JCPD DOING WHAT'S "RIGHT"
The inspiration behind my meme comes from living in Jersey City , and simply wanting to bring awareness and introduce a stance of activism against the laziest police force in the state, that being The Jersey City Police Department. When you think of police, at least to its generality or purpose, you assume they would serve the public protection and solution. With the Jersey City Police Department , there seems to be a switch narrative, because MOST of these cops are downright lazy and maybe even scared to handle situations. No one is saying you can't be lazy or scared, but holding onto those toxic traits while serving a city where the crime rate is 43% higher than the rest of the state is completely unacceptable. I figured through this meme, I could expose the true missions in which some of this police department take part in pridefully. The meme pictures a patrol vehicle eagerly drifting into the right lane of the road, which I was I took the advantage of making that right turn in the direction of the local dunkin donuts, their lunch break, mocking and harassing the homeless, and standing on the corners as if that ever did anything! Also, these "right" turns for the police aren't made up, as I've seen all their laziness with my own eyes. The cops really like to hang gout on the corners, I guess to announce their "presence". Regardless, you would think crime would be lessened or stopped with a patrol car at almost every corner but when murders or any crime happens steps away at those corners, the perpetrators or offenders never get caught, and there is never a resolution for that crime committed. It's something that needs to be talked about, and that's why i wanted to translate my thoughts into a meme, in any attempt that people take this issue more seriously than they do now. My point is not to defund the police, but to bring awareness to the lazy Jersey City Police Department in art form.
Two Quotes that correlate with my meme:
"The crux of the joke is already out there and ready to go - all you have to do is find a punchline." (Meme's are our Generation's Protest Art, Sage Lazarro)
A= The joke is the jcpd, and the meme is the punchline in my approach to this assignment.
"All being an activist really entails is having an
idea of what needs to be changed and doing something about it"
A= Initially, I thought my idea of activism for my meme wasn't suitable, but It sure is still an approach for activism! Its a stance of me taking a stance!
READINGSSSSSS:
Chapter 1: The Art of Activism, Steve Duncombe, Steve Lambert
1. "Artistic activism is a hybrid practice that marries the creative
force of art to the concrete results of activism."
2. "Even those of us who
don’t define ourselves as artists have a familiarity and comfort with
creativity, arts, and culture that we often don’t have with politics. We
make playlists of our favorite music, sing songs at church, upload
videos we’ve made to YouTube, assemble scrapbooks with our friends,
invent new cuisines from our leftovers, and watch TV dramas or read
novels before we go to bed"
Both of these quotes, truly showcase the means and purpose of art activism; art activism is simply creativity, and it will always be just that. That creativity is at the hand of that artist or activist , and can be expressed through things that we do on a regular basis, whioch could be through drawings, videos, or even public speeches.
On Photography, Susan Sontag:
1. To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. It means putting oneself into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge ".
2.In teaching us a new visual code, photographs alter and enlarge our notions of what is worth looking at and what we have a right to observe
Both of these quotes zoom in on the effect that photographies can have when trying to interpret or learn something. The photograph should set the mood, tone, and setting of whatever is in that spotlight. We, as viewers, should also get a sense to look at everything, because everything in a photography should exhibit some sort of significance or meaning .
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