Brook Andrew: Jumping Castle War Memorial

<b>Brook Andrew</b> 1970–<br/><em>Jumping Castle War Memorial</em> 2010<br/>PVC vinyl<br/>Courtesy of the artist, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne, DETACHED, Hobart and UQ Art Museum, Brisbane<br/>Photo: Gordon Craig
Brook Andrew 1970–
Jumping Castle War Memorial 2010
PVC vinyl
Courtesy of the artist, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne, DETACHED, Hobart and UQ Art Museum, Brisbane
Photo: Gordon Craig

Brook Andrew: Jumping Castle War Memorial

18 September –  17 October 2010

Brook Andrew’s Jumping Castle War Memorial presents a puzzle: as a full-size inflatable ‘bouncy’ castle it offers fun and laughs and an immersive experience, but as a self-titled war memorial it suggests solemnity and reflection.

A monumental black figure stands proud atop the Wiradjuri patterns, while skulls dangle like Halloween toys within the plastic ‘windows’ of the castle turrets. The dizzying ‘mix of pop and Wiradjuri-op’, as Anthony Gardner describes Andrew’s patterns, stamps its identity on this fairground symbol of European wealth and power. Andrew offers a contemporary war memorial for the Indigenous people who died after European settlement. His work may also suggest the ‘bounce’ of debate and the verbal jousting of the ‘history wars’. Questions are posed to the viewer – what would it mean to jump on this heritage, this site of commemoration?*

Jumping Castle War Memorial was commissioned by DETACHED, Hobart and UQ Art Museum, in association with Urban Art Projects, and featured in the 17th Biennale of Sydney.

*Viewers are invited to touch, but are asked not to stand or jump on the work.

Interpretive Resources

  • Watch MP4 Brook Andrew's Jumping Castle War Memorial on COFA Talks Online 15 June, 2010 here
     
  • Listen to or download MP3 Brook Andrew: The Cell on ABC Radio National 11 July, 2010 here
     
  • Listen to or download MP3 Dr Amelia Brown on War Memorials as Public Art in Ancient Greece here (53 mins)

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