How can self-reflection foster forms of protest?

How, what and why do we protest? Does protest change minds? Or society? Does protest work? Do I see myself as a protester? Do you?

Will an individual experience any enduring change in their subsequent political, artistic, social or socio-economic life after participating in social movements and protest activities?

These questions are posed by ‘Protest Posters’, the work on view in the window of Dufflet Pastries.

Informed by the ‘Biographical Consequences of Activism’; as well as the artist’s 20 years of participating in protest marches, ‘Protest Poster’ uses etched acrylic mirrors to situate the viewer optically and metaphorically within the work. By using fonts associated with important civic movements of the past the work also highlights how necessary protest has been historically in the advancement of human rights.

‘Protest Poster’ also speaks to different aspects of social media, from the benign (e.g. selfies shot in mirrors), to its use as a tool that builds awareness and support for social issues, and to its use to do the opposite, such as the deliberate posting of misinformation under the guise of protest.

The Visual Department was founded by Michelle Smith in 2014 as a Creative Services company. Michelle has been designing and installing windows displays for commercial clients for 25 years; however, this work was produced purely on her own terms.