When the Looting Starts mask
Produced at a time of great historic importance - the COVID-19 global pandemic and contentious presidential election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden - this object, a facemask by Shepard Fairey, are both a comment on and reflection of the times during which they were made. This item as created by an artist in conjunction with a political organization, acting as both a fundraiser and means to raise awareness of an issue of importance to the artist.
The "When the Looting Starts" mask was designed by Shepard Fairey to benefit RememberWhatTheyDid.com an organization that sold original artwork created to actively encourage it audience to remember what politicians said and did, what they stood for, and to vote them of out of the office in November 2020. The mask is printed cotton with elastic ear loops and features a circular logo with a central image of a skull dressed in law enforcement riot gear encircled with the words "Vote them out!" and "rememberwhattheydid.com" atop a blue and white floral print. The title of the mask references Donald Trump's quote, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts," stated on May 29, 2020, which was interpreted by the artist as encouragement of police brutality: "My art piece is a reminder that while the American public was protesting the streets, in record numbers, against racism and police brutality, Donald Trump was encouraging police brutality against the protestors, reinforcing the very same problems within law enforcement and the criminal justice systems the protestors were demanding to be reformed."
With the advent of the global COVID-19 pandemic in the winter of 2020, cloth face coverings, including masks and bananas became a standard wardrobe accessory. Facemasks quickly became available in a variety of materials and styles, initially home sewn and then commercially. With the pandemic occurring during an election year, the wearing (or not wearing) of masks became a heated issue in the United States that defined the differences in the approaches of the Democrat and Republican parties approaches to addressing such significant public health issue. Many artists and activist have choose to use facemasks and coverings as a vehicle to express their own responses to the political and social climate. TFA has determined that its presentation of COVID-19 masks should be narrowly limited to visually engaging examples made of designed by artists for the benefit of humanitarian or activist cause. This mask is an example of an establish artist elevating the format of ubiquitous and utilitarian objects to express important ideas that serves as a reflection of the times in which they were made.
