Obey Giant
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OBEY GIANT
Heidegger describes Phenomenology as “the process of letting things manifest themselves.” Phenomenology attempts to enable people to see clearly something that is right before their eyes but obscured; things that are so taken for granted that they are muted by abstract observation. The first aim of Phenomenology is to reawaken a sense of wonder about ones environment. The Giant sticker attempts to stimulate curiosity and bring people to question both the sticker and their relationship with their surroundings. This is exactly what happened to me when I first saw an Obey Giant sticker. Hence, the theory of Phenomenology was just proven with me as the example. The stickers and posters have no meaning and exist only to cause people to react, to contemplate and search for meaning in the sticker. Because the sticker has no meaning, the various reactions and interpretations of those who view it reflect their personality and the nature of their sensibilities.
When I first encountered my first Obey Giant sticker poster was when I went to San Francisco with my Mom. Immediately upon arriving in the city, where the artist Shepard Fairy is from, It was on almost every block we passed riding in the taxi you could find a sticker, poster, or stencil of the Obey Giant image. The image is merely a black and white stamp of Andre the Giants face with the word OBEY in red and white underneath it. When I first saw it I didnt really think anything of it, it was only when I would see the image almost everywhere we went around the San Francisco area when I began to wonder what it meant. After reading about it on the Internet and learning that these images can be found across the United States and around the world, I was amazed and intrigued. I immediately became almost obsessed with this idea. I just loved everything about it. It is to this day the most interesting thing I have ever encountered. Many people, like myself have demanded the sticker, merely because they have seen it everywhere and possessing a sticker provides a sense of belonging. I collect them mainly because I love the idea, and part of the experiment is spreading them around and making others aware. There are many other imitations, and other artist who are fascinated with the idea and come up with their own visuals used for the same purpose as Shepard Fairey.
In conclusion, the theory of Phenomenology