Propaganda Remix Project
Propaganda posters from the "Good War" turn on the White House. Film at eleven.

With a background, or possibly more than one background, in television and videogame writing, comics, animation and several other careers, artist Micah Wright is a busy fellow. His Propaganda Remix Project takes World War II propaganda poster art - and loads of other bits of vintage graphics - and wraps them all in a no-holds-barred satire aimed straight at today's politics and the global antics of the Bush Administration. Republicans, skip this one. You're not likely to appreciate it.
The Propaganda Remix shop offers posters of these recalibrated designs - probably the most appropriate way to admire them - along with t-shirts, postcards, mugs and a few other products.
Most notable of those is the calendars, which amount to an easy way to absorb a whole bunch of the poster designs over time. At the time of writing, 2005 calendars had not yet been replaced with updated ones - but have a look to see if that's still true.
The shop's divided into several categories. The three main thematic ones follow below.

War Propaganda

I've got a special love for the WPA posters of the 1930's, and after them, for the posters that followed - some of the early ones still funded by the WPA - in wartime.
Remember Gulf War 1.0? The news networks had all prepared WWII style logos to remind us that - unlike the messy, complicated business of Vietnam - we could fight a Good War that no one, or nearly no one, could oobject to. And that's what they were telling us we had. So in my mind the corporate news version of the Gulf War provided the very form which Wright uses here to combat it.
And it is combat - as our President would say, "Make no mistake about it". He'd say it a lot; he loves that one.
Wright squared off first, if I remember, against the duality between war in the middle east and SUVs at home - there are a number of variations on that one, from "The More Gas Your SUV Uses, the More Foreigners I Have to Kill" through "How Many People Did Your Car Kill Today?". But he's kept up with current events, of course, so now we also have "Torture Works!" and "Keep it up, Brother - There's a Lot of Countries Left to Invade".
It seems to us today as though a lot's changed since the 1940's, but in fact our blind obedience to authority had started to erode during the days of Prohibition. There's not as much of a gap as you'd think between those GIs you see in the original art and the new direction that the art's been bent in. But of course it's hardest of all for the young men and women in uniform - it's never easy to understand how someone back home can believe in them, but not in the people who sent them where they've gone.
I guess the only thing that disturbs me about this smart, effective and skillful work is that those young people we care about will think it's an attack on them - not on the government we've managed to elect for ourselves.

Freedom of Thought Propaganda



There's a whole additional section of posters and shirts devoted to civil liberties (remember those?), the media, and our newfangled government bureaus of... what, exactly? Oh, right... don't ask.
But in this part there's some spillage from other issues like the separation of church and state, religion in education, and other bugbears.
To be honest, things are a bit disorganized in here, and it seems a little like a catch-all folder where anything new and topical is likely to land. But it's all good stuff, and you should surely have a look.

Anti-Bush Propaganda

If the gloves were on before, this is where they come off. Some of these are pretty vitriolic - hey, this is labeled propaganda, isn't it? - but most of it is pretty damn clever. This understated Vote poster / t-shirt design is actually my favorite. But don't let me keep you from Rosie the Rivetter with "Up Yours, Bush!", "You'll Vote As You're Told - There's a War On!" or "Know the Signs Your President is Addicted to War", which, among other things, is a pretty classy design.

And how could I have forgotten "Let Me Do The Negotiating", which is based on a vintage WPA design that almost didn't need the remix, or "Welcome to America - You Are a Suspect"? Honestly, you could get lost in there.

What's not to like?

There's not a thing wrong with the quality of this work. The posters are an especially apt use of the remix, and the t-shirts are a blast. There won't be much chance that your stance will be missed and you can expect some lively conversations about the t-shirts when you wear them.
The web site itself is not a thing of wonder and beauty. It does the job of getting you at the merchandise, but that's about all you can say for it - which is a shame, really. This material would lend itself to a really interesting thematic presentation.
And finally - it's protest art. Like almost any protest posters or t shirts, or slogans, or pamphlets, it preaches to the choir. There's no chance that this material is going to convince anyone that you're right and they're wrong; it doesn't persuade, it antagonizes. But then again, that's probably what it's for.