Last Wednesday, I went to go watch Shepard Fairey give a talk about his work at the Annenberg Auditorium. He started off with his background, and how that fed into his Obey campaign.
The ubiquitous image merely began as an inside joke amongst his friends at the local skate shop where he worked, and it was publicized by a local newspaper that misinterpreted the Andre the Giant stickers as an official campaign. From that point, Fairey realized he could really use this attention as a way to launch a brand, and so that's how the Obey clothing line followed.
The reason why he intentionally chose the term "Obey" is because he's mocking consumerism, and how the public is constantly seeking what seems mysterious or new. I find this ironic, since he essentially takes part in this consumerism through his Obey empire. However, he mentioned that since he can't overthrow capitalism, he might as well find a way to criticize it from within the system.
What I found particularly interesting were the questions asked during the Q&A session. A student asked him to explain the Obama poster scandal (Background: Fairey was found guilty of lying about which AP photo he used) and he admitted that it is something that he will probably regret for the rest of his life. However he also defended his actions by claiming that he used one photo that looked similar to an entire set of AP photos. (I kind of lost him there, so I'm not too clear what he was trying to say about this issue.)
Overall, I found this an entertaining talk and Fairey was quite the charmer, despite his infamous reputation.
Notable quotes of the night:
"Freedom of the press goes to those who own one."
"Obedience is the most valuable currency."
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