Queen and Country - An exhibition by Steve McQueen

No, not that Steve McQueen.

I went to see this exhibition at Wolverhampton's Art Gallery on saturday. It's fairly unassuming but very powerful. Here's a little bit about the project:

Official war artist and Turner Prize winner Steve McQueen, in collaboration with 155 families whose loved ones have lost their lives in Iraq, has created a cabinet containing a series of facsimile postage sheets, each one dedicated to a deceased soldier. The Art Fund, the UK's leading art charity, presented this cabinet to the Imperial War Museum in November 2007 and is currently touring the work around the UK. But until real stamps are issued the work is incomplete.

It was quite sad looking through all the faces like that, especially when you come across ones that were 18 or 19 - I don't know why it's worse when people younger than you die, but it just feels like it is. Also, half the guys I live with are going in the army in the next few years after their Officer training, so it brings it home a bit. Kind of scares me when I think about it.

You can read more about the project here.

The interesting bit is that the artist is petitioning Royal Mail to get the stamps issued as Sepcial Editions, to commemorate the soldiers that have died. I think it's a great idea and I signed it the other day - you should too.

In an unrelated note, I'm using a uni computer right now and there's a dead ladybird in the keyboard. Bit strange.