Obey Chopper - Propaganda Engineering

Whether you realize it or not, you have most likely seen the infamous Obey logo posted somewhere,hether it has been a poster pasted on the side of a building, a spray painting on a freeway underpass, or a sticker slapped onto a street sign; the message is everywhere. For those who are unfamiliar with Obey's global art campaign, the project was birthed in '89 as the looming black and white image that littered skateboard parks throughout the country. This is exactly where Marty Bailey, owner and creative designer behind the Obey chopper, was introduced to the phenomenon. Marty reminisced over his initial encounters with the Obey movement:

"Stickers with an image of Andre the Giant were plastered all over kids skateboards, bathroom stalls, stop signs, etc. They all delivered the same message: Andre the Giant has a Posse. What does it mean? I didn't know, but I though it was cool nonetheless."

As time passed, Marty learned more about the philosophy behind the mysterious sticker crusade headed by street/graphic artist Shepard Fairey. The subcultural experiment in phenomenology aims to stimulate curiosity about advertisement in its many forms, which are meant to persuade consumer behavior. As Marty sees it, "Fairey's order to 'obey' is actually a cry to disobey, to not be spoon-fed culture or ideas through television, radio or print." Marty used this rationale when it came time to collect ideas for his first chopper build. The motorcycle community embraces the freedom lifestyle of living by your own rules and not being told what to do. "I wanted to build a chopper with a message and see how the community reacted. Would they accept it or reject it? I was dying to find out."

Marty's first order of business was contacting Obey, whose headquarters lie in Los Angeles, California, for permission to incorporate Fairey's artwork into the design of his paint scheme. With the thumbs up from Fairey and Co., Marty recruited some talented friends and began what would become a year and a half long project that would transform his love of street art and non-conformist ideals into his ultimate vision of propaganda proclamation.

The main objectives of the build were to maintain a minimalist design aesthetic while creating a bike that would be striking enough to serve as a competent messenger of the Obey doctrine. Marty, also a graphic designer, put his skills to the test as he attempted to successfully mate the complex twodimensional images with Ken Miller Customs' 3-dimentional sheetmetal. Custom leather guru Duane Ballard was recruited to craft and hand-tool the seat and tool bag with genuine Obey imagery, which successfully pulls the overall theme of the bike together. Although this bike boasts a myriad of visually impressive elements, the paint and illustration work obviously takes center stage.

Marty utilized the signature Obey color palette as he had Brian Loker from Design Craft spray a balanced mixture of red, black, and cream paint. These three colors are heavily used in Obey artwork, as they are sharply reminiscent of Communist propaganda posters from the World Wars-a heavy influence on Fairey's illustrations. With this in mind, it is no wonder why the bike has received such a love/hate reaction as the potent imagery finds itself under close inspection. Marty comments, "Less than 5 percent of the people who have viewed my bike have the slightest idea of what Obey represents. Half of those who take a good look at the bike will stand and stare as they walk around it and take it all in. The other half almost immediately get angered as they read the Obey graphics and become confused." These reactions seem to speak volumes about the type of bike that Marty was against building-soulless machine garbed in flashy paint and blinding chrome. It was imperative that this bike make a statement.