Zygosis: John Heartfield and the Political Image

Pays tribute to John Heartfield, German pioneer of the photomontage, as it uses electronic mimicry of his methods to portray his career as an anti-Nazi satirist. Explains and illustrates the concept of photomontage, its derivation from mass media, and its appropriation and de-politicization in advertising. Animates archival material culled from Heartfield's life and times both to provide the socio-political context of his work and to showcase a variety of computer generated techniques--such as scratch editing, chroma-key, paintbox, and three dimensional animation--done in a satiric spirit inspired by Heartfield's own work.