The Glue Society’s latest installation is a forklift machine completely overwhelmed by its attempt to lift a wooden crate. It’s a comment about Brexit and it’s titled, “What Were We Thinking?”
The wonderful observation, housed in a striking 6m-high installation, is a feature piece at the London Design Festival 2019 at the Old Truman Brewery complex from September 16-23. It speaks of the conflict’s immutable nature and the public’s sense of frustration and wasted energy. It is also an impressive feat of design and engineering, with four tons of concrete strategically distributed within the box in order to hold up the life-sized forklift – all freestanding, , without having to drill into the ground beneath. The piece took one month to design and three to build.
“Brexit has been so all-consuming and so destructive, with this inescapable sense of helplessness,” The Glue Society commented.
“We at The Glue Society have a track record of being obsessed with machinery and industrial tools, and we wanted to explore the political and societal repercussions from Brexit through that lens. The inverted forklift is the perfect metaphor for how many Brits feel in this moment, and we think the absurdity in the physical structure of this piece will help these feelings resonate.”
The Glue Society, whose directors continue to helm some of the world’s most appealing and entertaining commercials, is also known for its installations, that make people think about fundamental truths about humanity and progress – often through humour. Its projects have been exhibited throughout the world – at Miami Art Basel, Pulse New York and Art & About Australia.
Here are some of The Glue Society’s most notable examples:
The Glue Society’s clothes line revives the importance of traditional everyday life
The Glue Society creates a magical DreamLab for kids struggling to learn
The collective has also created some unforgettable brand stunts:
The Glue Society & AMV BBDO: What a cyber attack feels like – in the real world
The Glue Society is behind some of the ad industry’s most-awarded experiential projects. It has earned a Cannes Titanium, five Cannes Grands Prix, and dozens of other awards for ground-breaking work such as ANZ Bank’s GAYTM installations and the viral multi-platform, Until We All Belong, campaign for Airbnb. Over the last 21 years, the collective has received worldwide acclaim for being “the experts at things which haven’t been done before,” according to Creativity Online.
In advertising, The Glue Society is represented by Biscuit Filmworks in the UK and US, and Revolver/Will O’Rourke in Australia and New Zealand.
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