Protest-Sign Making Workshop
Since the fall of 2016, precisely since the 45th U.S. President got elected, I’ve been organizing Protest-Sign Making Workshop as often as possible, in a wide range of venues.
I made a pledge to ‘making art and participate in activism with warm heart–to bring justice and equity to everyday life.’ I had to act fast. I had experiences of grassroots organizing and alternative education as a form of activism. However, the workshops became a chance to experiment with new kinds of organizing for me.
I organized workshops in Los Angeles Contemporary Archives, LA, Avant.org at Prime Produce, NYC, MOOG Festival, Durham, North Carolina.
The protest signs travelled far, such as this sign “Solidarity begins by unlearning the walls” which travelled to the Women’s March in Washington D.C.
Recently, I was invited by Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, Seoul, Korea to organize Protest-Sign Making Workshop in a symposium about art and education.
In my workshops, I ask participants to iterate four designs. After discussing each message and design, participants make one final design. You can follow the steps outlined in this posting .This curriculum was inspired by, and borrowed from my friend Sarah Sandman who also makes incredible protest signs.
Why do this? because today, more than ever, it’s important for us to stand behind our words.
We need to be accountable for our words ,
in order to demand accountability from the people in power.
I know protest works because in South Korea, the people’s continued protest against corrupt President and corporations eventually brought down the power. At one point, it felt impossible to question the president and the mega-corporations like Samsung. However the candlelight vigil (which continued for roughly five months in blazing cold) brought down the giants.
Nothing is impossible, the current president of the U.S. (I refuse to name him in an act of poetic dissent) and the incumbent government can be brought to dismantle, Making America value justice again.
Why is this important? There are unfathomable tragedies happening in the U.S. and abroad, the kinds of hatred that should not be normalized, the kinds of selfish malice that can not be reluctantly ignored, and the lack of responsibility that’s penetrating our daily lives.
As a minority, person of color, I’ve witnessed and endured fair share of humiliation. I’m well aware — the kinds of hostility I feel is no where near the immediate threats that my black, brown, Muslim friends experience. I’m only speaking for myself, as an Asian American man in a relatively comfortable situation living in a relatively liberal community in New York City. However, I remember what it feels like to be alienated beyond words, to be under-appreciated and to be ignored. The years of living in the Midwest, and suburbs in different places, taught me. To this day, every time someone makes fun of me, push me in the street (This happens surprisingly frequently) or I’m disrespected in professional environment, the memories flood me, immediately and effectively.
Racism is real, white supremacy is real. This toxic malaise extends beyond national borders, austerity spreads like a leaking oil. So, we have no choice but to make our protest real, outside of the Internet, to the streets, workplaces and homes.
We don’t need to agree on all the messages. We don’t need to stand on the same side. However, it’s urgent we put our ideas into words, stand behind the words, convene and converse, to preserve the basic human dignity for ourselves, each other and the environment that we habituate in.
Sometimes workshops erupt uncomfortable moments of confrontation. I made the sign “Fight White Supremacy” in Durham, N.C. and some participants got defensive and expressed discomfort in acknowledging the white supremacy. They expressed their guilt in being white and yet felt unfairly criticized. They said “This is, after all, the South.” On the other hand, some folks like this volunteer, felt that such confrontation was necessary, energizing moment of realization. After all, protest is uncomfortable and that’s why we do it.
We need to protest, occupy, intervene, subvert, take over and recode/rewire/reinterpret the spaces around us. This can happen in homes, work places, schools, music festivals, galleries, tech accelerators, public spaces and nonspaces. Wherever you protest, the space becomes yours, temporarily but meaningfully. It’s important to bring protest to cultural venues, festivals and biennales, because art is powerless without societal context, music is just sound without audience, and text is just information without message. Culture outlives politics, Art outweighs policy.
This is not art about activism. This is not art for activism or activists. This is simply art as activism, and activism as art. To be clear, art and activism is different, but we may seek nearness between them.
In a few weeks, I’m organizing another workshop at Basilica SoundScape, a special music festival in Upstate New York. The festival is shining with progressive music curation including Jlin, Moor Mother, Zola Jesus, readings by Eileen Myles, Morgan Parker and more.
See you there if you can come. If not, please organize your own Protest-Sign Making Workshops in your town, city and other places. This kind of workshops are often as effective as protesting and marching in large groups. Some people can’t go to protest because of their legal status or different abilities. Some people don’t feel comfortable to go to protest, because they have different understanding of activism. For all those cases, Protest-Sign Making Workshops are great middle ground, a place for dialogue and learning.
Warmly,
Taeyoon
