For many students, living at Choate can make it difficult to stay well-informed. However, like millions of others worldwide, students at Choate seem to retain close relationships through social media. Older generations may condemn this dependence on technology, but there are situations in which certain information, such as a powerful digital image, can travel faster than journalistic news.
On November 13, the day of the devastating Paris terrorist attacks, images suddenly began being posted with a symbol that social media users would soon recognize well: painted on a blank background, a uniform brushstroke made a circular peace sign with the Eiffel Tower making up its middle portion and legs. Upon reading the caption, “Peace for Paris,” people began to understand: something terrible had happened in Paris, and the classic peace sign had been redesigned to represent support for its victims.
Not only did this symbol represent the event, but it served to inform people who may not have been reading the news. Less than 24 hours after its first appearance, this peace sign had made its way to millions of news feed and then into the streets as signs, t-shirts, graffiti, and posters.
We owe the creation of this symbolic creation to Jean Jullien, a 32-year-old French graphic designer. The artist claimed that, upon hearing the news, his heartfelt reaction was to spontaneously draw an emblem of peace and solidarity, which he hoped would unite people in mourning. The graphics behind the symbol are minimalistic in style yet universal in meaning.
“Words sometimes can be difficult to translate,” Jullien admitted to CNN. Although not everyone has the same level of artistic ability, most recognize the great value of an influential image. Art in this form is not merely art, but a vehicle for social activism. It can unite people and raise awareness for a cause that is beyond the control of any single person.
