stained tea towel, spray paint

John Locke (1632 - 1704) referred to it as a fundamental rule for government

I came across this quote while researching army mottos for the Aprons of Power. It appeared in many different forms for differing groups and agendas, used as quotes by Locke and Hobbes but also appearing on an engraving of Cromwell. As a motto for the Aprons of Power it’s diverse associations were too conflicted. I was rather attached to it though as it does seem like a very noble tenet and yet a somewhat abused one. Looking at the whole domestic sphere for this exhibition I got really interested in tea towels, as they are such a commonplace item used for drying and mopping up and for holding things too hot to handle - their origin is in 18th century England as part of the good linen for the tea service. They were also a way of showing needle skills as they were often embroidered. Eventually the embroidery was replaced by the decorative and then the souvenir. It’s such a gendered present, to bring back a tea towel with the sights of some noteworthy historical site to hang on the kitchen wall. This morphed later in the 70’s and 80’s into witty aphorisms and quotes, which in a way correlated, for me, to the quote from Cicero - this noble idea becoming more and more jaded through the centuries - used to sop up and support dodgy ideologies, so to marry both material and idea seemed right. The spray painting of the motto also echoed the punk philosophy of the anti-establishment where no one is interested in drying up anyway and the plasticity of this renders it useless in the same way that the souvenir tea towel was no good for drying.