Catalogue Number
NMLH.2021.151.4
Object Name
Poster
Title
Portfolio collection - Ken Sprague Print "If I didn't do it, someone else would."
People
Ken Sprague
Events
Porton Down experiments
Date
1969
Description
Large a2 silk screen-printed poster. White background, with black and brown illustrations. There is one figure, representing someone who worked at the Porton Down Research station. They have their gas mask below their neck. This figure is standing behind a black table with wheels - on the desk there are white print illustrations of a pair of scissors, a bowl, and a cup. On top of the table there is a brown rat - it looks like the figure is experimenting on the rat. On the left to the person's head, in black text it says "If I didn't do it, someone else would." This is another example of Sprague illustrating the excuses people came up with to justify the atrocities that took place at the Portor Down research station; this person is justifying their actions by arguing that if they did not do it, someone else would. The use of rats throughout this portfolio comment on the animal testing which took place, but could be metaphor for the human experiments and testing as lab rat can also refer to a person or thing used as a subject for experiment. See NMLH.2022.151 for further descriptive context about Sprague and Porton Down.
