died and
over 150 people were injured. Richard English in his book ‘Armed
Struggle - a history of the IRA’ quotes a female St John
Ambulance member as saying
‘It was like a slaughterhouse.’
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- To commemorate the bombings of 1974.
- To remember those affected.
- To do this using art and the internet.
- To produce a dated image for each day of 2004, and post them on the
internet a month at a time.
- To ask galleries around the world to show photocopied prints of them on
the appropriate day.
- To provide a place for memories, discussions and reflections.
- To use it as a journey of discovery.
- To celebrate the glory of life.
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- Moments of meditation.
- Moments of passion.
- An unapologetic statement reflecting on the bombing.
- Aiming for a simple, quiet dignity- thoughtfully reflecting on both
personal and community issues and also reflecting on how art can provide
a language to discuss these issues.
- A sense that we are haunted by the past.
- Striving to reflect a past beyond surface imagery.
- A celebration of life and hope.
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- Accidents
- Chance meetings
- Calculated violence acts
- Acts of kindness
- In life, certain things can trigger a course of events that leads us to
where we are now. These help to determine the paths our life takes. This
melancholic crusade will investigate the physical and emotional impact
that the pub bombings had on Birmingham and the people of Birmingham.
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- To remember those affected by the tragedy. The arrest, the trial and the
acquittal of those convicted focused attention on the police, IRA, the
justice system. After the retrial and acquittal, any thoughts of
injustice seemed to go to those wrongly imprisoned and the blame seemed
to go to those charged with bringing justice.
- To undertake a personal commitment or modern day pilgrimage – as
much about the time involved as the artwork produced. I think I am ready
to let go of a lot of my preconceptions about production of art within
this project.
- To possibly offer an outlet to remember and meditate on the effects
terrorism may have had on our lives.
- To reflect on how circumstance and chance can play such a devastating
part in our lives changing the path our life takes.
- To start a piece of art that I considered worthwhile – one that
would/could be more than just the sum of the physical artworks and could
grow in unpredictable ways.
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- I had to fly to Canada with three colleagues in October 2001 a month
after the 9/11 attack in New York. None of us had considered cancelling
the trip yet when we got to the other side of the Atlantic most people
we met expressed surprise that we had been prepared to fly.
- Strangely when I returned home several IRA car bombs were placed in
Birmingham on successive weekends. A friend’s son had been dropped
off by a taxi next to the car that exploded ten minutes later in
Birmingham Queensway.
- Several weeks later I felt really scared in a car blocked in traffic in
Birmingham Queensway when sirens and flashing lights went off all
around. I did feel trapped and felt it was perhaps not a good place to
be.
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- What follows are notes relating to the artistic concerns and techniques
envisaged at various times during the project.
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- The initial visual idea was to use the Georges Rouault print of the
crucifixion from the New Art Gallery, Walsall as a starting point for
what was envisaged as a series of works. There had also been two recent
exhibitions of the print work of Rouault in Birmingham (Miserere) which
had also aroused my interest in the artist’s work.
- The crucifixion had the typical Rouault heaviness derived from his
strong use of black. Once colour was added, his pictures looked like stained glass
windows.
- I liked the liveliness that
seemed to be implied by the quickly drawn brushstrokes. This form of
mark-making, I felt, brought a closeness between artist and viewer, who
was engaged by both the directness and the richness of the loose style,
I also liked the intensity achieved by the contrast of bright, rich
colours and heavy black lines, although I did not want to incorporate a
religious theme.
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- The sombre serious appearance of his work seemed appropriate for work
looking at questions of morality and mortality.
- His work has a simple directness.
- His work looks as if it has been produced quickly in fluid strokes and
would provide a role model for the production of a piece of work every
day.
- The stained glass image seemed to be appropriate evoking both churches
and pubs or bars.
- The image of shattered glass would stand for both bomb damage and broken
lives.
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- Initial ideas for subject matter focussed on anger at the killers and
using ideas based on e.g. the letters IRA in bIRminghAm.
- Other thoughts had strong religious elements in the imagery linking to
the Rouault print.
- Broken Glass – shattered and stained.
- Stones – referring to themes of paintings I have produced in the
past.
- Sticks – lashed together into a cross or with thorns.
- The Rotunda and images of Birmingham.
- Everyday memorials from the gravestone and public sculptures to the
flowers tied to trees or railings at scene of roadside death.
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- A mixture of different elements – Celtic shapes, poppy fields,
electric circuits and Victorian tapestries.
- The pictures seem to have an architectural feel – sometimes
ordered, sometimes cracked apart.
- Sometimes reminiscent of the old/new Coventry cathedral and reflecting
images from the 40s and 50s. It also reflects a Birmingham industrial
feel (cogs/iron work)
- The drawings seem to be aiming for a combination of formal clarity and
lyrical energy – a passionate feeling with an inherent
melancholia.
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- Suggestions for various themed months – giving each month a
different look using different techniques or styles.
- Thorns (Burne-Jones)
- Objects (e.g. mobile phones) (Ben Nicholson)
- People – possibly copies of children's’ drawings of
figures/faces.
- Using the brass rubbings of
knights etc. in churches – another memorial.
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- Black permanent marker for initial drawing on A3 paper, and watercolour
wash or coloured inks for colour. Work to be published on the internet.
- Reproduced using A3 photocopies, signed and dated through the year.
- Possibly a new theme or format/technique for each month.
- To publish prospective plans inviting comments and suggestions.
- Roller print black glass effect on colour (or use wax crayons rubbings).
- Draw with marker on polythene.
- Use brown card/string collage.
- Photographs of roadside floral tributes.
- Investigate other memorials.
- Lash sticks together to form cross.
- Paint stones.
- Images of things that have come since 70s e.g. mobile phones.
- Give each drawing a one word title as a meditation device.
- The drawings are ‘the art’ where ideas form, germinate and
are developed.
- –the rest is treatment (adding colour /tone, photocopying,
publishing).
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- The title ‘Pushing Aside the Gates of Darkness’ comes from
an Eric Ravilious description of the Wilmington Giant (or The Long Man of Wilmington), a chalk hill
figure cut out on the hillside.
- (‘the Sun-God pushing aside the gates of darkness’ quoted
P60, ‘Eric Ravilious - Imagined Realities’ by Alan Powers)
- The zigzags aim to balance the black and white, adding a lively, dynamic
motif.
- Many of the sculptural figures are based on Barbara Hepworth maquettes.
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- A memorial for the Birmingham Pub Bombings of 1974
-
By Chris Lee
- The author of this site can be reached by e-mailing
- chris@chrislee.org.uk
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Notes
