Visitor Warning (2005 - ongoing) is a billboard design created by Aaron Stienstra, a graphic designer at the Focal Point, an Oakland-based trial-consulting firm with a long history of gun control advocacy. This graphic was created pro-bono for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence to alert Florida visitors about the “stand your ground law” enacted in 2005. This law allows residents to use guns or deadly-force to defend themselves in public spaces without first trying to escape. The billboard was censored by Clear Channel Communications and never realized, though the image was featured in the New York Times that year.
This law is at the center of the debate around the murder of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida last month by George Zimmerman, who remains free. For this collaboration with Invisible Venue, Stienstra's design for Visitor Warning has been re-introduced into the public sphere via Facebook to bypass the subjective approval of commercial media and to draw greater attention to the issues at stake.
>> View this project at www.facebook.com/endshootfirstlaws, along with additional information under "about," including news citations and links to various petitions online.
EVENT: Saturday, March 31, All day
California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA
Campus Intervention: Solidarity for Non-violence
Faculty or student at CIIS? Wear a hoodie to campus to demonstrate solidarity for non-violence--and to encourage dialogue around "stand your ground laws" and the murder of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida last month.
Not a fan of Facebook? Continue reading for direct links to petitions and more information online.