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Sign Looking Glass

Daniel Baker | Sign Looking Glass | object (art) | unknown | 2005 | vis_00155

Rights held by: Daniel Baker | Licensed by: Daniel Baker | Licensed under: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International | Provided by: Daniel Baker – Private Archive

Daniel Baker | Sign Looking Glass | object (art) | unknown | 2005 | vis_00155 Rights held by: Daniel Baker | Licensed by: Daniel Baker | Licensed under: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International | Provided by: Daniel Baker – Private Archive

Credits

Rights held by: Daniel Baker | Licensed by: Daniel Baker | Licensed under: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International | Provided by: Daniel Baker – Private Archive

Description

My looking glass sign works subvert the convention of the ornamental mirror by inviting and confounding the viewer at the same time. ‘No Travellers’ signs could be seen until relatively recently in UK pubs to dissuade Romanies from entering. Despite legislation to ban such racist signifiers some premises still sidestep the law. A few years ago I saw a cardboard sign in the window of an East London pub stating ‘Travellers by appointment only’—easily removed and destroyed if necessary by its author. My response was to produce a series of ‘No Travellers’ signs which through their attractive ornamentality contrast to the grubbiness of the said artefacts to expose the hypocrisy of furtive prejudice. By monumentalising sentiments these objects render visible the racism that remains embedded in the architecture of the establishment.

Daniel Baker (2017)

Details

Country
Production
2005
Production Credits
Object Category
Dimensions
134 cm width
30 cm height
Object Number
vis_00155

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