After a particularly exhausting weekend, I believe it is time to relax for a moment with some news from the world of art, specifically of the football sticker variety.
In August last year, I announced on the Progress With Unity Podcast that I would be helping visitors to the National Football Museum create a large scale artwork made entirely of Panini World Cup 2014 stickers. Well, I am pleased to announce that the piece is now complete and available to view at the museum in Manchester! *Crowd cheers*
The National Football Museum is open from 10am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 11am to 5pm on Sundays. Admission is free, and I’d heartily recommend making the trip for a fantastic day out. Not only will you get to see the sticker art piece, but there are lots of pop-up/travelling and permanent exhibitions to experience first hand. If you live in Wigan, you can purchase a return ticket to nearby Manchester Victoria for about £5, which is pretty good for 1995.
(What do you mean it’s 2015? Ack… but that’s still a good deal!)
But wait… there’s more.
Coincidentally, it just so happens that a book tracing the history of football stickers is to be released at the beginning of March. Not so coincidentally, a certain small time internet blogger features to some extent, so if you’d like to read more about the NFM Panini Big Picture and other sticker-related stories, then be sure to pre-order a copy of Stuck on You: The Rise and Fall… and Rise of Panini Football Stickers.
Oh yes, and the front cover might have been designed by a particular Wigan Athletic-supporting teletext artist. I have no idea who he is, but he did a pretty good job!
Pre-order a copy of Stuck on You from Amazon
Expect to hear more about this publication very soon indeed, for we are in talks to interview author Greg Lansdowne about those little adhesive bits of paper. I’m fairly sure things won’t break down at the last minute, since there is no medical involved here, though a complimentary course of bangers and mash may be in order to ‘sweeten the deal’.
As Arnie might say, stick around. By the way, some dude gets stabbed in this clip, but the corny one-liner is far worse. Don’t say you haven’t been warned!