The Art of Protest

For this brief, the task was to create a piece of art in protest of something of our choosing- I decided after some consideration to take it in a perhaps unconventional direction, protesting modern society's absurd obsession with 'Health and Safety' (usually a product of excessive fear of legal action). It's something I believe everyone is aware of at least to some degree, usually because of it's more extreme and ridiculous applications (Such as stickers above hot taps warning us of... hot water). The following is an example of satire related to the subject:

http://www.premierhandling.com/latest-news/ridiculous-signs/

From the beginning I had a concept in mind, similarly playing on the humorous nature of common sense bypassed. I felt my vision and sense of humour aligns well with that of street artist Banksy, who frequently makes socio-political commentary through conceptual wit. In terms of style, there's one form of his works I particularly enjoy, which is his creative hijacking of pre-existing art and imagery: often picturesque, scenic paintings with darkly-entertaining little additions. The following are some examples:

http://www.artofthestate.co.uk/photos/banksy_crude_oils_modified_oil_painting_9.jpg

http://graffiti-alphabet-letters.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Waterlilies-Banksy-Graffiti-Art.jpg

What I enjoy about Banksy's works such as these, is that such simple arrangements or additions yield such great effect, be it to make a point or simply create humour. I wanted mine to do both, through the same means. I created the following:

...and found this photo, with permission to use...

...and combined the two, to create this:

I felt this simple combining of elements achieves the statement I set out to make effectively, with the added visual impact of blue and yellow together. Eye-catching and succinct, as with more conventional means of protest. 

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Interestingly, while researching Banksy's work, I discovered a somewhat related piece of his:

http://www.banksy.co.uk/indoors/fallen.html