Kristin+Jenn+Propaganda+Project

The Super Pop Mao Zedong 'Unified Eyes' //expressed through the hands of abstract art  //



Jenn's Reflection Our propaganda was based on how much visual media can effect people's perspective on Mao Zedong. By presenting him over a bright background, and formed by the people of China, citizens will see the importance and the power of Mao. Moreover, finding their pictures on Mao shows a sense of "closeness" to Mao. This was probably how Mao Zedong was able to attain so many followers without even showing up in public- using the media. In the collage, the pictures are of Red Guards or advocates of Mao. This shows the numerous amount of people who are loyal to Mao, which would arouse more people to start supporting him. We used the bright background to show the importance of Mao, and used big eyes to represent the future he holds in his eyes. There are people behind him, on his shoulders who support and cheer on Mao Zedong. These kind of artwork brainwashed people into believing how powerful and great the leader is, and conceal the flaws he had. Also, the interview and the art critic shows the different perspectives as well as another way media affected the citizens. The artist of the collage talks about why he or she made the artwork, but connects everything to the great Mao. The art critic also makes it seem like Mao Zedong is an infallible ruler who has done the society only good.

The reason why we chose to make a poster was to show how much visual impacts they had on people. These posters continued to encourage Red Guards and citizens to work as a unified force towards one goal. These posters were put up on public boards on streets to remind people of who Mao was. As people looked at these, they would remind themselves of the policies, such as carrying their Red Book around and continuously practicing Mao's ideologies such as the Mao Zedong Thoughts and destroying the "Four Olds".

Kristin's Reflection We created a poster of Chairman Mao Zedong for our propaganda. On a large neon background, we had a picture of Mao Zedong made from a collage of pictures. The pictures show Chinese civilians during the cultural revolution, such as examples of students and soldiers reading the "Little Red Book" and others showing their revolutionary spirits. The poster is very eye catching, so it can easily catch people's attention. Our intentions for creating a collage of Mao was so people can feel involved in the Cultural Revolution. The slogan reads "You can be a part of Mao!" to everyone. By having pictures of civilians make up the picture of Mao, we wanted to portray the idea that everyone could be a part of Mao, and everyone could be a part of the Cultural Revolution. Civilians can see what kind of life are awarded to them just by being a supporter of Mao and the Cultural Revolution.

By hiding the cruel reality of the cultural revolution and only showing people with extreme revolutionary spirits and people working hard, the poster make the Cultural Revolution seem like it's bringing great progress to China. People will look at the poster and feel united under China. By making people want to be a part of the group, the citizens can gain more revolutionary spirits. We also wanted people to feel close to Mao and feel comfortable under this leadership. This enhances Mao's Cult of personality. Overall, it shows how under Chairman Mao's leadership, people can become a part of united China and they can live a successful, meaningful life. 