King Mob
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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King Mob was a radical group endeavouring to contribute to worldwide proletarian social revolution, based in London during the 1970s.
It was a cultural mutation of the Situationists and the anarchist group UAW/MF. They sought to emphasize the cultural anarchy and disorder being ignored in Britain. They derived their name from Christopher Hibbert's 1958 book on the Gordon Riots of June 1780, in which rioters daubed the slogan "His Majesty King Mob"' on the walls of Newgate prison, after gutting the building.
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Actions
King Mob appreciated pop culture and distributed their ideas and political ideas through various posters and through their publication King Mob Echo, which provoked reaction by celebrating killers like Jack the Ripper, Mary Bell, and John Christie. One flyer in particular celebrated Valerie Solanas' 1968 shooting of Andy Warhol and included a hit-list of: Yoko Ono, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Richard Hamilton, Mario Amaya (who was also shot by Solanas), David Hockney, Mary Quant, Twiggy, Marianne Faithfull, and IT editor Barry Miles.
The King Mob group allegedly planned a series of audacious actions, including blowing up a waterfall in England's Lake District, painting the poet Wordsworth's house with the words "Coleridge Lives", and hanging peacocks in London's Holland Park. However, none of the aforementioned plans were executed. An action that was carried out, inspired by the New York-based Black Mask's "mill-in at Macy's", involved King Mob appearing at the Selfridges store in London, with one member, dressed as Father Christmas, attempting to distribute all of the store's toys to children. Members of the London constabulary subsequently forced the children to return the toys.
Graffiti
Graffiti attributed to King Mob was observed in many places particularly in the Notting Hill area, including, "I don't believe in nothing - I feel like they ought to burn down the world - just let it burn down baby"
The most celebrated graffito attributed to King Mob was the slogan which was painted along a half-mile section of the wall beside the tube(railway) commuter route into London between Ladbroke Grove and Westbourne Park tube stations in west London:
Same thing day after day- tube - work - dinner - work - tube - armchair - TV - sleep - tube - work -how much more can you take? - one in ten go mad, one in five cracks up
King Mob was also responsible for various attacks on art galleries and for organizing a battle between local skinheads (whom they considered to be "the working class avant-garde") and greasers in central London.
One of King Mob's early actions included Malcolm McLaren who reputably applied their situationist ideals towards the promotion of the Sex Pistols.
References in popular culture
The "Mask of King Mob" can be seen in the background of the comic book Watchmen, written by Alan Moore. It is in what appears to be a trophy room of the Minutemen, noticeable during the infamous scene where The Comedian tries to rape the original Silk Specter.
A protagonist in the comic book series The Invisibles (authored by Grant Morrison) is codenamed "King Mob". The Invisibles is organized anti-hierarchically, and is dedicated to defeating a global conspiracy which deceives and preys upon the world's population. The character "King Mob" describes himself as an anarchist.
There is an independent film company called Kings Mob Productions.
See also
