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.
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.
This was a poster created to be used as a way to gain support for the Free the Vaccine campaign from the general public.
The Project:
This image is a red square poster. At the top in a darker red the words say “You wouldn’t pay for a hot dog twice…” The word twice is in a light pink for emphasis. Below those words is an image of a hot dog. Below the hot dog are more words in a dark red that say, “So why would you for a vaccine?” In the bottom right corner in a white cursive font is “#FreetheVaccine.”
Pressure the Researcher, or the University as a whole, to sign the Open Covid Pledge.
The Project:
Sports-style trading cards depicting University Researchers, customized with their photo, school colors, and achievements as stats listed on the back. The cards were sent to the researchers, as well as the President or Chancellor of their University, with yarn pom poms and a hand written note asking them to sign the Open Covid Pledge.
We targeted UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) and USC (University of Southern California) because there is a long-standing sports rivalry between the two universities, which are both in the city of Los Angeles.
I made the mask as a conversation starter to bring discussion on the accessibility of a COVID vaccine into my day-to-day activities.
The Project:
An embroidered, beaded mask that says # Free the Vaccine in black thread, outlined with beads in green, yellow, and pink. The other side has a beaded syringe in black and blue beads.
I think because the mask decorations are unconventional and sparkly, it has really grabbed attention and indeed started conversations about what the mask means.
We’re hoping to create a massive collage of tattooed people from the McGill community (or another university). It’s a fun way to show the admin that people support the FTV mission. We find the faces to say a lot more than a list of signatures on a petition.
The Project:
We asked our friends to send photos of their skin and gave them FTV tattoos.
Activists from the Free the Vaccine project stage a photo to urge the university to adopt open licensing for COVID-19 research
Objective:
We wanted to raise awareness and create public spectacle as part of a larger aim of engaging with Columbia on many fronts in trying to have them sign the Open COVID Pledge. The groups we seek to reach in building our case of support for #FreeTheVaccine includes reaching out to students, professors, researchers, alumni, community members, and anyone else who might be interested in having Columbia act as a leader in the area of making any future vaccine research accessible to not only it’s communities, but to the broader public.
The Project:
Columbia’s Alma Mater Statue Dons Surgical Mask for an Accessible COVID-19 Vaccine
NEW YORK, NY, May 19, 2020 – Alma Mater, the “nourishing mother” of Columbia University’s student body, sported an oversized surgical mask, sash, and vaccine bottle this weekend, as the Class of 2020 graduates into a world transformed. The iconic 1903 bronze statue sent her students off with a simple message: “Be Well.”
Nearby statues of “Alma’s friend’s” were also decorated with signage in support of an accessible vaccine. These images were created and then distributed to a variety of media outlets.
We also created a how-to video to encourage other folks to don friendly statues with masks of support in their locations.
We pulled together all of our different strengths as a Lab, and got good public response to the in person intervention. We also created some fantastic images that have bolstered our reaching out to folks connected with Columbia and our digital presence in general.
We staged the scene to draw attention to a growing global campaign demanding open licensing arrangements for COVID-19 research and development efforts at universities worldwide. Such arrangements would help to ensure access to life-saving innovations developed with tax-payer funds. Columbia, located in the epicenter of the global pandemic, is one of the world’s foremost research institutions investigating vaccines and therapeutics to combat the virus.
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)
What was the process/journey of creating this work?
This project was the action that really cemented the relationship the Ligers share. We came together with different skills, backgrounds, and proximal locations to Columbia to make this project happen. It was fun, collaborative, and exciting!
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 are talking about how to expand on this action in the fall! We would surround Alma Mater with a live counter of all those who have signed on with individual support in and around the Columbia community. This would take the form of some sort of giant mechanical object, or nightly projection-mapped interventions (all of course while Alma was wearing a mask).
We wanted to create images that would catch attention on social media- a little bit weird so people would feel inclined to interact with the images and learn more.
The Project:
My dog and I ran the shape of a vaccine. It was harder than we’d thought it would be.
I spoke with people along my route and afterwards through social media- they seemed skeptical, a little tickled, and curious to learn what would compel a person to do such a foolish thing.
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 make this go viral, have everyone out there running/walking vaccines (double good because it spreads awareness and gets people out exercising).
Solidarivir was a a tatic that integrates the strategy planned by students in Brazil to invite the top #1 university that requests biotech patents in the country. Inside it’s box, a letter to UFMG was delivered. The idea was to symbolize that more than 350 people within UFMG’s community were offering the university an opportunity to unlock its solidarity – the first line treatment for a pandemic.
The Project:
A box that was covered with paper and painted to resemble a generic drug package according to Brazilian specifications. Solidarivir is the name of the drug. The dosage is 19mg. Where we would see “oral use” on an official generic package, we see “uso colaborativo” – which means “collaborative use”. Where we would see “generic drug”, we see “acesso garantido”, which means “access guaranteed”. Where we would see the name of the manufacturer, we see “UFMG” – the name of the university solidarivir was given to as an invitation. We can see solidarivir is locked with a padlock made of paper and glitter. In order to open solidarivir’s box, you need to damage the padlock. Solidarivir comes with a big key made of paper, where you can see “UFMG” and 350 signatures. These signatures represent more than 350 people who signed a letter to UFMG inviting the university to sign the share its knowledge widely to end the pandemic. The letter was delivered inside solidarivir’s box.
Solidarivir’s simbology was really interesting. Its pictures helped us publishing a text about the initiative in the local news. It was also published in Le Monde Diplomatique Brasil to illustrate a text about the role of public universities in ending the pandemic.
The objective was to create an image that convinced people at Indiana University that they should sign the Open COVID Pledge. We wanted to use the university’s language and actions to show them that they were already doing things that aligned with the ideas behind the OCP.
The Project:
This is a digital image that highlights how signing the Open COVID Pledge aligns with Indiana University’s values and activities. We emailed it to university leaders.
We did a lot of background research for this graphic. The first box filled with scattered words surrounding “IU Stands For” are words that come directly from IU’s missions, values, and goals statement. We wanted to show the university that if these are your goals then you should support the OCP. Additionally, “#IN this together” and “Fulfill the Promise” are both phrases/language that IU uses frequently. We then looked into what the university was already doing to support open access. As the graphic shows, we found that IU was using open access 3D printing designs to print PPE to fight the pandemic, an IU professor created an open access origami mask, and the university had created an open access database to track COVID information.
We’ve shared some of our drafts as well as the final image.
Original files can be provided for exhibition
Reflections from Emilie Seibert
What was the process/journey of creating this work?
I included some additional images of earlier drafts. The idea for this came in a group brainstorming session, we mostly wanted to find a way to use what IU was already doing to show them they can take the next step and sign the OCP. Emilie created the very colorful original design. The group then had another meeting where we refined the image. Laura made the drawings.
