During my term at GSA I worked on a brief called “Red, White and Blue”. Those three words really were everything the brief included, so in our brainstormings we touched subjects such as colour theory, corporate identity, natural phenomena, heraldry and, of course, national identity.
Taking in all the touristy clichés about Scotland and perceiving the everyday life I wondered why nobody had attempted to create a British tartan yet. There were so many corporate tartans, from football clubs to districts and institutions. The tartan as a pattern is an evergreen at London fashion week and Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen have gone wild with it. Was it some kind of taboo? Was it simply unnecessary or did just nobody think of the idea yet?
I started working. Measuring the Union Flag and calculating the colour percentages, I created a tartan pattern that involved the St George's Cross as well as the combined Saltires of Scotland and Northern Ireland and, of course, the right amounts of red, white and blue.
Having woven an exemplary piece at the GSA’s weaving workshop, I then pondered on possible cultural connections this piece of fabric might have. Who would wear this? Who would most definitely not? And who could have invented this, if it had been already existing?
I decided to give the British Tartan a history. Or, more specifically, invent a history and fake enough evidence for its “Rediscovery Exhibition”.
This history included Queen Victoria, her love of Scotland, the peak of the British Empire, decades of oblivion and Vivienne Westwood.
Faking history is actually quite fun.
