[LAUIL601] Tutor Lecture: Ben Jones

Tutor Lecture: Ben Jones

• Lecture theme of 'activism'
• My history with political illustration
• Editorial illustrator. 70% is political. Methodology. Didn't choose this direction but it found its way.
• Am I an activist? I don't think I am but I am politically savvy.
• My history. Interest in leftist politics. Dad was a social historian. Completed a PhD and written three books. Working class activities and leisure. Work at play. Time before the worker's rights and the worker's union.
• Going to the cinema was important. Affordable. Football. Free things.
• Camping and going for walks on a private land should be allowed.
• My mum is middle-class, had a middle class upbringing but now I'm working class and live modestly.
• Dad was from Liverpool and Liverpool was held back much longer than other northern cities.
• Never thought I'd get into political artworks as a student but a lot of work I did like was politically driven.
• I went to Madrid as a teen and Picassos Guernica made a big impression on me.
• Bombing on a small town of innocent people. Picasso captured that.
• Dada movements has a big impact on me. Hannah Hoch is my favourite.
• The process of collage captured me. How women were represented at the time.
• Language and type. Rejected painting and sculpture as they were seen as bourgeoisie.
• The Berlin group of Dada. Anti-Nazi at the height of the Nazi party gaining power. Dada artists saw this as a massive threat and an attack on democracy.
• Two of these artists were highest on the "kill" list. Hitler wanted them dance. John Hartfield pissed the Nazis off the most.
• Made publications. What we would consider things now.
• George gross considered himself as an illustrator rather than a fine artist.
• That resonated with me.
• I did graphic design at college and got into post arts. Pushpin graphics.
• Looking at posters, graphic design and illustration as getting opinions across in a direct way.
• Direct imagery to make an impact became important to me.
• Eastern European illustration/Polish posters. Created under the Iron Curtain. Soviet union. They were able to get through a lot of the censors.
• Subtle narrative through lens of the narrative of a play.
• Similar time, black panther movement. May '68 social reform. Graphics created by students. Very direct and created very quickly. Made immediately, screenprinted the same day and then out to protest. I love the directness.
• Then formed collective groups. Still wanted the poster to be important. Littered the streets of Paris with them.
• Important posters about politics but would then become part of commercial work.
• Keep on posters, Transcontinental. Printed in four different languages. Things happening in Africa, Europe, north and South America. Poster opened up from the publication. Not just about what's happening locally but also the world.
• During degree was interested in process and narrative. Authorship. Wasn't until around 2020 I moved to London for a girl who I'm still with now.
• 1940 to 1960. Mexican Revolution. Made chat books. Cheap publications. Sold little to nothing in currency. Letterpress and lino. Seeing them in the flesh was important for me. Metaphors I like that I use in my own work. Making fun.
• The importance of political editorial. Famous work, the plum pudding. Napoleon. Splitting the world up. Funny but direct.
• Press got better and publication. Punch magazine.
• Lots of things happening in the French Revolution, both very direct. Big chaps. Hierarchy. Two politicians bloated while the masses struggle.
• that's an idea that has travelled for decades.
• Op-Ed page in the New York Times. 1984. Financial crash in 2008. I was doing okay, just listening to art directors.
• 2008 got me to look at my portfolio. Process itself wasn't linked. Saw this as an opportunity.
• Illustrate your favourite book. 1984. Bit of fun. But I actually won the competition! Then I got commissions off the back of that and that was the start for me.
• I've worked for the New York Times since 2011. I love them, love the art directors, they tackle many issues.
• I use scale a lot in my work as well as metaphor. Fictional power suit/witch Hunter.
• Human rights in Guantánamo Bay. Faceless organisations have more rights than people do. Made a collage of buildings and dollar bills into a person with a power suit. The top 1% are men.
• Big bits of journalism that has usually had a lot of time to gather information.
• I started working for Rutland press based in Detroit.
• With editorial you've got mere hours to form anything substantial. With the Rutland press it was my opportunity to write and take my time.
• I enjoy writing my own short stories and it was received very well and exhibited.
• I was then asked to do images for a Dreadful. This was based on corrupt people, politicians and journalists. Looking at works of fiction is important to me. Corrupt person then the punishments on the other page based on Dante's inferno.
• I am the writer and illustrator.
• Didn't get paid for these but they started to get me a lot of work around the world. Based on imbalance in America between classes and education. This moved my practice on a lot.
• Publication in Germany including cover. Neither a left or right piece. Neutral.
• Started working for the New Yorker four years ago which was a big deal for me. 
• Exposure articles.
• From a Margaret Thatcher piece I did I got a lot more exposure articles. Being part of a positive outcome and the editorial illustration as a rich man resigns. It feels very good to highlight the wrongdoings in the world.
• Welcome to the new world! Told through the language of a fable of fairytale. Using algorithms to persuade people / target to fakery vote.
• Character of an evil creature that uses horrible tactics to divide the country. You have to have your own take and own ideas. It helped me to get commissions I never thought i'd get like the Folio Society.
• A book about a failed bomb attempt based on real events. Still cones from a place of politics.
• Moving America in the right direction and more towards the left. Finally something that's quite possible.
• Book writers for the New York Times. Create illustrations for that. Symbolism of the first using metaphors and motif.
• In the last year I'm being asked to look more at politics and history. BBC history Magazine. Both positive and negative socialist views.
• V&A Awards. Runner Up
• History today magazine. My column. Things that are happening today. Diverse content. My favourite job.
• Positive and negatives of statues in public places. History language of character. Hidden in literature and bringing it back into right now: working with the Rutland press again. It can be exhausting doing political illustrations. Coronavirus ignited my passion again.
• Plague review. Coronavirus compared to terrorism. Police brutality unfolding.
• Rhetoric. Coronavirus attacking lungs and voice. Trump being a virus himself. Important to keep on top of what's happening in the world. I keep on top of the news every morning. Having my own opinion and deep understanding.
• Am I an activist? No but I think I am a reactionist. Looking at a subject and highlighting what's happening rather than fighting against it.
• I'm being paid for this which is why I struggle with the word activist. I'm profiting from it but I do have values and ethics. I turn down right-wing work and publications (Donald Trump's son-in-law has a publication and empire and I have been asked for work by six of these publications that I turned down because of my professional portfolio as well as my personal values and career. I would never be employed by the New York again.)
• I enjoy the Guardian, the Observer, Owen Jones on YouTube. Watching the news.
• Ben shows his collection of Cuban political art books and Mexican popular imagery.
• How do you juggle your workload? You have to work nights. There's ups and downs. You can have downtime but work to deadlines.
• Where do you find your imagery for your collages? I have thousands of images from Victorian books, royalty free, charity shops, when a library is closing down I take the books.
• It's important to read opposing views. You have to have that discussion instead of cancelling someone. You have to have that immersion in an opposing side.

Reflection on Tutor Lecture:

While I am not interested in political illustration myself (I studied it during Level 4 COP which was entirely enough for me!) I am highly interested in politics, campaigning and equality and align myself on the left. I understand the need for clear imagery associated with a movement and how powerful that can be, especially when created by the people for the people.

What I found interesting about this lecture was the immediacy of the work being produced because of the deadline. I create my work very quickly too. There's an authenticity in work being made in one sitting and in a short amount of time so it isn't overworked. In the past I used to struggle with overworking ideas when I had more working vision. Now I can just express a core idea without the need for sight and it's very freeing.

The mention of opposing views is important for the written essay and for every day life. For the dissertation, it will provide a range of views for an unbiased reading. In every day life, not everyone is going to share the same viewpoint and it's important to try and reach a place of understanding without getting heated. Rich people / celebrities should absolutely be cancelled if they have done something abhorrent, however.