Commieswhofelt is the name of an anti-capitalist art project created by artist, student, and socialist, Meg Lodge. Meg creates both animations and still scenes out of handmade felt sculptures, using them as an educational tool to help spread the communist message and introduce people to Socialism in a more palatable way. 

The project moves to define what it means to be a socialist as a student in today’s capitalist society, through criticising the UK Government and the extremely rich. On a personal level, Meg’s art reflects her own struggles as a working-class student having to navigate through her final year studies whilst maintaining a job to cover living expenses.

At present, Meg is focussed on creating animations for her YouTube channel, Commieswhofelt where she showcases both finished pieces, and works in progress. However, If you've spent enough time in the MMU library over the last two years, you might have noticed one of her sculptures, hidden in carefully selected spots. The models, usually placed in gaps in bookshelves next to literature relevant to the issue, all include a single character, protesting, holding on to signs- along with a copy of the Socialist Appeal. The statements written on the signs range from comments on recent teaching strikes: "NUS Walkout. Free accessible and democratic education! Fair pay and conditions for all staff!", to "Tories out!".

On the 11th of May, Meg hosted an exhibition as part of the Pinktightscollective art show. In which people were invited to view pieces from the project and ask questions. Meg explained the ideas behind two of her most viewed animations, as well as one of her newest videos that is still being worked on.

The newest animated addition to Commieswhofelt, which is yet to be named, focusses on a character distracted by thoughts of working at her part-time job when she should be concentrating on a lecture:

"It's a trippy scene, there's bread, milk, and other products flying around, distracting her from the lecture. Her thoughts come up on the screen, saying 'How am I gonna pay my rent?'"

Meg continues, "It's a real problem that students face, you can't really focus on your work properly because of this overbearing weight".

The video aims to highlight some of the main differences between working class students and students coming from a wealthier, more financially privileged background.   

During the show, Meg was asked about the choice of location and the use of social media for the exhibition. She responded:

“I really wanted to highlight the issues of class and inequality within the arts. This space is accessible, especially for students…

I post my stuff on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok because they are accessible platforms. I’m not a fan of the gallery spaces-  I don’t really like the white cube-style layout in galleries, I think it’s elitist”.

When asked about the future of Commieswhofelt, Meg said "these [artworks] are all things I've done for uni, mostly because of time. I have to do stuff for uni so i may as well combine my passion for socialism and art...

in the future, after uni, i intend to carry this on and hopefully inspire more individuals to take action".

Through recreating real events in her animations, such as the ‘party gate’ scandal which took place during the 2020 lockdown, Meg hopes to encourage more of the younger generation to challenge the political systems by holding the power to account for their actions.