Appropriation

Appropriating artwork is not stealing ideas but rather just borrowing and changing the meaning. This can been seen in many places throughout history in artwork, poetry, famous quotes, etc. There are many examples of appropriating throughout art in our modern culture as seen with many political campaigns and business strategies.

The poster that exclaimed, “Keep Calm and Carry On” was created with the start of World War II by the British government. The purpose of the poster was to increase the public’s ethics in case of an attack or invasion. The poster was originally created in 1939 and was one of three different motivation posters released to the public by the government. The artist of this poster is unknown to this day as this poster was just rediscovered in the year 2000 by Barter Books. It is believed that most of these posters were destroyed at the end of the war.

This poster has been appropriated many times in many ways. When the poster was rediscovered it became a trend. Many companies used the same poster idea beginning with the “keep calm” but ending with their own demand such as “Keep calm and drink coffee” for a café. A few examples are “Keep calm and buy stuff” and “Keep calm and have a cupcake.” These are the poster appropriated because it is the same idea just changing of the slogan. The poster fonts and sizes are usually the same as the original, just different slogans and sometimes-different images than the original crown.

The new meaning through the appropriated poster can be anything because there are so many different appropriations of this artwork. It depends on what it is being used for but there have been many different appropriations, almost too many to list. The meaning changes but the layout and the “jingle” do not change throughout the uses of the poster.

“Keep calm and carry on” has become a pop culture phenomenon throughout America with everything from posters to cups and t-shirts with a picture of the poster and slogan (varying slogans). It is a commonly seen poster in college dorm rooms as well as in places of business.

The poster and slogan were commercialized for modern culture. In 2011 a company registered the slogan as a “community trade mark” but there are concerns because the slogan was used before the registration was placed. Then it was determined that it could not be trademarked because the words “are too widely used for one person to own the exclusive rights” (wikipedia).

Appropriation in my opinion, can keep history relevant and this British poster is the perfect example of that act. Not only can new day artists recognize great historical artists but also the appreciation for that art form and the era is clearly shown through the appropriation. There have been many great artworks appropriated including that of Andy Warhol, Alfred Hitchcock and even the British government.