To my surprise, even the lamestream media noticed that Unsavo[u]ry Agents’ guerrilla postering campaign against Meryl Streep and Hollywood was “a riff on” or “aping” Barbara Kruger’s signature type treatment. Babs has actually branched out quite a bit from Futura, but that’s surely her trademark (“Your Saucepan Is a Battleground”).
(Note They Live–manqué store signage at far left [LIVE YOUR LIFE])
I dropped Sabo (“SĀBO”) a line to axe him why he redeployed the Babs Kruger trope.
No, I was not influenced by Kruger. Actually, I spent a bit of time helping a friend with this idea. His initial plan was to hit the poster for [the Meryl Streep film] The Post or to redesign it in our image, if you will. That’s where he was stuck.
I decided to take another route. I watched the movie’s trailer. In it was a scene of protesters holding posters of JFK with the word “Liar” across his face.
(That poster would have been essentially impossible to produce as shown in any era before recent desktop publishing. It’s a typographic ahistoricism.)
That is where I found my inspiration. I handed that idea off to my friend. He thought it worked – it only needed a few tweaks. I didn’t hear from him for at least a day. I was actually surprised when he showed up with the result that he did. I was happy he took the direction I’d started. However, his partner put his two cents in, one of which being the Kruger look. I had nothing to do with that.
Then, when I brought up how conservatives cannot design, Sabo almost but not quite denied being conservative. (Reordered slightly.)
[A] lot of people, regardless of their political leanings, can’t design. I don’t know if I can or can’t, but there are some things I put together that I actually like. Most are things intended to shake the political tree. I’m just happy it works as often as it does.
I believe we are wrong in so many ways when describing “conservatives,” and especially wrong when it pertains to art. Art simply is. It’s not Leftist or something found on the Right. My ability to defend myself is my right. (I’d say “God-given right,” but that will only open up a can of worms that I’m not interested in opening.)
You hear people say all the time that there are those who think with the right side of their brains and those who think with their left. What does that have to do with my ability to speak my mind? It has nothing to do with it. The problem is those on the Left have managed to convince generations of creatives to believe that because they think or feel a certain way then they are of a certain political stripe. That’s not so….
I should be able to sleep with another man and still believe I have the right to own a firearm to protect my partner. I should be able to support abortion rights while still believing I have the right or freedom to express myself, even in conservative ways. I know people who believe being gay is wrong but support abortion rights. Why is art any different?
The reason so many people on the “Left” are artists is because they are people who grew up wanting to be creatives and were told that if they were going to be such then they have to side with the Left. That notion has gone on for so long that it’s just a given. It’s foolish.
It works the other way. There are plenty of people who live-action-roleplay with the neat haircuts, the suits and ties. They have all the right conservative friends because they were told if they were going to go into banking or business they were then supposed to be conservatives or Republicans – when in fact they at the same time hold many liberal ideals.
Sabo, who is rather hot, further notes that “my preferred pronoun is out for review.”
“Feminazi”
Sabo, on YouTubé:
This Barbara Kruger woman? This feminazi trainwreck-looking woman that probably hasn’t put any fuckin’ makeup on in God knows how long, whatever? That scary woman? No. She did not influence me. An image that I saw on the trailer of the movie The Post influenced me. If you want to blame anyone for that Barbara Kruger shit, blame the guy who I handed off the initial piece to. He took it from there. I had nothing to do with it.
And not to mention: That style of design? A fuckin’ monkey can do it. For God’s sake – she’s putting a bar across someone’s eyes with Helvetica or something.
Futura, dear.
I mean, a chimp can do that. Gimme a break. You don’t need to be inspired by anyone to do something so basic, or so base.