Mixing art and activism
Art and activism make an interesting mix.
Certainly, it’s easier to get your message across if you can back it with strong visual appeal. A few weeks ago, a group of residents came out to protest the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Wells Water District’s decision to engage in talks with Poland Springs about selling the bottler some of its resources.
Several people showed up with hand-made signs – a noble effort, and perhaps effective. But Carroll Berg outdid himself.
Berg, a 2007 graphic design graduate of the Maine College of Art, made a handsome poster in response to another civic controversy in York County, the proposed relocation of the York Toll Plaza. He designed a poster with strong visual elements and big, block type: “York Toll Plaza: Fight the Toll.”
The poster is somewhat reminiscent of the work of another Maine artist, the legendary Robert Indiana of Vinalhaven.
It’s the second time Berg has spoken out visually. In 2006, he developed a poster and sticker campaign in response to an incinerator debate in Biddeford.
The way Berg sees it, he’s just doing what he was trained to do. “I was trying to use the posters as a way of grabbing people’s attention,” he told a MECA colleague.
In addition to placing the posters on the windshields of legislators’ cars in Augusta, Berg has distributed the posters throughout York County.
Berg has personal motivation for the fight. His family once lost its land and livelihood to eminent domain in Massachusetts.
E-mail this entry to a friend
This is not to say that all art is activism. Working within a cultural realm, art often pushes the boundary of what is possible, but it does so by playing on that which is legible: if we can't see it or understand it, it conveys no meaning.
One of the most important lessons of Pop Art is based in the relationship between multiples - like printed materials for mass consumption - and the unique work of art. Wharhol and his colleagues showed us that art could do some strange things when it took on the language of mass media.
A unique "poster" can be an interesting thing. Sometimes it can even tell us we are hearing a unique voice choosing to speak with a team. It also may show craftsmanship and care to deliver a legible message.
Posted by
Daniel KanyJuly 16, 2008 07:44 AM
Check out this article about the Red Cross's using its workers to take down posters that question its policy directed at not allowing gay men to donate blood.
The signs parody the Red Cross collateral (thus making them absolutely legal in every sense) - a red cross with the words "no f@gs allowed."
Taking down the signs of others is wrong.
The groups' posters are excellent, cutting edge activist art.
This is a travesty on the part of the Red Cross.
Posted by
Jack HurdJuly 17, 2008 12:25 PM
Subscribe
Questions/Comments
