At the AIGA Voice Conference in Washington DC: around midnight we drove through the neighborhoods, around DuPont Circle, over to Adams Morgan, pasting up Tower of Babble with Dubya, John Ashcroft and Tom Ridge on it. It was about 18 degrees outside as we wandered the city spreading our seditious message.
When I started printing Robbie Conal's posters the first one I worked on was Tastes Like Chicken and The Other White Meat, a diptych on the 2000 election. Typecraft has been printing his posters for over 12 years now. I asked if I might be able to tag along on his midnight mission and he was happy to have me come along. I had heard about these things over the years, the Guerrilla Matrons who went out on the art attacks, and I was intrigued. I invited a friend to come along on the adventure and we learned about Guerrilla Etiquette before going out into the night in Los Angeles to paste. It is scary and exhilarating to drive around the city and put up posters.
Here's a movie about the experience.
The opportunity to know and work with Robbie has been an education for me in political expression. I have never felt more strongly about putting up an image that when we went out to put up Secretary of Offense. My daughter asked me why I go and do this, and I explained to her that I felt it is important to express my dissatisfaction with our leadership and their warlike ways. I am disappointed in leadership that thinks it must bomb and destroy another nation instead of finding another way to solve our problems. I am deeply impressed with Robbie's ability to see it like it is and to then create a visual pun that can be so smart and so funny. Robbie likes to call it infotainment.
One time, when we did The Second Scumming, I had the chance to go with Robbie. We arrived at our first stop at the intersection of Westwood and Pico. A couple of our group were at the signal box putting on the glue, poster in hand, and Robbie saw the cops coming from the other direction. He hollered to our guys to stop and come back to the car, but it was too late. The cruiser had seen that we were up to something and u-turned to check us out. The cop approaches Robbie and asks him "What are you doing to that box, are you putting glue on it?" "Yes" he answers, "Why?" asks the cop. Robbie answers "We are putting up a poster" "Let me see it" says the cop. We hand him the rolled-up poster, he unrolls it and sees the image: the father, the son, and the holy ghost, and chuckles briefly at it. "Why are you doing this?" he inquires. "It is an art project" answers Robbie. "An art project?" "Yes, I teach art at the university and am teaching my students about expressing their political views." Annoyed, the cop tells him to stop it and get out of there. We spent the next 3 hours putting up some 50 posters all over the city and ended the night by having milk shakes at a diner in Santa Monica.
Robbie works so hard on these images, he asks friends and supporters to help raise the funds to produce them. Everything has to be run by his wife, Debbie Ross, who is his guiding light. Robbie comes up with the ideas and Debbie makes them look good. The night before we go on press is sleepless, he is so nervous about how the image is going to turn out. At 8:30 am we walk out to the press room and see the first pull, he's happy with it overall, it looks better than he thought.
"Can we darken this a little here?"
"How about cleaning up that spot there, can you do that?"
"I want to see a little more color in this part"
"Yes, that's it, it looks great, thank you. Can you cut a few down for me now?"
Check out the website: Robbie Conal
David Mayes is a printer with Typecraft Wood and Jones in Pasadena. He can be reached at dmayes@typecraft.com.
Excellent bit, David. These days it's nice to see somebody openly dissenting. (And in style.) Even nicer to see somebody openly agreeing with it. Open discussion and the opportunity to disagree with our government is a key part of the American Way. Or so I was told in orientation. Go Robbie. Go David.
P.S.: Make sure to check out the mini-movie. Well worth your time. "The revolution is televised... and it's charming." says the West Pasadena Bugle. And I agree
I always had the sense -- and I know I'm not alone -- that Robbie Conal's posters where more about self promotion than dissent. On a political front I think encouraging people to think about complex issues in simplistic terms is just playing into the hands of the ones who'd like to remain in charge.
James - I'm not sure. A lot depends on what we think Robbie Conal is trying to do. Certainly, trying to have a in-depth discussion about complex issues can't easily be accomplished by shouting simple slogans. But if the goal is to raise the general consciousness -- to get people to start thinking about things they may never have thought about before -- then anything that gets them aware of a new issue is a good start. It may then lead them to read a newspaper article (or whatever) with a new perspective. And eventually allow them to engage in the more complex conversation. But, perhaps even the idea that issues must (or can) be totally addressed, and that everyone should be fully educated about them, is itself simplistic.
I second Stefan's call to watch the Quicktime. Very good. David, any personal experience meeting up with law enforcement during these excursions? A bit old for art projects aren't you? ;)
I admire the messages that Robbie is trying to bring to our awareness. I remember seeing the Secretary of Offense on a bus stop on Foothill and Rosemont in La Crescenta, and it opened up a discussion between my kids and I about more than just that topic. It brought a smile to my face every time I saw it, however, I still couldn't help but think about the person who has to clean that off the bus stop (and it didn't look like it would come off easily)(forgive me, I'm a mom that has to clean up a lot of stuff) and ultimately, who would be paying for the clean-up (the taxpayer?) I wonder if these expenses are considered by Robbie and what his thoughts are about it?
Sharon, of course the taxpayer is paying for the cleanup. I'd imagine that Robbie's thoughts are along the line of, "Ooh I'm being transgressive! I'm a bad boy! That's an important message." It's B.S. I'd love to see the city send him (and maybe his corporate facilitators like Typecraft) a bill to clean it up. I think the authorities are always amused when people videotape themselves committing crimes -- if I imagined someone had a working email account in the city admininstration I'd send them this URL.
I see my work with Robbie as an act of free speech, his comments should be made publicly to raise the awareness of people. It is similar to my signing a petition asking Congress not to approve the nomination of particular judges. I feel I am exercising my voice. Postering is certainly no more than an act of civil disobedience, part of the price we pay for freedom. Is cleaning up some posters too high a price to pay for using informative art to bring the discussion of these issues to a larger audience? What will the cost be to taxpayers for bombing Iraq with nuclear (DU) bombs? What will the cost be to taxpayers for the cancers that our sons and daughters will get from these weapons? What is the cost of a media dominated by profit motivated disneynews businessmen rather than ethically concerned journalists? Can we trust the message of such a media as opposed to the point of view of an artist commenting on the current issues of the day? I vote for the artist! Is it not important to spark a discussion between mother and children about war and other pertinent matters?
As a teacher and an artist Robbie has done an excellent job of raising awareness: how many people has he inspired to think? How many people has he touched that would not have otherwise given much thought to such matters? I'm honored to work with someone who communicates to so much of 'El Pueblo.'
As a father who cleans up a lot of messes I feel that there are far more important ones for the email-less people at City Hall to concentrate on with our tax dollars. What of education, poverty and healthcare? Encouraging people to think about complex issues is a worthy cause indeed, how can we assume that they will only think of the issues in simple terms? Not to think of these issues at all plays into the hands of those who would like to remain in charge.
Typecraft is not at all a corporate facilitator of Robbie's, he is one of many clients. I act purely as an individual on my own time when I do this. I believe that Robbie is not thinking "I'm a bad boy," rather he is thinking, "What can I do to make people think about these issues?"
James, perhaps we can send a bill to McDonald’s, or even R.J. Reynolds, to clean up the LITTER caused from their company’s products. Or should we give multi-national corporations an exemption?
First off: Go David! Excellent rebuttal.
Second, a suggestion: Perhaps President Bush can donate some of the $200 Million he is expected to raise for his re-election campaign towards cleaning up posters reacting to his administration's more extreme positions. (I was going to call it his junta. But that's just divise. Just, but divisive.)
Lastly, in response to Steve Rachwal's comment: Germany -- part of the New York Post's erstwhile Axis of Weasels -- implemented a law abou 15 years ago that made manufacturers responsible for the collection and recycling of any second-layer packaging of their products.
So if a tube of toothpaste comes in a box, you get to dispose of the box right at the store and the manufacturers have to take care of it from there. It was interesting to see how quickly most packaging was redesigned to be more ecologically sound.
Would such legislation ever pass here? Even under a Democratic president?
I'd just respond by saying that the rebuttal thinking here is just as sloppy as Robbie Conal's. A person's right to free speech stops when it damages the rights or property of another's. You have no 'right' to spray paint my house, grafitti my car, or poster my neighborhood. "Public" property is not public so that you may deface it, however righteous you believe your sentiment to be. If Robbie were not a controversy-seeking publicity slut he'd pay for his efforts both during installation and clean-up, but that wouldn't make as provocative a transgression. If you wish to engage in civil disobedience it should be YOU who are willing to bear the cost and consequences, not I. Why don't you poster your own neighborhood and see how your suburban neighbors like it? I whole-heartedly agree with making corporations and individuals responsible for their pollution per Steve Rachwal's comment. I agree with the political viewpoints expressed in many of Robbie's posters, but I feel strongly that his "work" is actually counter-productive. It's preaching to the choir, sophomoric, and generally ugly as all hell (I'm a designer after all). I feel the same way towards it that I would feel if someone posted right-to-life or anti-gay posters in my face. I'd say "f*ck off" and hope the cops bust their ass.
James, you say agree with the political viewpoints expressed in many of Robbie’s posters. I do, too. Beyond taking umbrage at Robbie's style and method of delivery, aren't you happy that SOMEBODY is openly expressing these viewpoints? --- Don't you feel that preaching to the choir is necessary in a time when this particular choir has been bullied into silence? Maybe a good preacher can raise their voices once again. Is Robbie that preacher? Maybe, maybe not. But I think it's a step in the right direction. --- I'm asking this honestly and without sarcasm: How would you make a public political statement these days?
How? By being politically incorrect, of course.
Stefan, no I'm not simply happy that someone is expressing the grunts that you describe as viewpoints. Nor do I think that preaching to the choir is ever anything but a waste of time and a masterbatory exercise. The important audience to reach is the undecided - and I think a very compelling argument can be made that single-note bombast does more to push this group to the other side than to bring them into the fold. Conal's approach is both simplistic and condescending and I sincerely believe it is ultimately both deeply self-serving and counterproductive.
Robbie has written a book about the Artburn series that has been running in the LA Weekly for the past 6 years. There are book signings coming up on 9/10 and 9/13, as well as other dates. I like the essays he has written about the images and his inspirations, check out his new site.