Fiona Banner at Tate Britain: Harrier and Jaguar

A Sea Harrier jet, used by the navy over Bosnia, hangs nose down like a trussed bird
Photograph: Nils Jorgensen / Rex Features

An RAF Jaguar that saw service during Desert Storm is displayed belly up on the floor of the gallery
Photograph: Nils Jorgensen / Rex Features

The Harrier has been embellished with hand-painted feather markings
Photograph: Nils Jorgensen / Rex Features

The Sepecat Jaguar XZ118 has been stripped of paint and polished so viewers see their reflection
Photograph: Nils Jorgensen / Rex Features

When it was used in the first Gulf war, the Jaguar's nose was adorned with a large picture of the Viz cartoon character Buster Gonad – known for his 'unfeasibly large testicles'
Photograph: Nils Jorgensen / Rex Features

Getting the planes inside Tate Britain was a challenge and a specialist rigging company was used to advise on how best to break them up
Photograph: PR

Merseyside-born Banner has frequently referenced war planes in her work and in 1994 transcribed the film Top Gun into a frame-by-frame written account
Photograph: Fiona Hanson/PA

Banner says she is not trying to make some easily digestible point, nor is it an anti-war work. 'This work is more about how people react to it, rather than a big black and white statement,' she said
Photograph: Nils Jorgensen / Rex Features