Politics, Privacy, and Protest: Four New Entries in Protest Posters 2

Is there any privacy in politics? From voting rights to COVID testing, these four Protest Posters 2 entries take a look at these and other issues.

Shane Kendrick, alongside Ebb + Flow Creative, made “Vote” (above, left) before the 2020 US Presidential Election. The main message was a plea to eligible voters to let their voices be heard and make sure their votes are counted to incite social change. A retro ballot is layered with a photograph of a squashed orange and large red letters spelling “VOTE.” This image, presumably, references the squashing of President Trump. However, regardless of political preferences, Kendrick’s poster reminds us that voting is not a right, but a privilege. 

Paco Macías Velasco’s poster, titled “Thermal Face Recognition” (above, right), features the iconic “Mona Lisa.” Behind Mona Lisa are many masked faces as well as close-up images of the virus itself, indicating the severity of the pandemic. Underneath her scanned face is a list of her identifiers as well as temperature, indicating a kind of violation of privacy. By utilizing such a world-renowned painting, Velasco draws attention to the argument that using thermal technology for COVID scanning is a breach of personal privacy.

Japanese designer Daisuke Kashiwa’s poster “Economic Growth” (above, left) was created for Posters Without Borders, an international invitational poster exhibition. Kashiwa’s poster is an optical illusion, featuring two faces that are concurrently biting into one another. The pink face appears to be entirely encapsulating the purple face, which is growing smaller and smaller. This poster highlights a problem with the current economic systems in different countries: as shown through the pink figure, as the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. 

Designer Fa-Hsiang Hu from hufax arts / FJCU designed “Breath of Life” (above, right) for the Taiwan Poster Design Association. This poster features two block figures in black and green, their fists held aloft in protest. Near the bottom is a quote from the movie The Revenant: “As long as you can still grab a breath, you fight.” This poster embodies the true meaning of protest and shows the energy and determination behind the action. 

The deadline for Protest Posters 2 is January 5, 2021! Submit your entry here.