"People in the Street" Satirical Drawing by John Marx

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This original caricature by John Marx is divided into two registers: above, an urban scene with four figures; below, a … Read more This original caricature by John Marx is divided into two registers: above, an urban scene with four figures; below, a mechanical setup centered on a dog.

In the upper half, three men and one woman. None make eye contact. The features are caricatured. The absence of dialogue is underscored by a megaphone — a symbol of one-sided, authoritative speech.

The lower half presents an absurd contraption, with a dog at its center. The animal is strapped to a kind of treadmill, powered by a belt connected to a drive wheel. The dog lies on its belly, asleep, head resting on one paw — inert and disengaged from the mechanism it is meant to animate. The irony lies in the fact that the animal — symbolically free, independent — is here subjugated, reduced to a productive function. Its sleep becomes a form of refusal, a passive strike. Around it are objects evoking manual or domestic labor: a bucket, a clamp, a rope, a kind of hose. All lie unused. See less