Here is the picture that I produced for our exhibition From the Loom Room. Apparently, our studio at Camberwell College of Arts used to be the loom room, hence the name of our exhibition.
This got me thinking about Karl Marx's Capital which I was reading earlier in the year while attending some really interesting lectures at Goldsmiths, given by John Hutnyk. (I got about halfway through the book and the lectures before I had to drop out due to trying to cram umpteen more books into my head for my research essay).
So, my thoughts returned to Marx's descriptions of the exploitation of men, women and children in the dark satanic mills of industry. Loom Room became Loom Doom and my subject became this demonic mechanical monster, garlanded with the hands and severed digits of his servants.
Ps. One of the best things about Marx's Capital is his footnotes. Most of them are incredibly bitchy and sarcastic, generally ripping holes in the theories of previous political economists. About the only person he has anything nice to say about is Leonard Horner, who was one of the first factory inspectors. Marx made much use of the info about horrific working conditions recorded in Horner's blue books and wrote of him "His services to the English working class will never be forgotten." Mr Horner appears in the bottom left of my picture.
