This project began as an inquisition into the curious case of the ANTI-VAXXER. In this post pandemic world opinions can often be strong and quite varied so I wanted to know what my general age group thought of anti-vaxxers at this time. My aim for this project was to bring people away from the online mob mentality which isn’t realistic, sustainable or helpful in the real world. By introducing humour we can see how surreal this idea of the ANTI-VAXXER is and hopefully communicate more openly. I didn’t want to come across as anti-ANTI-VAXXER so I had to be careful with language and imagery within my work to be respectful and appropriate for a controversial topic.
DRK
My date research kit that was used to gather the data required to inform the rest of the project. This was structured in the form of an exquisite corpse drawing game where participants would complete the activity with two others to reveal a surreal and disjointed composition. This concept would allow me to observe if people in similar environments had similar or different ideas of who an anti-vaxxer is. It would also allow people to draw their perception without seeing what the other participants had drawn, therefore forcing the participants to draw a perception that is truly their own.
RESEARCH DATA POSTER
A poster that was designed to reflect the data I received from the DRK. From my findings, most people have a similar idea of who anti-vaxxers are and what they look like, which is not dissimilar to a white-trash stereotype. Given this was a drawing activity the data I collected was purely visual imagery so I had a choice to either present all the visual data or just a piece which would represent the majority. I decided on the former as it doesn’t appear to be an infographic at first glance, however once the context is established, we see that this is the culmination of the data.
POSTER SERIES
The idea of the poster series was initially to poke fun at the fear associated with anti-vaxxers. These posters evolved from warning posters suggesting that the anti-vaxxer is a virus that can be caught to a documentation of surrealism. By leaning into the surrealism first established within the exquisite corpse, it takes away any rational argument or associations which causes people to see the absurdity of the issue. Keeping the language and imagery ambiguous to some extent also fits better with the other outcomes.
POSTER SERIES GIF
Showcase of the poster series
PHOTO STAND-IN
The photo stand-in is intended to bring the surreal absurdity of the exquisite corpse into the real world. The idea is that these cut-outs would be placed around town for people to get silly photos with their heads put through the holes, unbeknownst of the context surrounding them. Each cut-out has a QR code that links to the primary outcome being the ‘ANTI-VAXXER GENERATOR’ microsite, which people would discover only to realise later that they have become the butt of the joke and an ‘ANTI-VAXXER’.
'ANTI-VAXXER GENERATOR'
The ANTI-VAXXER GENERATOR was designed to give more life to exquisite corpse activity. This website acted as a hub for the supporting outcomes, given the other outcomes were kept rather ambiguous as they existed in the real world. However, once somebody discovers the webpage they aren’t greeted with an informative explanation, only the fact that it’s related to anti-vaxxers and it’s just as surreal and absurd as the other parts. This is intended to highlight how we rely on the online world for answers and information and forget to talk to the people around us, forming our own perceptions and having a laugh with each other.
In the spirit of reconciliation Monash University acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
