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Item. 4
This Archival label with the description "Enamel pin-badge, soaked in blood, Glasgow Green, August 19th 2029" is listed as Item. 13 and is marked with Dr Terri P. Sheach's characteristic T.P.S signature. Despite initially appearing rather cryptic, the label and it's associated missing object can help us to understand an extremely significant day in our history - the more brutal protest occurred on August 19th on Glasgow Green at the height of the far-right's decade-long grasp on the nation.
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In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which continued to ravage through the global population well into early 2027, the increasingly popular alt-right Britain First party came to power. The political party’s campaign was extremely racially charged, particularly towards Palestinian refugees, who were continually denied asylum in the UK despite Palestine’s recognition as a country being illegally revoked in 2026 by the US President. The mass rioting that ensued led to the suspect and highly publicised disappearance of six well known British/Palestinian protestors from their homes after an antifa rally on Bethnal Green in London. At this crucial time in Britain’s post-pandemic rise to fascism, one unifying symbol of hope emerged.
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A common narrative at the time which perpetuated the idea of the aggressive and stupid people of Scotland may help to explain why this particular video went viral and subsequently became a meme. In the original video from 2015, we see two young Scottish girls recording themselves singing at the computer when their mother bursts into the room asking which one of them didn’t flush the toilet. The sheer force with which the mother, later identified as Lizzie Brash from Edinburgh, screams the word “disgusting” is palpable. Despite the vulgarity, Lizzie’s remark elevated her, along with her two daughters, to the mythical status of national treasure overnight.
The meme seemed to persist on the internet with no sign of disappearing. However, as early as 2028 we begin to see new meaning being attached to this seemingly harmless video. What had started as an internet meme, had suddenly been co-opted by opposers of the far-right majority. It became known as a symbol of solidarity with the persecuted Palestinian refugees and the iconic legacy left by Lizzie Brash and her two daughters still permeates Scotland's cultural identity to this day.
New forms of protest were established after the coronavirus pandemic of the 2020s, as people were ordered to stay inside their homes to stop the spread of the virus. After the disappearance of the Bethnal Green Six, Disgustang signs began to appear in windows up and down the fractured country. Face masks were still being worn by many out of fear for another spike in the COVID-19 pandemic and Disgustang face masks were a common sight at the time.
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