Message Control: Poster Politics
Posters have gotten more mainstream media attention over the past couple of months thanks to some Barack Obama campaign posters (see prior posts: 1, 2, 3). A few days ago, the Bryant Park Project from NPR News aired a piece called Posters Show Obama as Superhero, Sun God, Saint. The eight-minute story is worth a listen.
“Yes We Can” by artist Antar Dayal exists in an edition of 4800 (!) and is for sale on the Obama website.
NPR’s Mike Pesca speaks with Steve Seidman, a professor who has authored the forthcoming book Posters, Propaganda and Persuasion in Election Campaigns around the World and through History. The discussion is about the use of Obama’s image in a string of recent political posters and the degree to which it’s unusual in modern day politics for graphic representations of a politician to be incorporated into campaign materials. According to Seidman, since Walter Montdale’s campaign in 1988 there has a been shift towards “bumper sticker,” text-only posters. The Obama posters have been a break from this recent tradition. Critics of the posters site perceived similarities to Che Guevara, Joseph Stalin, and other controversial historical figures.
Pesca and Seidman raise some other interesting issues in the story: branding in politics, whether or not artists making propaganda without campaign oversight help or hurt the cause, and the pros and cons were McCain to release his own posters. There is much lip service paid to the political power of print and yet how often does it really enter the national debate? It’s exciting to see art & design having an impact on the discourse this election year…
9/3 UPDATE: Prof. Seidman has started a really great blog that discusses and analyzes Posters in Election Politics. The site is full of interesting historical references and contemporary analysis… Seidman is really dissecting image culture as it pertains to elections. Fantastic and worth a visit.
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