‘Carlton Scroop Revisited (USA GET OUT VIETNAM)’

Exhibited at Noticeboard United, 2020

Flag and A3 digital print.

Local legend has it that one morning during the summer of 1969, residents of the quiet and tiny village of Carlton Scroop on the Nottinghamshire/Lincolnshire border awoke to find ‘USA GET OUT VIETNAM’ written in spray paint across the bridge on the main road. 1960’s northern rural Britain was a far from politically radical place and local residents assumed the graffiti appeared due to passing travellers who had attended a music festival a few miles away. The locals adopted the graffiti and story as a silent protest in solidarity opposition to the USA invasion of Vietnam, and as such the graffiti was never removed from the bridge. It has in a way become part of the local pop cultural folklore.

Growing up, my Dad, who was a Lincolnshire man, used to reference this graffiti and story with pride. Whenever we visited the area he would insist we drove over the bridge to see it as it was part of his cultural heritage, and having been a Lincolnshire local 18 year old in 1969, this was his way of demonstrating he was part of the anti-war movement. After he died we revisited the bridge and took a photo, which has been digitally enhanced to replenish the spray-painted words.

The flag has been made in homage to Vietnam war protest imagery. The colour palette and fringing have been taken from the outfit worn by Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock, where he played his infamous protest version of The Star Spangled Banner.  

Noticeboard United is run by Kate Genever.

This work was made in collaboration with Rob MacPherson

‘I HAVE NO COUNTRY I AM A CITIZEN OF FREEDOM’, 2020

In addition to this work above, a second print was made. ‘I HAVE NO COUNTRY I AM A CITIZEN OF FREEDOM’ was spray painted on another bridge nearby on the same night in 1969. This image was taken in 2020 and has been digitally enhanced. ‘I HAVE NO COUNTRY I AM A CITIZEN OF FREEDOM’ was exhibited at Southwark Park Galleries Open, 2021.