Artist Statement

Strings Attached

Theo Fowler

My piece was created on a digital art platform using a stylus. The dimensions are 1246 pixels tall and 750 pixels wide. The piece centers around a young man who has a sullen expression and is wearing a blue hoodie. The man is a representation of the average working-class person. Strings attached to points on his body lead to a wooden handle that makes the man look like a marionette. The marionette is being held in one hand by the Monopoly man, who simply represents a tycoon. The other hand of the Monopoly man is holding a bag of gold with a dollar sign. Surrounding him are a Wall Street sign, an oil drill wellhead, a war tank, pills, and a pill bottle. These represent the stock market, the oil and gas industry, the weapons industry, big pharma, and the drug industry. 

There are specific reasons I chose these four industries. All four of them are worldwide and affect everyone on this planet in some way, shape, or form. In addition to that, they all are run by millionaires, the ones who sit back in their beach chairs on the beach of the tropical island they own. These people are the Monopoly man, squeezing every bit of money out of their corporations while still trying to stay in control of the marionette. The marionette has no way out of the hands of the Monopoly man on its own and is dependent on the small amount of money they get from their job. 

In most circumstances, a worker for a large multinational company will be paid minimum wage and or work in poor and possibly harmful conditions. Much of this type of labor is practiced more in countries that don't have many laws supporting workers' rights. Big companies such as Nike, Adidas, Apple, Shell, Frito Lays, or Coca-Cola will have much of their work done in these countries or large cities where demand for a job is high, so more people will want to work for them. Essentially the marionette is caught in a trap where they need to work to live, but also are working in environments that they may not like and are so suppressed and silenced that it is nearly impossible to find help. 

This piece symbolizes the issues and why we need the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 23. Article 23 focuses on workers' rights. In simple terms, it says everyone has the right to work. Everyone can choose what they work on with good working conditions, have equal pay and equal work without discrimination, and be able to be a part of a trade union for their best interests. While researching, I found an interesting article about Uber drivers in Africa. That story struck home to me because I had just been talking to my mom about Amazon laying off hundreds of workers just for striking. These drivers had been striking for better wages. Uber had been taking upwards of 25% of the driver's income.

The article centered around the release of the Uber Files, a data leak that had abundant information about Uber's African branch. Some highlighted information stated, "Most drivers will make 70 to 75 percent of the fare price … and Uber will take 25 to 30 percent." These numbers are slightly appalling, considering the low price of an Uber fare. In addition to these numbers, evidence that Uber had cut corners on laws around essential workers' rights was found throughout the files. If there is one thing I have learned about big mega-corporate companies like Uber, it is that they will try to bend or slide through laws that get in the way of making more money. And that is why I created this piece.