NZ Visual Diary - entry 424

Voiceless

Today’s image valorises street protest . . . the medium more than the message. I am not a vegan, although I have sympathies with the message. Local members of Anonymous for the Voiceless perform regular vigils on the streets of Auckland Central. Rotating in pairs, the protesters wear Guy Fawkes masks and hold small video monitors that display graphic images of farm animal being culled for slaughter.

On the power of the Voiceless protests: However carnivorous your appetites might be, the images are riveting and disturbing.

On the use of the Guy Fawkes mask: In recent times, the masks were popularised by the international hacktivist group known as Anonymous. In popular television culture, the mask appears as a visual anthem in the series Mr Robot. The masks were also a fixture of the Occupy Wall Street protests.

We live in an uneasy era of viral shock performance.