Communique from the Fine Line Art Collective (FLAC)
Date: 3rd Feb 2010
Address: Old Steine, Brighton
Tel: 01273 821118
In the small hours of this morning the Brighton branch of The Royal Bank of Scotland fell foul of a FLAC attack.
We claim full credit for the free public art installation of a fat red and black line of gloss paint on the floor across the doorway of the bank.
The black paint signifies RBS oil investments and the red paint, the lives that will be lost to climate change.
Black paint was applied to the cash point to create the impression of oil oozing from the unstoppable money machine. This illustrates the
filthy nature of this banks activities. We also proved we CAN stop a small cog in the machine. When we want to.
FLAC – the Fine Line Arts Collective – has used this publicly owned space – bought with tax payers money – to pose the question: “Where do we draw the line?”
Today FLAC members drew the line at RBS because…
RBS has financed companies involved in tar sands extraction to the tune of £8.3 billion. RBS is the UK’s biggest financier of one of the dirtiest projects on Earth.
This is destroying the Canadian wilderness, forcing the indigenous people off their lands and creating the biggest C02 emitter in the world.
FLAC says: “RBS deserves to take some flack for that.And don’t get us started on Chairman Sir Fred’s £16 million pension, not to mention the bankers’ £1million plus bonuses.
“We all have to draw the line somewhere. We draw the line at RBS using our money to destroy our planet and our future for private gain. Where do you draw the line?”
Artists notes.
FLAC used gloss paint for this action to signify the permanence of the bank’s destructive activities.
FLAC members hope other artists will feel inspired to draw a line at their own local branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland. Or indeed any other bank that consistently invests in human suffering and ultimately our demise.
Or draw your line wherever your sense of outrage deems fit.