In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the handmaids have shopping partners, so that they are always under observation: “She is my spy as I am hers”. Artist Leo Boyd adds to the dystopian air of the book by combining the handmaid (from the new TV adaptation of the book – currently available only in the US) with an outdated computer monitor. Here is some of Leo’s previous work.
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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“96” is the number of deaths in the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster, in which Liverpool fans were crushed to death in Sheffield Wednesday’s stadium. In the days afterward, the Sun newspaper printed allegations that drunken fans attacked and urinated on rescue workers. The newspaper apologised in 2004 but hostility towards the paper persists, with some – as in this image – refusing even to spell it in full. The taxi was spotted in Beechmount. For more on the 2016 inquest, see Hold Your Head Up High.
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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Another PSNI land rover from Leo Boyd (web | ig) today. The first can be seen in “Nothing to fear, nothing to hide” from the summer of 2017; in this one, a new piece: a PSNI pedal car is “My first meat wagon”. Here is some of Leo’s previous work.
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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Here is a modified PSNI land rover from Leo Boyd (web | inst): “Nothing to fear, nothing to hide” from the summer of 2017. See also “My first meat wagon“.
Here is some of Leo’s previous work.
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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X04193 India St
Posters on a drainpipe on the Falls Road next to Gerry Carroll’s constituency office: “Keep Stormont closed. Smash Stormont – It can’t be made more equal, less corrupt or used to promote socialism. Close it now! Sign the petition … Published by Socialist Democracy.”
With “Saol trí Ghaeilge [atá uainn]” below [We want life using Irish].
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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Here is a selection of posters from throughout the past year (2017) from Belfast and London-/Derry. Above is an Anarchists In Ireland poster welcoming refugees, while the second image is of a passenger and parcel service to Romania from Dublin. The others are for republican marches and causes.
Previous collections of (mostly torn) posters: We Had Our Distresses | Layer Upon Layer
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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Spotted in Belfast city centre – rates for carriage: gas (petrol), grass or ass (arse).
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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Though the tradition might pre-date Christianity, on the day after Christmas – known also as Boxing day and St Stephen’s day – the wren (the king of winter and symbol of the past year) is hunted by strawboys or mummers who disguise themselves with straw headgear and make a parade and go around the houses asking for money to bury the wren.
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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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An Ulster Banner with a Union flag in the corner (a UDA flag?) in Mount Vernon (UVF territory) is reflected in the glass doors of Rehoboth Evangelical Mission, which “invites you to our gospel meeting every Sunday night at 7 pm. 3 Mount Vernon Road. Contact Pastor David McClure – A visit to our meeting can change you[r] life.” Previously: The Lord Has Made Room For Us.
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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Reflections on culture from (probably) TLO in the form of a statue with the eyes sprayed blue and red (Culture?) and from ANCO (Culture is a disease).
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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Extramural Activity 