Blumbo is actually two projects in one. A year ago I built a series of explosive-packed little things I called the Explosive Friends. They were unpredictable little things, made out of simple matchhead percussion fuses, gunpowder charges and pre-packed blood and guts encased in fast-drying plastic blobs. When shaken about, they would blow up violently, scattering fake blood and fish guts all over the place.

Later on, I wanted to do a bigger Explosive Friend. I wanted a sculpture that would resemble sphinxes, real-life weapon systems and cute videogame characters all at the same time. Obviously, cramming a barrel-sized sculpture with gunpowder would be disastrous, so I made him launch rockets instead. Using iron pipes and specially-modified fireworks, I built a simple recoilless rifle inside Blumbo. Now he could play father to his Explosive friends, and they could all live happily.

Despite all the smoke and fire, Blumbo is not violent. Neither are the Blimbis. They are only doing what comes naturally, blowing themselves up in order to say "I'm here!" Perhaps they destroy themselves while doing so, but then again, who doesn't?