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The Milkfloat Hurried, by Gilbert Thrunk. Oil on canvas, 1996.
The latest in a series of canvasses by upcoming artist Gibert Thrunk.
Thrunk says that his work is inspired by memories from his youth, when he
worked as a milkman in his native Kettering. The motif of milk deliveries
and milkfloats runs strongly through Thrunk's work: indeed when he first
exhibited at the gallery in 1991 the main feature of the display was the
remarkable milkfloat-pattern wallpaper with which Thrunk had covered all
surfaces - including himself. But it goes much deeper than that:
"Well, quite literally, I wanted to become a milkfloat. To feel it from
the inside. So I had a milkfloat suit built, wired myself up to a
high-current battery and away I went". Thrunk was a professional milkfloat
for two weeks, during which time he gained valuable knowledge about what
it is actually like to be a small electric delivery vehicle, experience
which underlies his current output.
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Then the milkfloat did it again, acrylic on treated steel sheeting,
1996.
Thrunk's second exposition of the essential character of the
milkfloat reminds us that however cheerful it may look, behind that
anthropomorphic exterior there is the cold heart of a machine. Even
novelties like adding a red nose on the milkfloat's front cannot take
away the sadness the milkfloat feels to be a small wheeled object capable
of eighteen mph flat out going downhill with a following wind.
But Thrunk does manage to capture with remarkable effectiveness the spirit
of house to house deliveries of the glandular excretions of a large
domesticated mammal, and for the window into a remarkable world that he
gives us we should be grateful.
Milk: a Matter of Delivery featuring the work of Gilbert Thrunk is
at the Dairy Crest Gallery until the 24th May.
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