![Bombs & Brushes [Online-Mini Exhibit]](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N2w0Rlxs6U0/SpZvEFHJSnI/AAAAAAAAAHI/svrkp038I1M/S1600-R/bombs+gif.gif)
Frank Shepard Fairey (America; 1970-Present)
Obey Giant (c.1993)
The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
Accompanying Song: I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight by U2
The Obey Giant sticker campaign was an “experiment in Phenomenology”, says creator Fiarey. Fiarey wanted to draw attention to propaganda and the public willingness to swallow it down. The introduction of the Obey pictures challenged viewers to think critically of themselves in relation to their surroundings. Furthermore, it emphasizes a message about the path of least resistance: to obey or not to obey ("Shepard Fairey--Agent of Change"). The mass production of these stickers has proliferated society with this concept. Stickers may be stuck to walls on city streets and stencils of the image have even been seen on buildings. Like David’s mass reproduction of The Army of Jugs, the multiple copies make it more accessible to the public, so much so that one cannot ignore it. Fiarey’s campaign for questioning obedience acts as a grass root movement that advocates engaged thinking and rejection of passivity.
