Nice France controversial artwork

[ScotM]

Settle an argument. Is this poster design insensitive, clever or just offensive?

[MJWalker45]

I'd say it depends on his intention and his previous works. The picture by itself doesn't give me enough information. 

[LAWeaver]

 

15 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

I'd say it depends on his intention and his previous works. The picture by itself doesn't give me enough information. 

It's tire treads from a truck, which was used to commit the terrorist attack yesterday. 

 

The way I see it, it's like if someone took the Boston city flag and put it on a pressure cooker after the Boston Bombing, an american flag over an airplane after 9/11, or put the LGBT flag over an AK47 after the Nightclub shooting a couple weeks ago. 

 

So no, it's not "clever". Correct me if I'm wrong, but personally, it's more insensitive than anything else. 

[MJWalker45]

I tend to see it that way but if this was his way of deflecting the gun debate here in the States by pointing out another weapon used to kill large amounts of people it comes off at a minimum as tone deaf. Especially when guns were still used as well. 

[mattb6]

That's just plain offensive, in my opinion.

[DTConcepts]

43 minutes ago, mattb6 said:

That's just plain offensive, in my opinion.

 

Completely agree. The use of the tire treads as part of the design is smart, but completely insensitive.

[BrandMooreArt]

i dont care if its offensive or not. it was a horrible event and this poster is quite clever. its a very simple idea that tells you the story of what happened. do you know what this represents? does it make you feel something? that's the foundation for good art and good design. my one criticism is the blue is a little too light 

[Cosmic]

It's a clever design, but I wouldn't want it used anywhere. One of the things that struck me most about the pictures of the carnage was seeing streaks of blood from bodies that were dragged by the truck; I don't think it's a good idea to evoke that to make a cutesy French flag. Would you make an American flag out of people jumping to their deaths from the towers? Would you turn the guy with the blown-off legs from Boston into the letters for Boston Strong? It's just the wrong way to go about it IMO. Show strength or charity or what was lost if you're memorializing; don't just show carnage.

[Go Red Sox!]

No, no, no. To me, this is an absolute taboo. There are situations when terrible incidents like the Nice terrorist attack on innocent civilians shouldn't be remembered at all using graphic design. Words? Yes. Tire treads? No way! It's almost like you drew the truck with a dozen of crushed bodies underneath it. The truck has been the weapon that was used to kill 84 people and wound hundreds of others, some of them severely. Eventually, the tire treads are part of it. Words are the best way to remember this very terrorist attack. Simply because in this case design can't get there at all.

[Go Red Sox!]

12 hours ago, BrandMooreArt said:

i dont care if its offensive or not. it was a horrible event and this poster is quite clever. its a very simple idea that tells you the story of what happened. do you know what this represents? does it make you feel something? that's the foundation for good art and good design. my one criticism is the blue is a little too light 

 

Even the best design shouldn't overstep the moral and ethical mark. I think if it's ignoring this unwritten rule, it's just design for the sake of design, regardless of alleged best intentions.

[ScotM]

I think the artist was trying to show that in this case, it isn't about guns or bombs. And that our social constructs can't be defined under one blanket ideal of how people kill each other. That anything can be a weapon.

 

As BrandMoore says, it's a very simple image that tells the entire story without using words.

[Greg_Fryman]

I agree with @BrandMooreArt the design is clever. I just don't subscribe to the over sensitivities of society these days how can pixels offend you?

[Cosmic]

1 minute ago, Greg_Fryman said:

I agree with @BrandMooreArt the design is clever. I just don't subscribe to the over sensitivities of society these days how can pixels offend you?

Did you see what Isaiah Crowell tweeted last week?

[Greg_Fryman]

I just looked it up and I am still not offended that is his beliefs and feelings. That was poor judgement on his part but at the end of the day they are still just pixels.

[Lights Out]

15 hours ago, BrandMooreArt said:

i dont care if its offensive or not. it was a horrible event and this poster is quite clever. its a very simple idea that tells you the story of what happened. do you know what this represents? does it make you feel something? that's the foundation for good art and good design. my one criticism is the blue is a little too light 

I'm assuming the poster is supposed to express sympathy, but I honestly thought it was ISIS propaganda celebrating the attack at first glance. When the intended message of the poster is so far off from what viewers come away thinking it represents, it isn't good design.

 

It's also extremely insensitive and tasteless.

[Cosmic]

18 minutes ago, Lights Out said:

I'm assuming the poster is supposed to express sympathy, but I honestly thought it was ISIS propaganda celebrating the attack at first glance. When the intended message of the poster is so far off from what viewers come away thinking it represents, it isn't good design.

 

It's also extremely insensitive and tasteless.

My thought was that it would make a good travel sticker on the outside of a terrorist's old timey hard sided suitcase.

[Cosmic]

39 minutes ago, Greg_Fryman said:

I just looked it up and I am still not offended that is his beliefs and feelings. That was poor judgement on his part but at the end of the day they are still just pixels.

If you're saying that nothing can offend you, because they're just pixels, it sounds like you're saying society shouldn't have any standards. I think you're conflating freedom of speech with what constitutes reasonable discourse. We as a nation let those Westboro Baptist idiots prattle on, because we value free speech. What they do with that freedom is offensive, because they spew nothing but garbage.

[BrandMooreArt]

i didnt look into the background of this poster. im guessing this sint intended to be a memorial piece or represent any person/organization specifically right?? 

 

this seems just like a reactionary art piece. it feels to me like the artist felt something strong about this, and used those emotions to create this piece. and the end result is a visual expression - if he/she felt hurt or scared by the incident, then maybe those are the feelings theyre trying to evoke in the audience. and maybe this is an important piece because if that

 

what i love about it is the reactions its gotten in this thread alone. does it upset people? make them feel uneasy? well maybe it should. as an artistic statement, its clever, its emotional, and its honest. i dont think its supposed to make you feel good about Nice, its supposed to hit you with some honesty. 

[mattb6]

Yes, it might be clever, and yes, society today is easily offended, but I don't understand how you could view this poster and not find it insensitive. If the killing had been done with guns or bombs instead of the truck, would it be okay to just color a gun blue and another red, and line them up like the French flag? It may be intended to be a tribute or a memorial to those who lost their lives, but this looks more like an ISIS propaganda photo then anything else.

[Greg_Fryman]

I was just stating it is not offensive to me and society as a whole can be way to politically correct. I have done a lot and seen a lot of things in my lifetime and I found that words and images don't hurt as much as physical actions. And I also understand that people grieve, express, and deal with things in a different way this piece of art is just this artists way of doing that.