In honor of Black History Month, online racial justice organization Color Of Change is launching “The Pedestal Project”–an AR experience on Instagram that lets users place statues of racial justice leaders atop empty pedestals where confederate monuments once stood. Color Of Change has advocated the removal of contentious statues for many years. Now, the Pedestal Project uses technology to see a world where statues finally depict worthy idols for the next generation.
The campaign launches with three racial justice leaders to honor and place on the empty pedestals where the likes of Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson once stood:
- John Lewis, civil rights leader and former United States Congressman
- Alicia Garza, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Movement, author, and principal at Black Futures Lab
- Chelsea Miller, co-founder of Freedom March NYC
People can try the AR experience on the Color Of Change Instagram page. Upon accessing the lens, users will be able to select from a gallery of statues, place it atop an empty pedestal and in each activist’s own voice, hear why change is worth fighting for.
This pro-bono effort was created with creative agency BBDO New York, which partnered with Spencer Evans, a Black sculpture artist, to create original and authentic representations of each activist and imagine how their modern monuments might come to life. 2D sketches were turned into 3D-renderings using CGI technology.
The campaign also drives users to an online petition that aims not just to remove every confederate symbol in America, but to repurpose the pedestals they once stood on by turning them into beacons of racial justice.
“It’s an honor to partner with Color Of Change to put our creativity to work for something so positive and important,” said David Lubars, chief creative officer of BBDO Worldwide. “It’s a simple, reductionist idea: repurpose the pedestals that celebrated an ugly part of our past to now celebrate a hopeful part of our future.”
This trailer outlines the initiative.
