The installation had an element of interactivity - a means for visitors to write their own thoughts down about what they would like to protest. I felt that they needed to be compiled, and provided prominence, and this wee task also helped provide closure for me with this project, and Foundation year as a whole.
What would you like to protest?
Today, I made a fist (with help from Sim).
Why did I make a fist?
It began during the 1960′s American Civil Rights movement - Black Power, Malcolm X, Black Panthers, Dr. King, and the Mexico Olypmics of 1968. This was where Tommie Smith & John Carlos (two American sprinters) raised their fists, each fist shrouded in a black glove, in defiance of the powers that be, in support of Black Power and the civil rights movement.
Since that era, this raised fist has been appropriated by different civil rights campaigners & liberation groups. Notably feminists, as well as some queer rights groups. It has become a symbol of protest, of defiance, and it will be a part of the installation that I am designing.
Is the (mis?)appropriation of such a powerful symbol justified? Please do debate for yourselves.
So, it has only been two weeks, but this project has already undergone several transformations. This weekend, I need to figure out how to tie all of these threads together into a coherent trail of thought.
I’m also setting up video interviews next week - both for research purposes, and also to display as part of the final installation. Speaking of, at least I have finally decided on what form this project will ultimately take - that of an installation. I’ll be drafting the questions to ask during the interviews as well this weekend.
Shown in this post are two images - one from the student protests back in 2011 (of which I was a part - feels like a lifetime ago now), and the same image broken down into what I felt were the consituent parts of a protest:
Protestors - Purple
Placards - Red
Police/Stewards/First responders - Blue
Members of the public - Dark Grey
Physical structural boundaries - Yellow