Abstract
This paper examines the ideological messages mediated through an image in the public sphere, in light of catastrophic geopolitical events. After the death of hundreds of IDF soldiers in the war that broke out following the atrocities of the 7th of October, a dramatic change has occurred in the mnemonic practices in Israel. The place of institutional commemoration in monuments has been taken by an image. The image appears on a sticker that is made of a narrow rectangular strip. It is centered on the smiling picture of the fallen soldier, along with a sentence that describes his or her personal vision. Thousands of stickers created by family members and friends fill the public space in Israel. As a personal, random, and perishable focus of visibility, the sticker ostensibly represents a kind of activism that undermines the design of heroic-national commemoration by the state. Analyzing the characteristics through which the sticker appears reveals that although the design move of creating memory “from the ground up” constitutes a far-ranging activist action, this action does not seek to change the conventional national memory narrative. Even though the memory agents designing and disseminating the stickers are operating outside the design mechanisms and images of the state channels, they are at the same time reproducing the national messages disseminated by the state. This case study raises questions about activism, design and change, and about the role of the image and the extent of change it can create in an extreme reality of obstinate conflict.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Memory Activism, Sticker, Personal Image, National Memory
