Reply #17: More background: [View All]

From a newsgroup long ago:

"Wild asked: > - who is John Heartfield?
Well here's a brief explanation.

John Heartfield is the artist responsible for the Artwork on the Mittageisen Sleeve (and also for the artwork on the 1977 "Love in a Void" bootleg.
He was a German artist who in the 1920's & 30' published anti-nazi material(Posters/Magazines etc), mostly depicting the TRUE side of hitler & his cronies and his horrors. Most of his work is photomontage (ie real photographs are worked into his pictures) depicting the farce of Fascism(eg image of a white dove, skewered by a bayonet, foreseeing the effect of fascist power on world peace).

He was forced to fled Germany in the thirties because the Nazis
were none too happy with his Art. He moved to England, continuing to
product his anti-nazi material.

I was lucky enough to see an exhibition of his work last year, which came to Dublin. Excellent stuff, and extremely clever. If you get a chance to see any of his work, don't miss it. Or check out your local library.
You wont be disappointed.

I believe the Banshees used the Heartfield image to expel the myth that the Banshees were a bunch of fascists, which seemed to be sticking with them from Siouxsie & Steve's early Punk Days (ie nazi armbands etc). That's why they initially only released Mittageisen in Germany ( Only released in the UK, about six months later). An anti-nazi image released in the home of fascism. Some people missed the point, and wrongly thought that the german
language singing was a promotion of fascist ideals that the Banshees held.

Anyway that's my piece of John Heartfield."

By the way, I can't tell you, how much I admire Kucinich. I wish we would have someone like him here in Germany!
Dirk