Over the last 12-18 months, the world has wit­nessed the bru­tal impact of the COVID-19 pan­demic com­pounded by sys­temic racism as it pro­lif­er­ated across the US, threat­en­ing to sti­fle its vibrant and diverse soci­ety. Stu­dents and youth in the US and glob­ally have been at the fore­front of social change devis­ing mod­els of inclu­sion and care for those deeply impacted by the pan­demic and racial and envi­ron­men­tal inequities.
Stamps Gallery invited stu­dents at the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design to design posters and make videos that respond to the prompt: what change would you like to see in your community? Stamps students created meaningful posters and video work that will be featured in Respond/​Resist/​Rethink 2021: A Stu­dent Poster & Video Exhi­bi­tion.
Why posters & video?
For gen­er­a­tions, posters have served as an effec­tive tool to cir­cu­late ideas and mes­sages to the pub­lic. Visu­ally strik­ing, and designed to draw atten­tion from passersby, posters can be con­ver­sa­tion starters, invite peo­ple to pause, reflect, spread the word, get involved. They have been a pow­er­ful medium for many con­cep­tual artists and graphic design­ers to cre­ate pow­er­ful images and mes­sages that could respond to imme­di­ate issues and be dis­trib­uted widely.
Sim­i­larly, video art was another excit­ing imme­di­ate medium for con­cep­tual artists in the 1960s and 1970s as the tech­nol­ogy became more acces­si­ble to the masses. Video art pro­vided an alter­na­tive to the dom­i­nant broad­cast­ing cor­po­ra­tions. Artists made exper­i­men­tal films, recorded per­for­mances, and first-per­son nar­ra­tives that were then exhib­ited and screened at gal­leries, muse­ums, and events. Posters and videos con­tinue to be salient fea­tures in the 21st Cen­tury to respond to urgent issues and ques­tions fac­ing the present moment.
Respond / Resist / Rethink asks the UM com­mu­nity to come together to envi­sion mod­els for inclu­sion that are grounded in equal­ity, belong­ing, and empathy. The work featured in the exhibition were selected through an open call by a com­mit­tee comprising Stamps fac­ulty, stu­dents, and staff includ­ing Julianna Lew, David Chung, Najwat Rehman, Albert Che, and Stamps Gallery staff.