Red Octobers: Of Marx & (The) West - A conceptual graphic composition
I have increasingly found myself wondering what Karl Marx would have thought of the globalised world that we find ourselves navigating. What would he have thought of, having, for the most part, correctly analysed the world as he understood it in his time. What would he have made of the trails of the proletariat to become the sole ubiquitous class. It is at this point that l began drawing comparisons between Marx’s predictions of a single class world and what it would take to achieve it (A prediction, the beginnings of which came close to fruition with the Russian Proletariat Revolution of 1917). With contemporary efforts by acclaimed hip-hop artist Kanye West to scale the upper echelons of those with a propensus for luxury (as expressed in the fashion industry).
Interestingly, the series of events that led to Kanye creating the conceptual anti-commercial / anti-establishment protest album (“Yeezus”) seems to stem from his efforts to scale the fashion industry, culminating in disagreements with Nike over allocation of profits from the collaboratively designed Yeezy sneaker line (one of which was nicknamed “Red Octobers” due to their color). However, Kanye felt he was not getting his fair share of the product profits (seeing that he did not own the means of production). This irony was not lost on me as Karl Marx pointed out, “This fact simply implies that the object produced by labour, its product, now stands opposed to it as an alien being, as a power independent of the producer” (The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts, Marx). So perhaps Marx would be intrigued with the contemporary state of affairs and how the Proletariat is still not in control of the means of production but even more fascinating, is how the idea of luxury, may actually be the answer to the Proletariat re-appropriating the wealth from top to bottom.
I enjoy creating one-off graphic compositions steeped in symbolism. In this case, the graphic is a kind of comparison of socio-commercial zeitgeist of the late 1800s to that of our contemporary. The red smear has the dual symbolism of representing the expected violent revolution Marx forecasted and how it has shifted to a more sober look at re-appropriation of wealth. Hence, the hint of ‘movement’ of the letter ‘S’ to the end of ‘October’ from the red smear position, inferring the word “Sober”. Ultimately, we are living in an era where tempting the wealthy with expensive fetishized goods, will allow for a trickle of wealth downwards to the masses.
Thank you for entertaining my musings. Feel free to comment, l would love to learn more about how we as designers see our world as well as your own musings on my composition.
