At first glance, the two-month-old Occupy Wall Street movement looks graphically middle-aged -- the upraised fist that came to symbolize the Black Power movement abounds, as do the stark reds and whites of Cold War posters. But aping is akin to creating in the shiny halls of the internet. Is that black cat poster retro, or kind of brilliantly Cheezburgery? How about the title screen for OWS's unofficial Pong visualization? The dated graphics made meaningful would fit right into the MOMA's hippest wing.
As a belated happy birthday to the wizened young movement, we've compiled a slice of the internet's favorite old-school advertising for its favorite progressive protest. There's a clever infographic, an update of the most iconic poster since 2008, and a reference to Tiananmen Square that seems representative of the kind of vagueness the movement could stand to lose (OWS is not Tiananmen Square, not even close). The images come from Occuprint, Tumblrs, Facebook pages, and print-selling sites, where the idea is to sell to the principled. If this isn't your great-great-great grandfather's tea party (or even your grandfather's), neither is its stylishly marketed, blogged and re-blogged art. Click on.
Gallery
CORRECTION: A previous version of this post attributed the General Strike poster (slide 2) to Eric Drooker. It was in fact done by Josh MacPhee.