The Logical Extension of Toy Soldiers

Art with an Aviator

A quick blog this week as since the beginning of March I have been here, there and everywhere. Started with a trip to watch darts in Minehead, then a trip to Porto, then a visit over Easter Weekend and then a trip to Berlin. Amongst all that there were two birthdays, poorly pets and starting a new part time job.

I’ve made it to the end (not a complaint to do so many amazing things but I am most tired now) and was actually managing to get some art done, or some very basic bits and some ideas scribbled down during all of this time. I am looking forward to being able to get really stuck in with some of these ideas as well as other ideas that have been patiently waiting for a while now.

One of them relates to a quirky little crocheted plush that was the first idea I had around this particular theme but then led me to a conceptual work that I am really excited about, but which will take a much longer time to make however I feel it will be much more impactful.

Edwin Starr

This series of work is not going to try and have any answers for anybody, its more of a musing about an absurdity of human existence really. As a student of both history and politics I acknowledge that war is probably the oldest condition and it probably isn’t ever going away. However what I find interesting is how it is not classed as taboo to present war to children, such as other things which exist in life and will probably always exist that also cause and persist human suffering.

I don’t have children so I don’t know whether war toys are dominant or how many the average child may own, but it doesn’t take much of a google search or to look far in a shop without seeing a toy gun, or a toy fighter jet or tank. Its an fascinating reflection of world history that we start to introduce war so young.

So, that got me to thinking about if we have certain types of a war toys, why not all types of war toys. A weapon that kills one guy in close quarters is OK, a weapon with the potential to kill millions is not OK.

Nuclear War is so Passe

With that, I have probably answered my own question but I still feel like there is an interesting point to consider there. The logical extension of our efforts to wage war has ended up with things that wage ‘too much’ war. I suppose in that respect, since they are effectively unusable, what’s the point in talking about them and therefore they’re best left to history degrees and theorists and perhaps the toys wouldn’t sell because, at the end of the day; missiles look a bit boring don’t they? Not cool like a plane or a tank.

So maybe its not that toy manufacturers find nuclear weapons too horrifying to market to children, maybe its as simple and cynical as the fact that they don’t look cool and it’s not clear what they are since a missile is a missile and there are toys with such things like Surface to Air missiles attached to them and numerous rockets available. They just don’t go round calling them Trident or Minuteman or Sarmat.

I think that thought is even more disturbing than the first. I don’t even know whether either of them are true but I still enjoyed toying with the absurdity. After all, when human kind is faced with the worst of itself, most often the only think you can do is try and find some humour in these things.

To see some nice photos of this Cuddly Trident missile go HERE

To see the rest of my ramblings, go HERE

To go home, go HERE