Graduation Special 18

18 mei 2018

The Protest Supplies Store

The Protest Supplies Store (PSS) is a platform that engages itself with the development of the discourse of protest. Protest in many ways is a very necessary form of political engagement, but it is also a precarious and controversial domain. For example, protests are held in public space, but public space itself is offered by the institution that is often protested itself: the government.

Problems like these ask for a new approach to protest. The Protest Supplies Store engages with and visualises these problems though its products, which simultaneously offer a glimpse of new forms of protest. Alongside the products, the PSS develops articles on all kinds of protest, isolating out their prospects and difficulties.

Burn-a-flag

Burning flag is a very common and powerful ideological act which is often used during protests. Yet burning flags is illegal in many countries, and aside more and more flags are made of non-burnable materials, rendering the act useless. Therefore, the PSS has developed an alternative, ‘Burn-a-flag’, candle versions of flags. This way you can always burn a flag, even at home – politicising new spaces such as home.

Burn-a-flag, the Netherlands, Eef Veldkamp

Burn-a-flag, USA, Eef Veldkamp

Deface-a-statue

Defacement was often the thing protested by protesters on both sides. Yet defacement is controversial. On the one hand, it shows the emancipatory side of society, disagreeing with the past and its methods. On the other hand, by defacing a statue, one will erase this part of history and therefore the icons that remind us of our (bad) history will disappear. Therefore, the PSS has designed a series of puppets of statues, which will fall down when you press a button on the bottom, so that you can deface statues at home.

Deface-a-statue, Eef Veldkamp

Educational

A new product of the PSS still under development falls under the category ‘educational’ which are a series of products specially designed for the youth. The first of these products is a Lego set of a protest situation, so that children can play and learn about political engagement and its method from youth onwards.