Iron men become superheroes for the day
August 25, 2005
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Posted by ANCPR
icLiverpool – Artist’s iron men become superheroes for the day
Aug 24 2005
By Graham Davies, Daily Post Staff
FORTY of Antony Gormley’s Another Place statues were dressed in superhero costumes yesterday as Fathers 4 Justice mounted a protest on Crosby beach.
Members of the campaign group, who usually climb tall buildings wearing the outfits, arrived at the beach at 6.30am and began kitting out the iron sculptures.
The statues wore white T-shirts and purple capes and ribbons, to represent the international colour of equality.
Messages were attached, quoting statistics such as: “100 children lose contact with their fathers every day because of the family courts.” Another read:: “100 men commit suicide every year as a direct result of the Child Support Agency.”
Mike Green, Liverpool branch coordinator, said the group chose to decorate 40 statues because 40% of fathers who go through the family courts lose contact with their children within eight years.
He added: “This work of art is an important asset to Merseyside and Britain. Mr Gormley wanted it to be for the public and we are making full use of it.
“We wanted to do something different from our usual tactic and this seemed like a great idea. It has been a lovely day and people have been stopping and talking to us. They are genuinely shocked when they read some of the facts.
“Hopefully, those people will take that information away with them, so that the next time they see Spider-Man on a roof, or Batman on a crane, they will understand our reasons for doing it.”
He added: “The artwork is very apt for our cause. There are 100 men looking out to sea, and we are looking out for our children because they are in another place as well.”
Founded in 2002, previous Fathers 4 Justice protests include one member scaling Buckingham Palace dressed as Batman, and others hurling a purple flour bomb at Tony Blair in the House of Commons.
In 2003, members brought chaos to Liverpool city centre by clambering onto a walkway near the Pier Head, and last Christmas, a group dressed as superheroes and Santas climbed the Radio City tower.
Mr Gormley, who created Gateshead’s Angel of the North sculpture, installed Another Place at Crosby beach in June.
Since then, the statues, previously displayed in Norway and Germany, have generated international media interest.
The sculptures, which are cast from the artist’s body, are due to be shipped to New York in November 2006.
However, Mr Gormley admitted Crosby was the best location for the artwork. Earlier this month, Crosby’s Labour MP Claire Curtis-Thomas wrote to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, asking him to help raise £1.5m to keep the work on Merseyside.
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the simple truth is that if there are so many men fighting for equal rights to see their children then simply put our goverments need a wake up call and start to do something instead of ignoring the problems men face in seeing their kids, the kids are the ones caught in the middle and just want a dad without the crap that all of us have to go through just to have visitation , it is a sad world we live in when a state can tell you when or not you are allowed to see your child that you are forced to support.not because you have to but because it is the right thing to do, i tell everyone i know to send letters to your elected officials and dont stop,keep sending letters , from a dad who had his children held back and after dozens of court battles now has full custody, fight for your kids rights, peace
These statues are very symbolic of mine and a lot of father’s devotion to resolving the issue of inequality directed to
and felt by men. It is long past due. Action is the only option. Speaking our mind has been tried, and overlooked.
It is time for the political representatives of this nation to realize the strength of the forgotten male. The forgotten father. Our rights as fathers are endowed to us by accepting fatherhood. These should and eventually will not be denied those who have assumed fatherhood with good intentions. We’ll not stand for this anymore. No longer should females take it upon themselves to fulfill the role of caregiver should it not be an appropriate role for them. No longer shall children and their fathers be seperated by the ludicrous notion that fathers cannot perform as caregivers with the same capacity as the mother of those same children. No longer shall women ride the backs of their male counter-parts and a corrupt legal system that supports such a notion for the sake of profit during post-divorce separation. No longer will children suffer father detachment encouraged by the current systems supporting such a crime. No longer will children see their parents as solely financial provider or solely caregiver but both parents as a combination of what it takes to raise a child or children appropriately. This should be the presumed notion of our nation in every aspect of living, and presumed until appropriately and fairly determined by community committees composed of unbiased members concerned with the true welfare of children (primarily) and (secondly) the parents both father and mother of those children. No longer will it be permitted that someone who walks around calling themself mother be deemed mother (I would say father too, but it is automatically presumed that fathers are not fathers post divorce and a lot of times even prior to that), proof will be a requirement. This is what is in the best interest of children. No longer will children be silenced in the court by lack of representation or misrepresentation. Children know more about their living circumstances than those presently deciding their outcomes. No longer will conflict be an issue for the courts regarding children. As it stands now, with children having little say in their custody placement conflict in their own personalities is a given and further violated by their lack of choice. Good parents make their children make good choices. The courts eliminate or limit children’s choice. And the lawyers that are hired make good money keeping children from choice and fathers out of the decision making equation. THERE IS NO JUSTICE IN THE PRESENT SYSTEM, JUST AN OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERY LOW LIFE (if it pertains, take it to heart if it doesn’t let it pass) LAWYER IN THE NATION TO MAKE A HUGE UNCONTESTED PROFIT OFF OF THE PAIN AND SUFFERING OF CHILDREN AND FOR THE MOST PART THEIR NON-CUSTODIAL FATHERS. I HOPE NONE OF THESE LAWYERS THINK THAT THEY ARE FATHERS. BECAUSE IF THEY DO, THEY ARE SETTING A BAD EXAMPLE FOR THEIR OWN CHILDREN (THAT IS IF THEY ARE NOT ASHAMED TO LET THEIR CHILDREN KNOW WHAT IT IS THAT THEY DO). I’ll not let these injustices to our nation persist. Trust me the problem is that big. I’ll not sit by idolly without an expression of my anger on this topic or any other type of injustice. All those reading this should not sit by idolly anymore either. Time for action has never seemed more right than the present time.
Thanks for allowing me to comment.
Sincerely,
Your soon to be homeless, carless, jobless father, Ray.
Hi,this is really a nice shirt,I like the fantastic style and the tones.bill
Who has becmoe the new mouthpiece spewing out these lies about the greatest President we ever had since Jimmy Carter? Maybe even prosecute him for slander against our beloved Bill Clinton!!!Do they actually believe this crap? I’m kind of leaning toward lousy freeper trolls here…Just wait. After November, if the Republicans manage to steal another one, you’ll see $5 gasoline and a draft.The only people I’ve seen wanting $5 gas and the draft are on the left… High gas prices because of “global warming” and the draft in order to tear apart the military from the inside. No one on the right wants either.