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.
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