Click on images to enlarge view.
Maybe the graphic didn't work as I'd hoped but I got the association I wanted to suggest between the changes in the wages and profits share of national income since 1985 as sponsored by a succession of federal governments which in sync with the class divide evolve toward a more vicious statehood.
Behold: Neoliberalism!
I grabbed the teeth and mouth from John Heartfield's War and Corpses (at left) which has been a long time fav of mine..
It makes me feel like a hip hop artist -- sampling stuff -- teeth riffs -- to feed montages.
But then, John Heartfield's grandson has recently drawn me into his circle as part of his archive project celebrating his grandfather's work.
When I consider how difficult it must have been for Heartfield to construct his montages out of bits of paper my ready use of digital images and the online resources of Googling makes my work almost obscenely easy in comparison.
Heartfield's montages are standalone powerful graphics that transcend the political moment of their targeting while he explored a succession of themes that still bear down upon us. As a Marxist he also recognised the power of contradictions and counterpositions.
What he achieved has had a huge impact on graphics--even in advertising! -- that have followed.
For my money Heartfield's contemporary heir is Mr Fish -- aka Dwayne Booth . Although not strictly a montage artist, Mr Fish has a perspective that harnesses his materials in like mode to Heartfield even though his resources are much more eclectic --this being the digital age and all.
It strikes me that montage rather than pen and ink cartooning offers a different cutting edge primarily I suspect because it has to so often rely on what already exists. Parody is easier, for instance because the 'real world' can be turned on itself.
But then if all that fails...
