Rodderick Scott
Poland, like a number of countries including USA, UK, Brazil and Slovenia has had its political system misappropriated by populist politicians. In Poland the Law and Justice party (PiS) with its victorious presidential candidate campaigned on policies which attacked independent media, LGBT+ rights and the judiciary; these regressive policies are now being aggressively implemented. Incitement of fear, chaos and contempt is combined with relentless “marginalisation of truth in the public discourse” (Jarosław Kuisz & Karolina Wigura 2020).
In this artwork a print of a jackboot stamped on the Polish national flag is the basic repeating motif. The boot print carries a modified PiS logo and the attacks are shown as stamped imprints on newsprint, a broken image of the scales of justice and the colours of the LGBT+ flag.
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — for ever” (George Orwell, “1984”).
Roderick Scott was a scientist who now makes prints, installations and sculpture.