Protest Art
Kelsey Webster Art Interpretation and Critique I have chosen to focus on protest art concerning war and the military. The piece of art has recently been used to protest our military. This particular piece uses a parody of the NBA logo to get its point across. Instead of having a basketball player, the art features a soldier with a gun instead of a ball. Where the NBA usually is on the logo, the word WAR is placed. Along the side of the logo it says I hate this game. The art uses a subject that everyone knows about and/or can relate to. By using the National Basketball Association to compare what is being protested, the artist can draw more attention. Any passerby that sees this will be drawn to it because it is familiar, then upon a closer look they will see it is about the military. By this point the person is already intrigued and wants to know more. This piece of protest art is very affective in what it wants to accomplish. The artist wants people to take notice and consider what is happening. This protest is part of the Anti-‐War Movement. This movement will never really go away because there is always conflict. Usually the movement is in response to a specific nation’s entering into a conflict. Anti-‐war movement can also be seen as pacifism, which is the opposition to all military force during conflicts. The people in this movement use protest art to attempt to pressure the government into stopping some particular form of conflict. I do not consider myself a pacifist, and while I think war is a misery to most parties involved, I believe that sometimes it is a necessary evil. I choose this piece of protest art simply because I saw the NBA logo at first glance, and this intrigued me. After looking closer I wanted to know more about the movement and so I picked protest art that was a part of the anti-‐war movement.
