Modern propaganda - OBEY by Shepard Fairey

"The real message behind most of my work is: question everything" - Frank Shepard Fairey

OBEY is the brainchild of Frank Shepard Fairey, a graphic and street artist who is best known for the famous "Hope" poster for Barack Obama's presidential campaign in 2008 as well as the aforementioned project.   The tagline for the company is "Manufacturing Quality Dissent since 1989", a tongue in cheek hint that Fairey's work is intended to stir people up.

 For me, it was an interesting observation in how a brand can become de-contextualised when I found out that OBEY was not a fashion brand that thrived on "logo-status".  I had seen the logo plastered on T-shirts and snapback caps and assumed it was a line that sold based on some cult status hype, in the same way that a navy hoodie with Abercrombie and Fitch on the chest will be coveted much more than a plain navy hoodie.  What I found was a contemporary propaganda project that brings to light political imbalances in the US in a way that invites people to participate by buying the prints.

OBEY stemmed from a work of art Fairey created in college, titled Andre the Giant has a Posse.  On the OBEY Giant website, Fairey writes: "The sticker has no meaning but to cause people to react, to contemplate and search for meaning in the sticker." (Fairey, 2011)  The subject matter, Andre the Giant was chosen by Fairey because he had an unpleasant face and was dead, which made many believe Fairey was actually criticising the way dead celebrities are iconised in Western culture.  The image (fig) was made into stickers and placed around Providence, where it was illegal to do so, and therefore forming a basis for Fairey to protest against corporate ad space.  Soon after this he noticed that his creations were getting more attention from the public than he had anticipated.  In an interview for AIGA, he explained that "When I started to see reactions and consider the sociological forces at work surrounding the use of public space and the insertion of a very eye-catching but ambiguous image, I began to think there was the potential to create a phenomenon." (Fairey interviewed by Heller, 2004)  This led to a desire to spread the image outside of Providence, where Fairey lived at the time, and create a momentum that could lead to a small cultural shift.

Fig. 1 Andre the Giant Has A Posse

 On why many people were intrigued by the sticker and willing to get involved, Fairey said: "I think a lot of people liked the idea of 'fucking with the program' in a society dominated by corporate imagery.  The stickers were a rebellious wrench in the spokes, a disruption of the semiotics of consumption."(Fairey interviewed by Heller, 2004)  This developed into a movement of 'respectful' propagandic art, where Fairey would only stick his works on public property or on the backs of signs and electrics boxes in a way that he would not deface them.

"More Milliterry Less Skools" (Figure 2) is a criticism of the Bush administration and the decision to go to war in Iraq.  By using bad grammar as the central point of the poster, Shepard's opinion on the politics of the time and the impact it could have on education in the US (as much-needed education funds were being cut in favour of military spending) is clear.  The poster appears in a similar visual style to a dollar bill, adding a secondary layer to the message, and the classic slogan "In God We Trust" is mocked with a re-interpretation: "In Lesser Gods We Trust".  In a similar vein, "Scale Tipping Services" (Figure 1) print uses the metaphor of death, money and the uneven scales held by Lady Justice (an American symbol of freedom) to present the situation in Washington, aka US government headquarters.   In his works that criticise the government system, Fairey makes use of a patriotic colour scheme or identity - "Scale Tipping Services" matches colour schemes with the star-spangled banner and "More Millitery Less Skools" evokes the look of American dollar bills.

Fig.2 Scale Tipping Services, 2013

Of "Scale Tipping Services", Fairey wrote on his online gallery that "Corporate donations distort their influence in politics and corrupt our democracy…it effects (sic) all Americans by insuring (sic) that corporate interests are put before the interests of the average person.  Genuine democracy should guarantee that politicians create the greatest good for the greatest number of people, but that idea has eroded with the favours owed by politicians to corporations in exchange for their contributions."  The poster was created in collaboration of ideas with Josh Silver, who was leading a grassroots movement to counter anti-voting rights in Montana, and was designed to add to the momentum. 

Fig 3.  More Militerry Less Skools, 2013

Fig 4. Home Invasion 2

This image has a layered message.  At first glance it looks like a promo for gun crime, but at a closer inspection you can see there is a camera aperture in the barrel of the gun which is smoking, given the impression of a shot being fired and a photography being taken.  The tagline at the footer reads "Oppose intrusive surveillance and invasions of privacy", which explains the point of the poster.  Fairey has created a sly visual pun by subverting the message of gun crime into that of personal privacy.  The poster was released in February 2014, around the time that it was becoming apparent that the government had been essentially spying on civilians through their private online correspondence.  The composition of the poster suggests something imposing, unavoidable and intimidating - the metaphor of a gun being pointed in your face is a device that highlights the unethical practise of the digital privacy invasion.   Using the page of a gun is a clever method as the outcry against digital surveillance has not really come into the limelight yet as a movement, whereas the push for anti-gun laws is added to every time there is a national crime so it is widely recognised and paid attention to.  Another example of a subversion of a traditional advertisement is "Paint It Black" (below).

Fig 5. Paint It Black 

"Paint It Black" is a similar criticism of 'the corrupt system', in this case the exploitation of oil and how it dictates foreign policies.  Fairey writes on the webpage that he deliberately aimed for a propagandic look in this piece of work; his influences from Constructivism really shows through here, in particular with the colour palette (that telltale red!), and the angular lines which frame the greyscale illustration.  The clever manipulation of a vintage paint label - "indoor/outdoor hazardous", "cover it all" speaks to the hold that oil currency has over the United States' economy and the negative effect it has.  "Imagine if all the money spent on wars and strategic interests in the Middle East had been spent on developing green energy alternatives.  Instead, out government subsidises the highly profitable oil and gas industries for $40 billion a year because no politician wants a rise in the price of gas to be blamed on them." (Fairey, 2014)  Another recent work, "Paradise Turns", mimics an idyllic beach being slowly infringed upon by an oil plant, in the style of a vintage postcard.  

Fig 6. Paradise Until The Tide Turns

What I find interesting about these pieces is the intention for the prints to look like propaganda, particularly with the vintage style.  A question that is running through my research at the moment is what kind of propaganda is the most effective.  If it is openly propagandic as the images are, would people allow themselves more easily to be swayed by the message, or would they feel as though they should ignore it as it was perhaps an idea being 'forced' on them visually?  After completing an online survey for another student the other day, I am feeling more and more that I should take the same approach with images such as these ones as the subject matter.   In an interview with AIDA, Shepard Fairey makes a point that stood out to me for consideration: "(My work) would be embraced by people who shared the same opinion, and be instantly rejected by anyone who saw it as issued by the enemy.  Obey seemed to get under people's skin because they didn't know what to make of it.  The ambiguity promoted a death about the intent of Obey and got a lot of issues out on the table that people would not have discussed if they were able to classify and immediately ignore it."(Fairey interviewed by Heller, 2004)

Fig. 7 People's Climate March, 2014

This poster was created as a free-for-download in the run up to the People's Climate March, a further example of Fairey's art contributing to the momentum of a campaign.  The imagery of Lady Liberty sinking is a clear metaphor to Americans about the possibility of what could happen if climate change is ignored.  Of his overtly political stance, Fairey said in an interview with Heller (2004) "I feel we are in a time of crisis and there is no time to be wasted allowing people to have epiphanies about authority, conspicuous consumption, and the control of public space at the rate that best suits them." The BNE x Shepard Fairey print below (Figure) was designed in conjunction with campaigner BNE, to bring safe clean water to India.  This image is very similar to Figure 7 in both colour palette and handling of the subject matter - there are no cheeky metaphors, instead imagery that brings the audience face to face with a situation.   Here we can touch upon the brand element of Obey and Shepard Fairey's work, which has an illustration style that is now a recognisable identity for the company.  The graphic style is influenced by Andy Warhol, the Constructivists and skateboard culture, all of whom have in common the desire to subvert traditional messages in order to being about change.  The bright palettes are simple but highly saturated so attract the eye in the first place, and the subject matter is illustrated in a way that is high impact.

Fig. 8 BNE x Shepard Fairey

"Many people feel powerless and my goal is to show that one person can have an effect on things even with limited resourced.  Whether this manifests itself with people in the form of street art or a magazine or a band, I'm hoping to encourage D.I.Y (do it yourself ethics)." 

I have barely touched the surface of Fairey's portfolio of work, and I have noticed that some work is overtly "against/for" a cause and some takes an approach that is a little 'softer'.  It would be helpful to my research to have another look at works that are quite extreme and ones that are less so.

References

Fairey, Shepard, 2014 (most recent update).  Obey Giant - Worldwide Propaganda Delivery. [website] Available at:

http://www.obeygiant.com

[Accessed 5th November 2014]

Heller, Steven, 2004.   AIGA.org.  Interview with Shepard Fairey:  Still Obeying After All These Years. [online article] Available at:  http://www.aiga.org/interview-with-shepard-fairey-still-obeying-after-all-these-year/

[Accessed 5th November 2014]

Images

By Fairey, Shepard:

Figure 1: 1994.  Andre The Giant Has A Posse - We Know Who You Are [online image] Available at:

http://www.obeygiant.com/bootlegs/andre-the-giant-has-a-posse-we-know-who-you-are

[Accessed 5th November 2014]

Figure 2: 2013.  Scale Tipping Print.  18 x 24 inch screen print. [online image] Available at:

http://www.obeygiant.com/prints/scale-tipping-print

[Accessed 5th November 2014]

Figure 3: Unknown. More Militerry Less Skools. 18 x 24 inch screen print. [online image] Available at:

http://www.obeygiant.com/prints/more-militerry

[Accessed 5th November 2014]

Figure 4: 2014.  Home Invasion 2.  18 x 24 inch screen print. [online image] Available at:

http://www.obeygiant.com/prints/home-invasion-2

[Accessed 5th November 2014]

Figure 5: 2014.  Paint It Black. 18 x 24 inch screen print on Speckletone paper. [online image] Available at:  http://www.obeygiant.com/prints/paint-it-black-hand

[Accessed 5th November 2014]

Figure 6: 2014. Paradise Turns.  18 x 24 inch screen print. [online image] Available at:

http://www.obeygiant.com/prints/paradise-turns

[Accessed 5th November 2014]

Figure 7: 2014. People's Climate March To Change Everything. 18 x 24 inch screen print on Speckletone paper. [online image] Available at:

http://www.obeygiant.com/prints/peoples-climate-march-to-change-everything-we-need-everyone.

[Accessed 5th November 2014]

Figure 8: 2013.  BNE x Shepard Fairey.  18 x 24 inch screen print. [online image] Available at:

http://www.obeygiant.com/prints/bne-x-shepard-fairey

[Accessed 5th November 2014]