So Would Tell, from the People's Illustrated 1937

Editor: This photomontage is "So Would Tell, from the People's Illustrated" by John Heartfield, created in 1937. The monochromatic palette gives it a very serious, almost menacing feel. It's dominated by this large figure wielding an axe and what looks like a hat impaled on a pole, adorned with a swastika. What stands out to you in this piece? Curator: Well, immediately the materials speak volumes. Heartfield used mass-produced imagery – photographic scraps, newsprint – to create a potent anti-fascist statement. He's taking the raw materials of propaganda and re-purposing them as a tool of resistance. Consider the labour involved; collecting, cutting, arranging, printing. Editor: So, the medium itself is part of the message? Curator: Precisely. This isn't high art created in a vacuum. It's born of and speaks directly to the tumultuous political climate of the 1930s. The photomontage technique itself, pioneered by the Dadaists, was a direct challenge to traditional artistic production and notions of authorship. Think about the source materials, newspapers accessible to the working class. Editor: I see. It's about making art that's accessible and relevant. The means of production reflects the political message. Curator: Exactly. The axe, the hat – they’re loaded with symbolism, of course – but consider the physicality of those symbols and their relationship to materials. A hat is stitched together, made to signify authority, yet here it's a flimsy target. The axe is forged in a factory, an instrument of labour, repurposed here as a weapon of liberation. Editor: That’s a great point. The materiality really underscores the anti-fascist sentiment, taking these mundane items, hat, axe and transforming it into resistance. It's not just the image but also its construction and accessible format. Curator: Indeed. By examining the process and materials, we see how Heartfield democratized art, engaging in a form of visual activism meant for the masses. A testament to the power of repurposing the everyday!