Three Optimistic Posters

Artists Kuba Zasada
Edition Survival 12

Made in the tradition of the Polish school of posters, they looked familiar, perhaps even old. Three Optimistic Posters made a reference to another unique and highly unusual phenomenon, namely didactic posters (and other prints) that once used to be popular. We came across them in many public places – in offices, hotels, clinics and hospitals. They encouraged us to co-exist with other people in harmony, they warned against threats and provided useful tips. Zasada’s posters ‘healed the society.’
Their critical potential was contained in using slogans that resembled those which were discredited the moment the previous political system collapsed. However, it seemed that their message was not intended to revise any judgments but to provide genuine advice to the viewers. Against the backdrop of the revival of ‘urban movements’ and the development of a civic society, Three Optimistic Posters appeared to be highly relevant and up to date. Borrowing the style of a time gone by endowed them with a humorous distance from the issues they took up, which prevented associations with the blatant didacticism typical of so-called social campaigns.

> Antoni Burzyński

 

photo: Peter Kreibich