Ante 2013 - Day 1

This weekend was filled with more Yorkshire loveliness than you can shake a stick at, much like last year, which you can read about here and here. The Caged Bird Club worked with Melanie Maddison to put together an exhibition celebrating the labour movement and workers' struggles as well as those of us who are anti-work and reject the divisive workers vs. shirkers rhetoric.

Caged Bird Club free graphic

Fountain Pen by Sav Kyriacou
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Woody Guthrie wrote a song called Pretty Boy Floyd about the famous American outlaw. It tells of how he got into a fight with a deputy sheriff, killed him and had to go on the run. It then depicts his generosity to the poor as a modern day Robin Hood. There was a line that always struck me relating to the bankers who drove families from their home:

You say that I'm an outlaw
You say that I'm a thief
Here's a Christmas dinner
For the families on relief.
Now as through this world I ramble
I see lots of funny men
Some will rob you with a Six gun
And some with a fountain pen.
But as through your life you travel
As through your life you roam
You won't never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home.

Now, where have I heard that before?

A Tale of two cities in Yorkshire: Part 2 York

The night the Health and Social Care Bill actually passed through the House of Lords, I was in York. I couldn't believe that one of the main reasons I tolerate living 4000 miles away from most of my friends and family may be permanently altered.

A tale of two cities in Yorkshire: Part 1 Shipley

A long weekend visiting friends in Yorkshire was tarnished by one of the most unforgivable crimes committed by the Coalition government so far: the passage of the nearly universally derided Health and Social Care Bill. This bill ramps up the march toward privatization, dismantling a national health care system that is the envy of people around the world.

Damn lies download

Damn Lies by Sav Kyriacou
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Statistics, in the form of graphs and pie charts, make up the word 'lies'.

This coalition government has been using false statistics at every turn to justify their policies. Andrew Lansley's NHS reforms are based on misleading and false evidence - lies.

The use of the futura typeface and the sparse nature of the design is a nod towards some of Peter Saville's early work on New Order record sleeves.

LifeCUTS download

LifeCUTS by Joe Stevens
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In thinking of the cuts I got to thinking of lifeguards and about saving lives.

Originally I had the word LIFE cut in half with someone falling - but felt that was too obvious. The image was taken from a photo of a lifeguard hut sign. I then decided to remove the F (showing decay, things falling apart) and had this where the falling person had been. I liked that if you take the F out of LIFE you get LIE.

This poster work is quite cryptic and vague about its meaning, which I really like.

Another free graphic from the Caged Bird Club

(Boy) George by Lindsay Starbuck
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The UK government have made their choice. When George Osborne announced the budget this week, he revealed that there was room for maneuver. But instead of saving front line public sector jobs, libraries or children's services, they have opted to cut corporation tax and reduce the price of fuel.

It's the 80s again. The only thing we've learned from history is the answer to Boy George's question from 1982.

Free downloadable graphics from members of the Caged Bird Club

Inspired by the artists of Justseeds offering free downloadable graphics in support of the labour movement in Wisconsin, the Caged Bird Club has decided to offer some of our own in response to what people in the UK are currently facing. You can download high-resolution A3 size versions of each of these images and use them however you want. Please share and distribute widely.

Blind People Against the Cuts by Sav Kyriacou
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The Welfare Reform Bill is nothing but an exercise in reducing welfare payments to people with disabilities by 20%. Blind and partially sighted people will suffer like anyone else under the new proposals. A switch from Disability Living Allowance to a Personal Independence Payment will mean that many will lose any contribution towards the extra cost of living with sight loss, making them more isolated. Linking benefits to the consumer rather than retail price index will reduce the value of benefits enormously over time.

The idea came from illustrator Joe Magee, who about ten years ago was sacked by the Daily Telegraph when one of its readers pointed out that the braille symbols that he used in many of his illustrations had hidden messages, such as "this publication supports body fascism".

The braille on the poster says: "Fucked by Cameron and Clegg!"