Photo: Texas Public Radio, via the internet
The mother of all handmade protest signs— “War is not healthy for children and other living things,” by the printmaker Lorriane Schneider (1925–1972)—was not intended as a poster, but rather a card. It was subsequently blown up and became larger in many ways. As the apolitical expression adopted in 1971 by Another Mother For Peace, an activist organization founded in 1969 to lobby against the Vietnam War and advocate for the safety of their own kids, as well as Vietnamese children, it was ubiquitous at demonstrations. Although crudely or innocently rendered (depending on your personal aesthetics), it was a sedate yet poignant message during an era of angry, sarcastic and combative posters and signs.
I thought about Schneider’s modest statement this past weekend when homemade placards bloomed on a grey, rain-soaked New York afternoon as approximately four million people took to the streets nationwide, outraged by President Trump’s monarchical aspirations. Like at many past demonstrations, personal statements reigned rather than professionally produced posters (some of which you might have seen in this column last week), revealing deep feelings and beliefs beyond the need for prepackaged slogans and visuals.
But I have a confession: As inspired as many of the handmade signs were, and despite that the variety represented American values, I yearned for a more cohesive display. I wanted graphic, regimented uniformity, like a Soviet Mayday. Perhaps it is just one loose strand of my design DNA that demands some semblance of order in the world, but as I looked at the graphic remnants of this protest, I felt disappointment that the marchers’ voices might have been ill-served by such a cacophony of words and images.
I know disorder is natural, while order is imposed—and I also know as well as anyone that something like a Soviet Mayday describes exactly the staged procession that was performed in Washington DC, as hundreds of columns of stolid soldiers marched in lockstep past the reviewing stand where Donald Trump, framed by two Abrams tanks, crisply saluted the obedient troops before him.
In the end, I was wrong; it was awesome to realize the power in numbers and see the range of wit and raw emotion left on street corners, leaning on buildings and laying on the ground. While the MAGA king received mandatory respect from the people whose duty it is to uniformly salute him, four million others were freely gathering in peaceful ways, with individual DIY messages, marching to their own beats for a common cause.
Photos: Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller
The post The Daily Heller: How Effective Were This Past Weekend’s Handmade Signs? appeared first on PRINT Magazine.