The International Olympic Committee were being precious about their trademark rings during the 2012 Olympics in London. I was outraged by news reports about local councils threatening enthusiastic businesses who ‘exploited’ the games’ logo. Shopkeepers were being made to remove anything representing the ‘rings’ from their window displays or risk prosecution if they were not an official sponsor. When my local butcher was targeted, I’d had enough of the nonsense so I built this flag and installed it in the window of my studio in the middle of Brighton as a protest.
This version, made of casts taken from my penis, invites you to consider if the IOC were being bell-ends or dick heads, if you prefer. I think it’s fairly clear what my views are. The newspapers soon got wind of the story and people crowded the street outside my studio to see the ribald sign and show their support. I do very much hope that word got back to the IOC. The hassling of shopkeepers did almost immediately seem to stop. Coincidence?
It belongs to a private collector in Germany who assures me it gets a lot of laughs.
Material: Resin, acrylic paint, timber.
Size cm: 156w x 94h x 6.5d
inches: 61.5w x 37h x 2.5d
Edition: unique
