GDC, Week 1: Activist Case Study, Keith Haring

Keith Haring was a popular artist and an activist. He uses his art as a protest on the streets to show people his voice on social and political issues. Keith Haring’s art are easily recognized cause of the style he use are like doodles. An due to the interesting art style and vibrant colors that he uses, it catches eyes off many people.

Keith as a openly gays, also chose to represent the hardships of the LGBTQ community in his work, including gay rights. And his most popular protest is towards the awareness on AIDS. He wanted people to understand that AIDS are not scary as they think and want people to have a clearer mindset on how AIDS can be transmitted by sex and saliva but not by touching or shaking hands. Haring's main outcome is to stop people from discriminating on people for their choices, and what they can do is have an open heart to understand the victims.

With the poster above that was created 30 years ago, he’s design has imprinted on many people’s head. The poster stated “IGNORANCE=FEAR” which relates to people denying the facts about AIDS, and unwilling to accept it as a norm, just because they were afraid of it. And with another term of the poster “ SILENCE=DEATH”, where people with the knowledge were kept silenced because AIDS was seen as a taboo towards the society back then, and with no one to educate the people, more and more of them will get lost without the knowledge on STD precaution.

References: Tate, n.d, Five Things to Know: Keith Haring https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/g/graffiti-art/lists/five-things-know-keith-haring

1843magazine, 2019, How Keith Haring’s art forced us to talk about AIDS

https://www.1843magazine.com/culture/cheats-guide/how-keith-harings-art-forced-us-to-talk-about-aids