Shepard Fairey (OBEY) (1970) - Experiment

Experiment

- perfect condition
- 18 x 24 inches
- screen print on 80# Cream Speckletone paper
- signed by Shepard Fairey
- numbered edition of 500


About
35 years ago, while attending the Rhode Island School of Design, I wrote a paper I initially called “A Social and Psychological Explanation of Andre the Giant Has a Posse” for a great class examining human factors and environmental controls in architecture. I was an illustration major, so I looked for relevant material in my medium, so it made sense for me to write about my sticker project. I later shortened that paper to a one-pager I could mail out with some stickers and renamed it my “manifesto”. While researching for that paper, I read about Heidegger’s theory of Phenomenology, which thoroughly resonated with me. My Andre sticker campaign, which was only a year and a few months old at the time, was provoking a wide range of responses and questions, and I was fascinated that a little bit of mischievous disruption could seemingly snap people out of a trance born of boredom or routine. Basically, Phenomenology was the seed that has bloomed my entire career. Printing and disseminating stickers was the beginning, but my ambition for finding every platform for Phenomenology possible has kept me experimenting and evolving. This print is a reminder of the philosophical origins of my art project. Thank you to any of you who have been part of the journey!

-Shepard