A-Infos (en) Aotearoa (New Zeland), Anarchist journal Imminent rebellion #9 - Towards an Anarcho-Design Practice by Jared Davidson

Graphic design has predominately been, and still is, the tool which beautifies, 
communicates and commodifies a set of ideas, ideals or products within various 
tenets of our social and economic relations. Unfortunately, it is fair to say 
that this creative tool is overwhelmingly used in an economic/commercial sense — 
consciously or unconsciously using its talents to exploit — to raise profit 
margins and material wealth for the benefit of a select clientele. ---- While 
graphic design lends its talents outside of the commercial realm in the form of 
an informative and communicative visual language, and in academic or 
self-authorship, research-based practices — the primary role of graphic design 
as a medium is that of the visual instrument of the powerful; the seller of 
sales, the convincer of consumers — employed by the corporate body or 
state-sanctioned by capitalist / socialist totalitarian governments in order to 
perfect and reinforce their hegemonic positions. And while design academia can 
wax poetic about the virtues of graphic design and its specialised visual 
language — conveniently side-stepping more tangible issues — the design industry 
practitioner, whether one chooses to acknowledge his/her role or not, must 
realise that their labour is nothing more than the harbinger of consumerism, 
used in the service of monolithic capitalism and all of its ails. Without 
graphic design those who sustain these ills of society have no face, no visual 
identity, no point of reference, and most importantly, no effect.

While recognising in the libertarian tradition that no individual designer, 
group, government or institution has the right to define the role in which 
graphic design should play,1 it is important to explore and encourage 
alternative design practices in an attempt to counter the exploitative position 
it has consciously stepped into. Analysis of the capacity inherent in 
design/designers practices to alleviate current ideologies, and to aid in more 
alternative modes of social organisation is needed, and has begun in limited 
pockets of the design world.2 Design then, must explore the peripheral space 
outside of advertising; totally devoid of any commercial use — or more 
specifically, for the movement towards a more humane and libertarian society, 
that is to say, a more autonomous existence based on self-management, mutual 
aid, solidarity and direct participation in one's affairs. As the potential 
producer, educator, organiser and visual face of social change, graphic design 
could weld its creative future with more important and pressing concerns than 
market shares, profit margins and consumption rates.

. . . . .

"One cannot, in the nature of things, expect a little tree that has turned into 
a club to put forth leaves"
— Martin Buber

It is interesting to realise the power that graphic design holds within the 
current capitalist system. Corporates, and likewise, governments, have all 
tapped into the powerful and almost unrivalled marketing resource that is 
graphic design. Better By Design,3 hand-in-hand with business interests, has 
marched towards a better future for consumerism. And no wonder — what other 
non-physical coercive technique can instil a company logo in the public and 
private mind as early as two years old.4 Unchecked, the increasing role of 
graphic design as advertising's lackey will continue to have unreversible effect 
on our mental, visual and physical environment.

In 1964, and again in 2002, the concerns of above were brought forward in the 
form of the First Things First manifesto, signed by designers, photographers, 
artists and visual practitioners interested in steering their skills along a 
more viable and worthwhile path. "Unprecedented environmental, social and 
cultural crises demand our attention...charitable causes and other informational 
design projects urgently require our expertise and help." Calling for a shift in 
graphic design's priorities, the signatories of the manifesto recognised the 
potential for their skills to aid more humanitarian causes. This step, however 
small and tentative, towards visual 'reform' was greatly noted. But regardless 
of how well meaning and sincere the ideas brought forward in these documents 
were, it is necessary to critique their statements in more radical terms.

While proposing 'a reversal of priorities in favour of more useful, lasting, and 
democratic forms of communication,' the manifesto falls short in recognising any 
kind of tangible and radical change. The First Things First manifesto fails to 
recognise that the 'uncontested' and 'unchecked' consumerism they wish to 
re-direct is so ingrained in the very system we participate in, that anything 
short of the complete transformation of social priorities, structures and 
organization will never effect true social change. Proposing the shifting of 
priorities within the system rather than the shifting of the system itself — as 
history has proven in both state / democratic socialism, and the farce of 
parliamentary democracy — will do nothing more than gain a few insignificant 
victories while the real battle goes unwaged. The fact that rampant 
globalisation and totalitarian corporate hegemony go hand in hand with the 
current system is the real issue concerned graphic designs could be questioning. 
"The representative system, far from being a guarantee for the people, on the 
contrary, creates and safeguards the continued existence of a governmental 
aristocracy against the people."5 With this in mind, the following text proposes 
to explore the graphic designers role (if any) in revolutionary, direct action 
towards the transformation of society, in specifically anarchist terms.

. . . . .

"It is said that an anarchist society is impossible. Artistic activity is the 
process of realising the impossible."
— Max Blechman, "Toward an Anarchist Aesthetic."

The basic ideas of Anarchism have been mis-informed, mis-interpreted, and 
mis-understood throughout its existence. Its humanistic and libertarian ideas 
were forever tarnished by a minority who committed violent acts around the turn 
of the 19th century — 'the propaganda of the deed' as it was known, included 
assassinations and terrorism directed towards the state and its leaders. These 
acts, and the anti-authoritarian stance of Anarchism have tended to, in the 
majority of peoples minds, associate its theories with chaos and disorder. This 
is simply not the case.

Anarchism, or libertarian socialism, is the concern — whether it be social, 
political, or historical — of human beings living, interacting, and relating in 
a way that is the most fair, equal, involved, and ultimately free of any kind of 
exploitation — whether it be economic or political, capitalistic or communistic. 
"A mistaken, or more often, deliberately inaccurate interpretation alleges that 
the libertarian concept means the absence of all organisation. This is entirely 
false: it is not a matter of 'organisation' or 'nonorganisation,' but of two 
different principles of organisation...Of course, say the anarchists, society 
must be organised. However, it must be established freely, socially, and, above 
all, from below."6

The idea of non-hierarchical forms of organization are central to libertarian 
socialism — only through direct action and self-management will we enjoy 
complete emancipation in our lives and the daily decisions that they entail. 
These ideas are far from utopian or fruitless as those who fear its potential 
would lead us to believe — they are no more utopian than the thought that 
far-removed, parliamentary 'representatives' can intimately and effectively 
answer our many wants and needs as individuals and communities.

Therefore Anarchism is not a fixed, self-enclosed social system but rather a 
definite trend in the historic development of society, which, in contrast with 
the intellectual guardianship of all clerical and governmental institutions, 
strives for the free unhindered unfolding of all the individual and social 
forces in life. For anarchists, freedom is not an abstract philosophical 
concept, but a vital concrete possibility for every human being to bring to full 
development all the powers, capacities, and talents with which nature has 
endowed him/her, and turn them to social account. The less this natural 
development of people is influenced by religious or political guardianship, the 
more efficient and harmonious human personality will become, the more it will 
become the measure of the intellectual culture of the society in which it has 
grown.7

. . . . .

"As anarchists, we have seen our politics denigrated by other artists; as 
artists, we have had our cultural production attacked as frivolous by activists."
— Realising the Impossible: Art Against Authority

It would be wrong to view this text as some kind of blueprint for anarchist 
design action. This is not a manifesto. Nor is it the justification for graphic 
design as a specialist, elitist profession to continue in its current form for 
the 'aid' of social change. As Proudhon wrote to Marx, "Let us not make 
ourselves the leaders of a new intolerance. Let us not pose as the apostles of a 
new religion, even if it be the religion of logic, of reason."8 And while there 
is a definite place for the graphic designer in an activist role, both in an 
educational and provocative sense, designers must not make the mistake of 
becoming some kind of vanguard group of directors. Whereas Marxism is often 
justified in both political and academic fields in this respect — defending the 
role of a necessary vanguard party towards the 'dictatorship of the proletariat' 
— anarchism vehemently refutes and rejects this concept. The everyday individual 
or anarchist design practitioner, through the basic act of joining their 
libertarian principals with their material production, should, and could, 
greatly contribute to the transformation of everyday life towards a more just 
and humane existence. As educator and mediator, it is the responsibility of 
anyone with an understanding of visual communication to instil in people's minds 
a broader sense of possibility, using the communicative powers of artistic 
imagery to encourage and enrage. It is important to shift societies' many urgent 
concerns from the fringes and into the public realm, in a direct and unavoidable 
manner. However, purely negative and angst-ridden critique can only go so far — 
it is the sense of positive possibilities that need to be associated with the 
ideas of Anarchism. The marginality of current grassroots movements must be 
overcome — the isolation of both activist groups and concerned individual's 
thoughts must be rendered public, transparent, and shared.

Mainstream media do a rather convincing job of keeping our private thoughts as 
seemingly isolated and illogical. It is an important task to illustrate that the 
critical and questioning ideas we may be having individually are, more often 
than not, shared as a whole, rather than letting them be diffused and disarmed 
by hegemonic structures and institutions such as the news, popular media, and 
the state. Graphic design can publicly and prolifically become the visual 
manifestation of these shared ideas. "Ideally, art can inspire hope, encourage 
critical thinking, capture emotion, and stimulate creativity. It can declare 
another way to think about and participate in living. Art can document or 
challenge history, create a framework for social change, and create a vision of 
a more just world. When art is used in activism it provides an appealing and 
accessible entry point to social issues and radical politics."9 As the initial 
point of contact with more in-depth and varied forms of activism, graphic design 
can act as the essential catalyst for further research, involvement, and more 
importantly, for direct action.

Further exploration of existing and more experimental modes of production and 
aesthetics in design and design application can only set the basis for future 
non-hierarchal, organic organisation. Systems and structures raised in ones 
practice could essentially form patterns and guides for self organization in a 
more truly libertarian society. Individualism and autonomy intact, the personal 
process/es of making work could lead the way in eventual liberation on a more 
macro level, exploring the 'unlimited perfectibility' of both personal design 
arrangements and social organization. "Anarchism is no patent solution for all 
human problems, no utopia of a perfect social order, as it has so often been 
called, since on principle it rejects all absolute schemes and concepts. It does 
not believe in any absolute truth, or in definite final goals for human 
development, but in an unlimited perfectibility of social arrangements and human 
living conditions, which are always straining after higher forms of 
expression..."10 Allowing design to publicly explore and illustrate those 
'higher forms of expression' can do nothing but broaden the scope and awareness 
of the anarchist movement as a whole.
Endnotes

1. In relation to the anarchist concept of 'no gods, no masters' — or, that the 
exploitation of man by man and the dominion of man over man are inseperable, and 
each is the condition of the other.
2. Design collectives such as The Street Art Workers, Drawing Resistance, the 
Beehive Collective, Paper Politics, Taring Padi, and the Prison Poster Project 
are just a few examples. See 'Realising the Impossible: Art Against Authority' 
by Josh Macphee and Erik Reuland (AK Press, 2007).
3. A government initiative aimed at helping New Zealand companies 'increase 
their exports and profits through the better use of design in their products and 
services' Check it out at www.betterbydesign.org.nz.
4. See 'Fast Food Nation' by Eric Schlosser (Penguin Books, 2002).
5. Michael Bakunin in 'Anarchism' by Daniel Guerin (Monthly Review Press, 1970).
6. Voline in 'Anarchism' by Daniel Guerin (Monthly Review Press, 1970).
7. Paraphrased from Rudolf Rocker's 'Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory and Practice' 
(AK Press, 2004).
8. From 'Anarchism' by Daniel Guerin (Monthly Review Press, 1970).
9. Colin Matthes, 'Realising the Impossible: Art Against Authority' by Josh 
Macphee and Erik Reuland (AK Press, 2007).
10. Rudolf Rocker, 'Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory and Practice' (AK Press, 2004).
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