As a visual artist and image maker I am driven largely by things that I see everyday. It seems that just by simply existing in the world I ingest thousands of images a day. I don't have to leave my house or turn on my television to get swamped with messages telling me how to act or where to spend my money. Through being constantly bombarded by outside media and creative sources, either positively or negatively, my world view sways. After seeing or hearing something so often and with such regularity I find it difficult to think outside of those patterns unless I actively seek alternatives. At times I feel powerless and violated by seeing so many ads and hearing so many stories that seem to do little more than ensure the wealth of other people and companies.
Making things is about changing the visual landscape, about creating the images that I actually want to see and not just taking in what is already there hitting me over the head. Making things is about ensuring I have a voice, about recording my history, inciting dialogue, about challenging the idea that only certain people can or should have the ability to talk about their ideas. As bombastic as this may all sound, I am quite earnest about the work I make. I'm tired of wading through images and ideas that have no relevance to me and I suspect other people out there feel the same way.
The work I make is largely responsive. I take images or ideas that already exist and twist them or collage them until they tell a story that I want to hear. I largely use existing images as a way to take their power away from them, to talk back to something that can't listen, to question intent and to offer an alternative. Unfortunately most of my creative drive ends up in galleries with limited audiences, and this is where my interest in propaganda comes in. Although creative institutions are vital to our lives, I find it a bit sad that the ideas within aren't experienced more often and by more people.
So I have decided to make propaganda, to make work that will hopefully wind its way into people's everyday lives. My desires and hopes are what Infestant Propaganda has risen out of. The desire to reach out, to invade popular culture, to spread dissent, and to have fun along the way.
Please don't sue me. I have very little money.
Daryl Vocat.
darylATdarylvocat.com