License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Inflatable Giant Syringe

Objective:

Pressure the university to sign the open covid pledge

The Project:

A giant inflatable syringe was installed on the grounds of Melbourne University

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Make one

What worked?

It made us aware of the impact of a novel, physical object in a public space.

About this project
Creators:
  • Tessa Marshall
  • Greg Giannis

July, 2020

Installation/Intervention

Australia, Melbourne

5 x 1 x 1 m

Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Download Original/High-Resolution File: GiantSyringeInstructions.pdf

Other Notes:

Australia has many ‘giant’ objects (Giant Prawn, Giant Pineapple etc) in prime tourist locations and this study of the vernacular led to the idea of the giant syringe.

    A set of instructions exists on how to make this work

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

Look at the available resources and get an idea of how you will approach the making of the inflatable. Experiment with a smaller prototype to get a feel for the materials and process, and to help decide how to proceed. Have fun!!!

Stick Me.

Description:

The Stick Me. sticker is for people to stick on each other, like playing tag. If stuck with a sticker, they have to come to the table to find out why. Once someone is ‘stuck’ and find out about signing on to the Open Covid Pledge as an individual they will ideally sign it, get a sticker that says ‘I stuck it to _______’ and fill in the blank and add to a poster to visually represent those that have signed the Open Covid Pledge. The last step is a selfie prop where they can fill the university or org they stuck it to and share on social media and tag the university and others to encourage them to sign on. They can take some ‘stick me for free’ stickers to put around different places to encourage people to go to the website and see what it’s all about.

Objective:

This could be for a physical action, a series of stickers and posters that encourage people to interact with each other. Great for a tabling event.

About this project
Creators:
  • Stacy Early

July, 2020

Image/graphic, Installation/Intervention, Print

United States, Memphis

Varies

Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Download Original/High-Resolution File:

What worked?

Ideally the success of this would be people having fun, being included, and feeling like they have the power to make a difference by signing the pledge.

Other Notes:

This work had input from the Free the Vaccine for COVID-19 group in general, and C4AA for their inspirational how to get people to act videos!

Reflections from Stacy Early

What was the process/journey of creating this work?

This one took me a little bit to get to. I had tried another interactive piece, but was a bit too involved. After stepping back, watching the C4AA videos, this just kind of came to me. Being able to bounce ideas off others in the group helped, hearing what was needed and wanted allowed me to think more creatively, I wasn’t thinking about this just for me.

Interpretive Statement

User Instructions

Print it and use it! 

Make a version for social media.

Free the Vaccine article in the Columbia Political Review

Objective:

Broaden the reach of Free the Vaccine and its Columbia action and get members of the Columbia community to support it by signing the Open Covid Pledge.

The Project:

An article about Free the Vaccine, the need for its work, and specific activism focused on Columbia University in the City of New York.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Write an essay for a local publication.

What worked?

The Columbia Political Review was very excited to publish an article on this topic and alert its readers to critical medicine access and equity issues around COVID-19. The author was likewise excited to learn about the many intricacies of the issues, write about them, and share the article with her Columbia network and her networks at large.

About this project
Creators:

July, 2020

Writing

United States, New York

2,100 words

Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Link to Original or High-Res file

Other Notes:

  • The work can be reproduced on site with instructions (provided)

Links:

Reflections from Rachel Gita Karp

What was the process/journey of creating this work?

I knew very little about medicine access and equity issues before joining Free the Vaccine. Weekly FTV meetings gave me a strong initial understanding, but I spent weeks researching a ton more before I felt like I could be any kind of authority and write about the problems that have and will arise around COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics. It was challenging to learn so much about something so new, but I’m very grateful to have gained this understanding and to continue to share it beyond this article.

What were some of the responses to this work?

I posted about the article on my social media and had lots of people from college respond in support of it. Even people I hadn’t had much interaction with since graduating (a decade ago) liked it or commented on it. As reaching the Columbia community was the goal, that felt like a huge success.

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?

A few ideas: Following up with each and every person I know who went to Columbia and making them read the article and sign the Open Covid Pledge. Hosting a panel or panel series at Columbia in which some of the people quoted in the article talk about the need for open licensing around COVID research and ensuring all testing, treatment, and vaccines are available to all and free at the point of delivery. Having all of these people send the article to Columbia administration and demand they sign the Open Covid Pledge.

Public Good (a free one can)

Objective:

Create a way for individuals to show their support for the Open Covid Pledge, build public support for the campaign.

The Project:

An image people can post on social media to encourage others to support the Open Covid Pledge. It underscores that COVID meds should be considered a public good.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Share it on social media. #FreeTheVaccine #PeoplesVaccine

Design it differently.

What worked?

The phrase “Public. Good.” makes an important, concise point about how we should be thinking about COVID tests, treatments, and vaccines.

About this project
Creators:
  • Laura Holzman
  • Fiona Davey
  • Rebecca Bray
  • Other Free The Vaccine contributors who gave feedback on the Salk Labs forum

July, 2020

Image/graphic, Online/web thing, Writing

United States, Indianapolis

variable

Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Download Original/High-Resolution File: PublicGood_AFreeOneCan_IG_pink-2.png

Other Notes:

  • Original files can be provided for exhibition

Reflections from Laura Holzman

What skills or perspectives did the collaborators bring to this?

This image came out of a big exchange of ideas in the DogOwl squad on the Salk Labs forum. I had been using the tag line “Public. Good.” for a poster, and Fiona was working with the rejoinder about how a vaccine alone can’t end the pandemic but a free one can. Rebecca put them together and added a syringe. We had a great exchange about how to make the syringe look beneficial, not scary, which informed the choice of colors here and the decision to use the syringe to underline the key phrase.

Cartoon – CureVac, Sign the Open COVID Pledge!

Objective:

Get CureVac to sign the Open COVID Pledge

The Project:

The cartoon targets CureVac (a German biotechnology company working on a COVID-19 vaccine) to sign the Open COVID Pledge. It depicts the problem of access to a COVID-19 vaccine and shows ShareVac (in place of CureVac) coming in as a superhero solving the problem of access with the Open COVID Pledge.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Share it on social media. #FreeTheVaccine #PeoplesVaccine

Make a version for your target.

 

What worked?

The cartoon depicts the problem well and is able to grab the attention of the viewer with its oddness of animations, voiceover and music.

About this project
Creators:
  • Caitlin Berrigan
  • Christina Meyer
  • Daphne Lenz
  • Sina Wahby

June, 2020

Online/web thing, Video

Germany, Berlin

45 seconds

Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Link to Original or High-Res file

Other Notes:

  • Original files can be provided for exhibition

Links:

Reflections from Katharina Wolfenstetter

What were some of the responses to this work?

People love it! Some people were confused at first, but the oddness of the cartoon has the power to draw people in.

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 would love to work on an English version of both cartoon and website. Additionally we would like to provide the cartoon as a template for other groups and other targets.

Will You Accept Our Dream?

Objective:

We mailed this to the office of a UCSD sleep researcher who has received substantial Covid-related funding and is very active on social media, hoping he would amplify our message.

The Project:

A deep blue sleep mask embroidered with the words “Sleeping well… a vaccine is free” sits on red felt inside a wooden box with a sliding lid. The lid is painted with the words “Will you accept our dream?”

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Make a version for your target.

Build a performance around it.

What worked?

We tailored this piece to this specific individual because he is a sleep researcher. It successfully taught us to consider our audience, although he did not respond.

About this project
Creators:

May, 2020

Fabric, Wood

United States, San Diego

3x5x7″

Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Other Notes:

Reflections from Zeph Fishlyn

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?

Our next steps are continuing to target researchers and making more sleep eye masks. If I had a million dollars, it would be easier to get more (fancier) material to quickly roll out many more masks for the researchers. If I had all the time in the world, I would continue working on making the sleep eye masks non-stop and hope to get a bunch of people on board in helping us create these awesome, soft bundles of self-care!

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

Teamwork makes the dream work! Feel free to take your time – homemade masks have an amazing feel to them and make it extremely personal for the researchers. Don’t be afraid to stalk your targets and create the masks specifically for them. Ask yourselves: what makes them unique and how can this mask reflect that? Research your targets and make sure to keep in touch with the targets throughout the process. We want them to be surprised and also for them to know we truly appreciate their work! We want the targets to rock those sleep eye masks and share our dream together.

Open Covid Comic – Patton Lab

Objective:

Invite an Indiana University researcher whose lab is working on a COVID vaccine for young children, to pledge to license his work via the Open Covid Pledge.

The Project:

A 1-page comic illustrating why one Indiana University researcher should license his lab’s work via the Open Covid Pledge. We emailed it to him with a note about how much we admire his work and a recommendation for how to print the image.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Make a version for your target.

What worked?

It didn’t generate a response from the researcher, but the project helped me build my image-making skills, and I learned a lot about the software I used to create it. I’d never made a visual narrative like this before!

About this project
Creators:

May, 2020

Image/graphic, Online/web thing, Writing

United States, Indianapolis

14 x 8.5 inches when printed

Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Other Notes:

  • Original files can be provided for exhibition

Reflections from Laura Holzman

What skills or perspectives did the collaborators bring to this?

I made this drawing mostly independently – but it was inspired directly by a comic that one of the other groups drafted to send to researchers at the Salk Institute. Theirs also started with the famous quote from Dr. Salk. I liked their idea so I made a new and expanded version, tailored for a different researcher.

High Visibility. Low Risk.

Objective:

Our larger objective was to get Indiana University to sign the Open Covid Pledge. With this image we wanted to initiate the conversation in a way that wouldn’t be overlooked as easily as a typical email might.

The Project:

This is a screen shot of a section of an email that we sent to leaders at Indiana University. First we designed images of hand-decorated facemasks that connected the Open Covid Pledge to IU values. We then photoshopped them onto the headshots of IU leaders we were emailing about the Open Covid Pledge. We paired the image with text that highlighted how IU had already embraced open licensing in the fight against COVID-19. We emphasized that for IU, signing the Open Covid Pledge would be “High Visibility, Low Risk.” The email included relevant hyperlinks and a brief introductory message.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Make a version for your target.

What worked?

These messages combined images and language that we’d been exploring in other contexts – here it really came together cohesively. Also, everyone we sent these images to responded to us (although these images might not be why that happened).

About this project
Creators:

May, 2020

Image/graphic, Online/web thing, Writing

United States, Indianapolis

variable

Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Other Notes:

Reflections from Laura Holzman

What was the process/journey of creating this work?

We initially wanted to do something that had a personal touch. We also wanted to connect signing the Open Covid Pledge to IU’s values and to celebrate a way that the university had already contributed to the open sharing of information related to the pandemic. An IU professor had designed an origami face mask and freely shared the pattern. We’d identified key IU values for a previous project, and we thought it might work well to put those values and a mention of the Open Covid Pledge on one of the origami masks.

It wasn’t feasible to send hand-painted face masks, so we came up with a digital alternative. Megan is a painter, so she made an image of the embellished masks. We considered just sending an image of the mask but decided instead to photoshop it onto the headshot of the person we were sending it to. That extra step made it more personal – and it’s hard to ignore a picture of your own face. By doing this we ended up making an image that envisioned the outcome we wanted – leaders at IU supporting the Open Covid Pledge.

We paired the image with some carefully written text – language that we hoped would be short enough that someone would read it, and language that made a clear case for why IU should adopt the Open Covid Pledge.

Another important factor here is that I’m a professor at IU – I sent the emails from my university address with a personalized note that explained that this was related to my scholarship. Even though this email didn’t make anyone immediately sign the pledge, we think it put the issue on a number of people’s radars and helped open up a conversation.