The demolition of the museum of neoliberalism

MUSEUM DEMOLITION

The Museum of Neoliberalism which I’ve been running at the front of my studio since 2019 will be closing this year, as my developer landlord proceeds with plans to demolish it and turn Leegate shopping centre into a tower of luxury flats. You could say it’s a fitting end for a museum about neoliberalism, or you could say it stinks, and it sucks and its an absolute nightmare.

A collaboration with Gavin Grindon, the museum in its current form was always intended as a trial run for an eventual permanent museum about Thatcherism. Ideally my hope is that I can find a new studio somewhere large and affordable enough that the museum can reopen/relaunch there, but without a lottery win I will likely have to leave London for that to be feasible.

Demolition is scheduled for October, (just shy of its 5th birthday) so in the meantime I’ll be on the look out for spaces and trying to sell as much of my stuff as possible with the insane dream of being able to afford a deposit on a place, rather than renting, and then build a permanent Thatcher Museum inside it. (If you’d like to help with that my shop is here!)

Essentially it comes down to the fact that the higher I can get my income before March 31st, the better chance I have of getting a mortgage large enough to afford somewhere that can host both studio and museum. In order to try and do that I’m basically having a clearance sale except all the prices are the same (except for a little t-shirt sale below). As well as the stuff in my shop I have loads of unlisted stuff kicking about so get in touch if you want to buy any of my larger works. Like the Pocket Money Loans sign from Dismaland. How much can I get for that? Where’s all the mad art collectors at?

My originals are for sale, my sculptures are for sale, fuck it I’d even do commissions for the right price. No adverts or brand collabs tho, let’s not lose our fucking minds.

I’m kind of resigned to the fact that this whole process is going to eat up loads of my productive capacity this year so I’m going to try not take on any major projects and just paint lots of paintings.

If you’d like to visit the museum, please do! It’s free but as always it’s best to make a booking at museumofneoliberalism.com at least 24 hours in advance or call ahead before travelling as opening times can be sporadic!

THIS IS ISRAEL

100,000 people killed, injured, or missing.⁠

Colonisation and genocide go hand in hand. It’s impossible to read about European colonialism and not see the parallels with the Israeli state and how it acts towards the supposedly ‘barbaric’ people it has colonised. Not least in the way the coloniser regards itself as a shining beacon of civilisation on a dark continent, even while it unleashes incredible violence against defenceless civilians. The destruction of farms and wells, forced deportations, indigenous people as second-class citizens in their own land. There is nothing really new here except the technology of murder. This is Empire, red in tooth and claw.

When European and North American nations cannot see genocide happening in Palestine, it’s because they are unable or unwilling to see it in their own story either. If what Israel is doing is genocidal, then maybe what we did was too? Then we’d have to stop pretending that it was only a handful of enemy regimes that engaged in genocidal policies against ‘undesirable’ peoples. And we’d have to stop skipping those pages of the history we tell ourselves.

‘There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.’ – Howard Zinn

Reference photos for this painting were from a mass grave in southern Gaza in November, in the ‘safe zone’.

STARMER’S LABOUR

This “vote Labour” poster I designed (free download) has been spotted in Wes Streeting’s Ilford North constituency, on the same road as his MP surgery. Now The Telegraph have picked it up too.

For the next election I’ll be putting my weight behind efforts to make right wing Labour MPs lose their seats. To the liberals in my Instagram comments who have constantly berated me and others for not falling in line behind the most right wing Labour party since it’s formation, I asked them to please tell me some actual policies they’re voting for, beyond simple loyalty to a different neoliberal brand of political party.

I also asked that if they think they can pressure Labour after they’ve given them their vote, to explain how they think bargaining works in the real world. If they think we “just have to get the Tories out” then to please tell me how that won’t simply change into “we have to keep the Tories out” when they’re berating people in a few years time for turning against a Labour government that offered us nothing.

To be honest though I have heard all of the arguments, and I can only assume by this stage that if someone is still advocating for Labour then they haven’t been paying attention to what the leadership stands for and the type of people who now run Labour, what they believe in and how they’ll act in power. Because I feel like I’ve spent a lot of time trying to understand these people, and because of that I’m terrified at the prospect of a Labour government.

The poster was also featured on BBC Newsnight intro on Valentines Day, right after a shot of Starmer getting into an SUV. Makes it look like an official Labour campaign. Delighted with that –

🇮🇪 FREE SHIPPING TO IRELAND 🇮🇪

I’m going to be in Ireland for a few weeks in March so I’m offering free shipping to Ireland until the 13th of March, although shipments may take longer than usual. This also applies to addresses in the North of Ireland. Use the code FREEIRELAND

T-SHIRT SALE

If I’m going to stand any chance of putting a deposit down on a permanent home for the Museum of Neoliberalism / Thatcher Museum / new studio I need to sell as much stock and make as much money as possible before the end of March. To that end I’m doing 20% off all t-shirts in my shop. Just use the code: TAPSAFF20

ZINE FOR PATREON BACKERS

If you subscribe to my Patreon, you’ll likely be wondering where your 2023 Recap Zine is. Well I got a bit distracted by events but I’m putting the finishing touches to it and hope to have it in the printers by Monday

If you’d like a copy all you have to do is

back me on Patreon at the £3+ level.

Massive thanks to everyone who has supported me on there so far!

Thanks

Darren