The Activity of Others

Tuesday, September 27, 2012

So I did get the opportunity to head down Alexandria, VA to check in on the posting I did earlier in the week. The results? Pretty unsubstantial. Most every Post-it I had left remained, unmoved, regardless of whether they were posted up or down. I noted that some were missing or were now on the ground, though I am tempted to believe this has to do with the Post-its falling because of the adhesive going dry (even though I did use rubber cement again for these posts) and not because of human activity, for these posts were generally ones that I put thumbs up. But you never know.

Some remnants of some posts I put up.
Whether or not they were trod on, weathered, or perhaps even torn up I have no idea.

One sign I had posted on was different though. It was a "Re-Elect Del Pepper" sign that I had put a thumbs down on. (Side note: I love the name Del Pepper. It pained me to post down on it.) The sign had been at the bottom of a small hill. When I returned, the sign had been dislodged and somehow put at the top of the hill, and a new sign was in its place. Whether or not the people who put up the new sign unearthed Mrs. Del Pepper's, I have no idea. But however it ended up there, my guess is that my post had little/nothing to do with it, as it remained on the sign.

It's interesting to note that though it appears little effort was made to tamper with my postings, (a rather labor-free act), some people had come by and added to the deluge of signs already outside the King St-Old Town metro station. Some of these were for candidates for city council and school board that hadn't been there previously, but others were for candidates who were already "well-represented" sign wise in the area. Some signs were even posted right next to already existing signs for that candidate...?

So as the sign wars continue in Alexandria, VA, I shall move on, and my project shall move with me.

Today I would like to continue on from last week by bringing more things that are happening in imagery and marketing around the country. (For example, did you know that we can now build our political identities through 7-Eleven coffee?! What an achievement, right?) Specifically though, I would like to direct your attention to some other projects/movements that also involve posting directly on things to send a message.

Now, we've all probably seen urban areas where the cityscape has been redone through spray paint and stickers. You know...graffiti. The graffiti and street art movement, though having an impact on my project, was something that I didn't necessarily want Post It Politics to be affiliated with. That's why I chose Post-it notes: they're temporary, accessible, and removable.

When I started my project, I wanted to know if anyone with a similar mindset had been doing anything like this. Turns out, someone has! Actually, it's practically the same idea...but let me explain. A quick google search of sticky note politics will link you up with a number of right-wing political blogs and journals championing the use of sticky notes to kick Barack Obama out of office. Conservatives around the country are putting up Post-it notes to criticize the president for rising food and gas prices, and then putting the pictures up on various Facebook pages and other websites. Take a look.

Now obviously this project differs from mine in that it has no dialogue, or if it does, it seems to only be between conservatives. However, kudos to them for some exemplary guerrilla marketing! I am jealous of their over 600 Facebook followers.

On the other end of the spectrum is a movement that I ran into while doing my posting in Alexandria, that being the movement of the endorsement sticker.

Now I'm not sure if these stickers were applied by the campaign that put them up, or by the candidate after the fact. But still, this is something that I can get behind! I have often criticized signs for just being a blind show of support while not really having any meaning, yet stickers like this would seem to correct that trend by allowing a sign-viewer to see what a candidate stands for. Maybe this isn't as applicable in something like a presidential election, but in a local election, where the main task is just to introduce a candidate, this could be a powerful tool.
*I have read of a similar movement in which pro-union members in Wisconsin went around and stickered disapprovingly on Scott Walker signs during the recall election. However this was obviously viewed as vandalism and was forcefully shut down.

Finally, I would like to bring your attention to the work of a former classmate of mine and the work she is doing in Minneapolis. It's called the "Bandaids for Human&Objects' Equality Project," and it's a kind of urban beautification project. Check it out!

Though obviously this project is pretty far removed from campaign politics, I can't help but get excited about the work it's doing through street art to draw our eyes to objects by giving them personality and meaning (something I hope Post It Politics can achieve). Plus the whole concept of "healing" our urban landscapes like this is incredibly interesting. Plus the Band-Aids look really cool. Well done Grace! I covet your design skills.

Alright, so moving forward with my project. I have finally been cleared by IRB!!! (and by cleared I mean they have determined I am not technically doing "human research," and therefore do not have to abide by certain legal procedures and guidelines.) So this means that I can now actively encourage others to take part in my project! This may lead to me handing out Post-it notes in front of the student union. It may mean just chatting people up about Post It Politics. So, if anyone reading this is at all interested in stickin' it to the propaganda, I encourage you to join me! A great way to start would be by accompanying me in the Twitterverse. And if you have any questions, feel free to contact me in any way!

@Post_It_2012

Off-Campus Happenings

Monday, September 24, 2012

Today I would like to divert your attention to some Post It Politics related things that have been going on away from the University of Maryland--College Park.

First off, I would like to write about what's been happening on the national stage with political imagery in the 2012 Presidential Campaign, focusing today on one of the strangest developments in political imagery that I have ever seen. As a quick heads up, I should let you know that this has been a mostly pro-Obama image, though it has taken an strange turn as of late.

What I am referring to is the Invisible Obama Chair.

If you didn't already know, this image was taken from the Republican National Convention, when Clint Eastwood gave a mostly improvised speech in which he questioned the president, pretending Obama was sitting in the chair next to him, invisible. What had probably been planned to be a show of strength for the Republicans, using a well respected filmmaker and media personality well known for his confidence and integrity, ended up being a twelve minute long show of rambling and incoherence, as Eastwood fumbled over his words while attempting to question Obama about his last four years as president.

Naturally, the internet responded. Memes ensued. #eastwooding

 

These memes generally portrayed Obama and Democrats as the coherent, sane alternative to Romney and the Republicans, or at least attempted to make the Republican media stunt look like a failure. 

However, on September 19th, Eastwooding took a bizarre, racist turn.

This picture was put online by the Burnt Orange Report, a liberal blog out of Austin, Texas. The picture is of chair, representing Obama, that an Austin man hung in his front yard in the style of a lynching to show his dislike of our current president.

Now, as disturbing as I find this image and its motivations, I will not deny that the ideas around its creation are in the same vein as Post It Politics. They're both using an existing political image and putting a spin on it to change its meaning. They're also both in the realm of guerrilla marketing (they're using an unconventional spot and method to grab someones attention and create emotion. See this blog entry for further explanation). 
*I would like to add that as of September 21, the man who originally hung the chair, Bud Johnson, has taken it down after much negative press and pressure from the public. The chair now sits on the man's lawn, though Johnson claims that the act of lynching a chair is not inherently racist. Unfortunately, following this story, others in the anti-Obama camp have taken up chair lynching from Colorado to Virginia. Post It Politics would personally like to give a big thumbs down to this whole chain of events.

On a lighter note, in an attempt to branch out my project a bit, I did some off-campus posting over the weekend! Hoping to find a place where there might be a bit more political discussion, I traversed out of Democrat-leaning Maryland, and took the metro to Alexandria, Virginia, a city that is affected by the liberal biases of the Washington Metro Area, but that is still in a state with a large conservative population.

Stepping off the metro, I was immediately awash in a posting heaven. Everywhere I looked there were yard signs posted in public spaces. Though none of them were for Romney or Obama, I immediately started flipping coins to decide which candidates to post approval and disapproval for, and posted on as many signs as I could. In total, I posted on signs for eleven different candidates running either for mayor of city council, and tweeted a picture of a post for each candidate in case anyone sought to follow up about my project.

I shot to concentrate my postings around sidewalks where people coming off the metro (or at least walking/driving near it) could see my handiwork. So far my efforts have yet to create any new twitter activity (though I did receive an enthusiastic declaration of "Sabotage!" from a girl as she rode past on her bike).

Eventually, my posting led me away from the metro, and I stumbled upon the most yard signs I have ever seen in a single place, be it public or private property. I must say, if I ever needed a reminder about the confused message that political propaganda, specifically yard signs, the grass divide of Commonwealth Ave in Alexandria did just that.

I'm not sure whether or not these signs were put up by the residents who live on either side of Commonwealth Ave or by the campaigns themselves. Regardless, these signs show no indication for which candidates have the most support from this area. It seems as if whenever a sign has been posted here, an opposing campaign has tried to put two signs directly next to it. They go on forever in clumps or in rows, seemingly trying to represent everyone and no one.

I started to post where the divide started, but subsided a ways in because A) it was decided that cars driving past would be hard pressed to see my image and B) I started running out of Post-its.

My hope is that sometime this week I can make a trip down to Alexandria and see how all these local level posts are doing.

Finally, I feel like I should report that after about a week of rain, sun, and wind, the rubber-cemented post I made on campus finally fell from the light pole it had been posted on. Still, not bad by my book!

@Post_It_2012

React Labs

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Yesterday I took the opportunity to attend the Election Dissection event hosted by the University of Maryland Alumni Association, which focused on the topic of Campaign Ad Psychology and Financing 2012. "Oh," I thought to myself, "that sounds relevant to my project." And it was...sorta.

The event was emceed by Dennis Cordoza, former member of the House of Representatives and Maryland alumnus. He spoke about how great it was to be back at a university that cared so much about politics, about how happy he was to have voted for the bill that required all universities nationwide to hold political events every September 19th (which was apparently Constitution Day), and hammed it up throughout the evening by taking ever opportunity to follow up each speaker with some little anecdote about his experience as a public servant. Okay. Thank you Congressman Cardoza.

Election Dissection featured three faculty members of the University's Government and Politics department speaking about their exciting new research, which has determined that

1. Money from SuperPACs and Individual Donors is Having a Disproportionate Influence on Elections and (almost) No One is Happy About It
2. The Conservative Right is Trying to Use Voter ID Laws to Disenfranchise Voters
3. Campaign Ads Attempt to Persuade Voters Through Sheer Emotional Response 

Ok. Awesome. All things that I could have gathered from, say, watching a single episode of the Daily Show, but I'll give them their due. They are High Profile political researchers, right?

However, there was a moment during the lecture that really caught my attention: when, between speakers two and three, this man came on stage to give a little preview



"Long haired computer geek at a government convention" is how he introduced himself. He is Dr. Philip Resnik, professor at the University of Maryland in both the University of Advanced Computer Studies and the Department of Linguistics, and he was there to talk about his new invention, React Labs



React Labs is a smartphone app that allows people to give opinions, specifically political opinions, while watching things like political debates by hitting buttons attributed to different political responses, such as like, dislike, or dodge. We did a test run of the app at the conference, responding to how different campaign ads made us feel, and I must say, this development has me very intrigued.

I see the work of Dr. Resnik being very similar to my own. He's creating new ground for political discussion by giving people a chance to respond to what they are being fed politically. Not only is this a fantastic opportunity for easy political dialogue, but it is also a major step in the right direction for political researchers, especially in an age when, as Dr. Resnik pointed out, people are less willing to take part in surveys via land-line phones, and more willing to use television as a two-way medium through the likes of Facebook and Twitter. In a way, it's like Post It Politics flipped upside down, for while Post It Politics can take politics from the street to social media, React Labs can take people from digital spaces like television to social media. 
*As a side note, I would like to point out, as a matter of opinion, just how much this professor of linguistics and computer science is contributing to the realm of political research, finding ways to bridge the gap between how we communicate and how we vote, especially when compared to the work of so many political researchers that I've either spent time listening to or who I have read in class, who it seems are only able to reiterate what I have already heard on the news. Perhaps they give numbers to statements, and can make predictions, but how much work are they doing to affect the political process today? Kudos to Dr. Resnik!

Recent Developments in My Project: On Tuesday I did another post on a recruitment flier for MaryPIRG, a liberal group that stands up to interests groups in politics. Though I have had a strained relationship with various PIRG groups in the past, my flipped coin was heads up, so I gave them a thumbs up. In hindsight, this was probably a good thing, for if you refer back to my September 13 blog entry, you'll see that I am all for student political involvement of all kinds, especially at this stage in my project. However, foreseeing the torrential downpour that was moving into the area last Tuesday, I used a bit of rubber cement to make sure the Post-it would stay. And it did! Despite all sorts of severe weather, when I went to check on the Image the next day, it was still there. The rubber cement even allowed me to take off the Post-it, flip it, and stick it back with no difficulty. You know, just try to elicit a response. 

However, despite this turn of events, no new followers on the Post It Politics twitter have been made. I put the image back to its original thumbs up, where it remains today. I understand that this lack of response could be because there is still nothing overtly political to post on. *sigh* We will have to see if any activity over the weekend will change that.

@Post_It_2012

PS--Look forward to blog entries next week about political symbols that have been emerging all over the nation/internet

Meet the Image!

Monday, September 17, 2012

So I figured today I would do a deconstruction of our friend, the Post It Politics thumb!

This Li'l Guy!

 
Ok, so I how do I go about drawing it? Let me show you while displaying my intense Microsoft Paint skills!

Start with a standard Post-it note, and draw four dots on it in a diamond.

Next, you're going to want to turn the Post-it, making it a diamond, then connect the dots with a marker or pen, going all the way to the edge of the note for what would be the wrist of the hand. DO NOT connect the top two dots, because that's where you're going to draw the thumb.

Finally, starting where the top left dot used to be, draw a rectangular thumb, connect it back to the rest of the hand, and finish it off with three horizontal lines for the fingers.

Now all there is to do is go out into the world, find a place that needs posting

and show some discontent

Or approval as the case might be

I like this image because of how stark and minimalist it is. I believe that also makes it easy to recreate (a key component for someone like me with only basic drawing skills). Posting it at an angle makes it stand out. Most importantly, it makes use of guerrilla marketing. Guerrilla marketing is to put an advertisement (or in my case a political image) in a spot where no one had expected it, or using an advertisement's surroundings in order to send a stronger/more creative message. In many ways, these advertisements develop a relationship between the viewer and the product/message being advertised. For some great examples of guerrilla advertising, check out this link. 
In the case of Post It Politics, this relationship is created by using the propaganda being posted upon as a base for discussion, while the Post-it notes themselves become a means for viewer participation. To what degree people who see my image will interact remains to be seen.

Did some posting today on a flier for a political organization that was recruiting on campus via fliers. Feel free to weigh in on the discussion about politically affiliated student organizations, especially on twitter.

@Post_It_Politics

Waiting

Thursday, September 13, 2012

First off, thanks to everyone who checked out this blog! It was awesome to have so many people see it, especially so early in this process while Post It Politics is so newfangled and infantile.

So what has all occurred over these past three days? Well, truth is...*deep breath*...not much. Outside of a few people who heard about the launch of my project (YAY!) coming up and asking me if I had posted on anything, and me being sorta sheepish and responding like "...no" nothing has really taken place. Why is that you ask? The answer is quite simple really.

There has yet to be anything I can post on.

Now some of you might be like, shouldn't that be a good thing? Didn't you just use your last entry explaining how the stuff you want to post on is bad? The answer: no. My aim for this project is not to convince people to stop displaying their political selves. It's to take the ways we display, the things we display, and the areas where we display them and turn them into a place for political discussion. I want to add another dimension to propaganda. 

So what do I mean there's nothing to post on? We all know it's campaign season. We've seen the bumper stickers. Why am I not hitting stuff up yet? Two reasons.

Reason number uno: There are some things that I, personally, am obligated not to post on.
As a representative of the University of Maryland, I cannot personally integrate interfering with private property into my project. I personally can't post on things like cars, clothing, and lawn signs (though I don't anticipate seeing many/any campaign signs on campus here at Maryland) for those things are an individuals private property, and interfering with said things violates Maryland state law. I basically have to limit myself to public spaces (i.e. chalking, posters, bulletin boards, etc.). 
And as of yet, there has really been no public material around campus that I can post on. Students are just settling in. Politicians have yet to hold any events on campus. And political organizations on campus are more interested in recruiting members than in spreading their message. Which leads me to my second reason.

Reason number dos: There are some things that I can post on but probably shouldn't.
I'll start this one off with an example. 
Exhibit A:

In a public space? Check. Propaganda for a cause/belief that people seek to debate? Check. A good way to get my project off on the right foot? Not so much.
There are tons of advertisements  going up in every kind of way for every kind of student group/movement on campus right now, and I could technically be posting on them. However, since my project has everything to do with community involvement, I feel like in the chance that I get a tails on a coin flip and have to post a thumbs down, I would end up just working against my mission. This is why at the activity fair that happened today I didn't seek out the Campus Republicans or Campus Democrats to leave Post-it gifts at their tables. Also, even if I did just post thumbs up on something like, "Jesus is EverywHere," I feel that could get my project sidetracked. It is Post It Politics after all, not religion. Still, maybe somewhere down the road my project will expand to other debates, but perhaps not by my own doing.

In the mean time, I might find some old student made posters to post on now that Residence Hall Association election are done. No harm no foul, right ;)

@Post_It_2012

Launch!

Monday, September 10, 2012

Ok, here it goes. Hello everyone! My name is Kyle. I am a student at the University Maryland--College Park, and I have a very daunting task. I want to change the way that we view political propaganda. Now...and forever.

Daunting, no?

Ok, to explain myself a bit. This initial blog post marks the official beginning of my project--Post It Politics--an image campaign that I want to use to empower others, and myself as well I suppose, through posting on top of real-life campaign materials. You see, I feel that when someone puts up a campaign sign, bumper sticker, or poster, their aim is to tell others "This is how I plan on voting and there is no way you can alter the way I want to vote. Therefore, you should just forget about changing my mind and vote as I do." The very concept that others are entitled to discuss their political views, or have their own political views at all, is completely disregarded. I think this is discouraging. Isn't the whole point of living in a democratic society to encourage equal say for all who want it, not just those with access to yards and signs and giant soap boxes to preach from?

So what is this delightful image I plan to use to try to change the world as I know it? Well here, let me show you!

Yay thumb!

What I plan on doing is posting this image on propaganda I see around campus, or anywhere really, kinda like a real life Facebook like (Except for the added bonus that it can be posted upside down as a dislike. How long have we, the Facebook community, been lobbying for that anyway?) I plan on keeping this project politically unbiased by flipping a coin to decide on approval or disapproval, and then observing how those who see the image take it from there.

This blog serves the purpose of allowing me to update you, the public, what is all going on in my project. I plan on blogging every Monday and Thursday, now through Election Day, letting you know how goes the posting, as well as updating you on anything interesting that might be going on nation wide in the ambiguous world on political propaganda (and those who alter it).

Anyone out there interested in taking part in my project, follow me on twitter! @Post_It_2012