"Art on Paper" (September/October 2009)

Because of our class discussion yesterday on Art in the Age of Terror, today I'm going to write about an article in the September/October 2009 issue of Art on Paper which is entitled "Keeping the Message Alive", and is about the twentieth anniversary of The Center for the Study of Political Graphics which is based in Los Angeles.

The article begins by positing that we are seeing a revival in the creation and production of political posters and that at least part of the credit should go to George Bush and the Iraq War because an increase in political poster production of this magnitude has not been seen since the Vietnam War. And the Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG) has been collecting these posters, which come from all over the world.

Lambert Studios, Inc., War is Good Business, 1969

What makes the CSPG different from other political poster archives, such as the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, is that its collection focuses on post-WWII materials, making it one of the largest contemporary political poster collections in the world. "...at least ninety percent of the collection dates from the 1960s to the present and focuses on popular movements rather than government or corporate propaganda."

Favianna Rodriguez/Code Pink, Make Out Not War, 2008

Another unique characteristic of the CSPG is its two criteria for poster submission: works must be overtly political and must be produced as multiples. This gives people the opportunity to create and submit their own hand-made signs as long as they also reproduce and distribute the signs so that their messages will be seen in more places. Essentially, the CSPG emphasizes the grassroots nature of its organization, and also its progressive nature. For example, the CSPG does a variety of exhibits including shows on broad topics such as war, immigration, labor, and racism, or more specific exhibits such as the legacy of Che Guevara, the death penalty, and the ongoing murders of women in Juarez, Mexico. And thus although most of the posters in CSPG's collection are progressive, they also have a collection of right-wing posters.

Carol Wells, the founder and executive director of the CSPG, talks in the article about the power of political posters and gives an example of one of the most powerful political posters in the CSPG's collection, a 1970 poster protesting the Vietnam War and its killing of innocent women and children.

Frazier Dougherty, Jon Hendricks, Irving Petlin, R. L. Haeberle (photographer)/Artists Poster Committee of Art Workers Coalition; Q. And Babies? A. And Babies; 1970

This poster is a combination of Robert L. Haeberle's famous photograph of the My Lai massacre and text from a CBS interview with a soldier who had participated in the massacre, during which several hundred women and children were murdered by U.S. troops. When Americans found out about the massacre, the American sentiment toward the war went from support to opposition. Wells says that while television images are fleeting, posters keep history alive. Thus, the CSPG's main goal is to collect posters, yet ensure that they are always out in the public eye.

This article definitely relates to our class discussion yesterday of Art in the Age of Terror. In my group, we discussed the climate of fear and how the government depends on war and the climate of fear so that we will continue to depend on the government for some sense of security, safety, and protection . And so although the posters at the CSPG "keep history alive", I believe they could serve to do away with this climate of fear if we could all see the anti-war posters. Looking at the anti-war posters featured in this article, I felt empowered and felt the need to take action. This is somewhat similar to our class discussion of identity art, such as art about the HIV/AIDS crisis, the government's lack of action, and the public's ignorance toward the virus. The posters we saw in class that day had the power to open people's eyes: kissing does not spread the HIV/AIDS virus, the government does not help those with HIV/AIDS receive treatment, etc. The messages contained in each of those works of art inspired action in one way or another. So, in the same vein, the posters I saw in this article (the ones I have posted in this entry), seem to serve to open our eyes to war and its completely unnecessary nature, yet at the same time, its tragic nature, and our need to take action. Therefore, I think these posters could change or put a new spin on the concept of the climate of fear and war in general. The posters have the ability to show us that war is something to be feared, but not in the way we currently fear war. The climate of fear instills in us this sense that we should fear for our lives and thus, we should rely completely on the government to protect us, the same people who create the climate of fear. Instead, we should fear for the welfare of the soldiers and for the innocent civilians who are in danger of losing their lives each day. And then we should take this fear and translate it into action!

Mizota, Sharon. "Keeping the Message Alive." Art on Paper 14 (2009): 44-55.