Alright… so just what is Occupy Wall Street?

Occupy Wall Street isn’t a new movement, it’s an evolved movement.

Because we have more advanced social media than seen in other movements, the public has been made more aware of violence and aggressive discourse associated within OWS. Savannah Edwards addressed this in her post A Quick Look at the Beginning.Savannahstated “Every time there was an incident of protesters being hurt or dragged, it was caught on tape and videos were going viral online.” In protests of the past, the general public didn’t have the ability to logon to youtube and be bombarded with graphic scenes of violence on the streets ofNew York. Social media has made Occupy Wall Street more personal, and way more real to viewers. Because it’s so visible, individuals have become more invested in the movement. That’s what sets Occupy Wall Street apart from other movements- it’s the most accessible protest we’ve yet seen.

Within my topic, Street Art encompasses performances and artwork not specified in specific venues but existing in the open. Occupy Wall Street’s use of art is similar to other movements. Like Sarah stated within her first post (Story Time: Voiced by the Theorists) on music within in the movement, the use of art creates the feeling of community. But this is no different from other movements in the past, all over the world.

So what sets Occupy Wall Street apart?

A Washington Post article states both the Feminist Movement and the Gay Rights Movement seen in theUnited Stateswere essentially leaderless movements, just likeOccupy Wall Street. Later in the 1990s, anti-globalization protests created a network of movements similar to that seen recently. None of which had any centralized leadership. Occupy Wall Street is a symbol of both the past and future. It’s also representative of a move towards the idea that no singular issue takes precedent over another. This is one of the reasons why the movement has benefited from encompassing so many different forms of media and methods of resistance. There’s literally something for everyone-it IS the 99%.

In one of her previous posts, Evelyn articulated that Occupy Wall Street is “global protest of regular people, a network, a movement.” Evelyn stated this perfectly. I think the word “network” is one of the most important to remember in relation to the movement as opposed to other movements seen in the past. Occupy Wall Street isn’t just a network of people; it’s a network of the arts. Different mediums are interwoven into a highly specialized web.

In my first post, I examined what Fred Ritchin illustrated in his article “Toward a Hyperphotography,” when he discussed what it meant to alter images to link and contextualize these forms with other media. Linkage throughout the movement, and connecting ideas from one art form to another exemplifies what Occupy Wall Street is about, using old ideas combined with new forms of media. This is shown through Shepard Fairey’s alteration of the Obama HOPE poster which is merged instead with the image of Guy Fawkes. While Shepard has been criticized for some of the ways in which he subverts images in his other works, his work does show the advancement of contemporary art into a new genre. I touched upon this idea, that Occupy Wall Street is representative of a new branch of contemporary art in one of my earlier posts. I think at the very root of Occupy Wall Streetis a sense of urgency to formulate new and better ideas immediately. Occupy Wall Street is the plight of the common man made known through a growing arts movement, which is a shift to incorporate new media.

Savannah Edwards stated in her post on Twitter and Occupy Wall Street that twitter is being used to share new images that inspire resistance across the movement.Savannah stated that this sharing allowed individuals within the movement to become united with one another. In my opinion this leads to the understanding that the sharing of artwork creates a movement away from an arts community based upon financial gain and instills a sense of unity amongst artists. Creative ventures become less about the “me” and more about the “we”- and how these individuals can use their craft to get others to think. Occupy Wall Street is representative of more unity amongst artists than we’ve known in the past, and this is made possible by our advances in social media.

During this semester, we have been faced with hard challenges to answer seemingly unanswerable questions about Occupy Wall Street. The movement itself is so huge, and made up of so many parts that it’s often difficult to analyze. But in reality, that’s how it should be. Occupy Wall Street is supposed to be the voice of the 99%, and the 99% is an extremely diverse group of individuals and viewpoints. It’s only fitting that there’s something for everyone in the movement. And so much of the art used in the movement reflects this concept. There’s songwriting, poetry, visual art, street art, posters and all kinds of web design projects.

The best metaphor I can think of to describe Occupy Wall Street is a flea market. It’s a lot of old ideas, coming together inexpensively to create new innovation. There’s an emphasis on sharing versus buying and formulating. It’s an arts conglomerate. That’s my answer: Occupy Wall Street is an arts conglomerate, utilizing new media to link together ideas of resistance.

–Jenny Questell

So, what is Occupy Wall Street anyways?

The easiest way for me to define OWS is really difficult to define. It seems that every part of the definition I think up comes with about a thousand stipulations: do we look at OWS as part of a global protest or do we limit it to groups that claim the title “occupy,” do we measure its successes by policy changes or by the movement’s spread across borders? There are a few things everyone seems to agree on:

It didn’t start with Zuccotti Park. OWS is part of a larger global protest or protest movement that represents the frustrations of the underprivileged many in regards to the privileged and powerful few – bankers, dictator-like leaders, whoever. Think of my Shepard Fairey post Part 3

The global movement and OWS use new media and social media tools to spread the movement.Another post on our blog compares its global spread to that of the anti-globalization movements in the 90′s. The 2011 movement of anti-capitalism (a feature of OWS according to this post and many OWS protesters) has an ally in the internet and social media that wasn’t so prevalent in the 90s.

In fact, Time‘s Person of the Year article claimed that these movements have partly redefined the terms “globalized” and “viral.” They say that globalized no longer simply means economy, it can also mean this globalized movement and globalized feeling; and viral is no loner cute videos of pets or people doing embarrassing things, it can be a protest or a plan or a news story. Richin’s hyperphotography shows that OWS and the global movement have the internet’s cubist linking ability to thank for some of its successes. (Richin) See practically all of the Shepard Fairey posts, but most notably Part 2.

Part of this “viral” protest makes OWS into a kind of social meme. Celebrities follow it. Through their endorsement, their fans may join the cause or at least learn about it through “weak ties” as discussed in “Unreciprocated Ties.” “Occupy” is an advertising scheme too – this Tide advertisement copies the “99%” meme.

And, many of us have seen the pepper spraying cop, who has an entire tumblr dedicated to him. In a post about this, and other images from the OWS movement, J Hallward talks about a  comparison between the pepper-spraying event at UC Davis and the Kent State Massacre images. Though, obviously, the Kent State Massacre was a much more serious incident, the blog post does bring up another point about OWS.

It isn’t a new occurrence. Yes, OWS, the Arab Spring, Tunisia, and Moscow are recent events. These types of protests, however, are not. The Times notes the phenomenon of protest history.

Ever since  modern republican democracy was invented, astonishing protests and uprisings have spiked and spread once every half-century or so… It happens almost like clockwork, yet each time people are freshly shocked and bamboozled. (Abouizeid 89)

The article mentions the American, French and Haitian revolutions of 1848, various revolutions in 1910, and of course, the 60s. And they had art too:

1960′s anti-war image

So, what is Occupy Wall Street anyways?
It is a part of a movement that shows the frustration of the “common man” against the people who supposedly have the power, like so many that came before it. But, due to the proliferation of internet usage and social media, the movement has gone global in new way. Its images, ideas, and messages have gone viral.

-Evelyn

Shepard Fairey and OWS: the Protester as the person of the year – Part 3

Times Magazine declared the Protester as the person/people of the year. That article and the issue cover, by our dear Shepard Fairey, created heaps of hype in the blogoshpere. From criticisms to stalking the protester whose face graces the magazine,  it has certainly been an eventful ride. But, the image and the Times article actually offers a decent portrait of the OWS movement.

The Protester
Shepard Fairey

Upon first seeing the image, I was interested in its lack of specificity. The original image, shot by Ted Soqui of LA Weekly, captures Sarah Mason, a LA protester who has been arrested for her efforts. The collage images, however, represent various protests from around the world, including Egypt and Russia. Fairey and Time Magazine, which provided the collage images for Fairey to use, are saying that OWS isn’t just about the US.  It is a global movement.

Moreover, the article explains that the various global protests are a network. Connected, however loosely. Greece was inspired by los Indignados of Spain. The Wall Street starters learned from other protests. It all started in the Arab World. For OWS, the original email from Adbusters called for a Tahir Square for the US. (Abouzeid) In an interview with the Huffington Post, Fairey says of the collage background:

With the Time cover I wanted to capture the spirit of defiance that any protester must possess in the face of arrest or worse. To convey that the cover was about worldwide protests I created a collage of protests from around the globe that is used tonally in the background. I’m a supporter of Occupy, but I thought it was important to recognize that protest was a global phenomenon this year. I think the collage helps to put across that cumulative effect.

But there are problems with the image as well. Again (I seem to talk about this in all my posts), Richin’s idea of Hyperphotography becomes a problem. The seemingly unending curiosity of human beings has turned the anonymous protester featured on the cover into Sarah Mason, about whom you may learn way too much information via LA Weekly’s blog. Part of me doesn’t want to link the page out of respect for the woman’s privacy, but part of me realizes that is a citation faux-pax.

Sarah Mason Portrait
Ted Soqui

Is this LA protester the face of all protesters worldwide? Maybe, maybe not. No, her credit card debt fueled protesting isn’t the reason that Los Indignados became frustrated, but she is an average woman seeking her frustrations. Fairey says in a Times tumblr post “A lot of [the protesters] are just regular folks who feel dissatisfied.” That certainly describes Mason.

So, what does “The Protester” say about OWS?
The image itself and the article that it illustrates indicate that it is a global protest of regular people, a network, a movement.
The story of Sarah Mason shows that it is a protest composed mostly of regular people who are dissatisfied. In other words, Fairey finally seems to have gotten his OWS propaganda-art close to right.

-Evelyn

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2011/12/shepard_fairey_time_person_of_the_year_occupy_la_protester.php

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2011/12/sarah_mason_time_protester_photos_occupy_la.php

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/14/shepard-fairey-designs-ti_n_1149680.html

http://timemagazine.tumblr.com/post/14214199000/shepard-fairey-talks-about-creating-times-person-of

Shepard Fairey and OWS Part 2

"You are Invited" by Shepard Fairey

Shepard Fairey, artist and supporter of OWS, has created several artworks of and for the Occupy movement. According to a CNN article by Michelle Elam of Stanford University, one of Fairey’s artworks will bring African-Americans to the movement. She gives “You are Invited” much praise, comparing its imagery to the Black Panther movement, and touting its ability to bring racial unity. Elam says:

Indeed, some have called for more black people’s involvement in the movement, but Fairey’s “You Are Invited” goes beyond an appeal for and to black people. Imagine its even more revolutionary effect as a poster carried by people of all backgrounds and social position, symbolically calling for a pan-ethnic alliance.

Simone Wilson of L.A. Weekly questions whether or not the image will help revive the OWS movement and she is right to question. As one of the followers indicated on that very post, Fairey appears to have taken the image of the woman from a vintage Newport cigarette ad. This happening,  where an image’s meaning might be complicated or subverted by linkage on the internet, is discussed by Fred Richin as “Hyperphotography.” (Richin)

The woman in this image is not empowered, she is not independent, and she certainly is not standing up against the marginalization of her race. She is subject to the good looks and “cool” of the man before her. This knowledge may subvert Elam’s claims about the power of this image.

Seeing as OWS has struggled with its lack of equal representation, Fairey’s image could end up as salt in the wound. In another article on our site, cjohn1789 even goes so far as to question “Is OWS Racist?” The article references a survey done around the time of the “invitation” by Fordham University (October 14-18 2011) which indicates that 68% of those surveyed in Zuccotti Park were white.The article concludes that OWS is not necessarily racist, but its racial representation is very disproportionate.

It seems like minority populations didn’t receive the invite, or might not have received it well.

-Evelyn

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/01/opinion/elam-occupy-art/index.html

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2011/10/shepard_fairey_occupy_wall_street.php

http://owsanalysis.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/is-ows-racist/

http://www.fordham.edu/images/academics/graduate_schools/gsas/elections_and_campaign_/occupy%20wall%20street%20survey%20results%20102611.pdf

Shepard Fairey and OWS: is his art helping the movement? – Part 1

Shepard Fairey, arguably one of the most popular American artists of our time (or at least one of the most visible), announces support for the Occupy Wall Street movement on the his  website. Although it seems obvious that his support of the movement would assist the movement in terms of popularity and visibility, one particular artwork actually hindered the movement by presenting the wrong message to its viewers.

Original Print by Shepard Fairey

Fairey’s original image raised concerns within the OWS movement, which considers itself non-partisan. This original print directly addresses the President in addition to mimicking the iconic HOPE poster that Fairey created in support of Obama’s campaign. Upon receiving a letter from an anonymous OWS protester that expressed concern with the image, Fairey indicated that he thinks that President Obama could be an ally to the OWS protesters, while the anonymous protester points out that Obama has gotten much monetary support from Wall Street and that he is not supported by OWS. The anonymous letter continues to offer suggestions for Fairey, including changing the message from “Hope” to “We are Hope”. They also suggest moving away from the Obama imagery all together with the sentiment that “To reduce us to an Obama re-election campaign will not help anyone. Our political system is corrupt and broken. As naive as it may sound, we have to stop looking to leaders and we must be the change.”

Interestingly, Fairey makes very few of these changes. He removes the direct appeal to the president, changing the sentiment from “Mr President, we hope you’re on our side” to “We are the hope”, and adds “Occupy Wall Street” onto the 99% button.

Revised Version

Fairey’s written response to the message gets a little defensive; he states that “I did not make the Occupy HOPE image to become THE image for Occupy. I believe very strongly in the Occupy movement, but I’m looking more at the politics of the entire nation than the politics within Occupy.” Yet, with his level of fame and the influence of the internet, how could Fairey NOT expect this image to be important?

Interestingly, besides this specific post, I was unable to find the poster in Fairey’s archives on obeygiant.com. The original poster was not found on Fairey’s website at all.

As much as Fairey supports the OWS movement through various posters, this particular poster became a big concern for many OWS protesters and may have led to some confusion should viewers make the connection of this poster with the Obama HOPE poster.

-Evelyn