POLI-TICKS

In the months leading up to the election for President of The United States of America on Tuesday, November 3rd of 2020, Marina Heintze commenced her series, ‘Poli-Ticks’. 

In the “Poli-Ticks” series,  Heintze devised a system composed strictly of a red and blue sticker palette. These American colors symbolized: Republican for red and Democrat for blue. Each person’s vote translated into an emblematic color. Her research began by collecting election county data from the previous presidential election. She tallied up the majority percentages of open source voter registration data by county from each state.  

The heads of the figures such as New Mexico, Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, Florida, and New York reflect the counties’ Republican and Democrat voter data from the contested states in the 2020 Presidential Election. Each figure puts the ballot back into itself. The states are people and the people are the states.

The only work featuring two figures putting the ballot back into each other’s body is ‘FLORIDA vs NEW YORK (29-29=0) PUT THE BALLOT BACK IN THE BOX IN-PERSON BALLOT DROPBOX’. Both states have the same electoral college votes of 29, so if one state swings blue and the other red then both in effect cancel each other out. 

Heintze constructed each artwork by meticulously manipulating and separating pre-printed self-sticking images, creating unique patterns within all of the figures.  The sticker mediums were intentionally chosen and included: Targets, American flags, and various versions of the classic “I voted” political stickers. 

The “Poli-Ticks” series is in direct correlation to voter suppression, the fragile experiment known as our American Democracy, the archaic electoral college system, gerrymandering, and the toxicity found running rampant on “The Hill” within our elected officials. Recently, new Voting legislation has passed that will unequivocally change many states’ districts, county lines, and affect the lives of people within that state. If you know someone who needs assistance to vote for the next election, lend a helping hand and get them to the polls. In order for them to put the Ballot Back in the Box. 

“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”