Context of Practice: December 2016

Another book that has been particularly useful has been Posters: A concise History which has some incredible examples of propaganda and protest. This had some good explanations about what different techniques and what a poster needs to be successful. I also researched many of the designs inside, looking for the three images I would use for the image analysis essay; some of the images below were found in this book.

Potential Images:

Although this image cannot directly be linked to protest art as it was made for a record company, the bold design and style are classic indicators of liberal freedom. This image wasn't used however as the link to protest poster work is too tenuous and there is little critical reflection on the work.
This second poster was made by Seymour Chwast during the Vietnam war. This was an act of protest, designed to poke fun at the underlying motives of war and the bureaucracy. Its a form of satire and was considered anarchy. This image again had much potential for analysis and ties in with propaganda with its mocking style of the war posters at the time, however the design is too simple. The text, although powerful, is all it consists of. I hope to find an image that can be explored for its visuals as well as the caption.
"Workless" made by Gerald Spencer Pryse in 1910 for the British Labour campaign. The visuals of this piece are incredible and led to it being exhibited in 1914, due to the incredible painting skills. This would have been another good piece to explore, however I thought it wasn't defined as definitely protest or propaganda. The piece came from a governmental source yet the content is incredibly radical and humanitarian, fighting against the government in power. I hoped to explore classic pieces of propaganda and protest, not a piece like this which is harder to define.
This poster, produced by E V Kealey in 1915 for the First World War British army recruitment campaign, shows the increasingly sophisticated and commercialised strategies employed by recruiters to encourage men to enlist. Although this is a classic example of propaganda which could have been scrutinised entirely, its a piece that I have studied before and I thought I would lack interest. Also the piece is very gentle and persuasive, it doesn't use the 'fear' tactic which was used in war propaganda and could be interesting to analyse.
Another poster campaign that could have been analysed was the Docklands Community Poster Project which was founded in 1981 by Loraine Leeson and Peter Dunn in response to the concerns of East London communities over an extensive proposed re-development programme. This was an important piece of protest and it stretched over many different people and could be considered a more contemporary example. This is a series I want to explore later in the project.