The 1% (Art Against All)

This piece of work is a visual statement, based on Barbara Kruger’s form of artwork, on the issues of wealth inequality and how the richest in the world hold onto power. The theme is that the 1% owns enormous shares of global and American wealth and just refuses to share it with the world. It shows the thought of sharing wealth with the poor or impoverished, yet they never allow their fortune to be touched to make this happen. It is supposed to make a person reflect on the injustice of the economic system and for whom it really works.

I used an old photo of the Rothschild family because they are symbols of generational wealth and influence. This is not about them but rather more about what they symbolize: small elite groups who, through generations, managed to build up their power. The retro look of the photo is meant to make the viewer contemplate how long this problem has existed. In the picture, I blacked out the eyes of everyone to make them anonymous, telling that it can be any one of the powerful families or billionaires. It also adds an eerie, almost secretive feeling, showing just how hard it may be to identify and then challenge these people.

Designed to be noticed, to really pop, the red background and bold text boxes seem to say it all. Red is a color of urgency and power, which goes perfectly with the idea of these billionaires. It's also associated with social movements calling for change. The quote, "Share it fairly, but don't take a slice of my pie," words by "The 1%,". I spread the text out across the image to make it appear fragmented as that is how unevenly distributed real wealth is. This is also a quote from the song "Money" by the rock band Pink Floyd, released on their 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon.

I used an effect where, in the background, I have layered images of dollar bills very faintly to remind people that this is all about the money. Blending the dollar signs into the family portrait shows how tightly their identity is tangled with their wealth. The lines that create an "X" across the image, prescribe how people are censored and denied. This is overall a hint as to how those calling for economic change often get suppressed by the ones holding power.

All the elements come together to convey an idea of unevenly distributed wealth and power. The old photograph, the vibrant red, the striking text, and the hidden eyes all convey this social issue. It is a work meant to question who holds the real power and why the wealth gap between the richest and the rest is getting wider.