Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

POSTER N. T. (STOP TOUCHING YOUR FACE)

Date

2020

Materials

PAPER, INK

No. Pieces

1

Length

46

Width

30.5

Description

POSTER. COLOUR INK ON WHITE PAPER. BROWN BACKGROUND. THE TOP OF THE POSTER SAYS “SERIOUSLY, THOUGH: STOP” THE BOTTOM OF THE POSTER SAYS “TOUCHING YOUR FACE” IN THE MIDDLE THERE IS THE IMAGE OF A PERSON IN A BLUE HAT AND SHIRT WITH A MULTITUDE OF HANDS TOUCHING THE PERSON’S FACE. ON THE BOTTOM LEFT CORNER, THERE IS “THE SPRAWL” LOGO IN GREEN, BLACK, AND WHITE. IT HAS A TOILET PAPER ROLL IN THE BACKGROUND AND “SOS” IN FRONT. AT THE BOTTOM RIGHT OF THE POSTER “ERIC DYCK, MARCH 23, 2020” IS SIGNED IN PENCIL. PRINT IS IN MINT CONDITION.

Subjects

ART

Historical Association

FINE ARTS

History

LOCAL CARTOONIST AND EDUCATOR ERIC DYCK DONATED 9 OF HIS COVID 19-RELATED ARTWORKS TO THE GALT MUSEUM, AND ON THE 17TH OF JUNE 2020 MET WITH COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN TO DISCUSS THEM. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION ABOUT THE POSTER ERIC CREATED FOR DISTRIBUTION THROUGH 'THE SPRAWL', AN ONLINE INDEPENDENT ALBERTAN JOURNALISM PUBLICATION, COMES FROM THEIR INTERVIEW. ERIC EXPLAINED HOW THE POSTERS CAME ABOUT AND WHAT THEY WERE INSPIRED BY: “THIS WAS THROUGH ‘THE SPRAWL’. SO THIS WAS ACTUALLY A PITCH FROM MYSELF TO JEREMY KLASZUS WHO’S THE EDITOR OF 'THE SPRAWL'. SOMEONE HAD BEEN SHARING SOME…WORLD WAR I POSTERS, AND…THOSE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ON MY RADAR AND THE WW2 POSTERS ARE QUITE WONDERFUL AS WELL... IN SOME CASES [THE WARTIME POSTERS] WERE EMPLOYMENT SECURITY FOR ARTISTS AND FOLKS WHO WEREN’T BEING DRAFTED INTO THE WAR, THAT SORT OF THING. I’M A HUGE FAN OF THE CANADIAN WHITES, WHICH ARE THE COMIC BOOKS THAT WERE PRODUCED DURING WW2; PRODUCED BY ARTISTS WHO WERE TOO OLD TO BE ENLISTED OR TOO YOUNG TO BE ENLISTED... SO YOU SUDDENLY HAD 50-60 YEAR OLD CARTOONISTS WORKING WITH 16-17 YEAR OLD CARTOONISTS TO CREATE COMICS FOR CANADIAN CONSUMPTION, AND SO THAT’S BEEN ON MY RADAR FOR DECADES. AS SOON AS FOLKS STARTED SHARING THE…SOMEWHAT ACCUSATORY WWI POSTERS, WHICH WERE EVEN TO THE POINT OF ‘FOOD HOARDING IS HELPING THE KAISER’ KINDS OF TONES ON SOME OF THE POSTERS, I GOT A HUGE KICK OUT OF THOSE. BUT THERE WAS MESSAGING…ABOUT THE VERY CLEAR, EXPLICIT, ‘DOING THIS HELPS, DOING THIS DOESN’T HELP’, THAT WAS SOMEWHAT LACKING FROM THE KIND OF COMMUNICATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS THAT WERE FLOATING AROUND IN THOSE FIRST WEEKS [OF THE ARRIVAL OF COVID-19]. I REALLY RESPONDED TO [THE]...‘THIS IS A GOOD THING, THIS IS A BAD THING’ KIND OF CLARITY TO SOME OF THE COMMUNICATION AND SO I PITCHED TO [THE SPRAWL] THAT I WANTED TO CREATE PANDEMIC-BASED POSTERS VERY MUCH IN THE SPIRIT [OF WARTIME PROPOGANDA POSTERS], AND IN SOME CASES, I STOLE THE COLOURS RIGHT FROM THE BEST QUALITY SCANS I COULD FIND OF THE ORIGINAL [EXAMPLES]…THERE’S ACTUALLY OVERLAP WHERE IT WAS AMERICAN [POSTER-INFLUENCED], IT WAS UNDER HOOVER’S FOOD- HE WAS IN CHARGE OF THE FOOD ADMINISTRATION OR WHATEVER UNDER WILSON... THERE WAS ACTUALLY ONE- I THINK IT WAS, ‘EAT BEANS…’ -I CAN’T REMEMBER THE SLOGAN- BUT THERE WERE EVEN EXPLICITLY BEAN-BASED POSTERS. THERE WERE LOTS OF...‘DON’T TELL SECRETS’ AND ‘DON’T HOARD FOOD’- THAT SORT OF THING.” CONTINUED ERIC: “…SO WE’VE GOT, ‘SERIOUSLY THOUGH: STOP TOUCHING YOUR FACE’; ‘JULIE SAYS – EAT BEANS’; AND, ‘A PANDEMIC IS NO EXCUSE TO BE RACIST’. EACH OF THEM IS BASED ON THE...VERY CLEAR GRID STYLE THAT THE WWI POSTERS WERE IN. VERY TEXT-DOMINANT WITH A VERY CLEAR PICTURE, EITHER CENTRAL OR AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PICTURE. EACH POSTER FEATURES A LOGO… ‘THE SPRAWL’ DOES, ESSENTIALLY, EDITIONS SO THERE MIGHT BE A FEW WEEKS WHERE ALL OF ITS STORIES ONLINE ARE ABOUT EDUCATION OR THEY’RE ALL ABOUT TRANSIT, AND SO THEY’LL PRESENT THEM TO THE PUBLIC UNDER THOSE EDITION...TITLES. THEY HADN’T REALLY GOT GOING WITH THE PANDEMIC THEME. I THINK SOME OF THE ONLY STORYTELLING THAT WAS HAPPENING ON ‘THE SPRAWL’ WAS SAM ESKER, WHO’S A CARTOONY COLLEAGUE OF MINE, WHO WAS ESSENTIALLY DOING DIARY ENTRIES ABOUT HER FAMILY’S PERSONAL EXPERIENCE… [THE SPRAWL’S PANDEMIC] EDITION WAS EVENTUALLY CALLED ‘ALL ALONE TOGETHER’ OR SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES. [THE WARTIME] CANADIAN POSTERS WERE CREATED UNDER ONE ADMINISTRATION…THE CANADA FOOD BOARD… THEY WERE IN CHARGE OF PRODUCING…DURING THE WAR. THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT HAD PUT [THE CANADA FOOD BOARD] IN CHARGE OF IT AND SO THEY ALL HAD THEIR STAMP, THEIR LOGO, TO SHOW THIS WAS AN AUTHORIZED MESSAGE TO HATE YOUR NEIGHBOURS OR SOMETHING. AND SO I CREATED ONE FOR ‘THE SPRAWL’ BASED ON CHRIS PECORA’S SPRAWL LOGO... IT FEATURES AN 'SOS' IN SPRAWL TYPEFACE, WITH A STYLIZED ROLL OF TOILET PAPER IN THE BACKGROUND, WHICH IN LATE MARCH OF 2020 WAS VERY CLEVER. WHETHER OR NOT THAT RESONATES, THESE ARE VERY MUCH OF THEIR TIME AND OF THEIR PLACE. CANADA FOOD BOARD’S ‘SOS’ STOOD FOR ‘SOLDIERS OF THE SOIL’.” ERIC POINTED OUT THE INTIAL TONE ALONG WITH THE HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY CONTEXT OF THE POSTERS: “WHEN I PITCHED THE POSTERS, THE TOILET PAPER THING WAS THE BIGGEST [EXAMPLE OF] ...HOW PEOPLE ARE REACTING HEADLINE. THERE WAS A LOT OF PEOPLE NOT TAKING THE TOUCHING YOUR FACE OR COUGHING INTO YOUR ELBOW THING SERIOUSLY. MY FIRST INITIAL SKETCHES FOR THE POSTERS WERE QUITE HARSH. THERE WERE SOME THAT WERE - WWI POSTERS THAT HAD PEOPLE HOARDING FOOD AND SO THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE POSTER WAS EVEN THESE VERY EVIL, UNFORTUNATELY A BIT STEREOTYPICALLY JEWISH LOOKING, CHARACTERS HOARDING FOOD BEHIND A WINDOW WITH PEOPLE SAD AND ANGRY OR SILHOUETTES OUTSIDE THEIR WINDOW AND SAYING, ‘DON’T HOARD’. SOME OF THEM HAD THAT SORT OF ACCUSATORY NEGATIVE TONE AND THAT’S JUST NOT WHERE JEREMY AND THE SPRAWL WERE. THEY REALLY ENJOYED THEM BUT... THERE WAS A NEGATIVE-NESS TO IT. THERE WAS ALREADY SCAPEGOATING OF PEOPLE WITH CHINESE OR ASIAN BACKGROUNDS- I WANTED TO COMMUNICATE SOME OF THE CLEAR AND DECISIVE ACTIONS THAT FOLKS COULD DO TO HELP OTHERS DURING THE PANDEMIC IN THESE POSTERS, LIKE WE SAW WITH THE CANADA FOOD BOARD POSTERS. I HAD TO RECONCILE WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT SOME OF CANADA’S HISTORICAL PROPAGANDA IS RACIST AND TRAFFICS IN RACIST STEREOTYPES. I ALSO NEEDED TO PUSH BACK ON RACIST SCAPEGOATING DURING THE CURRENT PANDEMIC. MY INITIAL PITCH TO THE SPRAWL REPLACED STEREOTYPICAL FIGURES FROM THE ORIGINAL POSTERS WITH REDNECK STEREOTYPES. HOWEVER, THE SPRAWL FELT THE TONE WAS TOO NEGATIVE, AND PUSHED ME TO BE MORE CONSTRUCTIVE AND LESS SCOLDING. I STILL WANTED TO ADDRESS THE CONTEMPORARY RACISM OF THE PANDEMIC, AND CONVINCED THE SPRAWL TO DO THE ‘DON’T BE A RACIST’ POSTER. THERE WAS A LOT OF THAT REALLY KIND OF SCARY TIME WHERE WE WERE WONDERING HOW THE REALLY AWFUL PEOPLE WERE GOING TO REACT TO WHAT WAS GOING ON, AND THEY JUST WANTED A BIT- THEY WANTED TO LIFT I GUESS, AS WELL.” ERIC TOUCHED ON THE DISTRIBUTION METHOD OF THE POSTERS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PANDEMIC: “THE POSTERS WERE RELEASED TO BE PRINTED BY FOLKS AT HOME. THERE WAS NO GIVING THINGS TO PEOPLE…’THE SPRAWL’ COULDN’T PRODUCE THESE AND THEN HAND THEM OUT OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. NO ONE WAS TOUCHING STUFF FROM OTHER PEOPLE AND SO ONE REALLY POSITIVE THING ABOUT IT WAS [THAT] THEY WERE ALL FORMATTED TO BE DOWNLOADED FROM THE SPRAWL’S WEBSITE AND PRINTED AT HOME. I PITCHED THAT IF THEY WERE GOING TO BE PROVIDING THEM FOR PRINTING THAT THEY SHOULD ALSO PROVIDE COLOURABLE VERSIONS AND SO COLOURING BOOKS AND COLOURING PAGES BEING POSTED ONLINE WERE A PRETTY BIG THING IN THE FIRST WEEKS OF THE PANDEMIC...TO GIVE PEOPLE SOMETHING TO DO. IT WAS SOMETHING THEY COULD FOCUS ON OR SOMETHING THEY COULD DO IF THEY WERE FEELING FIDGETY AND FUSSY, KIDS OR ADULTS. SO [WITH] EACH OF ‘THE SPRAWL’ POSTERS, A BLACK AND WHITE VERSION WAS ALSO PROVIDED AS A DOWNLOAD LINK SO THAT FOLKS COULD PRINT IT OFF AND COLOUR FROM HOME.” “…THE SPRAWL’S A PRIMARILY DIGITAL PUBLICATION…SOCIAL MEDIA WAS THE PRIMARY MEANS OF COMMUNICATING THESE IMAGES TO THE SPRAWL’S READERSHIP, AS WELL AS JUST ALBERTA, IN GENERAL… [I WANTED] FOR PEOPLE TO PRINT THEM AT HOME, [THAT] WAS EVEN PART OF MY PITCH, BECAUSE THAT WAS THE ONLY WAY PEOPLE WERE GOING TO HAVE A TANGIBLE THING. WE WERE COMMUNICATING DIGITALLY BECAUSE THAT’S HOW TO REACH THE MOST PEOPLE BUT ALSO BECAUSE THAT’S HOW WE WERE COMMUNICATING WITH EVERYONE IN THOSE FIRST WEEKS, AND THE IDEA OF INTERACTIVITY WHERE…IT WAS GOING TO BE SOMETHING FOR PEOPLE TO DO WHEN THEY’RE STUCK IN THEIR OWN HOMES AS FAR AS COLOURING GOES, [AND SO] THE WAY TO GET THAT OBJECT TO THEM WAS TO GET IT TO THEM DIGITALLY SO THAT THEY COULD PRODUCE IT IN THE HOME THEMSELVES.” “…AND SO THE POSTERS WERE ALL PRODUCED AT ONCE…’THE SPRAWL’ RELEASED THEM GRADUALLY. I WOULD HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THESE OTHER [DONATED] COMICS WHILE…THESE [POSTERS] HAD BEEN PRODUCED BUT 'THE SPRAWL' WAS SITTING ON THEM FOR THEIR STAGGERED RELEASE.” HOW WERE THE POSTERS PRODUCED BY ERIC? “…EVERYTHING WOULD HAVE BEEN DRAWN. THE LINE WORK WAS PRODUCED…DIGITALLY AND THEN COLOURED DIGITALLY. THE THINGS THAT ARE BEING DONATED TO THE GALT…ARE EITHER BLACK AND WHITE, AS THEY WERE PRESENTED, OR THE COLOUR POSTERS- THAT WAS ALL COLOURED DIGITALLY IN PROCREATE AND PHOTOSHOP.” “FOR MYSELF, I PREFER TO CREATE EVERYTHING ANALOGUE, HOWEVER, TIMELINE-WISE AND DISTRIBUTION-WISE THAT’S JUST NOT ALWAYS PRACTICAL. IN THE CASE OF IMAGES THAT GET PRODUCED DIGITALLY LIKE THESE, EVEN FOR MYSELF, I ALWAYS EVENTUALLY PRODUCE THEM PRINTED, EVEN IF IT WAS NEVER DISTRIBUTED TO THE PUBLIC OR IT WAS NEVER PRESENTED AS A FINISHED THING THAT WAY. HOWEVER, THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT I LOST, TOO, WITH THE PANDEMIC, WAS I LOST ACCESS TO MY PRINTER AND PRINT SHOP; MY PERSON [THAT GAVE ACCESS TO THE PRINT SHOP]…WE LEARNED QUICKLY THAT TRANSMISSION [OF THE VIRUS] WAS NOT HAPPENING THROUGH PACKAGING AND JUST TOUCHING PAPER AND THINGS LIKE THAT, VERY READILY. AND SO I DID HAVE ACCESS TO PRINTING MATERIALS PROBABLY BY MID-APRIL OR SO. BUT AGAIN, A LOT OF THESE EXISTED ONLY IN THAT EPHEMERAL DIGITAL SENSE UNTIL I HAD ACCESS TO A PRINT SHOP AGAIN.” ERIC SPOKE ABOUT THE RESPONSES HE RECEIVED TO THE POSTERS: “…THAT’S HOW I GOT [PUBLIC] FEEDBACK…WAS EPHEMERALLY, WAS DIGITALLY. SO I WAS SENDING THESE THINGS TO ‘THE SPRAWL’. ‘THE SPRAWL’ WAS DISSEMINATING THEM DIGITALLY. ALL THE FEEDBACK, ALL THE SUPPORT, ALL THE MESSAGES ABOUT APPRECIATION...ALL OF THAT CAME TO ME VIA MESSAGES OR EVEN JUST ‘LIKES’ AND ‘SHARES’ ON SOCIAL MEDIA. I DON’T FOLLOW ANALYTICS OF SOCIAL MEDIA, OR WEBSITE SHARES VERY CLOSELY BUT IN THOSE WEEKS, THAT WAS MY APPLAUSE. THAT WAS MY, ‘HEY, THIS IS MAKING AN IMPACT’. IN SOME CASES, IT WAS THE ACTUAL MESSAGES OF PEOPLE SAYING ‘HEY ERIC, THANKS FOR MAKING THESE THINGS.’ IN A LOT OF CASES IT WAS...MORE ‘SHARES’ THAN ANYTHING I’VE EVER MADE BEFORE, FOR EXAMPLE. THAT WAS MY FEEDBACK...THAT IT WAS GETTING SOCIAL TRACTION.” “ALSO, WHEN I SAW THAT PEOPLE WERE REALLY APPRECIATING WHAT WAS HAPPENING WITH IMAGES SHOWING UP IN THEIR TIMELINE THAT WEREN’T REALLY NEGATIVE, THAT WEREN’T ‘EVERYTHING’S GOING WRONG’ PEOPLE STARTED SUPPORTING ME…” “THAT INSPIRED ME TO PRODUCE SOME MORE POLITICAL OR AT LEAST MY OWN COMIC REACTIONS TO SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WERE HAPPENING IN THE MEDIA. PEOPLE WERE PAYING FAR MORE ATTENTION TO PROVINCIAL POLITICS THAN THEY EVER HAD BEFORE AND SO TO POST AN EDITORIAL CARTOON OR A POLITICAL CARTOON WAS GETTING TRACTION IT WOULDN’T HAVE A YEAR AGO. SO…THE RESPONSE TO THOSE POSTERS, WAS ABSOLUTELY ENCOURAGEMENT FOR ME TO PRODUCE…SOME OF MY OWN POLITICALLY THEMED CARTOONS.” FINALLY, ERIC COMMENTED FURTHER ON THE EXPERIENCE OVERALL: “I FEEL VERY PROUD THAT I WAS ABLE TO OUTPUT WHAT I DID IN WHAT WAS, ESSENTIALLY, A MOMENT FOR ‘THE SPRAWL’ TO REACH OUT IN A VERY DIFFERENT WAY TO THEIR OWN READERSHIP, AND ALSO THAT I WAS IN A POSITION NOT RAISING CHILDREN AND ALREADY WORKING FROM HOME WHERE I DID NOT HAVE TO REJIGGER WHAT WE WERE DOING AT HOME; THAT I WAS ABLE TO PROVIDE CONTENT IN THAT GAP WHERE PEOPLE WERE VERY, VERY, VERY HUNGRY FOR CONTENT, AND USUAL CONTENT CREATORS—AND IMPORTANT CONTENT CREATORS, WEREN’T QUITE READY TO CONTRIBUTE.” “AND NO ONE KNOWS WHY ONE POSTER LOOKS THE WAY THAT IT DID OR MAYBE THOSE STORIES ARE OUT THERE AND IT’S…MAKING ME WANT TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT HOW THOSE IMAGES CAME TO BE AND KNOWING THAT A HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW, AND THAT’S WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT WITH THE WW1 THINGS, A HUNDRED AND TWENTY...YEARS FROM NOW, THERE’S AT LEAST GOING TO BE SOME KIND OF RECORD ABOUT WHY THESE LOOK THE WAY THEY DO AND WHY THEY GOT MADE IN THE FIRST PLACE. I DON’T KNOW THAT WE’LL EVER GET TO HAVE THOSE WITH SOME OF THOSE OTHER [ICONIC WARTIME] IMAGES.” FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, PLEASE SEE THE DONATION’S PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P20200015005

Acquisition Date

2020-05

Collection

Museum

Less detail