Helen Lyth

Exploring Images:  Activity Three from EEA211 Cloud

 

My appropriated image, rather than being for an advertisement, is a political statement.  It could be placed on a billboard, on social media, or as a cartoon in the press. 

The context is Tony Abbott, Australia's Liberal Prime Minister, lecturing the party room yesterday, after a comprehensive leak of cabinet discussions about a controversial suggestion that Australian citizens should be able to be stripped of citizenship by the Immigration Minister.  The minister could do this if, in his opinion, the citizen is suspected of engaging in 'terrorist' activities.  Even more controversially, there is a move to strip citizenship from Australians who do not have dual nationality, which might render them stateless. 

Tony Abbott stated that the cabinet had had a "Come to Jesus" moment (probably meaning that they had seen the error of their ways).  I, however, took it as encouraging the Judas in cabinet to confess.  (The consequences for the original Judas were suicide!   In this case, the consequences amount to political suicide.)

 

The Last Supper image: 

The painting is The Last Supper, ca. 1520, by Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli, called Giampietrino (active 1508-1549), after Leonardo da Vinci, oil on canvas, currently in the collection of The Royal Academy of Arts, London.  It is considered an accurate copy of the original.  I chose this copy rather than the original, as it has clearer colours, and is therefore, more arresting if turned into a billboard.  It also shows that appropriation and copying of other artists' images has a long history.  In this case, Giampietrino's intent was probably to make an image to show homage to da Vinci and to allow those who would never see the Sistine Chapel ceiling to view the scene. 

The cabinet ministers:

The faces of Tony Abbott (Prime Minister), Julie Bishop (Foreign Minister), Christopher Pyne (Education Minister) and Joe Hockey (Treasurer) have been superimposed on Jesus and three of the closest figures to him in the picture. 

 

The text

The text font is "Anglican", chosen for its ecclesiastical look.  The colour is chosen for impact - but is selected from the original image so as to harmonise.  The text is Tony Abbott's original quote.