Foothill Artist Creates 8-Foot Tall "Obey Giant" Painting to Send a Message

There's a new addition to the walls on : an 8-foot-tall Obey Giant plastered onto a wall near the flagpole. It’s going to be there for a week or two so there are many opportunities to take a look and admire the work.

The Obey Giant on the wall was created by artist Kevin Hong as part of an AP Studio Art project. He noticed the popularity of the Obey clothing brand (three people walked by wearing it during our interview) and asked students wearing it if they knew who the creator, Sheppard Fairey, was. Turns out no one he asked knew who Fairey was. Hong believes that “because Obey has become so hyped and mainstream, Sheppard Fairey has been removed from it all together.”

Hong wanted to promote Fairey by recreating the original image and idea of Obey. Fairey created it to encourage people to question their surroundings. The Obey Giant was put onto many public areas without any real explanation to what it was. Hong calls it a “familiar but unfamiliar image.” It is a common sight but most people do not know its origins they will question the origins of Obey and their surroundings.

To encourage students to question their surroundings, Hong included the original Obey figure with his facial expression and logo. He hoped that people would recognize the Obey logo and question who the figure was. Hong doesn’t think that his work will have a major impact on students around Foothill but I have noticed many people stopping and taking a look at the work before class. Despite this, Hong says he hopes it will "raise awareness of the art department of our school and give artists here more recognition"

Hong spent around 12 hours working on the Giant. After he had painted it onto large pieces of paper with acrylic, he had to meticulously cut out and refine the edges of the Giant. Originally, he planned to put it on the back side of the D-Building because of its size but the stucco on the wall prevented him from using it. He eventually put the Giant up on the wall facing the Multipurpose room from the flagpole.

He has considered putting up more of his work around the school. He wants to emulate more of Sheppard Fairey’s idea of making people question their surroundings. One of Hong’s ideas is “creating a poster campaign that utterly confuses people because it would communicate messages that don’t really make any sense.”