Susan Turcot's Drawings & Wall Street Protests

The other day, I found myself repeatedly going back to this page on Fecal Face's website--images taken on site at Occupy Wall Street. The protest has reportedly spread beyond its point of origin, and has become a symbol for communal efforts and questioning social inequities to which people from all walks of life can relate.

via Fecal Face

Some of the images depict young protesters wearing bandannas across their faces in order to stay fairly anonymous. The bandanna is also commonly recognized as an anti-authoritarian article of clothing. These images pair this otherwise confrontational accessory with intimate moments of couples embracing, friends resting alongside each other, and unexpected tenderness that shift these images into a broader narrative about humanity. We don't need to know anything more about these people beyond their gathering, and that is motivating to many across the nation (and globe).

While contemplating this visual catalyst and very real result, Susan Turcot's drawings seem an appropriate choice for this week. Her drawing, The Future for Less #3, reminds me of the united and nostalgic effect that a group gathering can have as an image. You can view it at the SFMoMA website here.

Although she takes her imagery from various sources, the international news is a notable point of reference. By transforming a moment in history into small scale drawings, Turcot's work invests an overwhelming sense of history and privacy.  Both history and privacy are contentious subjects, and are easily dispelled from one moment to the next.  Exalted moments exist for a second these days--if you Google a bit of news or an event, there will surely be plenty of information to satiate any desire to know more--but this isn't necessarily a consequence of technology.  Instead, it makes me marvel at the early days of photographic and documentary photography, and of course, social reform movements.

What Turcot's work suggests to me is also about the moment--the few minutes that it took to stop and appreciate the political climate that I live in as an American woman.  Although presented in a thoroughly 21st century medium, it was silently presented to me in the same manner that The Future for Less #3 alludes to a great moment in time without declaring too much for the viewer.

This sense of agency might also explain why many have felt at ease with gathering in their prospective cities as a sign of allegiance with the Wall Street protesters. Are you in a city that is home to a protest, too? Please share your stories and images if you'd like!