This is a piece of bear@rt (as is my little Homepride man at the top of the page - he is like a mini-installation who has been left on Tooting Common at various times holding a placard with a message from the bear. He has also been inserted into exhibitions at the Tate modern, where on one occasion he was dragged off kicking and screaming by a burley security guard for carrying a sign saying 'Create your own art' - obviously too subversive a concept for a bastion of artistic freedom such as the Tate). It is also a piece that I intend to transfer to my good friend Shannon at give me one good raisin to include in her 'Upcycling' section.
The box, originally an ammunition box was found naked and shivering without even a coat of paint to keep it warm in the attic of a house that I moved into in 1989 in Balham. For a while I kept it warm but failed to clothe it, and it was content, but rather embarrassed at being left continually naked for all to see. But then one day, having no canvas to speak of but a hell of a lot of newly acquired acrylic paint to use, I decided to dress it.
And so I did: initially I just added the blue coat and left it at that. But box was not happy. It wanted more, so a flock of gold finches and two parakeets were added to its lid and a pair of Shelducks to its front elevation. When it was finished both artist and canvas were surprised at how well it turned out. And that was it. Box and man were, just like ye olde American beat group The Turtles, happy together and have remained so ever since. Box now lives in my bedroom and guards all manner of miscellaneous crap within its pink interior. It's a quiet life, but a happy one.
PS when I painted this box there were no Parakeets living wild on Tooting Common. Now there are millions. Could there be any connection?