1 12

Jimmy Cauty

A RIOT IN A JAM JAR 15th Anniversary RARITY: Poll Tax Riot, 2011

A RIOT IN A JAM JAR 15th Anniversary RARITY: Poll Tax Riot, 2011

£12,000.00 GBP
£12,000.00 GBP
Sale Sold out
Taxes included. Shipping calculated at checkout.

POLL TAX RIOT, 2011

This is one of the original larger scale riots in a jam jar, featuring the London Poll Tax Riot of 1990 that lead to the downfall of Margaret Thatcher. 

First shown in the A Riot in a Jam Jar exhibition 2011 then later updated with street lights and the metal base for an exhibition at OVADA, Oxford called Resistance is Fertile in 2015

UNIQUE work
1:87 scale model in a jam jar
Total size including metal base: 37(h) x 23 x 21 cm
Signed on the base by the artist
Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity signed by the L-13 Chief Engineer
Power supply included

In 2011 we organised an exhibition by Jimmy Cauty called A RIOT IN A JAM JAR. The exhibition featured 58 "riots in jam jars" made from meticulously hand painted and reconfigured 1:87 scale model figures. Click on More Info below to see the exhibition notes written at the time.

To celebrate 15 years since this exhibition we are now making this historic piece available to buy. We have also found a few copies of the exhibition catalogue published at the time and a number of other rarities we've had hidden away in our store room for the last few years.
Check listings in the L-13 Rejects and Rarities Dept for these.

More info

JAMES CAUTY: A RIOT IN A JAM JAR

Exhibition Notes from 2011

A RIOT IN A JAM JAR presents small world re-enactments that depict past and future riots ...reality blurred... all within a jam jar. The jam jars suggest containment... violent disturbances served up in manageable doses like news bulletins... complex situations reduced to mantelpiece ornaments and souvenirs.

In real life riot situations the media searches for action in spotter helicopters and ‘at the scene’ reportage… someone throws a dustbin at a shop window and it’s instantly relayed to the world. The focus is always on the sensational... violence on the TV screen.... tag lines and one liners… This is the currency.

A Riot in a Jam Jar appropriates the mediated and sensational language of our news and communication networks... focusing in
on and amping up situations for instant consumption:

a riot in a jam jar is a snapshot of a spectacular and mediated super-reality

a riot in a jam jar depicts acts of contained and sensationalised violence for the instant gratification of its audience

a riot in a jam jar presents 1:87 scale micro revolutions served up in bite size chunks

a riot in a jam jar is a mantelpiece ornament for the twitter generation

These tiny acts of violence serve as snap shots of a greater and vastly more complex reality.

James Cauty, 2011

View full details