09asd by Omar Mendez

Published by: Actar D Roca i Batlle 2 08023 BARCELONA Tel. +34 93 418 77 59 Fax +34 93 418 67 07 office@actar-d.com Edited by: Anna Tetas, Ramón Prat, Marc Mascort. Designed by: Omar Méndez omar.careaga.es For a free catalog of books, call +34 93 418 77 59 Visit our web site at www.actar.com - www.actar-d.com ©2009 Actar Distribution All rights reserved Printed and Bound in Spain

intro to reac We want to launch the series with an issue devoted to reactive graphics: in other words, those graphic works that express a reaction to a situation of injustice or defend a particular culture against the domination of more global languages. Quite simply, it is a question of celebrating the critical or dissident potential of graphic designers and visual communicators, the effectiveness of their tools and the intrinsic value of their independent proposals, with an evident capacity to innovate and stimulate reflection. We believe there is a better alternative to the passive dérive of an environment so absorbing and asphyxiating that it obliges us to rebel against it, in the form of a reaction to the imposition of a uniform homogeneity on our distinctive local models and references, resulting in the disappearance of situations and actions unique to autochthonous cultures: scenarios peopled by Frankenstein-like hybrids fashioned from the merging of vernacular references and other, more ‘globalized’ models. We also find scenarios in which to rebel against social injustice, whose origins are in most cases political: wars, dictatorships, oppressive regimes... Of course, this is not a new phenomenon; such critiques have always found expression, from the old broadsheets and pamphlets to the present-day weblogs, but there is no denying that the latest high-tech tools have given a new dimension to such movements, far more global, with a much stronger media presence. Another, related aspect that we will be looking at in this first issue is the importance of the Internet as a medium of diffusion, and of the information technologies —tools and programmes, graphic environments and the rest— at the disposal of today’s graphic designers.

All of these things have provided the basis for a huge variety of responses, from groups asserting that another world is possible and anti-global movements that oppose the present the syste m to works by individual designers and visual communicators who, moved by an awareness of injustices or as a tool of protest, voice their critiques in independent, personal creations that in many cases are not commissioned by a client. happening in the world. Certain designers would be the subject of in-depth studies, while other would be given a more cursory treatment. Possible participants: Doma, Masa, Stefan Sagmeister, Jonathan Barnbrook, Kenneth Tin Kin Hung, Nuevos Ricos…

act

In relation to the above, we would look at teams such as Adbusters, Worldchanging, Bureau d’études, moveon, etc., some of which would be the subject of detailed analysis. We would compare present-day groups, which primarily operate on the Internet as a platform, with more traditional formations such as NGOs or historic movements of revolt, and on this basis explore the duality between the activism of diffusion and the activism of action. Urban dissidence, culture jamming: Rotor, Billboard Liberation Front, Martin Bricelj, Joystick… In the field of music, rap and hip-hop provide a very powerful example of radical social protest. With their lyrics, groups like Public Enemy react against the system in the same way as graphic designers do with their visual language. Another interesting phenomenon here is the free distribution of music and texts, a concept that is being developed by Platoniq and others. Look inside Copyleft. The issue will necessarily have a significant amount of texts and articles that will both structure and provide a counterpoint to the more visual part. The texts will serve to contextualize the different sections.

QR code is a two dimension bar code that can be read on devices such as a mobile camera phone, a laptop or computer. When you read the bar code below on your phone then it will open your web browser on your device and access to a extra content that can not be represented on the book as videos, interviews, large maps,...

QR code is a two dimension bar code that can be read on devices such as a mobile camera

phone, a laptop or computer. When you read the bar code below on your phone then it will open your web browser on your device and access to a extra content that can not be represented on the book as videos, interviews, large maps,...

[01] TEXT ON REACT

10-11

[02] CULTURE JAMMING

12-55

[03] POLITICAL ART [04] PUBLIC INTERVENTIONS

INDEX REACT

[05] MAPPING YOUR REALITY [06] URBAN TYPOS [07] ACTIVISM

[08] ARTIVISM

56-113

114-157

158-175

176-191

192-203

204-225

[09] HACKTIVISM

226-251

[10] CRAFTIVISM

252-267

[11] CASE STUDY

268-277

by James David, Groundswell Collective.

So much order and planning, so many grids, routines and systems. Its mechanical intricacies are astounding and mesmerizing; it has a pulse all its own. Even now the soft, humming anesthesia of the city seeks to replace what thoughts you may still be allowed to have with white noise. We are here to guard against exactly that. As citizens, we obediently pay our landlords to let us inhabit the homes we make, and we talk casually of the atrocities that our governments commit in our name – so what does it take to end these absurdities? What new forms must we explore, and how can we assume them? How can we weld visual communication to social justice? The answers are as complex and as varied as the artists featured in this compilation. In honoring the libertarian ethic that we prefer, we've come together to applaud one another, and to provide a narrative about these activist efforts while simultaneously participating in them. Our work might be described as that design which must be done in pursuit of a more humane and libertarian world, and which claims that notions of freedom and ethical conduct are most poignant when communicated visually. Where mainstream media frames debates, our goal is to open them up or smash them to pieces. Where undemocratic structures put up barriers around our liberties, we are there to subvert them. Many of us have carved out wholly unique (and frequently noncommercial) spaces where we conduct our work, and explore alternative design practices as a means, not an end. Rather than sell revolution, or use revolution to sell a brand, we actively participate in creating that cumulative occurrence that is social change. In our line of work, we can find at least one common theme: influencing systems through design is central to success. If a designer’s work tangibly contributes to fashioning and furthering alternative modes of social organization, it’s working. That design which proffers what could be, and which prefers community and participation thrives in this environment. It's a rebellion against monoculture, and the editors of this volume are perfectly correct in labeling our work “reactive.” But it's proactive, too. Cultural production of this variety questions and dismantles dominant ideologies. It is in character for us to not wish for the reform of unjust systems, but to disrupt them and hand out the tools with which to skirt or dismantle them. We work from an unscripted reality, and alleviate (rather than enforce) politics. There is something to be said about this foundation that we work from, and our propensity to thereby create new channels of communicating. The spaces we create through our solidarity, while temporary, are autonomous, culturally relevant, and inclusive. Through our nonparticipation in anything we believe to be evil, we are forging another route. We still sense that there is a life to live, one where we control our own actions, and where the only pulse we hear is not of the city, but the one in our lover's chest. We see a world where people are compelled by their own will, and where no one is subjected to the numbness of being “under control,” because desire of any sort is always our own, and no one can take it from us. We are creating this world and dismantling an old one, for what better way to build a new world than in our hearts!.

What a perfect, PERFECT WORLD 11

CULTURE JAMMING Exclusive Multimedia Content

Billboard Liberation

14-25

Enviromental Graffiti

26-37

Graffiti & Street Art

38-55

Culture jamming

POLITICAL ART Exclusive Multimedia Content

CRAIG FOSTER EMPATHY

58-73

74-83

POLITICAL ART GORILLA DESIGNPOLITIE SHEPARD FAIREY

STUDENTS FOR A FREE TIBET

84-97

98-105

106-113

INTERVIEW with Peter Fuss

by James David, Groundswell Collective.

Groundswell Collective:

Peter Fuss:

For our readers who arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as familiar with your background, can you give us a brief rundown of your life up until today?

I did many different things, many of them not even worth mentioning. Now I mainly paint. I am most known for works in acrylic paint on paper which I then illegally place in urban landscape. To do that, I use billboards which are plentiful on the streets.

GC: When painting or designing an installation, do you start by thinking about the social issue first, or do you put design first?

PF: Both design and content are important in art works. To make a piece interesting, both of these must maintain equilibrium and fit well with each other. When one of them starts dominating, the piece becomes boring. I favor work of artists who are able to balance both form and content. To me, zit is not only important how an artist speaks, but most of all what he/she is actually saying. I am not excited by abstract works or excessively vivid graffiti with no message. Therefore, the starting point for my work is definitely a message, idea.

GC: You work illegally and commercially. Where do you feel most at home?

“My exhibition of January 2007 was shut down by the police on the second day after the opening and they seized all paintings, which haven’t been returned to me to this day.”

GC: Over the past few years, you’ve worked outside of Poland, both in the scope of your work, and literally, attending more events in other countries. For the Laugh of God debuted in London, for example. What brought about the shift for you, and has it changed the way you work?

PF: I set my work in the streets because this helps me show my work to people I would never be able to reach through an art gallery. Besides, street art gives me unlimited freedom. I work when I feel like and do what I want. I don’t have to agree anything with any art gallery manager. I don’t have to keep deadlines, get my ideas assessed or consult my projects. These are the main advantages of working in urban environment. Of course, I also exhibit in galleries if I am invited. The precondition though is that no one will interfere with my vision. I don’t know if that is a problem in the U.S., but in recent years Poland saw many cases of interfering with works of art on display, we’ve had interventions from the police and local authorities or pieces being withdrawn from display by scared curators. My exhibition of January 2007 was shut down by the police on the second day after the opening and they seized all paintings, which haven’t been returned to me to this day. I was prosecuted by the police for 6 months because of the contents of the billboard I illegally posted on a fence in front of the church and the public prosecutor spoke to the press of the sanctions I could face. Then they discontinued the case as they were unable to find me. PF: Freedom to travel and taking part in events in various countries is nothing extraordinary in today’s world. I’ve lived in different places and all experiences I had surely influenced me, to a varied degree of course. But it is not a question of place where I live or interacting with different people and cultures that is decisive of the subject matter of my work – it is rather the times we live in that determines my perception of this world. The fact that Americans elected Bush has a direct impact on the life of people outside the U.S. Polish soldiers die on a war started by Bush in Iraq. Thanks to the media and the Internet, photographs of Hillary Clinton crying during the

primaries are seen immediately in Poland and in Texas. The fact that Hirst exhibited his diamond skull in White Cube in London was known on the same day in Los Angeles, Kiev and Sydney.

GC: Many of the installations of yours that I’ve seen are serial. Do you set out to create a series of installations, or do you let the setting determine how far you take a concept?

PF: I don’t create series just because I feel like it. The subject matter determines it. So sometimes it takes a series and sometimes one piece is sufficient.

GC: A good deal of your work deals with the Pope. Why the fixation?

PF: It is not the fixation, it is a reaction to the reality around me. I live in Poland, Pope John Paul II was a Pole and even when he was alive the scale of his worship was really grotesque, and after his death it only intensified. Right now there are about 500 monuments of the Pope in this country. You can see the Pope’s images on mugs, ballpoints, or lighters. The cult of the Pope is a very particular mixture of hillbilly, superfi19

REVERSE GRAFFITI by Alexandre Orion

In the environmental movement, every time you lose a battle it’s for good, but our victories always seem to be temporary and we keep fighting them over and over again.” David Suzuki. Welcome to the world of reverse graffiti, where the artist’s weapons are cleaning materials and where the enemy is the elements: wind, rain, pollution and decay. It’s an art form that removes dust or dirt rather than adding paint. Some find it intriguing, beguiling, beautiful and imaginative, whereas others look upon it in much the same way as traditional graffiti – a complete lack of respect for the law. Reverse graffiti challenges ideals and perceptions while at the same time shapes and changes the environment in which we live, whether people think for the better, or not.

Etching skulls on the side of the tunnel with nothing but water and a cloth.

SKULLS IN SAO PAOLO Hailing from Brazil, Alexandre sees his art work as a way of getting an environmental message across to those who ordinarily wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t listen. A few years ago he adorned a transport tunnel in Sao Paolo with a mural consisting of a series of skulls to remind drivers of the detrimental impact their emissions have on the planet. The Brazilian authorities were incensed but couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t actually charge him with anything so they instead cleaned the tunnel. At first the cleaned only the parts Alexandre had cleared but after the artist switched to the opposite wall they had to clean that too. In the end, the authorities decided to wash every tunnel in the city, missing the irony completely, it seems.

CRAIG FOSTER

Political Protest Art by

Craig Foster in 2002 started creating a piece a day based on impressions from the news and it grew into an art blog of sorts with about 2000 images. The pieces intentionally add light relief to the political message conveyed. More importantly the work is an indictment of the direction that the United States is being taken and the ready acceptance of war and the notion that military intervention is an effective means of diplomacy between America and the rest of the world. Craig Foster has been an artist since the late 80â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s when at the beginning of the first Gulf War he began making protest art, never considering that the work would be relevant in the new millennium.

Since October 2006 we have made a visual column on the front page of De Volkskrant, one of Holland's leading newspapers. With Lesley Moore and Herman van Bostelen we form the collective 'Gorilla'. We respond to the day's news in words and images. This gives us a wonderful opportunity to ventilate our views on politics, the environment and all those subjects ones worries about, but doesn't know how to react. Gorilla won an ADCN lamp, a European Design Award and a Reddot Design award in 2007.

GORILLA gorilla- bejing Olympic Peace/ 08.04.08 IOC wants ‘peaceful solution’ in Tibet. gorilla-birma junta Birma Junta/ 27.05.08 Aid organisations barred from Burma

gorilla-clusterbom The Netherlands is removing the clusterbomb from it’s arsenal/ 29.05.08 According to a new international treaty, one that has not been signed by the US, the Netherlands is also removing the cluster bomb from its arsenal.

gorilla-dieselprijs Protest against the high price of diesel/ 12.06.08 Protests all over Europe against the high price of diesel

gorilla-eu ierland Ireland says ‘no’ to E.U. treaty/ 16.06.08 makes it clear that the EU is only as strong as its weakest link. gorilla-free tibet Free Trade Free Tibet/ 12.04.08 Dutch provincial and municipal administrators travel en masse to China. gorilla-hillary level Hillary’s Clinton’s cashbox is empty/ 08.05.08 After Hillary Clinton’s call for a petrol tax holiday it is clear that the cashbox is empty, the mood desperate.

gorilla-mugabe Mugabe hits opposition with violence/ 25.06.08 According to the international community, Mugabe is no longer the legitimate leader of Zimbabwe. He is using brute force and intimidation to wrest an election victory. gorilla-thumbs up for mugabe Election day in Zimbabwe/ 27.06.08 Thugs can tell from ink on the thumb whether or not people have voted in the Zimbabwe election. gorilla-we are the world Bush/Putin era is almost over/ 05.04.08 Meeting between two departing world leaders.