Vote No. 1
The concept for Vote No. 1 was originally born during the heady political campaigns that characterized the run up to the local and European elections held throughout Ireland on June 05th 2009. Almost every lamppost and unoccupied space nationwide was adorned with a wealth of curious portraits, skillful catchphrases and promises-promises. The work set out to illustrate the omnipresence of such imagery in the landscape, but equally cast a jocular eye on the orientation of the placards, utilizing preexisting fixtures such as traffic lights, lampposts, ‘human traffic’, to render a new manner of reading.
One year on, although these feverish campaigns lie archived as latent memories Vote No. 1 wishes to reclaim a renewed degree of reverence - yearns now to be reunited with democratic hungry eyes. For the duration of PhotoIreland Festival this aspiration is conclusively realized, as this unsanctioned imagery is reinstated back onto lampposts and poles in the city. Drawing from and mimicking the conventions associated with traditional political campaign posters, this exhibition represents a ‘campaign’ of a different order, one which is plainly disjointed, yet, strangely familiar.
Vote No. 1, it could be argued confronts and challenges all the facets typically eulogized in a traditional campaign. Here - there are no polished personas portrayed, no votes to be cast, no party political allegiances given rank, and no mastered catchphrases declared. This unorthodox campaign positively asks the viewer to look again and consider the ‘life’ and ‘after life’ of the political campaign placard. Additionally, the work serves as a framework in which to reflect upon and examine the commanding nature of imagery utilized in this context, while questioning the faith traditionally invested in the portrait as a marker of truth.
Miriam O’ Connor received a BA in Photography from Dublin Institute of Technology in 2007. She is currently undertaking a funded Research Masters through the School of Creative Arts at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology.
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