by Brian Hioe

語言:
English
Photo Credit: 無獻清林 – 永和罷免林德福/Facebook

THE AESTHETICS OF the “Great Recall Movement” have, in many ways, reflected the aesthetics of preceding social movements. Nevertheless, one notes that campaign aesthetics have, in many ways, been more disparate than in terms of past movements.

Logos of differing pro-recall groups

This perhaps can be traced back to the origins of the “Great Recall Movement.” Unlike past election campaigns, there was no political party coordinating the aesthetics of the movement. Rather, the “Great Recall Movement” was organized entirely by local civic groups, each of which had different aesthetic sensibilities, and varied levels of design competency.

 

Crowd images from recall campaigning. Photo credit: 山除薇害—罷免王鴻薇/Facebook

Likewise, the “Great Recall Movement” did not originate in any specific instance of a social movement that led to the emergence of shared graphic sensibilities. For example, the 2014 Sunflower Movement or the 2024 Bluebird Movement both had aesthetics around sunflowers, bluebirds, or other themes that emerged. This was not the case with the “Great Recall Movement,” again, reflecting that this was primarily a grassroots movement that had a bottom-up development in different local constituencies across Taiwan, rather than any central social movement event along the lines of the Sunflower Movement or Bluebird Movement.

Examples of AI-generated art in the recall campaigns. Photo credit: 山除薇害—罷免王鴻薇 (top-left and top-right) and 港湖除銹 罷免李彥秀 (bottom-left and bottom-right)

The emphasis on collective civic participation is self-evident in many of the graphics put out by pro-recall groups. Recall campaign ads and graphics often show groups of people gathered to campaign for recalls, as to be contrasted with the campaign ads that would be seen in an election, with specific protagonists that are candidates up for vote.

 

Art by well-known Taiwanese artists in support of the recalls. Photo credit: dingpaoyen/Instagram (top-left and center-left), miahuangstudio/Instagram (top-right) mrogay/Instagram (center-right), A Ray/Facebook (bottom)

The DPP’s own much more professional campaign ads in support of the “Great Recall Movement” maintained this focus, similarly depicting crowds rather than DPP politicians. This has been the opposite with the KMT, in that KMT anti-recall ads generally feature party politicians. The final slate of speakers for the last round of competing recall rallies is also illustrative–pro-recall campaigns feature artists, authors, entrepreneurs, and more, while anti-recall rallies mostly consist of KMT politicians.

To this extent, the design sensibilities of “Great Recall Movement” ads are less referential or self-referential than in youth-oriented movements such as the Sunflower Movement and Bluebird Movement. Instead of allusions to pop culture as in Japanese anime or Hollywood films that might resonate with specific demographics, such as young people, the emphasis is on campaign aesthetics that are generalizable and understandable by the broad public. Indeed, one also notes a prevalence of AI art in the recall campaigns, reflective of the times.

Examples of caricatures of KMT politicians. Photo credit: 護國大遶境/Facebook (top two rows of images), 敲羅行動 – 罷免羅廷瑋/Facebook (second row of images from the top), 港湖除銹 罷免李彥秀/Facebook (bottom two rows of images)

At the same time, certain thematics can be observed. Given that the recalls were against various KMT politicians, there are a number of caricatures of KMT politicians that feature in “Great Recall Movement” visuals. Indeed, the proliferation of caricatures of KMT politicians led the KMT’s own social media presence–often heavily fixated on negative caricatures of DPP politicians–to switch toward showing its own politicians in a positive light. This may be one way in which the KMT was reacting to the aesthetics of recall campaigning, or it may further illustrate how recall campaign ads brought together both traditionally pan-Green and pan-Blue campaign aesthetics.

Recall banner featuring Chiang Ching-kuo. Photo credit: 張峻/Facebook

Given how the “Great Recall Movement” has sought to appeal to both the pan-Greens and pan-Blues who are dissatisfied with the KMT’s pro-China turn, there has been an emphasis on showing both pro-independence and pro-ROC iconography side-by-side. But when it comes to how recall campaigners represent themselves, this has broadly drawn on conventional symbols of Taiwan, such as the Formosan black bear, or traditional religion. Or this could take more generic forms, in depicting recall campaigners as cats and dogs.

Self-representation of recall campaigners. Photo credit: 護國大遶境/Facebook (top-left), 倫刪立舒 – 中和罷免張智倫 (top-right), 倫刪立舒 – 中和罷免張智倫 (middle-left), 罷免邱若華/Facebook (middle-right), 港湖除銹 罷免李彥秀/Facebook (bottom-left), 罷免游顥-去游除垢-You out (bottom-right)

Still, more generally, one notes that the “Great Recall Movement” did not develop a distinctive aesthetic of its own. Again, references were to past movements or election campaigns viewed as successful. A number of campaign ads sought to mimic the iconic “Walking with Children” ad from Tsai Ing-wen’s 2016 presidential campaign, for example, with similar messaging about how progress had been halted in Taiwan but that civic action was needed for change.

Recall ad against Yeh Yuan-chih

Recall ad against Fu Kun-chi

Recall ad against Yeh Yuan-chih

 

View on Threads

 

The Taiwan Action project, organized primarily by directors, has produced a number of shorts promoting the recalls

DPP campaign ad

Music video by Tsng-kha-lâng and Yang Shu-ya about the recalls

In this sense, the “Great Recall Movement” has proved an echo of the social movement and electoral politics of the last decade. Yet the focus more than ever seems to be on regular people making change, rather than social movement leaders or politicians.
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