ART AND politics may make strange bedfellows but they are no longer poles apart thanks to an innovative art collective which is erecting alternative posters alongside the usual election material around the capital.
More than 250 artists have already contributed poster designs to UpStart, the collective behind the campaign, which has been vying with established political parties and Independent candidates for space on telephone poles and lamp posts around the city since the election was called on Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for UpStart, who spoke to The Irish Timeswhile securing a ladder for another volunteer to erect a poster, said the campaign aimed to emphasise the importance of art while bringing creativity, inspiration and hope to the electorate.
“There is so much going on, there is so much negativity and without creativity you’re not going to get people to come up with the ideas that are going to see us through these hard times,” she said.
The collective, which is not aligned to any political party and is not for profit, aims to allow independent artists – among them photographers, painters and graphic designers – to find a vehicle for their work in order to express their views and creativity.
The collective are allowed to erect the posters as long as they obey the same litter laws as the other election candidates.
Artists who wish to submit designs for inclusion in the election campaign have until tomorrow, February 4th, to submit their ideas. As well as the poster campaign, musicians, writers and film-makers will also have their work posted on the collective’s website, upstart.ie.