The Art Of Flying – telling the story of fly-posting

I didn’t see this one coming. I mean, it was fly posted, but you become a little immune to these things after a while unless they contain an element you recognise. The Art of Flying (congrats to the organisers on avoiding plays on the word ‘pasting’) tells the story of fly-posting over the last 150 years through an exhibition, a series of talks, and interactive elements, including screen printing and getting handy with a brush and bucket yourself.

At the heart of the show are the tales of pasting up posters, starting with the concert posters of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. A key part of communication pre the Internet and still around somewhat today their brash messaging stood out in every corner of London from locations keenly won and ruthlessly maintained. A project to document the voices of those who kept this all going sees six out of twelve key figures make it in to print to date, in the form of a zine for each. Not everyone wanted to talk, but does that did have many entertaining stories to tell.

Catherine Flood, independent curator, gave a talk outlining the history of fly-posting on the Sunday, in a space set out somewhat akin to a church. It was a fascinating insight into the history of the image on walls in our cities. Along with Adrian Burnham’s presentation on the origins of The Art Of Flying, I hope it is available online at some point. A real treat followed with Peter Kennard and Cat Phillips running through the highlights of their joint practice, KennardPhillips. So many iconic anti war images which rapidly outgrew their original placements to become defining images of their time.

There was a chance to get hands on too. Courtesy of Jealous Gallery you could enjoy the satisfaction of pulling your own revolutionary screen print and then, a mere ten minutes later, paste it up on street hoardings round the corner. ‘Fold the paper between your knees, while you apply the paste onto the wall. Hook it over the top of the brush so you can get it higher’. I wish I’d known all this years ago, great fun!

The Art of Flying really takes you on a journey, from the origins of fly-posting through to you understanding a little of what it takes you to be part of the next wave of activism. It’s all being preserved in print while creating new converts eager to try it out for themselves. There’s power in that message.