IF one were to ask 100 people to name something that was quintessentially British, one could expect a host of replies.
Fish and chips. The Sunday roast. The Austin Mini. Buckingham Palace and the Trooping of the Colour.
The list is a long one, but it is a moot point whether many would have replied "HP Sauce", as did the artist David Mach.
It is, as everyone knows, a tangy brown sauce, originally produced by HP Foods in the UK. Now, however, it is manufactured by the HJ Heinz Company in the Netherlands.
For Mach, though, that famous Houses of Parliament label is emblematic of his vision of the United Kingdom, something he wishes to convey in a new installation he is producing to go on show at the Saatchi Gallery in London in November.
Methil-born Mach, whose works include the renowned Big Heids at the Eurocentral Terminal alongside the M8, requires 2000 HP Sauce bottles, and currently has only one, so has put out an appeal for 1999 more.
For his British-themed piece, Mach says he will revisit his 1983 piece, Thinking of England. We wish him success. It is going to take a lot of bottle.
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