Kiss Me, I'm Vaccinated

    Art Nouveau came about in the late 1800s during a period of technological revolution, with cities and towns consumed by emerging industries. Many - especially artists - found the new industry ugly. They sought to express city life in a new way, using bright colors, unique fluid patterns, organic and floral ornamentation. They believed nothing was to simple or commonplace to be beautiful, from cups to advertisements to doorknobs.  

    Like the late 1800s, the 1960s were a period of technological and cultural upheaval. The Art Nouveau aesthetic resurged, especially through the floral patterns of hippie clothing. One of the most popular activities for youth at this time was attending concerts. Before the internet, perhaps the most effective way to attract people to your concert was a good poster. Designers co-opted the Art Nouveau aesthetics for their posters, including the abstract and floral patterns and feminine figures. These posters used bold, high contrast color schemes and barely legible text to capture a reader's attention and keep them mesmerized. 

    In these two pieces, I wanted to co-opt these aesthetics again for a contemporary setting. Modern design, from architecture to logos, has pushed toward a sleek, minimalist aesthetic. These posters reject this trend and opt for the bright, detailed aesthetic that the artists of Art Nouveau strived for in their rejection of the industrial aesthetic. Today, the COVID-19 pandemic dominates the global mindspace, influencing the way we work and interact, our culture and our daily activities. The past year has also undergone numerous upheavals, political and cultural. These posters are, at their simplest, advertisements for the Covid Vaccine. I used the same techniques poster designers of the 60s used to attract people to concerts - psychedelic typeface, bright colors, fluid curving lines, feminine figures - to now encourage people to get vaccinated. The title, "Kiss Me, I'm Vaccinated," juxtaposes a "product" (vaccine) and attractiveness, a common ploy of advertising. It also harkens back to the 60s culture, a period of crowded concerts, newly emerging (recreational) drugs, and a permissive sexual atmosphere. After months of quarantine, we crave physical contact and social interaction, and these posters invite you there - if you're vaccinated. 

This first piece is based on a poster for a concert hosted by Bob Dylan and Paul Simon. The figure is originally from a piece created in the 1800s which employed a far softer pastel palette. The poster designer lifted the figure and circular pattern, changed the colors, and added concert information. I have now taken their work and used it in a contemporary context.

While the first piece is a reconfigured poster, this second one is composed from scratch. It employs many of the same design tropes. The Bob Dylan and Paul Simon poster would have originally been handmade - however, I decided to bring this aesthetic into the modern age and constructed it digitally. The feminine figure does not have that characteristic flat form, but is drawn using digital tools. Meanwhile, the floral patterns are more flat and less detailed than those in the first poster. At first glance, the bordering patterns appear to be floral, but these flowers are in fact simplified forms of viral particles of SARS-CoV-2, and the vines take a structure mimicking that of DNA. The double-sighted figure and bright colors - especially green on pink - make this a difficult piece to focus your attention on; it seems to shift and wiggle the longer you stare. 

    This project is particularly connected to the first four pages of this week's reading. The first work discussed, "Dozens of Eggs," is made up of multiple semiotic modes of representation. In the second poster, I use indexical signs like the covid symbols to point to the broader topic. The aesthetic of these two posters are a symbol, relying on shared cultural understanding in light of their contemporary context. This reading discussed many works involving "formstorming," which allows an artist to dig into an idea through multiple products and ultimately collecting them into a larger work. I set out to do the same in this context - however, I did not give myself enough time to work on more than two items. If I could go back a week, I'd have done this as a "Daily," creating one each day to further explore this concept and collecting them at the end of the week.