Graffiti art in Los Angeles requests people to stay at home due to COVID-19 spread.
Panofsky´s interpretation model
Pre-iconographic phase (WHAT do I see?):
In the picture you see a wall covered with red paint and a white slogan saying “STAY HOME LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL”. The slogan covers the whole wall and is written in capital letters. The wall is uneven and the paint exfoliates. You can see a pedestrian path in front of the wall where a man wearing sweatpants, a hoodie and a face mask is walking by. The ground is wet and there is trash lying on the floor. The white colour at the wall is a little slurred and dripping of the writing.
Iconographic phase (WHAT do I SEE/WHAT does it MEAN?):
The combined use of white and red colour should catch your attention. It reminds people of a stop sign or something to pay attention to. In the times of COVID-19, packed hospitals, not enough doctors, increasing infections, a missing vaccine and fear of an economic crash, the colour relates to the feeling of danger and insecurity a lot of people sense right now. This insecurity is not taken away or calmed down by the picture, but reminds passengers of how they can influence the future development by simply staying at home. The slurred white writing on the wall gives the viewers the impression of being in a hurry, it was quickly written without great accuracy. This emphasises the urge of staying at home, how important it is and this dramatic way of writing has a greater impact.
Iconological phase (WHAT is the MEANING/MESSAGE?):
It relates to the agenda most governments drive to prevent a greater spread of the virus. One way governments impose it are curfews. In social media #StayatHome is pretty popular, so this request from citizens to their neighbours, friends and family is used online and offline.
So the meaning/Message of this pictures as two different levels. First of all the original message and intention of the creator of the wall painting. It is straight forward and pretty direct. Stay at home for the sake of the public safety and it appeals to each individual´s social responsibility.
The second level is the photography as a whole of the wall painting. So the man walking is not at home and does not follow the command to stay at home. The second part of the slogan is “Life is beautiful”. A wet sidewalk with some trash is not considered as beautiful, so this picture shows some contrast between what it wants you to think of and how reality looks like. Life can be beautiful at home too specially now in times of corona the risk of getting infected should make everyone value their safe space at home. “Life is beautiful” is an attempt to remind people of the good things in their life.
This image was published in a COVID-19 news blog of a German television channel. This channel receives images such as this from the dpa, an independent news agency, where other media companies can buy licenses to get access to the work of the dpa journalists. That happened with this picture too. So the original intention of the artist might be to express his political opinion, use the latest topics for more resonance on his artwork, etc.
The reason why the dpa has it in its picture stock is journalistic: to provide other newspapers with matching pictures.
accessed 11.04.2020 10:13