The strange story of the 'RIP Goldstone' banner - any biologists on here?

[attila]

Last night's event at the Theatre Royal was brilliant, and would have been precisely the right time to bring out the big RIP Goldstone banner painted for April 26, 1997 (featured in my avatar and in many media pics on the day) and afterwards stored in our attic after the game in hope and anticipation of days like these and a place in the museum But about 11 years ago it was literally eaten by a huge reddish/pink fungus (actually a sort of vaguely Palace home strip colour) and obliterated. Attic dry, nothing else affected. I wasn't aware that there was a type of fungus that fed on plastic, and it was virulent: the reason I noticed was that the top of the box had been split open by this thing bursting through it! I've always wondered how that could happen: surely bacteria only feed on animal/vegetable matter, not synthetic substances? No-one I've talked to had the faintest idea. Any biologists out there? (Sorry, no pics, didn't occur to me at the time)

 

[Seagull's Return]

Not my area, but I'm aware there's research into the bioremediation properties of some endophytic fungi which can consume polyurethane (see here for a paper on it, if you're scientifically-minded). If the genus is Pestalotiopsis, however, as far as I know they're found in tropical rainforests. I'm guessing the answer will depend on precisely what the RIP banner was actually made of, as well as what it had come into contact with* and the storage conditions.




*If at some point it inadvertently touched Bellotti, for instance, I should imagine it would have curled up and died of disgust long before any fungus could get at it.

 

[Lincoln Imp]

There is plenty of photographic evidence. I know nothing will ever replace the original but it would be worth producing a replica. That banner sums up a huge part of the campaign for me.

 

[attila]

Cheers for that. It could have bumped into Bellotti in its previous incarnation (ie the message on the other side of the banner) as the 'FA Get Off Your Knees - Brighton's had Enough' banner featured at Fans United, which is when I got it printed by a local signage company here in Southwick. It may have had beer spilt on it that final Goldstone day, it certainly did the rounds of the pubs afterwards, but was dry when packed away and stored in a dry attic. I've had a look at the paper, not at all scientifically minded but am I right in saying it may have been subject to the same breakdown processes as happens to, say, plastic based landfill material such as plastic bags? (If so, my wife's assertion that our attic is a bit of a tip may actually have some basis in fact!) Good news for the planet, then, basically, if that kind of stuff can just break down naturally: not good news for the Albion archive, although there is plenty of photographic documentation.....

 

[Mr Bridger]

It's not all the lube and Gary Monk gone off after all those years of playing twister on it with the rest of the dead poets society is it

 

[Blackadder]

Was it a Dorian Gray flag?

 

[Fungus]

RIP RIP banner.

 

[Giraffe]

A few suggestions:

Did you or anyone else urinate on it?
Did you wrap a decomposing body in it?
Rats?
It got bored listening to left wing poetry?

 

[The Clamp]

Pretty big banner, have you got mushroom left in your loft?