Art visual np2

Let's start with the cover. It's red. Which is what you would expect, red being one of the national colours, a PNM colour and also colour linked with love, which is at the heart of the PNM campaign this year (pun intended). But there is something sedate about this cover. It suggests stability, possibly. But is also open to being accused of being inert. Also, for a campaign focused on how much the party cares, the cover, as well as sections inside of the manifesto, have surprisingly few images of people. It's all about the boats, buses and NAPA. The font is classy, yet functional. But why that grey stripe? Grey suggests an area of uncertainty, amidst bold black bars and, arguably, undercuts the message of certainty/stability. But voters probably don't care about these things, of course. This PTSC bus just happened to be parked in front of the controversial National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) and was photographed for use in the section of the manifesto on work...

Detail from 'Election Gimmick', one in Sean Thompson's series,  Political Landscape . "Elections in Trinidad is really interesting. We beg politicians for basic necessities for years but only around election time we would see these issues being 'halfway' addressed. They pave roads and clean streets in an attempt to silence us and convince us to vote for them, but isn't it ironic that the same index finger they use to silence us, is the same finger we use to vote for them..."  FROM Sean Thompson's blog . What can I say? Elections are in the air this weekend.