Image from the Face Your Farmer Facebook page
This image from Face Your Farmer caught my attention yesterday. It seems that many rural groups and the artists associated with them have been less willing to use détournement, or its many web-based versions, in visual media campaigns. The term, "a negation of the value of the previous organization
of expression," originated with with the Situationists and their leader Guy Debord in post-war France, though their techniques have become widespread -- now incorporated into political campaigns and advertising (the very things the Situationists critiqued) as well as thousands of internet memes. Indeed, the image above mirrors the framework from this arts ad campaign created by Team Detroit.
The Face Your Farmer project, and their Facebook community, have been generating an avalanche of such images - some of which are irreverent, as above, but others that are more pointed.
In conjunction with a number of media partners, Face Your Farmer follows "the journey of an organic farmer and a
farm-shy tech enthusiast across 5 Canadian provinces and countless rural
and urban communities." These two individuals, as the image above would suggest, present these concerns in an approachable and, at times, lighthearted manner. Here's further information on their project:
‘Face Your Farmer’ connects people in cities to those in rural areas who are our Farmers. We strive to build communities without borders and remove the veil of mystery that separates people from farms.In this age we face seemingly insurmountable problems with food security, food freedom and awareness around how food gets from farm to table. With a dwindling oil supply, local economies are becoming a necessity. We explore this new economic reality.
