Objective:
We wanted to create an accessible way to engage with street art and murals to spread the Free the Vaccine message and symbol.
The Project:
We created a stencil and spray painted the Free the Vaccine symbols at the Venice Art Walls in Southern California.
STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:
Download the stencil and use it.
What worked?
The stencil is very easy to replicate (and the pdf can be downloaded)!
-
Original files can be provided for exhibition
- The work can be reproduced on site with instructions (provided)
Links:
Reflections from Carly Besser
What was the process/journey of creating this work?
Originally, our squad tried to explore working with a professional muralist to amplify the Free the Vaccine message. After a bit of research, and Franziska’s great advice to use the Venice Art Walls, we realized we could make our own stencil. Daria designed a stencil based off of the Free the Vaccine logo that could easily be replicated by others, and we spray painted away!
What were some of the responses to this work?
Visitors and artists at the Venice Art Walls were curious to know more about the logo design and the “Free the Vaccine for COVID-19 message.” And the artists at the wall were very kind about working around our design and ensuring that they wouldn’t cover it up (at least for the day).
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 I could build on this idea, I would work with a group of professional muralists to design permanent Free the Vaccine for COVID-19 murals based in various cities across the globe.
If someone else were going to make/use/do something like this, what advice would you give them?
Have fun with your designs and locations! And wheatpaste is always a great alternative to spray paint.
About this project
Creators:
- Carly Besser
- Daria Bazzi
- Franziska Gartner
April, 2021
Image/graphic, Installation/Intervention
United States, Los Angeles
24 ” x 12 “
Download Original/High-Resolution File: FTV_Stencil.pdf
Objective:
Dar a conocer la campaña y demostrar cuan alto puedo llegar
The Project:
Es un acto simbólico hecho de manera creativa con materiales reciclables.
STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:
Make one!
What worked?
Dar a conocerlo,
About this project
Creators:
- Maria Fernanda Figueredo Sierra
November, 2020
Installation/Intervention, Print
Colombia, Villavicencio
60×45
Download Original/High-Resolution File: 20201124_120148.jpg
-
Original files can be provided for exhibition
Reflections from Maria Fernanda
What was the process/journey of creating this work?
Conseguir los materiales para su creación e idear la manera enla que quedara mejor
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.
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:
- Joseph Amodei
- Kisha Patterson
- Laura Holzman
- Lyam Gabel
- Erin Roussel
- Elin
October, 2020
Image/graphic, Installation/Intervention, Online/web thing, Performance
United States, Pittsburgh
various
-
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.
Objective:
To honour the work of a campaigner
The Project:
A plastic golden cup on a black base with a Free the Vaccine Logo on the cup
STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:
Make an award to celebrate someone’s great work.
What worked?
Publicly acknowledged the work/creativity of a campaigner
About this project
Creators:
- Irene Clarke
July, 2020
Canada, Ottawa
9 in H x 5 in W
Download Original/High-Resolution File: Golden-cup-2.jpg
Other Notes:
Award presented at Season Finale of Free the Vaccine Campaign
- An original object can be provided for exhibition
Reflections from Irene Clarke
What were some of the responses to this work?
Appreciation, pride by the award winner to have been acknowledged.
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”
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!)
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
Australia, Melbourne
5 x 1 x 1 m
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!!!
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
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!
- 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 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.
Objective:
The hopeful objective would be to show how just one university (or person at a university) cannot do this alone. It takes everyone to work together to solve a global problem. By sending this to the university they can see this in a fun and engaging way that will hopefully start a conversation about signing on to the Open Covid Pledge.
The Project:
A game similar to A Barrel of Monkeys.
The game pieces are the logos of different universities that alone will not reach to free the vaccine from the ‘barrel’.
TRY THIS:
Make one.
Workshop it with friends and revise!
What worked?
I think a surprising element of this is the nostalgia of the game for some people, and hopefully just bring a smile to their face and know this is a serious issue but it can be discussed with an open mind.
About this project
Creators:
- Stacy Early
May, 2020
United States, Memphis
Varies
Other Notes:
Reflections from Stacy Early
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?
Creating this and sending to all the universities/people we have talked to so they are all ‘linked’ together would be amazing. Sharing on social media and tagging the universities to play virtually and encouraging others to sign on as them being the missing link to freeing the vaccine.
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.
TRY THIS:
Make a version for your target.
What worked?
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.
About this project
Creators:
- Joseph Amodei
- Rachel Gita Karp
- Elizabeth Felicella
- Connor Smith
- Ashley DaCosta
- Carly Besser
- Nadine Baldasare
- Victoria El-Hayek
- Stacy Early
- Beth Dunlap
May, 2020
Image/graphic, Installation/Intervention, Online/web thing, Video
United States, New York
variable
Download Original/High-Resolution File: salk_Columbia_highRes.zip
Other Notes:
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)
Links:
Reflections from Joseph Amodei
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).
Objective:
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.
TRY THIS:
Make a version for your target.
Make it specific to your community.
What worked?
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.
About this project
Creators:
- Luciana Lopes
- Lucas Magno
- Alicia Moreira
- Gean Araújo
- Daniela Pena
May, 2020
Brazil, Belo Horizonte
30cmx22cmx15cm
Download Original/High-Resolution File: WhatsApp-Image-2020-05-08-at-12.50.59.jpeg, WhatsApp-Image-2020-05-06-at-22.54.09.jpeg
Other Notes:
- Original files can be provided for exhibition
Links:
- “Knowledge and solidarity to face the pandemic” – Text [IN PORTUGUESE] in Le Monde Diplomatique Brasil
- News around the invitation delivered to UFMG through solidarivir – Text [IN PORTUGUESE] in Estado de Minas
Reflections from Luciana Lopes
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 send solidarivirs to all public universities in Brazil! But I would make the boxes way bigger to get a lot of attention.
If someone else were going to make/use/do something like this, what advice would you give them?
Take care when using glitter. IT GETS EVERYWHERE. Three months later, I can still find glitter around.