Exhibition Possibility: Original files can be provided for exhibition

Covid Conversations

Objective:

Our greater objective was to get NYU to sign the Open Covid Pledge. We identified a target at NYU and thought including something creative in an email to her would make it more likely for her to engage with the email and respond to us.

The Project:

Improv conversations with COVID-19. In particular: a concerned person wanted COVID-19 to go away, so she talked to someone at a university that was doing COVID-19 research, asking them to open up their licensing so that the pandemic would end sooner. The university rep called their big pharma contact and both were skeptical. But then the Plague Doctor appeared and convinced everyone to agree to the Open Covid Pledge.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Make one!

What worked?

It worked! We included an image from our action in our email to our target and she wrote back right away saying she would be happy to meet with us.

Other Notes:

We knew from research that our target had a background in more creative ways of achieving major health aims.

    Original files can be provided for exhibition

Links:

Reflections from Rachel Karp

What would be your next steps, building on this idea, if you had a million dollars and all the time and skills in the world?

We were most taken with the image of talking to COVID-19 and think this could build into a social media campaign of people talking to COVID about how universities/pharmaceutical corporations/health organizations/government entities can make COVID go away–in a way that is safe, equitable, and accessible to all.

If someone else were going to make/use/do something like this, what advice would you give them?

Things we found that were useful: the person playing COVID-19 changing their profile picture to COVID-19 and turning their camera off, Zoom backgrounds for as many other participants as possible, simple costumes, having an overall outline of what we would say, and trying to move through that outline pretty quickly (because otherwise the improv can get really bogged down). We wanted to make something short–maybe 60 seconds–but we never got it below about 3 minutes. Also, we learned after the fact that using the Zoom recording function doesn’t work because it doesn’t capture the profile image of someone with their camera off, so record through e.g. QuickTime or something that can capture a screen to make sure you get the key image of COVID-19 talking!

About this project
Creators:

October, 2020

Image/graphic, Online/web thing, Performance, Video

United States, Brooklyn

2298 x 1349

Public Domain

Download Original/High-Resolution File: Hawks-Action.png

Dr. Salk’s Ghost Returns to Free the Vaccine

Objective:

1) Create irresistible imagery for a media campaign to work towards our larger goal of having the University of Pittsburgh to Sign the Open Covid Pledge. 2) Raise awareness about Dr. Salk’s connection to vaccine research and open Intellectual property to the greater public. 3) Create a fun and timely halloween-centered work of creative activism

The Project:

Invoking the ghost of vaccine researcher Dr. Jonas Salk, we created humorous gravestones that echo his perspective about vaccine patents when asked about the polio vaccine he developed in Pittsburgh – “could you patent the sun?” Then we dressed up as Dr.Salk and distributed these gravestones (with linked QR codes to learn more) all over The University of Pittsburgh campus where current COVID-19 vaccine research is being done to encourage the same openness and support for a peoples vaccine that is the university’s legacy.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Share it on social media. #FreeTheVaccine #PeoplesVaccine

Channel the Ghost of Salk in your community.

 

What worked?

The creative community process! As a lab, the Juncos worked across different cities with different backgrounds to make this happen. Once we did this action we were empowered to keep going and this led to many more actions and activities in our efforts to get the University of Pittsburgh to sign the Open Covid Pledge.

About this project
Creators:

October, 2020

Image/graphic, Installation/Intervention, Online/web thing, Performance

United States, Pittsburgh

various

Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Link to Original or High-Res file

    A set of instructions exists on how to make this work
  • An original object can be provided for exhibition
  • Original files can be provided for exhibition
  • The work can be reproduced on site with instructions (provided)

Reflections from Joseph Amodei

What were some of the responses to this work?

People were really excited about the halloween timeliness of this work! It even spurred collaboration with another lab across the country (where Salk’s actual gravesite is) and resulted in more exciting imagery and proliferation of this people’s vaccine ethos.

What would be your next steps, building on this idea, if you had a million dollars and all the time and skills in the world?

If there is no people’s vaccine next year (as in no promise to share the IP and the manufacturing technology of current vaccines with the rest of the world for free), then I would make the scale of this 1000x this first iteration to really draw attention to the harm that vaccine profiteering causes to the wider world outside of the USA and other wealthy (via extracted labor and colonialism) countries. In short, to continue to summon and make proud the spirit of Dr.Salk.

I Got The People’s Vaccine

Objective:

Pressure McGill University to sign the Open Covid Pledge

The Project:

We designed this as an update to our initial Free The Vaccine Tattoo idea (linked below).

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Paste it onto a selfie and share on social media. #FreeTheVaccine #PeoplesVaccine

Turn it into a temporary tattoo.

Make it a snapchat filter.

What worked?

It can become a cheap, easily reproducible, physical object!

About this project
Creators:
  • Olivia Bonardi

October, 2020

Image/graphic

Canada, Montreal

1,500 x1,500 pixels

Public Domain

Download Original/High-Resolution File: I-got-the-peoples-vaccine.png

    Original files can be provided for exhibition

Links:

Free the Vaccine: Unchained

Objective:

To create a sticker that represents the Free the Vaccine movement so the word can be spread out (by students and such)

The Project:

The image brings to life what the Free the Vaccine campaign stands for, metaphorically. We envision a world where the vaccine is “unchained” and “free” from barriers so individuals all across the world are able to obtain it, without worrying about cost and accessibility.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Print it and stick it.

Make it specific to your target.

What worked?

The design is simple, yet to the point and gets across the mission of the campaign pretty effectively. It also makes for a cute sticker, should anyone choose to walk around with it on their personal items!

About this project
Creators:

October, 2020

Image/graphic, Online/web thing

United States, New York

1080 x 1080 pixels

Public Domain

Download Original/High-Resolution File: Free-the-Vaccine-1-1.jpg

    Original files can be provided for exhibition

Reflections from Eshita Garg

Big Heart

Objective:

The objective was to appeal to the University of Queensland to sign the Open Covid Pledge.

The Project:

Big heart was a stop motion animation made to represent the information that 13% of the world’s population has already pre-purchased over half of the world’s supply of promised covid vaccines and also that as public funding goes into research of the vaccine, we as citizens have a right to have a voice. This information was packaged up to appeal to The University of Queensland who we were targeting in our objectives.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Share it on social media. #FreeTheVaccine #PeoplesVaccine

Make it specific to your community.

What worked?

I think the work found a playful way to represent the ‘of the moment’ statistical information. It attempted to appeal to the sense of ‘doing the moral/right thing’ for the University.

About this project
Creators:
  • Tessa Marshall
  • Greg Giannis
  • zan griffith

October, 2020

Video

Australia, Melbourne

one minute

Public Domain

Link to Original or High-Res file

Other Notes:


This work was an extension of an idea from season one. In season one Tessa and Greg created a giant syringe playing on the idea of Australia’s love of big things.

    Original files can be provided for exhibition

Reflections from zan griffith

What was the process/journey of creating this work?

This work was playing on the idea of Australia’s love of big tourist icons. In season one a big syringe was built with this in mind. Stop motion was a useful way to reach an audience when you are in lockdown in Melbourne.

What skills or perspectives did the collaborators bring to this?

Tessa creates a podcast each week where she highlights the most relevant and up to date covid vaccine information. This was where i learnt the statistic i represented. Greg had compiled information that related to the Australian situation which highlighted that over $4 billion was used for covid vaccine development. I had done a few stop motions before and love to tell a story in short grabs.

What were some of the responses to this work?

It was posted on instagram and a few comments suggested that it was useful information. We never heard back from the University of Queensland who we sent emails to with the animation.

What would be your next steps, building on this idea, if you had a million dollars and all the time and skills in the world?

I love the idea of having a stop motion takeover day on social websites where all the participants of free the vaccine have a go at a stop motion with a free the vaccine message and we flood socials. i imagine some of the most successful stop motions would come from those who had never done one before.

If someone else were going to make/use/do something like this, what advice would you give them?

Have fun with it and treat it like an experiment.

D.C. Funk Rally

Objective:

To educate the public and advocate for a People’s Vaccine.

The Project:

A rally to mourn loss, celebrate life, and encourage our institutions to do better and provide a People’s Vaccine.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Make it specific to your community.

Organize one where you live.

What worked?

Images from the Funk Rally made it into national and international news.

Other Notes:

We started with a New Orleans Jazz-style funeral to mourn the overwhelming loss of life and then transitioned to a festive rally inspired by DC-based Go-Go music and 1970s fashion.

    Original files can be provided for exhibition

Links:

Reflections from Tayyiaba Farooq

What was the process/journey of creating this work?

The Funk Rally came out a need to represent the grim seriousness of the campaign and Trump’s failure are president to adequately combat the pandemic while also painting a picture of hope for the future. At first organizers had wanted to keep the tone very serious and somber, but together with other ally organizations we can up with theming of Funk and imagery from the 70s. The rally was also adapted from a traditional New Orleans Jazz Funeral where they do not only mourn the end, but celebrate the very concept of life. The inspiration of this went in to the color of parade decorations, the lab coats with flowers and inspirational quotes, as well as the displaying local music culture. Altogether we were able to create something that was full of life and solidarity for our community. The approach we had taken to demanding action on ending the pandemic and ensuring an accessible vaccine was unique to our rally and was derived from the principles of creative activism. This out of the box approach had really gotten the attention of people that would have not otherwise cared. It was a great example of ally organizations coming together to make something positive, and from my perspective really launched the idea of vaccine accessibility at the University of Maryland.

What were some of the responses to this work?

People were able to dance in the street, create a beautiful mural at the end, and receive positive attention from onlookers and those who featured us in the press. The imagery produced from the campaign is still being used, and just goes to show the impact this one event has had on the campaign at large.

About this project
Creators:
  • Free the Vaccine for Covid-19

October, 2020

Image/graphic, Performance

United States, Washington

Varies

Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Link to Original or High-Res file

PAID!

A social media post to show your tax dollars have already paid to create COVID related medicines and vaccines, why pay again?

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Share it on social media. #FreeTheVaccine #PeoplesVaccine

Print it and post it.

Build a mail campaign around it.

Objective:

To make people aware that their tax dollars were used for COVID related research. The tax day dates were used on the ‘bill’ to reflect when we have paid.

About this project
Creators:
  • Stacy Early

July, 2020

Image/graphic

United States, Memphis

Facebook Post size

Creative Commons BY-NC

Download Original/High-Resolution File: PAID.png



What worked?

I think that it’s direct in saying by paying for something with our taxes we shouldn’t have to pay an inflated price for the finished product later. And that since we all pay taxes, we all should have access to the medicines and vaccines.

Other Notes:

  • Original files can be provided for exhibition

Reflections from Stacy Early

What was the process/journey of creating this work?

Hearing from the Free the Vaccine leadership group that our tax dollars are paying for COVID related research, then having our tax day delated due to COVID was the inspiration for this.

What would be your next steps, building on this idea, if you had a million dollars and all the time and skills in the world?

It would be fun to send this to every person that paid taxes as a type of voucher for them to send to the big pharma companies to claim their ‘free’ vaccine.

Carnival March for a People’s Vaccine

Objective:

We’re asking the target universities to sign the Open Covid Pledge, to stop drug companies profiteering with publicly funded research. In the UK people are used to free healthcare, and unused to thinking about the injustice of health inequalities and the malign role of drug companies. Consequently the universities feel limited pressure. This action was a show of strength from the campaign, to increase pressure on the universities, as well as a public awareness raising effort, through the street presence to a limited extent, but mostly through the social and traditional media interest we generated.

The Project:

Activists in giant Covid-19 masks joined syringe wielding students in lab coats, beside neon pink dancing protestors, to call on London’s universities to pledge to make their healthcare research on Covid-19 available to the world. The Carnival March for a People’s Vaccine took place on July 27, 2020, from Kings College London (Guy’s Campus) to University College London, asking the universities to sign the Open Covid Pledge, to stop drug companies profiteering with publicly funded research.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Organize one in your community.

Make it even bigger.

What worked?

The costumes! Despite a gray day in London, you couldn’t miss us in our neon pink and giant covid head costumes. There were lots of banners, and placards, and QR codes so that passers by and social media viewers could understand the action clearly.

About this project
Creators:

July, 2020

Installation/Intervention, Performance, Video

United Kingdom, London

1’40”

Public Domain

Link to Original or High-Res file

Other Notes:

It was a great collaboration between Free the Vaccine volunteers and volunteers from Universities Allied for Essential Medicines UK, Just Treatment, Stop AIDs, Act Up UK, and other access to healthcare activists.

    A set of instructions exists on how to make this work
  • An original object can be provided for exhibition
  • Original files can be provided for exhibition

Links:

157 registers:

Reflections from Rachel Reid

What was the process/journey of creating this work?

Lots of collaborative planning meetings interspersed with lots of glue and paint, following by lots of dancing and lots of walking!

What skills or perspectives did the collaborators bring to this?

We benefited from some deep experience in the group, from the activists who thought to consult lawyers about our rights before the action, to people with wide media and communications experience, to artists.

What were some of the responses to this work?

For the giant covid head wearers it varied from Londoner indifference to laughter to lots of pictures. Generally people who approached us were sympathetic and interested.

If someone else were going to make/use/do something like this, what advice would you give them?

Have a sub-group working on communications, including traditional, not just social. There was lots still to do at the last minute (as ever!)

A Covid-19 Vaccine Won’t Save The World.

Objective:

This images were the result of dynamic feedback from the DogOwl Lab, and combining of messages as well as the imagery of the globe, to create a new poster series for the public space.

The Project:

Various (three) panoramic, striking pictures of the globe taken from space, with the message in front in two parts:
“A COVID-19 Vaccine Won’t Save the World.” And then,
“Only A Free One Can Do That.”

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Print it and post it.

Design it differently.

What worked?

The image was reused and adapted in several other contexts.

About this project
Creators:

July, 2020

Image/graphic

United Kingdom, Cambridge

A3 size

Creative Commons BY-NC

Link to Original or High-Res file

Other Notes:

NB — this work can be reproduced on site by printing on any material that seems appropriate to the curator!

  • Original files can be provided for exhibition
  • The work can be reproduced on site with instructions (provided)

Links:

  • N/A

Reflections from Sofia Weiss Goitiandia

What skills or perspectives did the collaborators bring to this?

The DogOwl Lab was super helpful. We kind of got on a role with combining messages and different imagery. These images were borne out of that.

University of Washington social media images

Objective:

To make graphics that use the universities styles, fonts, colors to be shared on social media and via emails and used to put pressure on university decisionmakers to sign the Open COVID Pledge.

The Project:

A series of graphics intended for social media and emails that ask students, alumni, and faculty to put pressure on university decisionmakers to sign the Open COVID Pledge.

Coming Soon

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Make a version for your target.

What worked?

We sent emails to decision makers with the future social media post, and the TTO office responded, still waiting to hear their response to our AUTM email reply.

About this project
Creators:

July, 2020

Image/graphic

United States, Seattle

various social media sizes

Link to Original or High-Res file

Other Notes:

  • Original files can be provided for exhibition

Reflections from Eric Olson