Artist, Martha Rosler: My name is Martha Rosler and I'm an artist.
I went to photomontage myself because I felt the potency of actually referring to the real, even if it was to do so in a surreal manner, that is to rupture the agreed-upon surface of the everyday.
This poster of Heartfield's—it is both attractive and repellent at the same time, it's a hand that is distinctly unbeautiful, the workman's shirt. It appealed directly to a working-class identity. It's very potent visually because the fingers span that empty space. it certainly makes me want to stagger back a little bit. The hand bespeaks power, but the power is not turning a lathe or a machine, it's reaching for something. And what it's reaching for is to grab the enemy.
The text at the bottom is very careful and very clear, but it is at an angle so this violates notions of classical stability. And it's got exclamation points telling you that there's a very important thing you can do, which is vote. So it is an agitational poster with one message: go-get-'em.
Art alone is puny because it's only one utterance and it does not have the backing of power, but art is powerful when it is part of a human movement for change.