The emergence or entrance of new age mediums of communications, in the world of protests has resulted in an evolution of the physicality of the spaces of protests, enabling protestors to engage in propagating their messages with never before seen outreach and scale. “Holograms for Freedom” as a case study emphasizes the claims made earlier and addresses questions about the future of protesting. The 3 questions important from the point of view of this thesis are elaborated below.
This thesis looks at protests as a product of communication design, and how new multi-media plays a role in shaping its characteristics. Along with that, it aims to start a dialog about will the physical protests be replaced or diminished by the digitalization wave ? Finally, the research undertaken broadly investigates the claim Modern mediums of technology have offered a renewed platform for the act of protesting, but do these new platforms justify the resources invested into them? With the primary media in analytical question is “holograms”, this thesis also throws light on the supportive communication mediums as necessary players in the big picture.
Holograms for freedom really challenged conventional infrastructures of protesting, opening a portal of new possibilities and inspirations for many to follow. It empowered protestors by offering an alternative route to bypass traditional systems of scrutiny, in a creative style.
The visual culture of protests is something that has etched a place in our minds with the help of photographic documentation and literature. Holograms for freedom plays with this very souvenir to present a strong gesture of communicating the freedom of expression. Like a technological extension of the same seed of thought.
To me, this was more than a protest. It was a performance with strong elements of theatrical nature. It was a powerful outcome of communication and strategy design. A big reason for its success lies on its collaborative nature of using technological tools – hologram projection and the website.
I was immediately drawn to the idea of how design thinking was used for political impact. Especially because it looks like a lot of fun. Its playful, satirical nature is what keeps it fresh and relatable even today.
While making the printed edition of the thesis, I kept the book very simple, with respect to the color, layout and images. I have tried to translate the visual effect of the hologram protest in the cover of the book. I cut the titles by hand. I was inspired by the act of handwritten slogans on banners in protest marches.
I printed the image on the first page on a transparent paper, again inspired by the visual effect of the hologram protest. As we see in the photographs, when light falls through the cutout and through the image, the shadow or reflection on the ground mimics the effect of the pepper’s ghost technique.
A screenrecording of the website and its interface. There were 3 ways to make a contribution as seen here.
