SLIDE 1
At this point, most of the reliable material I have been able to find on my topic is about sex worker rights.
In Canada, the laws about selling sex are changing. Last December the Supreme Courtstruck down the laws as unconstitutional and gave Parliament 1 year to amend them. Since then committees have travelled the country, and consultations have been conducted online to see how the laws could be changed.
SLIDE 2
As I was saturating my brain, Roderick was sending out emails about the Memefest competition on RADICAL INTIMACIES: DIALOGUE IN OUR TIMES, that requested work focusing on how dialogue is failing, and hopeful alternatives.
In my subject, there is a dialogue happening, and that dialogue is not working. Critics have described it as “everybody shouting, but nobody being heard”, and, where the Government is concerned, “a monologue”.
SLIDE 3
This summer Parliament proposed an amended law that criminalized buyers, and in doing so makes sex work more dangerous for workers. Despite evidence by academics and researchers, and testimonials by sex workers, the laws have been created based on emotional reasoning and ideology.
SLIDE 4
So, I created a poster intended to raise questions about the kinds of conversations that are happening, or not happening, in this dialogue of law making.
SLIDE 5
The text on the top left page is from sex workers themselves, quotes from protests like “Sex worker rights are labour rights”, and from news articles like “We don’t need saving, what we need is to be part of society like everyone else.”.
On the top right page is text from a research report funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health, including information on myths and stereotypes, and the impact of police intervention on sex workers.
SLIDE 6
On the bottom left the text is from the Supreme Court of Canada, with quotes from the document that declared the current laws as unconstitutional.
On the bottom right, there quotes from the Canadian Government, such as “Sex trades are not harmful because they are illegal. They are illegal because they are harmful.” from Stephen Harper.
Key points from the sex workers, researchers, and Supreme Court moves from the centre of their individual pages and onto the page of the Canadian Government, but as it travels it gets disjointed by the separation of pages, representing how the messages are not being heard by the law makers. One such key point, from the researchers, is “Research rejects the notion that sex work is inherently violent and attributes the disproportionately high level of violence to it’s stigmatization and criminalization”.
Because the Government is not listening, and not truly talking to anyone but themselves, no text from the bottom right page moves to the other pages.
SLIDE 7
Advocates for sex worker rights are not optimistic about the immediate outcome of this process of law making, but are taking it as an opportunity to educate Canadians on sex worker rights, with hopes that in the future the issue can be revisited. This means talking to the public.
This poster, in it’s use of black and white ink and cheap, accessible materials, is designed to be wheat pasted around the city. Postering is not intended to be restricted to fringe areas where sex work is most visible, but in all areas that might spark conversation within the public, and expose individuals to the discussions on this topic, and to aid in opposing stereotypes presented in the media. With the length of this project, it is also an opportunity to witness interaction and dialogue outside the framework provided by the government or within this classroom.
Wheat pasting also speaks to the fact that even if there are laws prohibiting an act, there is still someone who will do it.
Although hopefully it doesn’t always look like it’s pasted up with puke.
SLIDE 8
For my process…
SLIDE 9
I also played with the idea of the government of Canada page using stereotypical text - like EXPLOITED WOMEN and PROTECT THE CHILDREN and ADDICTION to obscure the messages from the other parties, but didn’t feel it made sense within the overall design.
SLIDE 10
Then, as I progressed in my design, I printed and taped up samples on my wall to see what was working and what wasn’t.
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SLIDE 11
I experimented with different spacings to see what could enforce my message.
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