Profit (2017)

Following on from flyingleaps innuagural image Study for a Head 7 (2016) art activist duo kennardphillipps have now made the equally unsettling Profit (2017).

Peter Kennard and Cat Phillipps have been collaborating since 2002 to produce striking, visceral and provocative imagery. Their picture of Tony Blair taking a selfie in front of burning oil fields – Photo Op (2005) – has, despite censorship by outdoor advertising companies, proliferated to such an extent that it’s become burned on the cultural retina.

In kennardphillipps’ own words: ‘The work is made as a critical tool that connects to international movements for social and political change. We don’t see the work as separate to social and political movements that are confronting established political and economic systems. We see it as part of those movements, the visual arm of protest.’

The keen eyed observer of Profit (2017) will note one tiny adjustment that’s been made to the original newsprint: the date at the top of the page is now the date of the 2017 election. The words ‘Managed Funds Service’ were there in the original FT but the question remains, who manages our nation’s funds and for whose benefit?

www.kennardphillipps.com