Artist Darren Cullen – the creator behind the Spelling Mistakes Cost Lives web site – is showing a large selection of his work, including a brand new sculpture (and the above slightly older one) at The Other Art Fair in London (5th – 8th October) at The Truman Brewery as part of ShangrilART, (the people behind Shangri-La at Glastonbury).
“The new, (yet unfinished) sculpture is one of my favourite things I’ve made this year” says Darren, “and I can’t wait for people to see it.”
Darren is a satirical artist, illustrator and writer, currently based in London. Cullen initially thought he would go into advertising as a career, studying it at Leeds College of Art where he learned the language and techniques of the medium but became steadily horrified at the ethical implications involved. Claiming that “manipulating the desires and aspirations of the public, and especially children, using an arsenal of sophisticated and emotionally damaging psychological techniques is an appalling way to make a living and an even worse way to sustain an economy.”
He abandoned advertising to study Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art and now uses the language of advertising to make work about the empty promises of consumerism and the lies of military recruiters. Releasing his first comic, an anti-army recruitment booklet sarcastically called ‘Join the Army’ in 2013 (bethemeat.co.uk).
As well as ‘Pocket Money Loans‘, Cullen wrote a series of short films called ‘Action Man: Battlefield Casualties‘ to draw attention to the way the Ministry of Defence targets children as young as five with its official toy range, ‘HM Armed Forces’, which includes an RAF Drone Playset. Cullen says he is, “especially interested in the point where the terrible requirements of our system collide with the innocence of childhood. Children’s play, like every other aspect of human life, has been colonised by capitalism, adapted as it is into a sort of childhood training camp for the hard-working consumers and soldiers of tomorrow.”
• If you’d like tickets, you can get 50% off if you use the code SHANGRILART50 on this page
• Daniel Clifford – Spelling Mistakes Cost Lives web site | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Art and Illustration, downthetubes News, Events, Exhibitions, Other Worlds
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