A Guide To Race is an illustrated colouring book that takes a satirical view of race and inflammatory identity politics. I produced the book in 2008 as part of my Diploma in Design.
THE INSPIRATION:
The concept was inspired my personal observations of changing attitudes in Britain predating 2008 and by my long running interest in various ‘hate’ groups from White Nationalists, like Neo-Nazis and the KKK, to The Nation of Islam and a lot of other extremist and fanatical groups - from the ridiculous to the genocidal. Mainly groups who exploit pseudo-science, manipulated history, myth, politics, militaristic posturing, faith, fear, class and race to create a divisive Frankenstein's monster of an ideology - with an eye on power! The content in the book should be as contrary and confusing as I find those groups to be.
I have always had an interest in these groups, and also how ordinary people, who would not consider themselves zealots, fanatical, hateful, bigoted or violent, could be provoked into genocidal levels of violence and transgress even their own values.
THE CONCEPT:
The central fictional character in A Guide to Race is George Holloway who has been chosen as an every-man style front-man by some unnamed ‘hate’ group. He has no past and his persona is a media construct, he is literally a ‘hollow’ man. With a lucrative contract a rather anonymous global communications and advertising network, known as The Octagon, have developed a multi-faceted cross-platform commercial strategy to promote their views. One of the products they distribute is A Guide to Race (the Colouring Book). The brief is: infiltrate the education system and use entertainment media to indoctrinate children when they are young and impressionable with a twisted, nihilistic ideology.
My original A Guide To Race project also included a box of crayons and a T-shirt - a regular party pack of bigotry!
Though my inspirations are universal my approach may seem distinctly British and I apologize if there are readers who don’t get some references I may have made along the way in A Guide to Race. Characteristically British the book is quite a jolly yet ugly jaunt around the themes.
THE INSPIRATION:
The concept was inspired my personal observations of changing attitudes in Britain predating 2008 and by my long running interest in various ‘hate’ groups from White Nationalists, like Neo-Nazis and the KKK, to The Nation of Islam and a lot of other extremist and fanatical groups - from the ridiculous to the genocidal. Mainly groups who exploit pseudo-science, manipulated history, myth, politics, militaristic posturing, faith, fear, class and race to create a divisive Frankenstein's monster of an ideology - with an eye on power! The content in the book should be as contrary and confusing as I find those groups to be.
I have always had an interest in these groups, and also how ordinary people, who would not consider themselves zealots, fanatical, hateful, bigoted or violent, could be provoked into genocidal levels of violence and transgress even their own values.
THE CONCEPT:
The central fictional character in A Guide to Race is George Holloway who has been chosen as an every-man style front-man by some unnamed ‘hate’ group. He has no past and his persona is a media construct, he is literally a ‘hollow’ man. With a lucrative contract a rather anonymous global communications and advertising network, known as The Octagon, have developed a multi-faceted cross-platform commercial strategy to promote their views. One of the products they distribute is A Guide to Race (the Colouring Book). The brief is: infiltrate the education system and use entertainment media to indoctrinate children when they are young and impressionable with a twisted, nihilistic ideology.
My original A Guide To Race project also included a box of crayons and a T-shirt - a regular party pack of bigotry!
Though my inspirations are universal my approach may seem distinctly British and I apologize if there are readers who don’t get some references I may have made along the way in A Guide to Race. Characteristically British the book is quite a jolly yet ugly jaunt around the themes.
