Orwell fans may be familiar with the term “Newspeak,” a sort of simplified English that the totalitarian government used to constrict freedom. “Newspeak” works by removing words associated with freedom & rebellion entirely from the language. Graphic artist Mark McGinnis has aimed to remove as many words as possible from his imagery for another reason: to express what our own government often obscures from us through icons. This art book is the first in a series of artist profiles from Front Forty Press.

McGinnis’s icons seek to “demystify a public discourse” on topics ranging from our politics to energy and obesity in America. Much of his commentary targets the Bush administration, during which George W. “attempted to conceal certain facts and sugarcoat others by way of euphemisms and rigid classifications”. Through images, McGinnis sought to encourage discussion of the topics that were often circumvented by government officials and the president, to reevaluate our views. And in order to prevent his graphics from falling into that same trap of oversimplification, McGinnis plays with their forms, reinventing and subverting older images to keep his work fresh and relevant.

We recently received Doug Fogelson’s book “The Time After” in the mail today. One of the catch phrases on the press release is: “Temporal speculation for the post climate change era.” Heavy! Although it’s not as apocalyptic as the Popul Vuh’s 2012 world-termination prognosis, and not as, ahem, temporally speculative (in my opinion) to warrant vast assumptions about the post climate change era, there are some prismatic, multi-exposed layered photographs that time-lapsed-surfaced-ly explore the age old question of nature, man, and their relation to time. Shots of clouds and forests lay side by side by sprawling city streets. It’s certainly an interesting attempt to turn such a tired trope of amateur photography (the double-expose) into the basis for a complicated conceptual framework, though how many “heady” points on the nature of humanity the book makes, I’m not so sure.  Regardless, the book features stunning and creative print lay out and design by Tim Hartford.