Appropriation

This design was a propaganda poster produced by the government in 1939. It was intended to raise the spirits of the British public during WW2. There was limited distribution of the poster and had been relatively unseen until it was rediscovered in 2000. Since then it has seen many appropriations of the image. From using it as a decoration for a range of products, to changing the colour. It is now so well known that the words and the image can be nearly entirely changed other than the layout proportions and the style of typeface and it can still be recognised. Appropriation is the taking/borrowing of an object, text or image and its application to a new one. The most easily recognisable form of appropriation would be collage or montage. In visual art to appropriate generally means to borrow an original artwork to create a new one. Whether this be to mock, humour or destroy. There is, however, a fine line between appropriation and steeling. There have been artists who have suffered for the use of this discipline.