The world is a dark and dirty place. Wars are being fought all over the world, with millions dying in these conflicts every year. Television channels broadcast hours upon hours of footage showing bombings, the poverty stricken, and, one of the most poignant images of war, children clutching AK-47 rifles to their bodies.
Many are distressed by these scenes but don’t know the best platform to air their views, and that’s where Ctrl.Alt.Shift come in. They call themselves an “experimental youth initiative”, but in real terms, they seek to harness the power and creativity of the youth to help expose madness and fight global injustices.
The Unmasks Corruption exhibition in the Malt Cross sees a series of specially commissioned comic strip stories displayed, with the underlying message that poverty can be overcome once corruption is exposed and dealt with accordingly. The use of the comic book format allows for an almost playful element to exist within the harsh message being divulged; the subversive motifs are rendered lighter and ultimately highly accessible. In the strip Richie Bush, illustrated by Peter Kuper, the former American President is depicted as a schoolchild grasping at money, with the amusing yet harrowing text: “Gee whiz, is this money covered with oil? Phew, it’s only blood.” If you didn’t laugh, you’d cry.
Other highlights of the exhibition include Ben Naylor’s witty account of the life of the AK47 assuault rifle, in which the weapon is personified and offers a retrospective account of what it is used for. Again, the ludic nature of the drawings mask the grisly truth for the most part, with occassional glimpses of black humour to reinforce the point – in one scene, the AK47 dejectedly says “Kids love me”, before it continues with its account.
In one of the sketches, a man shouts at aeroplanes circling his flats “come down you cowards, I’ll kill you with my pen”. With these comics conveying a strong, bold message in an accessible and, I use the word carefully, enjoyable format, it seems the pen might just be the right weapon to encourage others to fit injustice.
Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption runs until the 18th April at the Malt Cross, St. James’s Street.
Alexander Britton
Tags: ben naylor, comics, corruption, ctrl.alt.shift, peter kuper, unmasks corruption
