protest/peace object

Equity, poverty, human rights, civil rights, racial inequality, gender inequality, lack of transparency, “alternate facts”, economic divide, immigrant rights, voters rights – now more than ever is the time to protest – to make a statement or action expressing disapproval of or objection to something. As humanists, scientists, students, and community members let us deliver a message. As media producers, let us rethink, reinterpret, and empower the medium of the protest. Protests come in all shapes and sizes. In fact, they vary widely in their scale, longevity, location, context, and medium of delivery. Protests often have a range of elements from signage, to chants, to logos, songs, hashtags, iconography. Protests can engage many different senses – sounds, visual design, interactive elements, clothing, tweets, and slogans.

In this provocation, you will be designing and prototyping a novel protest object. This could be an improvement on an existing artifact within the landscape of a protest or the creation of an entirely new one. For your site of investigation, you are free to choose any protest or movement (or create your own)! It should be an issue that is of current concern – it can be vast and global or immediate and local.

Start by taking note of the activities, images, and visuals within current protests. As detailed previously, you may take an existing object (a gas mask for example) and reimagine and redesign it with new interactivity or you may create an entirely novel protest artifact. Your new object should be motivated by the cultural activities of the protest and provide a new opportunity within that landscape. Your final design may also incorporate some audio or sound component. You should think about how simply adding or altering audio feedback or interactivity to an existing object or media artifact (a protest police announcement for example) may significantly change its purpose or experience completely.

Also think about "peace" objects. Such as "flower power".