Artist
Youyang Qin
Category
Society
Medium
Political Poster
Date
November 27, 2023
Youyang’s piece is a black and white political poster to highlight the connection between prison abolition and environmental justice. The poster is created by markers.
The piece is inspired by Landscape of Freedom by Nick Haynes which is a flyer that calls for “trespassing” nature and Building Freedom Behind Bars by Alexander Dwinell and Sanya Hyland which is a political poster that features several prominent prison abolitionists.
Youyang wants to draw attention to the abolition of police and prisons as a pillar of decolonization and environmental justice must include decolonization as well. To begin with, prison construction requires the displacement of Black and Latino neighborhoods and causes mass pollution to nearby areas.
Youyang believes that both climate justice and abolition teach us that learning and unlearning are ongoing processes of imagining, collectively organizing and collective action. Both require people to approach their society with consideration, care and critique.
This piece relates to society because people live in a society where mass incarceration and climate change are happening simultaneously. Humans must abandon the “divide and conquer” thinking and to know that liberation cannot be achieved until all oppressive systems are abolished.
Assets Used (Citations):
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