Screen Printing/Slingshot

Jorge Rosales

Art 301                             Screen Printing

April 22, 2013

            I think it was very interesting to see how screen-printing is a common use to make propaganda. A lot of times we see shirts and poster which are screen printed but we never stop to think on how they are done and how easy it is to actually make a screen print. Kazoo’s talk about the power of art was also very interesting because it goes to show how we must be conscience of what message we are putting out into the public. Her example of the GAP creating a tee shirt that had “Manifest Destiny” in big bold letters is a perfect example of artists simply creating something in order to sell and not thoroughly thinking about what message they are expressing. If you print a shirt with Manifest Destiny it further reinforces that genocide of the natives was justified because the Europeans that came here had “the right to expand westward”. Not only is it sponsoring genocide but also violence and war such as the war against Mexico where many losses occurred on both sides of the border. I think Slingshot is definitely one of the most surprising organizations I have heard of because the way they handle their business is very unique. It brings in the element of community all the way across the board and to have a newspaper and planner each with different artists and writers is something that can empower a community. I think the way Slingshot approached their newspaper is something that many organizations can replicate because a lot of the times we talk about incorporating the community but it rarely gets so integrated and open as the way Slingshot handles it.