Seth Tobocman

Also in Bluestockings this evening I came across an artist who's work has really inspired me. Seth Tobocman's book 'You Don't Have To Fuck People Over To Survive' is full of narrative and stand-alone pieces of work which challenge the status quo and ask questions. I like the seemingly simple, yet very effective and concise aesthetic and also the fact that all of his work is bold and will reproduce well in black and white, something which I'd decided I wanted to focus on in any zine work I'll be doing in future.

What was especially pleasing to me was that the asking of questions and making statements about the world from one person's point of view in an attempt to inspire and possibly change the world for the better is treated in an artful way. It's not that this approach is new to me I've loved the work of Barbara Kruger, Ilona Granet and jenny Holzer since I was at school, perhaps I'm just feeling more positive? I always feel that for my ideas to work well visually there must be some wildcard or cryptic element that makes it 'art', even though I love the combination of art and activism that and that the visual manifestation of ideas is crucial to any group or individual hoping to propagate their message.