{"id":11288,"date":"2016-07-20T10:43:45","date_gmt":"2016-07-20T10:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/?p=11288"},"modified":"2018-05-09T14:08:45","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T14:08:45","slug":"the-wolfsonian-fiu-revisits-blockbuster-exhibition-thoughts-on-democracy-with-graphic-remix-project-tied-to-the-2016-presidential-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/2016\/07\/20\/the-wolfsonian-fiu-revisits-blockbuster-exhibition-thoughts-on-democracy-with-graphic-remix-project-tied-to-the-2016-presidential-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Wolfsonian graphic remix project celebrates “Freedom to Vote”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Leading up to Election Day (November 8), The Wolfsonian\u2013Florida International University is presenting three months of election-themed programming centered around Thoughts on Democracy: Freedom to Vote 2016<\/i>, a collaboration with contemporary designers Mirko Ili\u0107, Oliver Munday, Paul Sahre, and Bonnie Siegler to create a graphic response to the 2016 presidential race. Using \u201cFreedom to Vote\u201d as a springboard, the four artists will design original posters inspired by some of the chaos and obstacles inherent in the American voting process, regardless of party affiliation or political beliefs. Thoughts on Democracy: Freedom to Vote 2016<\/i> follows the success of Thoughts on Democracy <\/i>(2008)\u2014an installation that featured original work by sixty contemporary artists\u2014eight years and one two-term president later.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The final designs will be on view for free from late August through November 8 in the museum\u2019s iconic lobby, and also reproduced large-scale at Aventura Mall in partnership with Turnberry for the Arts, post-Labor Day through the election on the lower level adjacent to Center Court. Like their 2008 counterparts, the 2016 posters are based on Norman Rockwell\u2019s Second World War-era Four Freedoms<\/i> paintings, personifying the \u201cfour essential human freedoms\u201d from Franklin Delano Roosevelt\u2019s 1941 speech: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. Reimagined through the lens of today\u2019s political circus, the new versions are:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Freedom to Vote (and make it count)<\/b>, by <\/b>Mirko Ili\u0107
\nFreedom to Vote (and not require ID)<\/b>, by Oliver Munday
\nFreedom to Vote (for the candidate of your choice)<\/b>, by Paul Sahre
\nFreedom to Vote (and not wait in a line)<\/b>, by Bonnie Siegler<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Reproductions of the Rockwell posters gifted to The Wolfsonian by Leonard A. Lauder will be displayed alongside the four 2016 iterations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way to insure President Roosevelt\u2019s \u2018Four Freedoms\u2019 today is through our Freedom to Vote,\u201d stated designer and author Steven Heller, who is curating Thoughts on Democracy: Freedom to Vote 2016<\/i> along with co-curators Ian Rand, Wolfsonian marketing director, and Meg Floryan, communications manager. \u201cWithout exercising our responsibility, everything is in jeopardy. As Norman Rockwell\u2019s posters reminded us of these \u2018Four Freedoms,\u2019 our<\/i> designers remind us that\u00a0the fifth holds everything together.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Thoughts on Democracy<\/i> is an important collaboration that we are proud to showcase to our local and international visitors,” said Jackie Soffer, co-chairman and CEO of Turnberry Associates, owner and manager of Aventura Mall. “It’s another example of Turnberry for the Arts’ promise to share world-class contemporary art with the community.”<\/p>\n

Added Tim Rodgers, Wolfsonian director, \u201cWith propaganda as the bedrock of our collection, <\/b>The Wolfsonian is uniquely equipped to tackle these issues. We\u2019re excited to frame the politics of today in relation to the past, and create this forum for provocative conversation\u2014the power of messaging has been, after all, part of our DNA since day one.\u201d<\/p>\n

In tandem with the lobby installation, the museum will echo the themes on Washington Avenue, giving a vibrant street presence to the project in the heart of South Beach. Images of the original batch of posters from Thoughts on Democracy<\/i> (2008) will be exhibited in the windows of The Wolfsonian\u2019s historic Bridge Tender House in front of its flagship building, effectively wrapping the structure in over 80 contemporary designs. In addition, projections of these images will activate the exterior of the Mediterranean Revival-style building\u2019s north fa\u00e7ade after sunset. Together, these displays establish an outdoor component to the installation that will be accessible to all passersby.<\/p>\n

The Wolfsonian will also delve deeper into the history of U.S. elections and tactics of persuasion with free programming and The Politics of -Isms<\/i>, a library installation drawing from the museum\u2019s extensive collection of American political ephemera. Designed to ground today\u2019s combative political rhetoric\u2014with labels such as \u201cfascist\u201d and \u201csocialist\u201d used casually by candidates\u2019 campaigns and supporters\u2014in its historical context, these supplements will attempt to clarify what the terms actually mean and how they originally arose and functioned in decades past. Events will range from intimate, salon-style tours to town hall debates and will be added as confirmed to wolfsonian.org\/calendar<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In keeping with the project\u2019s spirit of voter empowerment, visitors will be invited to participate in museum matters large and small, significant and insignificant, through September and October. Surprise ballot questions will be unveiled as the year progresses and may touch upon curatorial, educational, and shop\/caf\u00e9 offerings\u2014giving both Miami locals and out-of-town tourists a direct hand in guiding the future of The Wolfsonian.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leading up to Election Day (November 8), The Wolfsonian\u2013Florida International University is presenting three months of election-themed programming centered around Thoughts on Democracy: Freedom to Vote 2016, a collaboration with contemporary designers Mirko Ili\u0107, Oliver Munday, Paul Sahre, and Bonnie Siegler to create a graphic response to the 2016 presidential race. Using \u201cFreedom to Vote\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":11289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[69,412],"class_list":["post-11288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-the-arts","tag-wolfsonian-fiu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11288"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15336,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11288\/revisions\/15336"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}