Jumping Castle War Memorial

In his photographs, screen prints, neon text pieces, videos, sculptures and museum installations, Brook Andrew looks into the causes and effects of the inequalities between Australia’s original inhabitants, and its more recent settlers.He inserts the culture and motifs of his Wiradjuri heritage into many of his works while incorporating a diversity of references that include the media, politics, popular culture, nationalism, and colonial and anthropological histories.

A contemporary war memorial titled Jumping Castle War Memorial (2010) is a seven-metre-wide ‘bouncy castle’, designed as if it were an attraction for children. But it is presented with a catch: only adults over 16 will be allowed to jump on it. On closer examination, we see that its plasticenclosed turrets contain skulls that represent those often forgotten peoples who were the victims of genocide worldwide. The diamond black and white pattern references Wiradjuri culture and represents the experience of cultural amnesia and hypnosis. The question is posed: to jump or not to jump?

Jumping Castle War Memorial was presented as part of the 17th Biennale of Sydney (2010) on Cockatoo Island.