ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that direct engagement with even a small number of the ‘millions of images’ and artifacts produced out of Occupy Wall Street is a concrete way to counter the overwhelming feeling that any systematic or comprehensive account of the movement is impossible. The massive outpouring of creativity during 2012 crisis, the millions of images conveyed in banners, slogans, videos, photographs, posters, costumes, and performances would seem to render a comprehensive, much less systematic, account impossible. The signs were, by any measure, an effective mode of external public relations for the movement. The production of signs took place alongside other communication-oriented functions in the camp, including the high tech ‘Tech Ops’ Working Group, and operations by a press office and dedicated media center. Members of the Occupy Archives Working Group recognized the archive’s role as a holder of objects that would provide credible anchors to their original context.
