Screenprints in context

Final Screenprints

The aim was to tie together my introduction, starting with See Red in the 1980's and how they stood up for women artists etc, then taking us to the essays conclusion that 'girl power' is still needed for ongoing women's issues. These themes depicted on the 3 posters are produced as they would have been by See Red using screenprinting,

Evaluation

The screen-prints created to accompany this essay are done in a way that reflect the same techniques, meaning and cause as See Red Women’s Workshop in the 1980’s. As a group, they created screen-prints using mainly illustrations of protest imagery of women in against oppressions they faced with issues such as pay gap and social expectations. I wanted to take this idea and join with all too familiar issues still being protested today by women, joining the two therefore joining with the conclusion that ‘girl power’ is still needed as there are still issues.

These screen-prints were self-printed, as they would have been by See Red. They are not meant to be perfect or corporate, and meant to be self-funded and self-designed which is a protest in itself- not needing corporations to back their cause, fighting their own. The imperfect screen-prints represent vast amount of production that would go towards creating posters and signs for a protest, which would need to get out the message as instantly as possible. This effect of the screen-printing and the illustration gives a more authentic, honest message which seers through within See Red’s well-respected posters.

The hand drawn/DIY aesthetic is impactful, immediate, and reactive. They are accessible due to the simple line drawing and use of two colours. Reds and pinks were mainly used in a form of ‘reclaiming pink’ and in a protest/see red danger impact.

The posters selected for design boards and blog are the most legible and clear out of vast experimentations of colour screen-prints- the titles are large to attract attention even in a crowd at a glance (for protest would be printed larger).  Alternatively, as well as these screen-prints I would have liked to print them larger for protest basis, in leaflet form for distribution in protest, and created singular signs. However, I was aware that the essay reference is to See Red’s style which was protest within a poster format rather than signs which I wanted to stick to. I also considered adding more coloured layers as See Red used, however feedback was given that they were impactful enough as they were, and more colour could distract from the message itself.

The titles/themes of each poster are all modern phrases and are recognized within protest communities and from social media trending and hashtags, giving them a modern edge and attraction.

The distribution of these screen-printed posters being in galleries and protests combine both inspirations for the making of them. They contain relevant political messages in an accessible way for a large audience, whilst also being illustrations for feminist style exhibitions.

Poster illustrations and final feedback crit

These are the 3 I will screenprint using bold colours as See Red did with theirs to dramatize the message. Pink will also be experimented with each poster to fit with a recent theme of 'reclaiming pink', proudly using the 'female' colour in defiance.

The illustrations are very imperfect and tactile which is true to see red's style of illustration, and will be recreated as they would have been in the past but with messages echoing of the past which are being fought against today.

The posters support my essay in conclusion that women's issues are still being fought the same as they were, despite small progress. These are in the spirit of female collectives/groups which have recently spiked and as concluded in the essay, using 'girl power' phrases/methods overall have a positive effect despite dispute between the underground and the mainstream marketed 'girl power'.

The posters will then be photographed in art spaces, photographed being distributed in a protest manner, perhaps can set up a staged protest.

had considered creating posters that can be used as signs within these themed protests, but wanted them to relate to see red women's workshop posters as this is the starting point of my essay, bringing modern and past together in this practical.

COP Practical Posters themes

In order to create modern versions of protest posters similar to the women's workshops, I looked at 3 feminist issues of today to work to.

    

Tampon Tax
A very recent protest against tampon tax showed large numbers of handmade signs and slogans protesting the tax which affects women. In one it is argued 'if men had periods too there wouldn't be a tax'. This protest was promoted by many womens collective groups on social media and featured speeches from female public figures, lead by 'the pink protest'.

Consent- 'slutwalk'

In recent years a protest named the 'slutwalk' is gathered in protest of sexual assault, it's main message being that women should have no shame for their appearance and it isn't an excuse to be assaulted.

Code Pink 'Women For Peace'

'CODEPINK is a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect our tax dollars into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs.' works directly with conclusion of further political/global issues that need activism including the force of 'girl power'

These posters are created to go in line with the conclusion of my writing piece which draws to the readers attention the need for these feminist slogans and 'girl power', beyond the creative industry, going in to serious feminist issues worldwide.

COP Practical feedback session

From showing the kind of images I wanted to take as inspiration to reflect modern issues women still face to work with my writings girl power context- this is the feedback I obtained:

-Discuss the argument over Beyonce's marketed feminism
-'Sexism relies on capitalism'

-Tinder interviews and screenshot: this would be great if I were looking to men to give their opinions but they are not part of my sources

-Collage old zines and put with the new messages, to truly show many issues haven't changed.
I asked what imagery I could use for these new posters and everyone agreed use pre-existing imagery to bring it in to new context to highlight the point that issues are still rife.

-Make a zine instead of posters: although this had been my other initial practical idea, the content is hard to get with the time restriction and I have only just obtained collective feedback this week. Posters are still appropriate for the writing piece.

-Re advertise riot grrls: bring the riot grrrl voice in to modern society, like what collectives such as Girl Gang do now with their manifestos handed out at girl talks.
-Current issues to highlight: Tampon Tax, Sexual Harassment (due to Weinstein snowballing of Hollywood of late...), Womens Pay Gap, Genital Mutiliation, Consent, abortion rights

-Use stats in posters in homage to Guerilla Girls style
-Girl power is still needed, the capitalised side isn't for the right reason but women wearing girl power t shirts can only spread awareness and do good.

Excessive Human Collective evening- questions and quotes from Girls That Gig

Going to ask female creatives (is an all female creatives celebration event, art/music)- what do you think of slogans such as 'Girl Power' and 'The Future is Female?'

'Who inspired you to become a female collective?'

'Why do you think it is there are so many female collectives/girl gangs?'

From previous networking event: 'We definetley still need it...girls have more and more of an interest in the movements but don't know enough about them.'

Eva

What groups/collectives, or what inspired you to become a female collective?

To be honest i'm not sure we were inspired by a certain thing. We were just three girls that got along really well and found that we really complement eachother so that's why we decided to start working together.

Why do you think there are so many female collectives/girl gangs?

I think that women tend to be better at working in groups, whilst men are often better of working more individually. This is just my opinion, I don't have any evidence to support that  And then of course there are some female collectives that really want to make a statement and show that women make beautiful work and can be successful, but don't Always get the same chances as men to make it to the top. I do not know if that is true though.

What do you think of the slogans 'Girl Power' and 'The Future is Female', and their increasing popularity?

I do agree that women need to stand up for themselfs and it's amazing that more and more female artists are taking incredible initiatives, but I'm not sure if it needs to be that 'agressive'. I personally as a woman feel like I have the exact same chances as a man to make it in the art industry and I don't feel like something has ever stopped me from progressing because I'm a woman so I don't feel like I need to fight against anything. 

Megan

What groups/collectives, or what inspired you to become a female collective?

We have very few female role-models. There are very few women who play instruments, particularly in jazz. Most of the bands we listen to are men. 

We have FINALLY (this year) found one band that we relate to. They were a band from the 80s called 'The Guest Stars'. They recorded and performed improvisational jazz music with elements of all kinds of different music. 

We're lucky enough to be playing a gig with their guitarist in London this week.

This example sort of shows how rare it is that we find role model bands.

If we were male, we'd have thousands and thousands of bands that we could picture ourselves being like. Because we didn't see women performing the music we make and playing instruments, we've all experienced a lack of self belief that we can be successful performers if we want to be.

This lack of belief we felt fuels us now more than ever to keep performing and making sure other women know that they can do it too.

Why do you think there are so many female collectives/girl gangs?

I started up 'Girls That Gig' with my friend Vicky last year. At the time, there were no female collectives/organisations doing anything to support women in the creative industries in Leeds. There were lots of organisations in London, a few dotted about the north (like Girl Gang and Yorkshire Sound Women Network) but, nothing specific to Leeds.

We started social media pages, a website and a podcast to showcase the amazing work of women in the creative industries. We also hosted and are continuing to host events that aim to connect, promote and inspire women in Leeds.

At the time, the word 'feminist' was still a very unclear word and even women were afraid of using it.
We decided that our brand needed to project positivity.
People love throwing negativity at feminists - because how dare they want equality?! Who do they think they are?

So, we made our brand not about hating men but, more about just supporting amazing work by amazing people.
We aim to make the platform a space for people to be inspired, connected and supported. 

There are so many because it's a bloody good idea - Women helping women out: who wouldn't want to be a part of that?!

It's a really exciting time to be involved with projects like this and people like to be a part of the change themselves.

What do you think of the slogans 'Girl Power' and 'The Future is Female', and their increasing popularity?

Great! I think we should be proud to be women and these slogans are progressive and positive. 

We have to put up with so much and a lot of women don't even realise their own self worth.

We are living in a society where, for years, women have been put down, expected to act and dress in certain ways and made to feel like less.
It's definitely our time to realise our potential and be proud of who we are.

Marie

Hey, so What/ who inspired me: 

I dont really have idols that i want to live up to, but Gracefool Collective is definitely one that i take as inspiration, because i love their work and i think they found a really great way of putting out there what they want to say. 

Other than that I have taken inspiration from friends in bands, because i like the way a lot of bands work, like collectively and everyone as the same position kind of, whereas in dance there is often a lot more hierarchy, so i wanted to try making that. And it also kind of just happened, as we three realized we always end up working together, and we do have various different skills we can share.

Why do i think there are so many girl gangs/female collectives out there?

 i actually dont think there are. LIke obviously the number has risen a lot in the past years, but there still isnt that many in my mind. Like in Leeds ( a fairly big city) there is Gracefool and us in the dance sector. 
but i think in general the reason why it is on a rise is because a lot of women realize that first of all working with other women might be easier, especially when you want to share feminist ideas, and second i think there is a new generation of protest, like the women's right movement was fairly "violent" there was quite a lot of protests and strikes whereas i think the generation now is exploring new ways of pushing the equality fight, for example within being creative. Also because legally there is no difference between men and women, so I feel like people have to be made aware of the inequalities in other ways, so they dont have the excuse of "oh but the law says we are all equal..." you know? LIke it needs to be a bit more unconciously introduced into peoples minds, and creativity, art etc is a farily good way to do so....


and what do i think about the popularity of these slogans.?

ehm that's a hard question, for me personally these slogans aren't massively important, but i do think they can serve a purpose, like labelling yourself as a girl gang for example puts a fairly clear picture out there. Because a gang isnt necessarily something very nice and girly, so the name itself is a bit controversial, which then automatically rises the question in society why do women have to be nice and quit all the time.? 

At the same time i think espcially "girl gang" has quite a negative image in a lot of peoples mind, like kind of a group of young teeange girls that stroll around and no one really takes them seriously. So using that slogan in a more serious more outgoing way helps giving it a new image, and making it a more positive slogan.

What i have taken from these answers:

-previous womens rights movements have a violent undertone, so perhaps in posters make this less aggressive
-make the posters make people want to be part of a creative group, keep it positive and inspiring
-use girl gang as a serious slogan with context to address it's stronger side
-slogans are 'progressive and positive'