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The Thoughts of Shepard Fairey
Frank Shepard Fairey (born February 15, 1970 in Charleston, South Carolina)
is a contemporary graphic designer. He is most noted for being the artist who,
while attending the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1989, created the
"André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign, which has evolved into the
"Obey Giant" campaign, and can now be seen all over the world. The campaign
has become, in Fairey's words, an "experiment in phenomenology."
Fairey has cultivated an aesthetic of Western currency, using moire patterns and
large portraits of famous figures like Richard Nixon. A series of works contains
the line, "This is your God," referring to money. Fairey frequently uses
wheatpaste to affix his large, propaganda-like posters to billboards, and his
followers do the same to buildings.
Fairey graduated from Wando High School in 1988. He graduated from RISD in
1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration, and currently resides in Los Angeles,
California. Using the slogan "The Medium is the Message" borrowed from
Marshall McLuhan, Fairey has become one of the most well-known artists of the
early 2000s. Originally partners in the BLK/MKRT graphic design firm with fellow
designer and artist Dave Kinsey, Fairey split away in 2003 to found the design
firm Studio Number One.
In 2004, Fairey joined artists Robbie Conal and Mear One to create a series of
"anti-war, anti- Bush" posters for a street art campaign called "Be the Revolution"
for the art collective Post Gen. 2005 saw Fairey and DJ Shadow collaborating on
a box set. It included t-shirts, stickers, prints, and a mix CD by Shadow. In 2005
he also was a resident artist at Honolulu's The Contemporary Museum, as well as
designing the poster art for the feature film Walk the Line In 2006, Fairey
contributed eight vinyl etchings to a limited-edition series of 12" singles by
alternative rock icons Mission of Burma, and has also produced work for Interpol
and the Black Eyed Peas.
Wikipedia
is a contemporary graphic designer. He is most noted for being the artist who,
while attending the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1989, created the
"André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign, which has evolved into the
"Obey Giant" campaign, and can now be seen all over the world. The campaign
has become, in Fairey's words, an "experiment in phenomenology."
Fairey has cultivated an aesthetic of Western currency, using moire patterns and
large portraits of famous figures like Richard Nixon. A series of works contains
the line, "This is your God," referring to money. Fairey frequently uses
wheatpaste to affix his large, propaganda-like posters to billboards, and his
followers do the same to buildings.
Fairey graduated from Wando High School in 1988. He graduated from RISD in
1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration, and currently resides in Los Angeles,
California. Using the slogan "The Medium is the Message" borrowed from
Marshall McLuhan, Fairey has become one of the most well-known artists of the
early 2000s. Originally partners in the BLK/MKRT graphic design firm with fellow
designer and artist Dave Kinsey, Fairey split away in 2003 to found the design
firm Studio Number One.
In 2004, Fairey joined artists Robbie Conal and Mear One to create a series of
"anti-war, anti- Bush" posters for a street art campaign called "Be the Revolution"
for the art collective Post Gen. 2005 saw Fairey and DJ Shadow collaborating on
a box set. It included t-shirts, stickers, prints, and a mix CD by Shadow. In 2005
he also was a resident artist at Honolulu's The Contemporary Museum, as well as
designing the poster art for the feature film Walk the Line In 2006, Fairey
contributed eight vinyl etchings to a limited-edition series of 12" singles by
alternative rock icons Mission of Burma, and has also produced work for Interpol
and the Black Eyed Peas.
Wikipedia
| "When something is illegally placed in the public right-of-way the very act itself makes it political. My hope was that in questioning what Obey Giant was about, the viewer would then begin to question all the images they were confronted with." |
Written by Steven Heller
Published on June 4, 2004.
Filed in Voice: Journal of Design.
Before Shepard Fairey revived Andre the Giant's image, he was just a has-
been wrestler, but fifteen years ago his scowling face became the symbol of
youthful defiance. Against what, you ask? Doubtless against everything the
previous generation held dear. Today he’s a brand – a trademark of
alienation – that has been copied by marketers, yet he is also the
figurehead of street-artists and culture-jammers around the world. In this
interview Fairey discusses why the image has resonance and what it says
about the culture.
Heller: It has been fifteen years since Obey The Giant hit the radar screens
and catapulted you into both design notoriety and entrepreneurial activity.
Could you have imagined its impact when you began?
Fairey: In 1989 when I first began the Obey Giant campaign, which was
originally just a sticker that said "Andre the Giant has a Posse", I thought it
would only be a few weeks of mischief. At first I was only thinking about the
response from my clique of art school and skateboard friends. The fact that
a larger segment of the public would not only notice, but investigate, the
unexplained appearance of the stickers was something I had not
contemplated. When I started to see reactions and consider the sociological
forces at work surrounding the use of public space and the insertion of a
very eye-catching but ambiguous image, I began to think there was the
potential to create a phenomenon. At the time I thought about all this in
purely hypothetical terms because I did not think I had the resources to
create the kind of image saturation it would require to make it a reality
anywhere other than Providence, Rhode Island. I became obsessed with
the idea of spreading the image further and was surprised by how many
people were willing to spread the stickers to other cities based on the
template established in Providence or an explanation of the concept. I think
a lot of people liked the idea of "fucking with the program" in a society
dominated by corporate imagery. The stickers were a rebellious wrench in
the spokes, a disruption of the semiotics of consumption. Eventually, five
years or so in, the stickers spread enough for national media to notice. I
considered the coup successful at that point. Now that I make posters and t-
shirts that are for sale some people consider the entire project invalidated. I
don't think a lot of people consider that it costs a lot of money to produce
posters and stickers that are sacrificed to the street.
Heller: Obviously, RISD, where you went to art school, was a heady place
and doubtless influenced your version of culture-jamming, But were you
politically motivated when you started producing "Obey?" Did you believe
this would have political resonance?
Fairey: Actually, I did not look at Obey Giant as political at all at first. In
college I had been producing some work based on the concepts of abuse of
authority, racism, and first amendment rights. Though these works were
cathartic, I realized the actual result was limited to me achieving greater
status in the liberal club I was already a member of. I saw the political angle
for Obey Giant as "the medium is the message". When something is illegally
placed in the public right-of-way the very act itself makes it political. My
hope was that in questioning what Obey Giant was about, the viewer would
then begin to question all the images they were confronted with. I was very
hesitant to make any literal political statements with my images because I
felt the mystery of the project elicited a variety of honest reactions that were
a reflection of the viewers’ personality in the same spirit as a Rorschach
test. I also did and do not feel I have all the answers... though I do have
opinions. I want people to question everything.
Published on June 4, 2004.
Filed in Voice: Journal of Design.
Before Shepard Fairey revived Andre the Giant's image, he was just a has-
been wrestler, but fifteen years ago his scowling face became the symbol of
youthful defiance. Against what, you ask? Doubtless against everything the
previous generation held dear. Today he’s a brand – a trademark of
alienation – that has been copied by marketers, yet he is also the
figurehead of street-artists and culture-jammers around the world. In this
interview Fairey discusses why the image has resonance and what it says
about the culture.
Heller: It has been fifteen years since Obey The Giant hit the radar screens
and catapulted you into both design notoriety and entrepreneurial activity.
Could you have imagined its impact when you began?
Fairey: In 1989 when I first began the Obey Giant campaign, which was
originally just a sticker that said "Andre the Giant has a Posse", I thought it
would only be a few weeks of mischief. At first I was only thinking about the
response from my clique of art school and skateboard friends. The fact that
a larger segment of the public would not only notice, but investigate, the
unexplained appearance of the stickers was something I had not
contemplated. When I started to see reactions and consider the sociological
forces at work surrounding the use of public space and the insertion of a
very eye-catching but ambiguous image, I began to think there was the
potential to create a phenomenon. At the time I thought about all this in
purely hypothetical terms because I did not think I had the resources to
create the kind of image saturation it would require to make it a reality
anywhere other than Providence, Rhode Island. I became obsessed with
the idea of spreading the image further and was surprised by how many
people were willing to spread the stickers to other cities based on the
template established in Providence or an explanation of the concept. I think
a lot of people liked the idea of "fucking with the program" in a society
dominated by corporate imagery. The stickers were a rebellious wrench in
the spokes, a disruption of the semiotics of consumption. Eventually, five
years or so in, the stickers spread enough for national media to notice. I
considered the coup successful at that point. Now that I make posters and t-
shirts that are for sale some people consider the entire project invalidated. I
don't think a lot of people consider that it costs a lot of money to produce
posters and stickers that are sacrificed to the street.
Heller: Obviously, RISD, where you went to art school, was a heady place
and doubtless influenced your version of culture-jamming, But were you
politically motivated when you started producing "Obey?" Did you believe
this would have political resonance?
Fairey: Actually, I did not look at Obey Giant as political at all at first. In
college I had been producing some work based on the concepts of abuse of
authority, racism, and first amendment rights. Though these works were
cathartic, I realized the actual result was limited to me achieving greater
status in the liberal club I was already a member of. I saw the political angle
for Obey Giant as "the medium is the message". When something is illegally
placed in the public right-of-way the very act itself makes it political. My
hope was that in questioning what Obey Giant was about, the viewer would
then begin to question all the images they were confronted with. I was very
hesitant to make any literal political statements with my images because I
felt the mystery of the project elicited a variety of honest reactions that were
a reflection of the viewers’ personality in the same spirit as a Rorschach
test. I also did and do not feel I have all the answers... though I do have
opinions. I want people to question everything.
In a series of 3 Interviews, Perry Farrell interviews Propaganda Street
Artist Shepard Fairey, which is the latest 4 and ½ star-hype on YouTube.
Interview 1 shows Perry stoked on talking to Shepard, then randomly
looking around the office while Shepard explains to the camera the birth of
the Andre the Giant Campaign and the irony of Mexican street wrestling.
