Collages of Exasperation

Posted on by Josephine Corcoran

During lockdown, I started a new Instagram account called andothermakings where I’ve posted some of my visual poems, experiments with collage and assemblage, and various dabblings with word and image.

Last week, I was provoked to add new pieces to the account, mainly because I didn’t know how else to express my exasperation with the incompetence, duplicity and shamelessness of the current UK government who have voted to change the “oven-ready deal” they agreed with the European Union only months before.  The deal was drawn up into a Bill which was voted for and passed in Parliament and ratified by international law, which calls into question the integrity of the 340 MPs who have now voted to change it.

 

Added to this duplicity, the Tory administration’s handling of the Coronavirus pandemic has caused even some of their usual cheerleaders to question their competence.  Most recently, a new law about public gatherings has been made which restricts the number of people allowed to gather in one place to six.  This includes children of all ages who go to school or nursery together and so are gathered into classrooms of more than six people.  However, they are not allowed to play together in the park after school.

 

And Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, said that two families of four chatting on the street would now be breaking the law under the new rules.

 

However, after a ministerial intervention, an exception to the rule of six has been made for grouse shooting and hunting parties.

This isn’t the first time that I have felt the government has lost its grip on their messaging, communication and handling of the pandemic.  Weeks after their campaign to encourage people to eat in restaurants and pubs – “Eat Out to Help Out” – they are now blaming young people for the rise in new numbers of Covid-19 cases.

I’m still developing and experimenting with my collage work.  I use natural materials when possible as a means of connection with the natural world and as a memo to myself about its vulnerability.  Everything is connected.  Thanks for reading, as always.

 

 

16 thoughts on “Collages of Exasperation”

  1. These are brilliant! Don’t know whether they had the desired effect of easing your total exasperation (such a mild word given the general incompetent trumpy fuckery of the US and UK misadministrations) but: These. Are. Brilliant. Loved each one of them. The Rules of Their Game means the rules apply to us but not to them. These are beautiful and imaginative and effective statements and expressions of exasperation and anguish. Thank you.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thanks so much for such kind encouragement, Josie! It helps to know we’re not alone in these times – I wish we had a more effective way of coming together and overpowering the incompetent regimes we’re subjected to. In want of something stronger, small acts of resistance are better than nothing, I guess. Thanks again and best wishes, Josephine x

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  7. […] As well as this MOOC, I’ve been trying to hunker down to writing in my childless house. Some days are more successful than others. All year I’ve slowly been writing prose, not sure exactly what to categorise it as yet, maybe one big story, maybe some linked stories, maybe something other than a story. Poems are also slowly turning up on the page and, since lockdown, I’ve been experimenting with collage, word and image pieces, visual poems and hybrid writing. I’ve shared some of my pieces on a new Instagram I set up, andothermakings, which I mentioned before. […]

    Like

  8. […] I’ve been trying to hunker down to writing in my childless house. Some days are more successful than others. All year I’ve slowly been writing prose, not sure exactly what to categorise it as yet, maybe one big story, maybe some linked stories, maybe something other than a story. Poems are also slowly turning up on the page and, since lockdown, I’ve been experimenting with collage, word and image pieces, visual poems and hybrid writing. I’ve shared some of my pieces on a new Instagram I set up, andothermakings, which I mentioned before. […]

    Like

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