In 2023-2024 Alan and Chloe were resident artists at Sala752 in Zaczernie, Poland.
Travelling around Poland researching coal mining we were struck by the faces of politicians beaming at us from colourful political banners wherever we went. It was clear we had arrived in the middle of an important general election which saw the ruling right-wing nationalist Law and Justice Party (PiS) up against Donald Tusk and the Civic Coalition alongside two smaller parties, The Third Way, and the Left. We sensed a great hope for change from the people we met, who hoped to see an end to the 8-year rule of the ultra-conservative government.
As Alan had some Instax Wide 400 Fujifilm left over from another trip, we decided to use it to document the political banners, zooming in on the features of these potential changemakers. The resulting body of work investigates the peculiar visual language of political advertising – how political hopefuls aiming to stand out from the crowd promote themselves using identical tricks of the trade drawn straight from marketing manuals, hoping to sell their “unique” vision of a better life for everyone. Persuading us to vote for them is an essential step on the road to these would-be leaders becoming “The Powers That Be.”
PORTFOLIO
Share this...