for
stanley green
in recognition
of your
dedication
Every Monday to Saturday for 25 years Stanley Green, aka Protein Man, would walk Oxford Street...
as a human billboard protesting the overconsumption of protein.
Known for his handmade signs in his typical font; he believed that reducing protein in our diets would lower libidos and make us better people.
This action was a reperformance on Stanley’s beat. A sign mimicking his well-known style was carried reading: Purposeful Movement Stops Involuntary Gesture and this time, his protein propaganda was replaced with poetic fragments gleaned from notebooks and studio walls. Nothing concrete, only subtle observations, tangents and individual palm sized distractions from the day to day of the street.
The work plays with homage and chance; occupying the murky bit where the shared space of the street meets protest, preaching, art and advertising. Borrowing, subverting and twisting each's invitation to change your mind.
We weren’t selling anything, or preaching anything in particular and in each case, each variable; person, poetic, time, mood etc would offer a number of possible responses or outcomes.
We were taking a stand for taking a stands sake. Sharing unsolicited information irl in public. We wanted to see what it would be like...
to make a poetic statement in the language of protest,
in a place like Oxford Street.
Going against the tide of shoppers, we stood and gave out our small poetic tokens: aphorisms, grandiosities and observations. ‘This is for you’ we would say, to which people replied: ‘No it’s not’ ‘I don’t want it’ ‘What is it?’ ‘Is it meant to be funny?’ ‘That is beautiful’ ‘I don’t get it?’ 'Is it art?' ‘What are you protesting?’ Striking up conversation with some, ignored by many, much like Stanley Green.