To set the mood for their forthcoming show, two East London artists Tinsel and Twinkle took to the streets of London on October 29th for some traffic wardening with a difference... and how nice of them to give our London gallery it’s first ever parking ticket.
If you found a parking fine envelope stuck to your car on the 29th October, don’t throw it away! It might contain a free signed mini- screenprint of artwork from the dynamic duo's 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times' recession- themed collection.
Tinsel Edwards and Twinkle Troughton have been carving a name for themselves in east London's art scene alongside artrepublic faves Pure Evil and Ben Eine for a time now. But since the recession they've taken their art out of galleries and hit the streets, and on the 29th they were giving away limited-edition screenprints disguised as parking offence penalty charge notices.
The duo say “we wanted to do something which would take our work out of the gallery and to a wider audience. We loved the idea of using a bit of trickery, making a bit of a practical joke as a way of getting our artwork out to people who may or may not know who we are and what we do as artists, so we decided to dress up as traffic wardens and hide the artwork in parking ticket bags!”
The screenprint in the parking ticket bags is an image of a Woolworth's empty shop front, which has closing down posters in the window, we've changed the posters to read 'It Was The Best of Times It was the Worst of Times' – the famous line from Charles Dickens.
“For the two of us the work is a direct response to the recession – not only it's impact on the nation, but how it's been dealt with in the media. Recessions can be very difficult, but they can also be a time for positive change and growth. We thought that producing a free mini-print as a very large edition would help to promote that message. And so the initial bad news of a parking ticket is replaced with a positive response to some free artwork!”
