Painting History

Little Wars (make me)

In his 1913 book, Little Wars H.G Wells wrote one of the first rulebooks for "playing soldiers".  By creating a wargame he satirically suggested that with such a guide, generals could fight their battles across the floor instead of battlefields.  The "Great War", or "War to End all Wars" as it was then called started one year later.  Needless to say it wasn't the last war.  Appropriating Wells's title engages narratives of history and painting through strategies of play.  During the exhibition, visitors were free to add to the mural with the ink and lino-stamps provided.  This mural derives something from the propagandistic panoramic woodblock prints of the Reformation, but more obviously, the stamp imagery and the invitation to "play" recalls children's floor games.  The subtitle (Make Me) may be interpreted as a command, act of defiance, plea or instruction and thus satirically plays with the agendas of traditional "history painting".