Objective:
Initially the limerick was an effort to get published during poetry month, but the zine was just an effort to keep creating
The Project:
a printable file to be shared, printed colored, and folded into a little zine.
STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:
Print it and share it.
Redesign it.
Write your own version.
What worked?
its really cute, and the limerik is memorable.
About this project
Creators:
- Kisha Patterson
- Chris Adams
July, 2020
United States, Pittsburgh
8 1/2 X 11
Download Original/High-Resolution File: free-the-vaccine.pdf
Other Notes:
- A set of instructions exists on how to make this work
- Original files can be provided for exhibition
- The work can be reproduced on site with instructions (provided)
Reflections from Kisha Patterson
What was the process/journey of creating this work?
it was very collaborative and it felt like a small thing to move the world to a nearly insurmountable goal.
What were some of the responses to this work?
a little joy
If someone else were going to make/use/do something like this, what advice would you give them?
start small, it cold get bigger
Objective:
To make content to share the campaigns message.
The Project:
A series of square graphics for social media or print.
STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:
Print it and post it.
Share it on social media. #FreeTheVaccine #PeoplesVaccine
What worked?
They were shared often, as well as printed and wheatpasted in public spaces.
About this project
Creators:
July, 2020
Image/graphic, Online/web thing, Print
United States, Seattle
1500 x 1500 px
Other Notes:
- Original files can be provided for exhibition
Reflections from Eric Olson
Objective:
We’re building on Dolly Parton’s $1million donation to support COVID-19 research at Vanderbilt University. To get their attention, to educate them on the Open Covid Pledge, and to add pressure for them to sign the pledge, we chose to produce a viral music video parody of the song “Jolene” by Dolly Parton.
We now want to encourage all universities to sign the Open Covid Pledge, so we are currently discussing the “next challenge”: how to create a full-length video in a way that inspires even more people to get involved and ask universities to make a meaningful change.
The Project:
The #JoleneVaccineChallenge is an interactive project, initially intended to target Dolly Parton and Vanderbilt University. However, with the success of the project, we are now targeting universities all over the world! (Read more under “Objective” below.)
We are making a music video parody of the song “Jolene” by Dolly Parton. Do you know the song? The chorus lyrics, “Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene…” have been adapted to “Vaccine, Vaccine, Vaccine, Vaccine.” Check out the video link to see how we rewrote ALL of the lyrics.
The challenge, i.e. the “interactive” element of this project, is twofold. First, we invited all members of the Free the Vaccine campaign to help us make a “trailer” for the music video. The video link here is the trailer, which consists of just the first chorus and verse to the song. At the end of the trailer, we challenge viewers to send videos of THEM lip-syncing/dancing to the song. We made a downloadable track and supplied the lyrics to the whole song for viewers.
TRY THIS:
Record your own lip sync and share it on social media. #JoleneVaccineChallenge
Perform it in your own community.
What worked?
Without Occupy Democrats having shared our video on Facebook, we would have had a MUCH harder time going viral.
Other Notes:
Thousands of people across several social media platforms watched and shared our video. We are continuing to call and email Vanderbilt and Dolly Parton representatives to remind them of our video and its growing number of likes/views.
Based on the initial response to our trailer, we’ve decided that our full-length music video should now target universities all over the world. Our trailer features members of Free the Vaccine from many different countries, emphasizing Parton’s and Vanderbilt’s global impact. In continuing this theme, for the full-length music video, we plan to have a few singers/dancers wearing not only Parton costumes or Vanderbilt t-shirts, but also, for example, t-shirts from other universities.
-
A set of instructions exists on how to make this work
- Original files can be provided for exhibition
- The work can be reproduced on site with instructions (provided)
Links:
Reflections from Dannie Snyder
What were some of the responses to this work?
We have gone viral! That in itself is a huge response to our work.
As far as viewers accepting the challenge and submitting videos… So far we have only received a handful of submissions. (It’s not too late to send one yourself!) We are currently outlining our schedule for releasing the full-length music video (probably during the first week of December) as well as three “promotional” videos between now and then; three videos (at least) to help boost our views/likes on social media.
Unfortunately, Dolly Parton and Vanderbilt representatives have not been responding to our emails and calls.
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 we had a million dollars, we could probably think of a million ideas! Our team is always bustling around “what if we…?!” Off the top of my head, we would project the final full-length music video onto Dolly Parton’s house(s) and Vanderbilt’s buildings. We discussed the idea of – when COVID cases and social distancing measures relax – a march around Nashville in Dolly Parton costumes. But, why just in Nashville!? Why stop there?! And wouldn’t it be awesome to have the video produced in every language?! We have also discussed how to get famous people to lip-sync/dance for our full-length music video.
About this project
Creators:
- Aly Bancroft
- Stacy Early
- Laura Holzman
- Dannie Snyder
July, 2020
United States, Nashville
1920×1080
Objective:
Create language to support the larger goal of ensuring that publicly funded COVID meds are available to everyone, sustainably priced, and free at the point of delivery.
The Project:
This a slogan anyone can use in the campaign for a People’s Vaccine.
STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:
Put it on a poster.
Use it in your writing.
Share it on social media. #FreeTheVaccine #PeoplesVaccine
What worked?
It makes its point concisely. It’s also flexible enough to be useful in different contexts related to the campaign.
About this project
Creators:
- Free the Vaccine for COVID-19
June, 2020
,
7 words
Objective:
The goal of the postcard was to get the attention of Pittsburgh researchers (and some administration staff), in order to start a conversation/rally some support for the Open Covid Pledge. We all know how easy it is to ignore emails these days, and we thought the personalized design and hand-written messages would be a better way to get through to our targets.
The Project:
An XL, originally-designed postcard. One side has “Bridge The Gap” along with the Free The Vaccine logo printed at the top. Below there is a typical Pittsburgh bridge and the Cathedral of Learning building. On the bridge walks a researcher holding a syringe (presumably with a COVID vaccine inside). She is giving the vaccine to the public, who is displayed by a series of hands reaching up. The other side also has the FTV logo and says “Pittsburgh: Home of Vaccines for the People!” There is a a short blurb about the Salk legacy and the Open Covid Pledge, and then blank space for a hand-written message!
STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:
Print some and send them.
Make it specific to your community.
What worked?
Crafting the message on the back of the card was a helpful exercise. By forcing ourselves to condense our message into a short few sentences, we were able to see more clearly exactly why and what we want from our targets.
About this project
Creators:
June, 2020
United States, Pittsburgh
5.5 x 8.5 inches
Download Original/High-Resolution File: FTV-postcard-6-20-v2-1.pdf
Other Notes:
Links:
Reflections from Mahima Arya
What skills or perspectives did the collaborators bring to this?
Each of the collaborators brought a different set of skills to designing this postcard. Some of us are Pittsburgh locals, and knew how to best capture some of the classic features of the city. Some of us have experience in design, and helped with the graphics of the card. And some of us contributed to the text on the back of the card, to make sure we could quickly and effectively get our message across.
Objective:
The objective behind the video was to raise awareness of UT’s role in the pandemic, to raise awareness of the petition, and to move university researchers to sign it.
The Project:
“Push the University of Texas to Openly Share Their Research for COVID-19” is the title of my video on YouTube. The video itself is a music parody of “What a Wonderful World It Would Be [if we freed the vaccine]”, targeting the University of Texas Pharmacy department and representatives from AskBio pharmaceuticals.
TRY THIS:
Share it on social media. #FreeTheVaccine #PeoplesVaccine
Make a version for your target.
What worked?
The quality of the video and audio (and singing!) wasn’t too shabby. I was very limited to my equipment and space (and singing capabilities), but I managed to produce the video very simply in one day. It could have been even simpler and it still would have been effective. Making a music parody was not as hard as I initially imagined. So, having just made it, whether or not it got the response I desired, was still a success in itself.
About this project
Creators:
June, 2020
United States, Austin
1920×1080
Other Notes:
According to UT, “researchers are racing to develop innovations in fields like virology, immunology, epidemiology and medical engineering to support the fight against COVID-19” (giving.utexas.edu/covid-research/). They have already developed and licensed an innovative vaccine delivery method to AskBio pharmaceutical (hnews.utexas.edu/2020/03/04/new-delivery-method-could-transform-vaccine-distribution-to-remote-developing-areas/).
I believe UT should pledge to make their intellectual property available free of charge for use in ending the COVID-19 pandemic and minimizing the impact of the disease! So instead of just posting online about our petition for UT students/staff/professors and other members of the Austin community to sign urging UT to join other heroic companies and universities in making the Open Covid Pledge (opencovidpledge.org)… I thought instead that I would try to make an eye-catching video with the hopes of gaining more traction on social media.
- Original files can be provided for exhibition
- The work can be reproduced on site with instructions (provided)
Reflections from Dannie Snyder
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 would love a team who could simply help me make social media posts on a regular basis, with targeting popular groups/individuals on social media who might be interested in sharing our video, and with taking other measures for making the video go viral. It would be cool to make the process of sharing the video more interactive, where students/staff/professors at UT in particular could be part of the fun and voice their own opinion rather than merely sharing/re-posting our video. It might mean remaking the video and getting students/staff/professors to lip-synch (see next reflection question).
If someone else were going to make/use/do something like this, what advice would you give them?
I had to unfortunately make this video on my own, but I believe it would be so much more effective if I had a team of people, videos showcasing different UT students/staff/professors lip-synching. For example, the #JoleneVaccineChallenge by another team with Free the Vaccine was very popular (they also made a parody using Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” song to target Vanderbilt University).
To target the Technical Transfer Office at the University of Texas, I decided to make a gift box. Representatives at the office were not responding to my emails or phone calls, so I decided to go with generous snail mail. The gift boxes I made included handmade masks with the Free the Vaccine logo on it and coffee cups with the University of Texas logo on them (except I changed their tagline from “What starts here changes the world” to “What starts here SAVES the world”. It also included beautiful flyer of the Open Covid Pledge, article from the World Health Organization advocating for the pledge, and an imaginary cover of TIME Magazine with UT Pharmacy’s faces (see images).
STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:
Make a version for your target.
Objective:
The main objective was to get representatives from the Technical Transfer Office at the University of Texas to respond to me, so that we can start a discussion about the Open Covid Pledge, on how to pledge making their research for COVID-19 free / available to all and how to make their therapeutics for COVID-19 sustainably priced. My tactic was to take a generous approach, to show that the Austin community deeply cares about their researchers’ efforts in ending the pandemic.
About this project
Creators:
June, 2020
United States, Austin
N/A
Download Original/High-Resolution File: IMG_6365-3.09.19-PM.jpg
What worked?
This was one of my first attempts to “craftivism,” as inspired by Sarah Corbett.
Other Notes:
- 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 Dannie Snyder
What was the process/journey of creating this work?
As mentioned above, I watched Sarah Corbett’s TED Talk on “craftivism”. This really inspired me to make a gift box for my targets. I did not really personalize the crafts to the targets themselves, but will try this the next time. Meaning, I will do more research on the targets – their interests, hobbies, history, etc. – and incorporate these elements into the crafts.
What were some of the responses to this work?
Unfortunately, I still did not get a response from the Technical Transfer Office. I actually cannot even confirm if they received the packages. Hence why I am considering sending another gift box…
Objective:
Raise awareness in Boston (home of many academic/pharma labs) that we should be concerned about access to Covid technologies and that Free The Vaccine exists!
The Project:
This work was inspired by Avram Finklestein’s lessons on poster creation. I wanted to create something that was succinct, eye-catching, and region specific. The font and donut messaging is a spoof on the Bostonian love for Dunkin Donuts. The “masshole” messaging was inspired by a political add which caught attention by using the phrase “we’re massholes, not assholes”.
STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:
Print some and send them.
Make it specific to your community.
What worked?
It connects with popular culture.
About this project
Creators:
- Olivia Bonardi
June, 2020
United States, Boston
346×500 png
Download Original/High-Resolution File: MassholesRecto.png, MasholesVerso-1.png
Other Notes:
This is a conceptual post card that hasn’t been printed and sent yet. We could write individualized messages and send to targets in the future.
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Original files can be provided for exhibition
Objective:
We wanted a meeting with VIDO-Intervac to discuss the Open Covid Pledge.
The Project:
This is a photoshopped image of all the VIDO-Intervac (Canada’s largest vaccine initiative) executives. I attached in an email to the communications director, the woman in the center.
Sample Interpretive Statment
STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:
Make a version for your target.
What worked?
We thought that putting this woman in a photo with all the executives of her company would catch her eye and that she would be inclined to respond.
About this project
Creators:
- Olivia Bonardi
June, 2020
Canada, Montreal
variable
Other Notes:
- Original files can be provided for exhibition
Reflections from Olivia Bonardi
Objective:
Create language to support the larger goal of ensuring that publicly funded COVID meds are available to everyone, sustainably priced, and free at the point of delivery.
The Project:
This a slogan anyone can use in the campaign for a People’s Vaccine.
TRY THIS:
Put it on a poster.
Share it on social media. #FreeTheVaccine #PeoplesVaccine
What worked?
It builds on the phrase “in this together,” which was especially popular during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Borrowing familiar language connects our work to words and ideas on other people’s minds. It also offers a gentle critique by showing what being “in this together” really needs to look like.
About this project
Creators:
- Free the Vaccine for COVID-19
May, 2020
,
11 words