CHALLENGING TOYS: Part 1- The Origins Of The Battle Of Walkerloo circa 2009.

My paper soldiers first public deployment was on the battlefield of Waterloo in Belgium,18th June 2008.  It was the 193rd anniversary of the battle and we were installed alongside re-enactors in the courtyard of  Napoleon's last battlefield HQ.  Throughout 2008-10 I presented my toy soldier army at history events, markets and fairs throughout Europe & USA.  I boasted my armies original form and notable qualities:

• The armies size  < 200,000 Soldiers & 6,000 cannon! 
• The armies strength < 'THICK BABY BOOK STRONG' 
• The armies ethical, considered creation = 'MADE IN ENGLAND & IN FRANCE WITH 80% RECYCLED MATERIAL'   

I attended these events as a 'trader'.  Successful traders bring to market a set of products which have evolved (traditional goods) or have been selected for sellability through market research.  People were surprised to see a new product presented by its creator.  Most of the toys our children encounter in shops are remote from the hands of the toy author/maker.

In 2009 I began to imagine the real pretend war that is 'The Battle Of Walkerloo'.  A fantastical romantic vision aimed at picturing and provoking the prevailing boys-action-toy-TV/movie-industrial-complex.

In autumn 2009 my poor father was approaching the end of his life due to Mesothelioma, an industrial lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure.  I moved back home for a month to spend time with him.  Organising my trip I discovered an 'Empty Shop' submissions initiative in Newcastle by Newcastle City Council and made draft a proposal.   I met with the submissions 'officer' at the council offices but the project was not realised.  My father died a few months later and I returned to Normandy.

High street shops that have formed our town centres have lost ground firstly against peripheral super stores and now against giant virtual retail forums.  What can we do to invigorate the public space at the heart of our towns?

The Battle of Walkerloo empty shop project was formulated to deliver a 'richer than retail' space in the centre of Newcastle, the need for such town centre visions grows.

These 2 PDF's comprised the synopsis for The Battle Of Walkerloo in Newcastle 2009.  They are the first documents to outline the real pretend war I continue to depict.

The Battle Of Walkerloo Newcastle HQ 2009 picture sheet.

The Battle Of Walkerloo Newcsatle HQ 2009 written pitch.

It's already begun...

The battle of Walkerloo has begun. I don't know when it started exactly.

I have created 180,000 soldiers. I pretended to be them, painted them, presented them to bankers and financiers, had them manufactured and now I sell them. I modeled for them all. I did it at home with a garden fork for a musket and a dustbin for a horse. CHARRRRGE!

Only a fraction of the soldiers are thus far committed to the action. But these have already spread throughout the world: Britain, the United States, Australia, France, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Morocco and a surprising quantity in Northern Italy... this is confirmed through receipts of sale. I don't know how many free soldiers have been downloaded and made up by hand from http://www.walkerloo.com/ but by analysing my google data I'm fairly certain they've got to Russia, South America and China... If you have any intelligence regarding their adventures, especially pictures, send it forth! It'll be a battle report, you'd be a Walkerloo war correspondent... hmmm.... I think there is precedent for this in the blog-oz-phere...?

Yesterday I pieced together the first of a new type of soldier that I've been working on over the last few weeks. Painting big felt nice. Painting felt nice. I've done hardly any lately. In the next two months I'm going to paint more. More soldiers!

It was going to be called 'You Walkerloo' but now I'm not sure. Apparently it's a 'photo-booth', I've found out that's what this type of object was called back in the day. I've always wanted to make one... and now I can think of painting nothing other...

note. the other week whilst in London i checked out the Van Dyck exhibition at the Tate ... i was gagging to take close up photos of his pictures, he had so perfected the technology for painting fancy cloth... his marks and layers were so economic in constructing the illusion of light flashing over satin, velvet, highlights on fur, shadows in folds and creases... i reckon he could knock out the cloths impressively and quickly freeing him to concentrate the majority of his man hours on the faces and hands perhaps making up less than 5% of the total canvas area... smart! ... alas i asked the guard if i could take photos of his marks, obviously no flash, but it is forbidden, he was sorry and suggested i buy postcards or a catalogue blah blah... but the postcards are all of the picture as a whole, the paintings illusion intact... myth protected. its impossible to examine his efficient strokes and marks from this they only become apparent on close inspection,,,, GRRRRR seeing his paintings made me want to paint... not being able to come away with clues as to how he painted got me narked... hmmmm these thoughts snk in and inspirations fastened together lovely when i got home... hmmmm painting for photographs, hmmmm paintings without the time consuming fleshy bits... hmmmm

This first Walkerloo 'booth' is after, long after, a 'romantic' painting by Gerricault - you can see a photo of it here Its a portrait of a 'Lietenant Dieudonne' evidently an officer in the 'Chasseurs a Cheval de la Garde Imperiale'. The soldier certainly does look 'romantic'. I think my facination with soldiers is 'romantic'... or childish. The original painting hangs in the Louvre, I've not seen it, only pictures of it in books etc.

I painted this painting to be photofied... computerized... family albumicated... Oh... and you are meant to be a part of it as well.... how nice !?!