#Protest

#Protest

self initiated

Alice Gunn 2014

2

0 Today, protests are understood as physical activities which occur in specific locations. However, with the digital age and the growth of worldwide media, issues and cause for protest have become global.

This project responds to the opportunity for remote protest, using the internet and extending the role of technology in activism. With the intention to emphasise the key drivers of an effective protest -spectacle, public participation and promotion of cause - this design response looks to enhance the physical protest with

the presence of those supporting remotely. #protest is a system for remote activism, facilitated by social media. Using twitter in conjunction with an online platform and an interactive picket, protesters can play host to activists from all over the world. This creates a new form of spectacle which promotes the cause and captures the attention of their target audience (the NSSA) and the worldwide media.

PHASE ONE - DISCOVER DIRECTION // SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE // WHAT IS PROTEST? // INTERVIEWS // SPECTATING ACCOUNT // PROTEST ACTIVITIES //

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P.01 DISCOVER // DIRECTION

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FEARS OF THE FUTURE With no set direction, I began this self-initiated project by asking individuals of their fears of the future. With 15 responses from each of the four demographics (those aged 15+, 20+, 45+ and 70+), I created this infographic to visualise the results, separated into categories.

SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE From this initial research, I picked a fear of the future to become the focus of this project.

Scottish independence was a fear that arose multiple times from the three older demographics. As a very current concern, this was the fear that I then analysed to identify specific project directions.

CHILDREN AND SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE

ACTIVISTS

Education

Protest

The first opportunity I identified concerns the 15+ demographic addressed in my initial research.

None of the fears for Scottish Independence came from my youngest age group. This fact alone suggests that there might be scope to design for education and inclusion in debate for those who are considered Scotland’s future. However, this was not a direction that interested me enough to pursue.

The referendum is a rather mundane topic to address with children and so I ruled this direction out.

The second space for design that I identified came from a photograph of ‘Yes’ activists, protesting in Edinburgh. As a nation, we have a reserved attitude towards demonstrations and public expression of protest.

This is why I find the protesting revolving around the referendum an interesting area to explore.

“There are times when a country needs troublemakers. This is one.” – Ian Hamilton QC

P.03 DISCOVER // WHAT IS PROTEST? PROJECT PARAMETERS With activists as my target audience and protesting as the activity, I set my parameters for the project. I decided not to restrict my research to Scotland or the UK, but research activism on a larger scale.

I began by breaking down the acts of protest as this was a broader term than I anticipated.

PRO路TEST noun A statement or action expressing disapproval of or objection to something.

PASSIVE ACTION

DIRECT ACTION

DISPLAYING SIGNS

STRIKES

SOAP BOXING

SIT-INS

DISTRIBUTING FLYERS PETITIONS PASSIVE PICKETING

LOCK-DOWNS BOYCOTTS DEMONSTRATIONS OCCUPATIONS

I elected to pursue direct action protest as a direction. With no first hand experience of this protest type, I referenced events such as music festivals and charity runs to contribute to my initial understanding.

OUTDOORS PRESENCE UNIFORMITY OF COLOUR UNIQUE ATMOSPHERE PICKETS FLAGS SHARED CAUSE CROWD

PHOTOS FROM T IN THE PARK AND RACE FOR LIFE

P.05 DISCOVER // INTERVIEW

1

WELCOME TO FASLANE PEACE CAMP To go beyond hypotheses, I visited Faslane Peace Camp to speak with some practicing activists. Sited alongside the Faslane Naval base in Argyll and Bute, this permanent peace camp has been occupied continuously since 12 June 1982.

The camp is well established with mains water, a conventional toilet, a telephone, a large kitchen and living room, hot water and a bath, and planning permission for 12 caravans. The residents were extremely welcoming and happy to provide some personal accounts of protesting.

Camp residents have occasionally breached the security of the Naval Base by getting inside the fence, by canoeing or swimming into the base, by successfully disrupting the road transportation of the Trident missile warheads, and by blockading the two gates.

They also organise large public blockades of the base, attended by members of the public and a few politicians. Such annual events aim to keep the base closed for as long as possible by preventing its staff from arriving for work, and usually involve large numbers of protesters being arrested.

FASLANE: WHAT I LEARNED Direct action protests can vary in length from hours, to days, to months.

The lifestyle of those living at Faslane is representative of their protest methods - a very adhoc style.

There is a large police presence at protests.

The ‘nuisance’ approach of the lock-down protest is not a direct action style that interests me.

I learned that in 2006, the camp instigated ‘Faslane 365 campaign’ an effort to establish a continuous protest at the base for a 365-day period using autonomous groups of 100 people.

As for arrests, there has been 473 in total. The majority of these have been for breach of the peace.

The vast majority of arrested protesters are released, receiving a letter from the Procurator Fiscal’s office explaining that although “evidence is sufficient to justify my bringing you before the Court on this criminal charge,” the Procurator Fiscal has “decided not to take such proceedings”.

These are activists from Faslane using PVC tubing and with handcuffs to form a chain. This makes it very hard for police to break them up and so the protesters occupy the space for longer - their main objective.

P.07 DISCOVER // INTERVIEW

2 This is Vermin Supreme - a man that Henrietta has protested with on a couple of occasions. He is presidential ‘hopeful’ of the Free Pony Party and gave me an insight into the range of people who attend protests.

STUDENT OF ACTIVISM, USA Henrietta Cactus is a 20 year-old self acclaimed student of activism. With several first hand accounts of her participation in occupation protests and rallies, she was an invaluable contact throughout this project. With regular contact, it was interesting to see her personality inside and outside of (protest) action.

First off, it was interesting to see the immediate contrast between our approach to protest and that of America. Compared to our nations very reserved attitude towards public demonstration, the states can be considered one of the most lively protest scenes.

“My mom’s been organizing events with the ACLU for a very long time.” With her mother as part of the American Civil Liberties Union, Henrietta was brought up in a family who participated regularly in protest activities. Henrietta even expressed that “there have been upsettingly few opportunities for protest in my lifetime.”

However, it was this comment that I found most interesting from our interview: “There are a lot of non-protest activities that I think you might find interesting, including the Spectacle public performance, public art, and press management to get the public to engage with the movement.”

SPECTATOR AT ‘PROSECUTE BUSH AND CHENEY FOR WAR CRIMES’ - 2008 Henrietta gave me a detailed account of a protest that she spectated. Here it is in photos and text.

“Late 2008, my family went to DC to look at colleges. We were standing outside the White House when something like 20 people showed up with a big banner that said ‘Prosecute Bush and Cheney for War Crimes.’

It was a really tiny thing, a lot of people had african drums and they were doing this sort of drum circle kumbaya thing.

One guy with a megaphone was leading some chanting. Secret service came out and said they had to leave, protesters say, we’re not leaving, cops say, if you don’t leave we’ll arrest you, protesters say, well then arrest us, and they get arrested. These guys got down on their knees with their drums and just kept banging until the SS very calmly and professionally took them away, no struggle.

This is a good example of futile protest. A small scale, fairly depressing attempt at doing something when the general public doesn’t seem to want to do anything.

Participants of this sort of protest know that they are not likely to affect any real change, though are happy to sacrifice their time and energy. Just to prove to themselves, their target, and the few accidental spectators, that dissent exists, in the hopes of empowering a broader group to take part in the future.”

P.08 DISCOVER // SPECTATING ACCOUNT

1. “My mom and sister with the banner.”

2. “The protesters stand behind their banners, demonstrating single mindedness and solidarity.”

3. “Cops roll out to show presence.”

4. “Media Zoo, hyping up for...”

5. “The Action- Protesters line up, blocking the White House’s driveway. The ball is in the institution’s court.”

6. “Preparing for arrest.”

P.09 DISCOVER // PROTEST ACTIVITIES

LEGAL DIRECT ACTION After speaking with Henrietta, I began collating the different activities associated with the event of direct action protest.

Reading stories of arrest and police involvement led me to place these activities on a scale from legal to illegal.

P.10 DISCOVER // PROTEST ACTIVITIES

ILLEGAL WHAT MAKES A PROTEST? My next port of call was to find a protest that I could attend within the time frame of the project.

Unfortunately, I was going to struggle to attend a protest as the organisations at my disposal planned protests bi-annually, with none falling in the next month.

However, this discovery did encourage me to look into what, along with long-term planning, constructs a direct action protest.

This was an initial dissection of the activity, informed by media coverage from around the world.

PRESENCE ATTACK DEFENSE POLICE INTERFERENCE PHYSICAL

UNIFORMITY VOCAL VISUAL

UTILIZING RESOURCES

OF THE CROWD ON THE GROUND ORGANIZATION PRE-RALLY COORDINATION

COMMUNICATION WITH EACH OTHER WITH ONLOOKERS ORGANIZERS > PROTESTERS

SPREADING THE MESSAGE SHARING STORIES AND IMAGES OF UNITY MEDIA COVERAGE DOCUMENTING ABUSE FROM POLICE

PHASE TWO - DEFINE DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES // CHOSEN DIRECTION // THE ISSUE // WHAT IS AN EFFECTIVE PROTEST? // REMOTE PROTEST // PERSONAL BRIEF // REMOTE PROTEST FOR THE ELDERLY // REMOTE PROTEST FOR THE WORKER // DIAL-AMEGAPHONE // SOCIAL MEDIA PICKET // HASHTAG ACTIVISM // SIGNS IN THE DIGITAL AGE // SPECTACLE // ONLINE SPECTACLE // PERSONAL BRIEF 2.0 //

P.13 DEFINE // DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES I pinpointed design opportunities found within this body of initial research. The first is in reference to protesters’ response to policing and illegalities, prompted by the Faslane activists. The following diagram illustrates existing examples of activists sidestepping policing and hacking the system.

My thought was that I could find a police response that does not currently have a solution for the protesters and provide it through a designed object.

To control protests and rallies that are deemed out of hand and violent, police fire tear gas into the crowd. In response, protesters in more radical movements wear gas masks to void the effect of the policing.

Protesters

Spray painting and graffiti is a well used means of sending a message.

However, vandalism is an offense that can result in fines and arrest.

In response to this, the Institute for Applied Autonomy, USA, have designed the Graffiti Writer - a robot that can be programmed to write on tarmac. This removes the face of the crime and no one person can be held responsible.

Police Response

Protesters Response

At the Cuts protests in Glasgow, a student was caught up in a legal battle concerning his use of a megaphone. Eventually cleared, his defense cost $7,000. The human megaphone responds to this issue - with one person standing in the middle, the surrounding people chant after him, effectively amplifying the initial voice.

P.14 DEFINE // DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES

HACKING THE ENVIRONMENT

FUNCTIONAL WEARABLES

FACILITATE FOR REMOTE PROTEST

Sarah Ross - Archisuits

National Collective Activist Pack

Smithsonian Festival Jet-pack

This opportunity responds to the activists requirement to dominate a certain space when taking part in an occupational protest.

Are there spaces that would be ideal, yet inaccessible due to a defying environment? This design opportunity looks at hacking the environment to facilitate for occupational protest.

This third opportunity looks at the role of clothing in the context of protest.

This design opportunity responds to protest in the digital age and the next generation of activism.

As media grows, causes for protest become more international. Is there a way to be included in protests that are not on your doorstep?

^^^ The archisuits are clothing interventions, allowing the wearers to sit and lie in places that have been designed to defy, such as park benches and sloped walls.

More and more activist parties have web stores, selling merchandise.

A way to advertise their cause, clothing also provides an element of uniformity to the physical act of protesting. This medium provides a brand for the specific protest, colouring it, and providing a point of reference to media and onlookers.

The opportunity I see within this is to add functionality to these wearables, to aid activists in protest, making them active garments as supposed to passive.

For example, a hood that prevents police identification from drones. “Clothes are no longer perceived as a mere covering close to the body, as a second skin, but also as a form of packaging. In other words, halfway between architecture and dress.�

- PAUL VIRILLO

At this stage of the project, functional wearables was the design opportunity I saw most scope within.

P.15 DEFINE // CHOSEN DIRECTION

FUNCTIONING WEARABLES With the intention to design established wearables for occupation protesters, I drew inspiration from Lucy Orta and her Refuge Wear. When trying to categorise this piece of art/ design, I was prompted to explore where my proposal would sit within the world of wearables.

Lucy Orta, Nexus Architecture x 50: Intervention Kรถln 2001.

SKETCHES OF INFLATABLE KETTLING JACKET, CHINESE FINGER TRAP SLEEVES AND ANTI-SURVEILLANCE HOOD.

P.18 DEFINE // THE ISSUE

FUNCTIONING WEARABLES

THE ISSUE

CONSIDERATIONS AND NEXT STEPS

I intended to respond to the unpredictable nature of protests with a multi-functioning wearable.

This project direction hit a wall when everything I was coming up with could be substituted for adhoc methods such as strapping a cushion to the body. There was no need for these products - I discovered that established wearables had no place in protest, physically or semantically. With an attitude that a multi-functional object would fulfill every protesters needs was ambitious and naive.

I learned that the semantic of a protest is extremely important to consider before finalising a response to a design opportunity.

To protect against kettling and for the creation of personal space, I played with air and inflation.

Available infinitely, I thought that this use of resource could be implemented when needed and so gave the product design an adhoc yet established quality.

I also looked to formalise Faslane’s technique of connecting arms using the function of a Chinese finger trap.

I think it is important to select a specific form of direct action protest before continuing to concept generation.

To effectively choose a stronger direction, I decided to select a design opportunity that considers todays trends and encourages the speculation of the protest of tomorrow.

A flaw in my first approach was a lack of detailing the project parameters. I defined the exact protest type that would become my focus, ruling out Faslane’s protest style of lock-downs, and focusing on demonstration, in particular, occupational protest.

As an act of protest, occupation is the holding of a space or symbolic site.

P.20 DEFINE // WHAT IS AN EFFECTIVE PROTEST?

OCCUPY WALLSTREET I researched the protest movement known as Occupy Wall Street to concrete my understanding of the protest style, identifying what makes it unique.

With a considered location, occupy protests are primarily directed at the target audience. This specific location suggests formality and creates a spectacle that the general public engage with. With this comes media coverage that spreads the message further-afield, generating more interest, and therefor creating an effective protest.

WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE PROTEST? This prompted me to culminate my research into the breakdown of what makes an effective protest.

This will inform my personal brief.

BELIEVES IN THE ABILITY TO EFFECT REAL CHANGE

IS WELL PREPARED

FLIRTS BUT DOES NOT BREACH THE BOUNDARIES OF THE LAW

HAS A LOOK OF UNIFORMITY

GENERATES EMPATHY

COMMUNICATES OBJECTIVES CLEARLY

DEMONSTRATES COMPLETE KNOWLEDGE OF CAUSE

ENCOURAGES PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

CREATES SPECTACLE

P.21 DEFINE // REMOTE PROTEST

I revisited my identified design opportunities to choose a direction that encourages the speculation of the future protest. I decided to pursue facilitating for remote protest.

WHY? TRENDS With the digital age, issues have become global. However, protest today has remained a physical activity restricted by location.

The internet provides a platform to share opinion, no matter where you are in the world, but this voice gets lost in a sea of information.

Is there a design opportunity to facilitate for remote protesters to have their voice heard along with those at the physical protest?

THE CHILD A protest is a very physical activity and can be dangerous, especially for the smallest of the partakers. Children, although not of age to vote, are the future generation. Facilitating for this demographic to protest remotely could reverse the saying of “seen but not heard”.

THE DISABLED A rally is not an ideal environment for those with physical disabilities. As a person of any age can be unable to attend a rally due to their physical disability, designing for remote protest could benefit many.

THE ELDERLY With a relatively low-technology lifestyle, this demographic would be a unique age group to design for in the age of new media.

THE WORKER As working life becomes more intense and hours increase, workers cannot participate in weekday protests.

Could I facilitate for ‘from the desk’ activism?

This graphic comments on the evolution of media. With physical protest as the constant, the growth of technology spreads the awareness of the cause.

WHO? With this backdrop of media and global issues, remote protesting can be considered a desirable concept for the modern-day activist. However, from this point, I specified user groups who can not attend physical protests, finding a need for this concept.

P.22 DEFINE // PERSONAL BRIEF

BRIEF WHO? People unable to attend physical protests - I elected to design for the elderly and the worker in particular as I found their needs the most interesting and diverse.

WHAT? The next generation of protest, considering the extending role of technology and the internet in protest.

WHEN? The next 1-5 years.

WHY? Issues have become more global as coverage provided by media gives us a view of everything.

To give the voiceless a voice.

This would also facilitate for those with reservations towards partaking in protest, an attitude demonstrated by the British.

HOW? Tools to facilitate for remote protesting through a means of input and output.

The breakdown of what makes an effective protest supplements this brief. The design outcome should contribute to the physical protest by reinforcing these characteristics.

BELIEVES IN THE ABILITY TO EFFECT REAL CHANGE IS WELL PREPARED FLIRTS BUT DOES NOT BREACH THE BOUNDARIES OF THE LAW HAS A LOOK OF UNIFORMITY GENERATES EMPATHY COMMUNICATES OBJECTIVES CLEARLY DEMONSTRATES COMPLETE KNOWLEDGE OF CAUSE ENCOURAGES PUBLIC PARTICIPATION CREATES SPECTACLE

P.23 DEFINE // REMOTE PROTEST FOR THE ELDERLY THE ELDERLY In many political situations, the Grey Vote can play a huge part in national decision making. With little to no participation in physical or online protest, the elderly has no way to express their opinion to the general public, fellow activists or the target audience of a protest.

Everybody grows old.

This demographic of pensioners could include retired activists who are no longer able to physically partake in events like they used to.

1 in 6 people in the UK is aged over 65, and by 2050 the figure is projected to rise to 1 in 4.

DESIGN FOR ARMCHAIR ACTIVISM

ren ld i ch

eld e

rl y

“come into the world in nappies and leave the world in nappies.” “seen but not heard.”

Attitude towards the elderly range from respect and empathy to condescension.

Only 1 in 4 of those over 65 have internet in their home.

33 Y.O

was the average age of physical protesters at Occupy Wallstreet.

The Fears of the Future infographic demonstrated that the eldest generation are mostly concerned about the ‘bigger picture’.

WHAT Design a product and service to provide the elderly with a means to protest from their own home or social hub.

HOW Design a means for the elderly to communicate their opinions through something present at the physical protest using only the technology found in their home. The physical protesters become host for the remote elderly protesters.

P.24 DEFINE // REMOTE PROTEST FOR THE WORKER

THE WORKER

THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN PROTEST

DESIGN FOR ONLINE ACTIVISM

My research showed me that most protests take place on weekdays.

This is to ensure the target audience is where the protesters want them - in their workplace.

This means that those with a 9-5 job cannot partake in physical protest.

Unlike the older demographic, the 21st century worker is very much in touch with technology of the digital age.

WHAT Design a means for workers to protest from their desk, ensuring their words reach the intended audience.

There are other reasons as to why physical protest is often considered an unsuitable activity for professionals. Being seen by an employer could potentially jeopardize a career, depending on the cause and the nature of the demonstration.

My research disclosed the important role played by the internet in protest today. Physical protest often begins online with someone instigating and then connecting with others to organize the collective gathering in a public space.

"Online organising is very important because activists have been able to discuss and take decisions without having to organise a meeting which could be broken up by the police."

Is there a way to push the role of the internet in activism to facilitate for remote protest?

HOW Use social media to link the remote protesters with the physical protest.

P.25 DEFINE // DIAL-A-MEGAPHONE I generated a concept for each user group to assess the potential for development.

REMOTE PROTEST FOR THE ELDERLY Based on the statistic that only 1 in 4 of those over 65 have internet in their home, I examined what technologies do exist in the domestic environment of an elderly person. I then looked at the existing technologies found in the protest environment and designed a remote protest method using these.

Dial-A-Megaphone enhances several aspects of an effective protest.

Having this service instated would suggest that the protest was well prepared.

The voice of the elderly would enhance the empathy generated.

By facilitating for the elderly to partake, this product encourages public participation.

FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS Can there be multiple in the crowd?

The dial-a-megaphone uses a landline telephone in conjunction with a megaphone to facilitate for armchair activism for the elderly.

How is it made exclusive and accessible to the demographic?

The elderly person would dial a number from their home phone that is received by the hacked or custom built megaphone. When answered, the voice of the remote protester is projected in the physical event.

How long does each caller get?

How is call traffic managed?

Who pays for the bill of this potentially global call?

P.26 DEFINE // SOCIAL MEDIA PICKET

REMOTE PROTEST FOR WORKERS “People have plenty of opinions, but in the digital age, no one wants to go out and get markers and posterboard and a piece of wood.�

- HENRIETTA CACTUS Due to my earlier conclusion that new products do not easily have a place in protest, I looked into the existing objects in both environments.

The social media picket enhances several aspects of an effective protest.

Having this service instated would suggest that the protest was well prepared.

By facilitating for workers to partake, this product encourages public participation.

The social media picket would create an element of spectacle.

FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS How do you advertise the service?

What is the best social media platform to use?

The social media picket uses the internet in conjunction with a technological picket to facilitate for online activism for workers.

The worker would send a message using a social media platform to the cause. This message would then be appear on the pickets display in the physical protest.

How long is a message up for?

Can there be multiple in the crowd?

Could there be the ability to sync with other units nearby for maximum solidarity?

Is there any feedback for the remote protester?

P.27 DEFINE // HASHTAG ACTIVISM PROTESTING IN THE AGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA The social media picket spurred some further exploration into the growing influence of digital media in activism.

Since the 90’s, we have had words to describe the type of protest facilitated by the internet, and the concept has had both negative and positive connotations.

TODAY

HASHTAG ACTIVISM is a term coined around the turn of Occupy Wall Street and is the latest iteration of a longstanding debate between people who think ‘awareness’ is its own kind of protest, and people who, for various reasons, do not.

2000’s

CLICKTIVISM is given a simple definition: “The use of social media and other online methods to promote a cause.”

1980’s

CASE STUDY - THE POWER OF HASHTAG ACTIVISM

is actions performed via the Internet in support of a political or social cause but regarded as “requiring little time or involvement, e.g. signing an online petition or joining a campaign group on a social media website.”

Although often considered a lazy means of protest, the effectiveness can not be questioned. It wasn’t until 2012, however, that “hashtag activism” congealed in a major way around an actionable, concrete cause. On a Tuesday in January, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which annually contributed $680,000 to Planned Parenthood for breast exams and mammograms, announced its plans to cut that funding off. The decision was largely political, which outraged Planned Parenthood supporters. By Friday of that week, more than 100,000 people had tweeted hashtags like #singon and #standwithpp — and Komen had restored funding.

SLACKTIVISM

“I absolutely believe the exposure on Facebook and Twitter really drove a lot of coverage by mainstream media, I’ve never seen anything catch fire [like this.]” PLANNED PARENTHOOD PRESIDENT The rise of digital media has not only energised and focused people on the subject of protest, it has also created a useful by-product.

Any institution with an agenda can no longer silence their critics.

P.28 DEFINE // SIGNS IN THE DIGITAL AGE THE POWER OF THE PICKET “Signs have always been a symbol of protest surrounding activism. And the presence of signs and posters has remained prominent in the ever-growing digital world.”

-THE WASHINGTON POST Is the picket the correct vehicle for the online voice? Susan Olzak, a professor of sociology at Stanford University, says there is a persistence of signs as a tactic in social movements, despite all kinds of other tactical forms that could be used, like videos or music or artwork, that can be disseminated easily across the Internet. This led me to further explore the role of signs in online protest.

“I know that although I cannot go to Nigeria and find those girls myself, at least I can raise awareness and pray that the girls are found.”

This year, a new form of protest came to light. People from all over the world took photos of themselves holding a sign with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls in support of the more than 200 missing girls in Nigeria.

This student, Di-Tu Dissassa, learned about the campaign through social media, and says she looked up information to see where it started and why the hashtag was related.

This case study supports the understanding that the current value of online protest lies in the spreading awareness of the cause in question.

This led me to question: Is there space to extend the role of social media and the internet in protests by enhancing the output?

The social media picket already adds something new. By displaying messages from all around the globe at a specific and considered site (as is an occupy protest), the online voice is projected to the target audience, those with the power to effect real change. Are there any other characteristics of an effective protest that the involvement of the social media picket could augment?

P.29 DEFINE // SPECTACLE SPECTACLE Creating spectacle is key to an effective protest. Without a visual hook, the public, the target audience nor the media are impacted by the message being communicated.

SPECTACLE? The Dial-a-megaphone created no visual spectacle, suggesting that this may be the incorrect metaphor to pursue. This design would add to the audible volume of the protest, but the individual voices would not be deciphered by the target audience or the media.

SPECTACLE CREATED

Currently, social networks have no interaction with the public space.

The social media picket bridges the cyberprotest and physical protest, creating a new form of spectacle for the occupy protest.

How can this be enhanced?

DIAL-A-MEGAPHONE

SOCIAL MEDIA PICKET

I collated some examples of public spectacle to explore possibilities.

PRINCESS DIANA’S TRIBUTE

SPANISH CONSTRUCTION WORKERS

MOVE OUR MONEY INFLATABLE

Each bunch of flowers symbolises someone. This demonstration of grief was even a spectacle from the air.

When on strike, instead of standing in a crowd for visual impact, the workers placed down their hardhats.

Stefan Sagmeister’s aim is to bring inflation and overspending in military budgets to the forefront of public debate.

P.30 DEFINE // PERSONAL SPECTACLE

“There are a lot of non-protest activities that I think you might find interesting, including the Spectacle public performance, public art, and press management to get the public to engage with the movement.”

HENRIETTA CACTUS

STILL NOT ASKING FOR IT

ANONYMOUS

OCCUPY WALLSTREET PROTESTER

This ‘let’s talk rape’ protester used her body as a picket, creating a very powerful image that featured on the news and online blogs.

This global group of online ‘hacktivists’ create a world renowned spectacle with the mass wearing of the Guy Fawkes mask.

Using a dollar bill to silence himself, the image of this protester spread all over the world.

From this research, I concluded that for the purpose of my outcome, the spectacle should quantify how many people are protesting remotely.

P.31 DEFINE // ONLINE SPECTACLE?

QUANTIFY REMOTE PROTESTERS

THE ONLINE SPECTACLE SPECIFICATION

CELEBRITY

I Initially searched for a means to quantify the number of remote protesters in relation the number of physical protesters, physically.

I looked at Coldplay’s light-up wristbands that they distributed to the audience, who then became the visualizer for the concert.

Could the remote protesters create the visual with the physical protesters as the hosts?

To be an effective spectacle to accompany the social media picket, the online platform must:

Remote protesting using the internet will facilitate for those with celebrity status to partake, adding to the spectacle of the online platform. Famous people in relation to the cause, ie politicians, could also participate in the online protest. A message of support from a celebrity could make the post viral, boosting the global promotion of the cause.

The first issue with this is that the remote protester receives no feedback of their protest - unless they see coverage of the physical protest on television or online they have no awareness of their contribution to the spectacle.

It was at this point that I considered the creation of an online spectacle for protest, to accompany the spectacle created by the social media picket. This would marry well with the growth in media involvement within protest and provide a new form of spectacle, accessible to remote protesters, physical protesters, the general public, the target audience and the media.

1. visualise the live stream of incoming messages from remote protesters.

2. show where the messages of protest are coming from.

3. be dynamic, providing a hype to draw in and keep people watching.

4.

Quantify the number of remote protesters in relation to the physical protesters.

5.

Provide information of the cause.

I looked to the US presidential election website for inspiration, regarding dynamic information and symbolism.

P.32 DEFINE // PERSONAL BRIEF 2.0

1.

2.

BRIEF 2.0 WHAT? A system to facilitate for remote protest, created through an online plane and the social media picket.

WHO? The remote protester: For people who cannot physically attend a protest (because of geography, fear, occupation or disability).

The physical protester: creating a new protest tool for physical use and spectacle.

HOW? By extending the role of the internet in protest, this project does not look to replace physical protest, but supplement it with the voice of those supporting remotely.

WHY? To facilitate for remote protest in a time when issues have become more global. This system will enhance the effectiveness of the physical protest by providing a new means for public participation, creation of spectacle and global promotion of cause.

WHEN? This project speculates the growth of media within protest with a 1 to 2 year time frame.

1.

BRIDGING CYBER AND PHYSICAL PROTEST The social media picket bridges the gap between these two planes.

2.

THE ONLINE SPECTACLE The online protest plane will piggyback the physical level of protest to create a new form of spectacle.

PHASE THREE - DEVELOP CONTEXTUALIZING THE PROTEST // THE CAUSE // VEHICLE FOR ONLINE PROTEST // SEMANTIC OF PICKET // TWITTER PICKET // THE TECHNOLOGY // LOGISTICS // DO IT YOURSELF // ONLINE PLATFORM // LAZY JOURNALISM // SYSTEM MAP // FEEDBACK

P.35 DEVELOP // CONTEXTUALIZING THE PROTEST - WHERE?

OCCUPY NSSA

THE LOCATION OF THE OCCUPY NSSA PROTEST

P.36 DEVELOP // THE CAUSE

To place my concept in context, I wanted to speculate a future cause that could utilize my design for remote protest. I considered utilizing a past example of occupation protest, however, I did not want my project to seem retrospective. I created a cause that seemed plausible in the 1 to 2 year time frame of my outcome and something that could gather international interest.

From 2011 until today, Wikileaks has released ‘Spyfiles’, a collection documents from global intelligence contractors. These documents reveal how, as the intelligence world has privatised, US, EU and developing world intelligence agencies have rushed into spending millions on next-generation mass surveillance technology to target communities, groups and whole populations.

With a continuing rise of mass surveillance, I suggest that an occupy protest may be held outside the headquarters of a large surveillance agency or company, in support of the USA Freedom Act. Their intention is to end the bulk collection of records, and oppose the Fisa Improvements Act which seeks to legalise and extend surveillance programs. For this hypothetical project, I named the company the National Security and Surveillance Agency.

Occupy NSSA would take place on premises of the headquarters, located between Baltimore and Maryland, USA. At least 20,000 employees work for the NSSA, making it the largest employer in the county - the audience for the occupy movement.

“Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Twitter revealed the extent of the data they had been forced to hand over to US government authorities earlier this month. The disclosures showed that between them the internet giants had disclosed details pertaining to tens of thousands of accounts.” - WIKILEAKS

SUMMARY WHAT? Occupy NSSA WHERE? NSSA Headquarters, Maryland, USA WHY? Against mass surveillance WHEN? 2015

Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and others are behind the Reform Government Surveillance push which calls for governments around the world to have their ability to monitor users’ information limited.

“The leaks of 2015 shed light on surveillance abuses really unlike anything we have seen before. It has kick-started an international debate about privacy rights, pushing for international surveillance reform.”

This is my fabricated quote for the Occupy NSSA movement.

P.37 DEVELOP // VEHICLE FOR ONLINE PROTEST WHY TWITTER?

645,750,000

ACTIVE REGISTERED TWITTER USERS

58 MIL ION TWEETS PER DAY

4/10

USE THEIR PHONE TO TWEET

135,000 EVERYDAY,

PEOPLE SIGN UP TO TWITTER

I chose twitter as my vehicle for online protest. Along with being the fastest growing social platform in the world, and used by my chosen user, the input of twitter suits the requirements of the remote protest picket.

As a free means of communication worldwide, anyone with an internet connection anywhere in the world can tweet their opinion.

With a 140 character limit to each tweet, this ensures that text is quickly digestible, key if featured on a picket in a protest. With the ability to ‘#’ and ‘@’, tweets can be filtered by topic. This means when it comes to programming the picket, certain feeds can be drawn from to ensure the relevance of the messages.

60 THIRD PARTY APPS PERCENT OF TWEETS COME FROM

SEMANTIC AND FABRICATION Earlier, I identified the importance of the product semantic. I explored existing products for protest, both established and adhoc before continuing to the design of the Twitter picket.

P.38 DEVELOP // SEMANTIC OF PICKET

ESTABLISHED

ESTABLISHED MEETS ADHOC

ADHOC

Facial Weaponization Suite

V&A - Objects of Disobedience

Candy Factory - Denmark

Zach Blas’ project protests against biometric facial recognition with this mask. This project demonstrates how effective established products can be as commentary on todays society. However, by nature, established products are harder to imagine in regular use within the context of protest. This was the conclusion I reached with my first endeavour of designing functional wearables.

This giant inflatable cobblestone was made to be thrown at police as a form of physically harmless civil disobedience. Although an established product, it can also be considered as adhoc in the sense that it is pocket sized until needed, when it is inflated and used accordingly.

Candy factory is an organised collection of Danish protesters who collect discarded bikes from around the city. They then repurpose the parts to make ‘machines of creative resistance’. Watching their workshops online, I was interested in the premise, however, the outcomes were basically tricycles used to dominate space in occupy protests and did not prove very effective.

I decided that the twitter picket should be something that a protester builds themselves. A DIY approach allows for tailoring to personal needs and desires (such as physical size or materials available for making). I decided at this point that as part of the outcome of this project, I would design a PDF of how to create a twitter picket. I looked to the Anarchist Cookbook for inspiration.

P.39 DEVELOP // TWITTER PICKET

THE TWITTER PICKET

SKETCHING IN CONTEXT

As the Twitter picket is to be a DIY product, the detailing of the design is key. With a need to ensure the product can be feasibly made in the home at a low cost, I created a specification for the Twitter picket before continuing to development.

Sketching my concept in context earlier on highlighted another benefit of making the picket an open source DIY product. No two pickets look the same, varying in shape, size and material. The design of the hardware should be flexible enough to be integrated into any protest sign variation.

TWITTER PICKET SPECIFICATION

When drawing, I considered the potential to add another element of spectacle. By having a counter of tweets, this quantifies how many remote protesters there are to anyone watching.

The twitter picket must...

- Must be low powered - Easy to read - Light weight - Connected to Twitter - GPS trackable - a DIY product

“We like new things. New ways to protest. New ways to get attention. And we take time and pride in our pickets.�

-OCCUPY WALLSTREET PROTESTER

So what technologies are available to make this interactive display to this drawn up specification?

The PDF handbook for remote protest would detail several methods of how to produce the twitter picket.

I explored some of these options that may feature.

P.40 DEVELOP // THE TECHNOLOGY

TEXTILE DISPLAYS

MICRO-CAPSULE SCREEN

Textile displays are the most versatile as the fabric, size and capacity can all be altered. This is a new and growing technology with people making their own responsive clothing.

This could be used to make large banners to go at the front of the protest.

The screen used in Kindles would also be ideal for use in the picket. The screen reflects light rather than absorbing it, which means its visibility would not be compromised by the sun. The screen only uses energy when changing.

This means it could run off a small battery for the entire protest.

ARDUINO LILY PAD Lilypad is a set of sewable electronic pieces designed to help you build soft interactive textiles.

For the sake of this project, I chose one of these technologies to develop into a working prototype.

With some previous experience of Arduino, this is the technology I elected to use.

P.41 DEVELOP // TWITTER PICKET

TURN BIG BROTHER OFF! #occupynssa

Get involved. #occupynssa

HANDBOOK CONTENT Along with a range of reccomended technologies, the handbook would also contain any code required to assemble a twitter picket.

Beyond this, I considered what the handbook may suggest: ideas such as using the reverse of the picket to advertise the remote protesting service.

Due to the size of the screen, my prototype features rolling text.

T do not think this is ideal for this application as I think the whole message should be seen all at once. This decided that the twitter picket would have a 140 character screen- something that would be specified in the instructions.

LOGISTICS OF INPUT My initial intention was to use arduino and a 16x2 screen to display a live twitter feed. However, due to the lack of time left in the project, I was unable to complete this. Instead, my screen displays tweets on a loop to demonstrate its use.

After mocking up this prototype, I looked more into the logistics of the twitter picket.

Not every tweet can be displayed as the traffic rate can not be predicted nor the number of pickets present. The tweets filtered to the pickets in the occupy protest should be determined based on their popularity online - the most starred and re-tweeted.

I then decided on the length of time each message would be displayed for on the picket. I decided on 10 minutes.

Every related tweet to the protest will be archived on the online platform.

P.37 DEVELOP // ONLINE PLATFORM DEVELOPING THE ONLINE PLATFORM Next, I developed the online platform, constructing the spectacle and the link between the remote protesters and the occupy protest.

SPECIFICATION The online plane for protest must provide spectacle to engage media and the remote protesters.

It must contribute to the promotion of the cause on a global scale.

It must provide information of the protest.

The website also quantifies the number of remote protesters for every protester in attendance.

It visualize where the tweets are sent from...

final visual style

and it displays the live feed of tweets as they come in from across the globe, including images.

P.38 DEVELOP // LAZY JOURNALISM

THE INTERNET INFORMS THE NEWS “Apparent need to produce constant never ending, 24 hour rolling news leaves less tome for good old fashioned journalism.”

After developing the online platform for remote protest, I identified another potential user for this service.

Today, the internet informs the news. Online journalism has meant that every story worth telling gets shared with the digital world.

However, stories are often warped by the media due to misinformation or lifting out of context.

The online platform could provide journalists with statistics and imagery to use in media, direct ‘from the horses mouth.’

“The internet, where the overheads rarely exceed the cost of a swivel chair and a broadband connection, here writers don’t have to be beholdened by the agendas of editors or proprietors.

The online press is far more current, far more interactive, and thus, in many ways, far more accountable to its reader.”

P.41 DEVELOP // SYSTEM MAP

1.

2.

3.

4.

6.

5.

With each element outlined and the users defined, I created this system map for #protest, the name I have given the project.

1.

Physical protester makes twitter picket with arduino and downloadable PDF.

2.

Remote protester ‘#occupynssa’.

3.

The tweet is filtered onto the live feed on the online platform and is added to the archives.

tweets

using

4.

The most popular tweets are sent to the available twitter pickets in the physical protest at the nssa headquarters.

5.

The physical protesters’ pickets change every ten minutes. The messages are there to be seen by the nssa workers and the media.

6.

Journalists photograph and film the protest for the news to be seen all around the world.

NSSA HEADQUARTERS

P.42 DEVELOP // FEEDBACK

FEEDBACK I sent a PDF outlining my project to Henrietta Cactus to receive some feedback. Although she did not give me much, her response summarised my premise in a nutshell: There is something about the fact that Twitter is primarily designed for speech—for short, strong, declarative utterance—that I think you’re right. It makes an especially powerful vehicle for activism - a place of liberation.

-HENRIETTA CACTUS Henrietta reiterated the point that this system is perfect for those with reservations concerning protest. This looped by design process by reconnecting with the British attitude towards protesting, where this project began.

PHASE FOUR - DELIVER PROJECT STATEMENT // FLYER // THE VALUE // CONTEXT MODEL // ONLINE PLATFORM // REFLECTION //

P.45 DELIVER // #PROTEST

PROJECT STATEMENT Today, protests are understood as physical activities which occur in specific locations. However, with the digital age and the growth of worldwide media, issues and cause for protest have become global.

This project responds to the opportunity for remote protest, using the internet and extending the role of technology in activism.

With the intention to emphasise the key drivers of an effective protest -spectacle, public participation and promotion of cause - this design response looks to enhance the physical protest with the presence of those supporting remotely. #protest is a system for remote activism, facilitated by social media. Using twitter in conjunction with an online platform and an interactive picket, protesters can play host to activists from all over the world. This creates a new form of spectacle which promotes the cause and captures the attention of their target audience (the NSSA) and the worldwide media.

I CREATED THIS MOCK FLYER FOR THE NSSA PROTEST TO HELP CONTEXTUALIZE THE PROJECT OUTCOME

P.47 DELIVER // THE VALUE

THE REMOTE PROTESTER

THE PHYSICAL PROTESTER

THE JOURNALIST

THE VALUE OF #PROTEST to the remote protester lies in the simple facilitation for remote contribution to the occupy protest.

THE VALUE OF #PROTEST to the physical protester is that it amplifies the feeling of support, boosting morale. By creating a new spectacle in the space, their message directed at the NSSA is enhanced and documented by the media.

THE VALUE OF #PROTEST to the journalist is the provision of information ‘from the horses mouth.’ With quotes of protest from all over the world, these are time stamped and counted, providing specific statistics that can be used in global media coverage.

THE CAUSE And this all contributes to the overall cause.

CONTEXT MODEL

P.50 DELIVER // REFLECTION

REFLECTION I was very quickly in bizarre territory with this project. At the beginning, with little idea of what I wanted to focus on, I was happy with how I dealt with the discovery of a project direction.

However, during my time at GSA, I have learned that analogue making is more my style than what this project became. I think it was for this reason that I tried to direct the project towards making early on. I felt I was trying to manipulate my research to fit a physical outcome, rather than let discover phase inform the develop and so on. I believe this is a contributing reason as to why this project hit a wall.

This has not been one of my favourite projects- I do not know if it is the pressure that is put on it that knocked my confidence, but I struggled to make decisions at every turn.

I do believe that I pulled the project together quickly at the end, which has left a lot of room for refinement. I believe the feel of the outcome is communicated well, but perhaps the individual elements are underdeveloped. With very poor arduino skills, I was extremely happy when I managed to get letters to appear on the screen, so for me, this was a little victory.

If I were to do this project again, I would select a direction with users that are accessible to me.

This was my biggest issue throughout the project - with Henrietta as my only constant, the project was heavily influenced by secondary research such as documentaries and articles. These were incredibly useful, but some more personal accounts more regularly would have really kept the project going and may have resulted in some valuable feedback in the end.