I recently completed a photo lithography plate print for the Manifesto project. Below is what I wrote in lithography diary entry:

“To begin the process, I planned a simple collage which could be used on the photolitho plate. The collage is based around my Manifesto project, as I felt this was a great opportunity to combine the two. With the Manifesto project revolving around protest and the print medium prevalent for protest, I felt there was a strong connection between the two. Therefore, the collage is digitally made using images of environment damage and destruction. I thought this would be a great starting point to build my image from. This layer was printed on acetate, I then worked further on the layer on tracing paper; using similar drawing mediums to the first plate we created. On the tracing paper layer, I drew around the digital collage, I composed people, ladders and graphic symbols to imply that we are using our world as a playground without consequence and waiting for future generations to solve our problems.”

I really like my print however, I feel like it has a long way to go. I think that what I’m trying to communicate just isn’t coming through visually. I want to go in a different direction and maybe look into collage and photo montage. I think collage works well for protest art because it has an affinity with the posters and banners used for protest marches. It has a homemade aspect which gives a power to the people vibe.