September 9, 2011
From Zevs:
"The photo above was taken in Room 233 at the Comfort Inn on 90 Maine Mall Road in South Portland ME.
It is the same room where the terrorists of September 11th stayed before attacking the World Trade Center.
This graffiti is visible only under UV light."
Posted by marc at 8:23 AM in Activism |
" the jordan
in the terminate thing. crashing , wings trashing.
flesh ripping, squashing , pigeon gasping
feeling trapped in. Laughing! still eyes flashing
Heroes dead collapsing,
is consume a religion , you asking
thoughts from my piegeonhole.".. Jaybo
Posted by marc at 8:18 AM in Activism |
September 2, 2011
More here.
Posted by marc at 8:05 AM in Activism |
August 30, 2011
From Luzinterruptus:
"This is our last intervention “Radioactive Control”. It was created for the Dockville Festival in Hamburg which tried to demonstrate, in a humorous tone, the paranoia that we are suffering from since the escape of radioactive material in Japan, has brought into question the safety systems at the nuclear power plants.
With our mysterious army of 100 illuminated radioactive figures, which advanced threateningly on the natural environment of the festival, we wanted to invite reflection regarding the use and abuse of nuclear energy, cheap in economic terms, but which can cause grave secondary effects for the environment and health, forever irreversible."
Posted by marc at 7:15 AM in Activism |
July 20, 2011
"Emily James spent over a year embedded in activist groups such as Climate Camp and Plane Stupid to document their clandestine activities. With unprecedented access, Just Do It takes you on an astonishing journey behind the scenes of a community of people who refuse to sit back and allow the destruction of their world.
Torpedoing the tired cliches of the environmental movement, Just Do It introduces you to a powerful cast of mischievous and inspiring characters who put their bodies in the way; they super-glue themselves to bank trading floors, blockade factories and attack coal power stations en-masse, despite the very real threat of arrest. Their adventures will entertain, illuminate and inspire."
Posted by marc at 6:33 AM in Activism |
Italian Vandal from Shafiur Rahman on Vimeo.
Posted by marc at 6:27 AM in Activism |
June 20, 2011
Photos nicked from here.
Posted by marc at 7:32 AM in Activism |
June 7, 2011
From Radya:
We live in the city, so the city is alive too.
Streets, buildings, windows – they emerge and disappear.
The Miloslavsky hospital had appeared a century ago thanks to the efforts of citizens – they’ve collected money and just built it.
Today, due to other people’s interests, next to the hospital emerged a building site.
It’s a usual story: offices. The first line of offices is close to the former operating-rooms, the second line, it seems, replaced those.
We are loosing it.
Maybe it will survive, maybe not. The hospital hardly has chances: it treats from inside, not outside.
A city has more life than any of us, but it is also more fragile – it’s in our hands.
It is strange to see how the building is dying, where people used to be returned to life.
Posted by marc at 7:46 AM in Activism |
June 1, 2011
Hacking the Bogota Book Fair from Fei An Tjan on Vimeo.
Posted by marc at 7:57 AM in Activism |
Posted by marc at 7:54 AM in Activism |
May 20, 2011
As many of you know, Sara and I are huge fans of Paul Harfleet and the Pansy Project. Paul's raising money for a Pansy Project publication via Crowdfunder. If you can, please help them out by donating here.
Posted by marc at 7:41 AM in Activism |
May 9, 2011
Posted by marc at 7:50 AM in Activism |
April 10, 2011
On March 31's Mutate Britain and artist Peter Dunne offered bankers in the bleeding heart of The City of London a white gloved service and 300 free signed original works.
Posted by marc at 8:24 PM in Activism |
April 6, 2011
This Saturday, "The Hypothetical Development Organization" officially kicks off in New Orleans with an opening at the Du Mois Gallery. "The Hypothetical Development Organization" identifys neglected-looking buildings and then dreams up "hypothetical" (absurd) futures for them. The idea is then rendered by a contributing artist, printed out on a sign and then placed on the original building -- exactly like a real "developers" sign, only more interesting.
Candy Chang, who we recently featured on the Wooster site, is among the contributors. Others include John Becker, Mark Clayton, Carey Clouse, Michael Doyle, Mauricio Espinosa, Christina Hilliard, Kirsten Hively, Nicole Lavelle, Sergio Humberto Padilla., Dave Pinter, Lauren Stewart, Meg Turner, and the SVA Masters in Branding Class of 2011
(Rendering By Humberto Padillo)
"The Radtke Reading Room."
"Radtke Reading Room And Archive. New Orleans anti-graffiti zealot Fred Radtke is (in)famous for paint-rolling gray splotches over street art, and if you spend any time in New Orleans you will see his work everywhere. Even Banksy has referenced him. (And Radkte himself has been arrested at least once -- for obliterating a legal mural). On some level Radkte’s splotches are his de facto “tag.” Indeed, one could argue that he is the all-out king of New Orleans; he’s tagged up the entire parish. In tribute, this building could serve as the new center of his operations. It is time to recognize Radkte’s role as a citywide bomber: When he goes up over your tag, he really goes up over your tag. Respect."
(Renderings by Kirsten Hively)
"Boutiques and artisinal products signal exclusivity, and thus economic vitality. Hypothetically, this building could be the workshop and boutique of the maker of artisanal velvet ropes. If you need a velvet rope, you don’t want just any old mass-produced velvet rope; you want a handmade, custom velvet rope, from a recognized velvet rope artisan. This classy and cutting-edge-looking business isn’t a fusty old velvet rope “shoppe,” it’s the place to get velvet ropes, as impressive and forward-thinking as those handmade by the trendiest velvet rope makers in Los Angeles, London, and Hong Kong."
Hypothetical Development Organization Opening Reception
Saturday, April 9 · 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Location
Du Mois Gallery
4921 Freret
New Orleans, LA
Click here to RSVP
Posted by marc at 7:05 AM in Activism |
April 4, 2011
We were honored to be asked to participate in the latest PublicAdCampaign project: the Madrid Street Ad Takeover project. Last Thursday at 5:30 AM over 106 messages replaced advertising in light boxes around Madrid. 4 teams of 16 dedicated folks took only one hour to complete the takeover. Though removed within about 5 hours, most were documented and can be found here. Luckily, there were no arrests.
Contributors were asked to send in text that was printed in black on a white background. People involved included artists, lawyers, teachers, sociologists and gallery owners. Everyone submitted a sentiment about what they would like to see in public space to create a vision of what the public environment could be.
Posted by marc at 8:04 AM in Activism |
March 25, 2011
To read the story behind this project, and to view more photos, check out Candy Chang's website here.
Posted by marc at 6:31 AM in Activism |
March 20, 2011
"People are pasting their own photos and covering all the walls where Ben Ali used to have his portrait so on VERY symbolic places.. it s incredible to be witness of the place of Art in a Revolution"... JR
Posted by marc at 8:20 AM in Activism |
March 16, 2011
Photo by Danny Howard
Photo by davitydave
From Eugenia, the Editor of MuniDiaries.com:
We saw your post about the yarn bomb in Philly, and guess what we found -- bus riders in SF take it a step further and actually bring their own seats to wait for the bus. People are bringing couches, swivel office chairs, stools, wicker garden chairs, you name it, so they can get a seat on the bus."
You can read the article here.
Posted by marc at 7:20 AM in Activism |
March 8, 2011
ZEIGER from █▀██▄█▀▀█ on Vimeo.
"A couple of months ago, ad-projectors appeared in a Berlin subway station, throwing moving images all over the station walls and lifting visual aggressiveness to a new level. Since the images were projected, we could get between projector and projection to fight this new quality of exaggerated advertisement with its own weapons. Minimalinvasive adbusting devices made of mirrors, magnets and quite some ducktape.".... █▀██▄█▀▀█
Posted by marc at 7:02 AM in Activism |
February 25, 2011
From our friends at Pictures On Walls comes news that Oleg Vorotnikov and Leonid Nikolaev from Russian art group VOINA have finally been released on bail.
POW tells us...
"In December, Oleg and Loenid were arrested for making some pretty racy public art pieces. After spending three and a half months in a St. Petersberg jail infested with scurvey and TB we're delighted to report that the pair have just been released.
Officials at their court hearing were apparently unaware more than 400 punters had bought a Banksy print and the proceeds had been transferred over. A judge set bail at 600,000 roubles (a pretty unattainable amount for the average Russian) but they were able to produce all the cash on the spot and the pair walked free."
Posted by marc at 12:09 PM in Activism |
February 14, 2011
The Pansy Project from Pixelbrix on Vimeo.
If you've ever attended one of our talks, than you've heard us speak about Paul Harfleet's Pansy Project. Paul's interventions, which confront violent acts of homophobia in an incredibly peaceful manner, is truly one of the great urban intervention projects of our generation.
Posted by marc at 6:27 AM in Activism |
February 9, 2011
Posted by marc at 6:59 AM in Activism |
January 26, 2011
Posted by marc at 7:11 AM in Activism |
January 2, 2011
"I've been re-purposing illegal condo ads from around and turning these into tents to put back out in the urban environment. Some have stayed up fully intact in prominent areas for more than a week now (even after rain and wind storms), and I've been continuing to do additional installs.
I've created a fake marketing campaign for the TENTs, including hacked condo sandwich boards of which I've collected more than twenty to date. It all culminates tomorrow at the closing event in the TENT "Presentation Centre" I put together here in Toronto. "... Sean
Posted by marc at 8:55 PM in Activism |
Sokak Savaşa Karşı | Streets Against The War from sokak savasakarsi on Vimeo.
The video above was shot on 294 walls in four different Turkish cities.
Posted by marc at 8:51 AM in Activism |
December 31, 2010
"This is the first in a series about empathy and homelessness. The idea is to draw dreamcatchers and put them up where homeless people sleep and go back at night to photograph them sleeping under it. My goal is in atlanta for the symbol of the dreamcatcher to become synonymous with empathy and gratitude. To see one outside even when no one is sleeping under it is to hopefully become thankful for what you have.
I got to talk to phil in the middle of putting this piece up. Hes been here for a long time and let me know that when the sun goes down thats where i can find him. We discussed the issue of homelessness and why atlanta is spending money on things other than a solution to housing them. I gave him a bottle of rum, canned food , some baked goods, and cigs. He insisted on shaking my hand even though it was covered in wheatpaste.
The next day when i was walking i saw him and he introduced me to his friend, gave me the biggest hug, and told me he loved me. Thats what its about. I could care less on how many views this gets my goal is already accomplished on a personal level. My hopes are to get a show built around a series of these and donate half of what i make to the specific person in the photo."... Ola Bad
Posted by marc at 3:01 PM in Activism |
December 23, 2010
Over the last few days Sara and I have read a lot, if not all, of the commentary that's been posted online about the abrupt removal of our friend Blu's mural on the exterior of Los Angeles' Museum of Contemporary Art. Understandably, almost all of the discussion has been focused on the seemingly rash decision by Jeffrey Deitch, the newly appointed Director of MOCA, to remove the mural immediately after it was completed without any opportunity for debate and dialogue to happen before it's removal.
Being a high profile and extremely colorful figure, it makes sense that Deitch would quickly become the focus of the blogosphere's vitriol. It was his sole decision to destroy the mural before the public could see it, and because the mural was commissioned and authorized, it can also be said to be an act of censorship. When you read the accounts of what happened, (as well as what didn't happen) it certainly seems that the criticism is justified. And we've contributed some of our own criticism to that dialogue, both publicly and privately.
But for us, this discussion about Blu's mural should be a lot more than just a vilification of Jeffrey Deitch and a show of support for Blu. For us, it has more to do with the fact that as time goes on, more and more of our museums fail to live up to the ideals that we have for them. We want, and expect, museums to defend our free speech. We want, and expect, museums to provide a home for provocative thought. We want, and expect, museums to provoke and inspire debate. What we should not want is for museums to be so constrained and commercial that they add very little to the public debate.
The reality is that fewer and fewer museums live up to our ideals. To keep their doors open, museums like MOCA need to appease powerful donors and mount shows that are commercial and bring in the masses. It's becoming rarer and rarer for museums to mount truly provocative shows that challenge us and change the course of our society.
When Sara and I were invited by the Tate Modern in 2008 to give a lecture and slide show as part of their Street Art show, we debated up until the last moment whether we would participate. Finding out that "the exhibition" was only murals on the exterior of the building and that there were no works of art inside, was a huge problem for us. It made the exterior murals more about marketing the Tate Modern than about doing a survey of the movement. The Tate Modern placed street art back at the kids table, rather than having it sit alongside the parents. Learning at the 12th hour that Nissan was a huge title sponsor without notifying any of the participants in advance of this, was another problem for us. But in the end we did participate. What we ended up doing was to (1) mention our concerns onstage and (2) make our slide show more provocative then we had first planned, feeling that our lecture would act as a sort of trojan horse for street art to actually enter the Tate while the Tate had excluded it.
When we did our 11 Spring exhibition in December of 2006, we mounted it inside a private building without any outside funding or public support. We had no brand sponsors and the show was completely free to visitors. It would not have been possible, for many reasons, to mount that same show in a museum. And while the show had a bit of its own controversy, with people questioning the motives of the new owner of the building as well as some questioning our own curatorial decisions, the show was exactly what we wanted it to be with absolutely zero compromises.
Ironically, immediately after 11 Spring's three day run, we were contacted by New York City officials asking us to help them to learn how shows like 11 Spring could be done by public institutions. We told them we didn’t believe that it could be done, for the very reasons why Blu's wall was removed.
But the bottom line is this - EVERY artist wants to be recognized by their peers and the public at large. One would be hard-pressed to find any artist – including graffiti and street artists – who didn't want to do everything they could to be included in a museum's collection. Museums mean that you are part of history. All artists want to be part of history, especially graffiti and street artists.
To judge something that you're not a part of, before you've seen the final result, is not a practice that Sara and I engage in. So we, even now, have no ability or desire to judge or critique the upcoming street art show that Deitch and MOCA will mount in April. But certainly the removal of Blu's wall doesn't signal that the show itself will be very daring and provocative.
Our hope is that the final outcome from all of the discussion this month about Blu, Deitch, MOCA, and censorship is that it will become a clear catalyst for Deitch, the curators, and the artists, to be even more daring with their work and its message INSIDE, knowing now that this will not be the case OUTSIDE.
Posted by marc at 5:22 PM in Activism |
December 22, 2010
From Epos 257:
The appropriation of public space with no apparent intent
Duration: 54 days (September 04 - October 27, 2010)
Location: Palackeho square, Prague - the so-called "Czech Hyde Park" - allegedly the most liberal spot in the country, approved by the authorities for holding any unannounced public gatherings.
Have we grown accustomed to having our living space curbed by just anyone? Is public space a mere myth?
In the current society, our living space is defined by legal norms and regulations, the same way as fences demark the choices of our free movement.
Only by attempting to cross those boundaries, we learn how limited the space we live in really is - that we are not as free as it may initially seem. We are getting the sense that the individuality of today is destined to an existence amidst restrictions.
Posted by marc at 7:10 AM in Activism |
From K-Guy: "the 'No Blood' image is a piece that explores the clean white shirt: the uniform of the rich and the powerful, with a narrative of interweaving concepts of big business, corporate greed, the politics of war, freedom and 'truth'. The stains of suffering will always be visible"
Posted by marc at 6:56 AM in Activism |
December 17, 2010
A lot of people have asked us about our thoughts regarding Jeffrey Deitch removing Blu's "Coffins and Dollar Bills" mural from the MOCA fascade. It's been a crazy week, so we made some comments on Twitter. We hope to have something up on the site this weekend about it.
Posted by marc at 7:48 AM in Activism |
December 14, 2010
"This is the first in what will be an ongoing series of temporary installations with these retroreflective cardboard letters. They'll be installed all around the city of Windsor, Ontario to attempt to generate some conversation and creative thinking around how we can indeed make this (place) better. "... Justin, Broken City Lab
Posted by marc at 8:06 AM in Activism |
December 13, 2010
From No Touching Ground:
"On August 30th Seattle resident John T. Williams was shot and killed by a police officer seemingly for possessing a carving knife. Williams was a seventh generation Ditidaht totem carver. In addition to his carving knife, which was within legal limits for blade length, Williams was carrying a piece of wood. He was also deaf in one ear, and partially crippled. Witnesses stated that he didn’t seem to understand when the officer told him to drop the knife, and that there was nothing aggressive or violent about Williams' behavior. John T. Williams was shot in the back and side, his carving knife was found shut beside him, challenging the officers testimony that Williams had lunged at him with an open blade. The investigation is on going.
Seattle street artist No Touching Ground uses narrative images to write the natural world back into the urban landscape. This mural is but one chapter of a larger series the artist has created as part of the conversation on social justice in Seattle. The John T. Williams piece is more than a metaphor, it is a memorial, dedicated to those caught between conflicting worlds, living fully in neither. "
Posted by marc at 7:19 AM in Activism |
December 11, 2010
Earlier this morning, on the Pictures on Walls website, Banksy launched one of his largest print releases to date.
But what makes this public sale even more interesting is that Banksy has chosen the legal defense fund of the underground Russian artist collective VOINA to be the recipient of all of the proceeds from the sale.
If you're not familiar with VOINA, two of its members are currently in jail in
St Petersburg for drawing a massive penis on a bridge opposite KGB headquarters. The action was a protest of police corruption.
‘Choose your weapon’, the print Banksy made available this morning comes in an edition of 100 on grey, plus a smaller edition of red, blue and green (25 each).
To purchase one simply click here.
Posted by marc at 8:02 AM in Activism |
December 6, 2010
Posted by marc at 6:50 AM in Activism |
December 3, 2010
From Patrick:
Another day without a dollar.
Many small independent mom and pop businesses have been closing up left and right all across the United States. All that is left behind is a cold empty vacant space. Martinez utilizes the space to engage the viewer or passer by on the street with a colorful visual dialog and touching on what people are going through finically during the current recession. Painting portraits of his own parents and placing the words " trying to make a dollar out of 14 (16) cents." over the paintings in bright saturated neon letters. Remixing typical Los Angeles neon signs and introducing the traditional painting element into the mix.
Posted by marc at 9:30 AM in Activism |
November 1, 2010
'Yes on 19' San Francisco Wheatpasting from chicken milk on Vimeo.
Posted by marc at 5:34 AM in Activism |
October 18, 2010
From Michael Aaron Williams:
"This series are all done on cardboard and depict the homeless. They are put up and are able to be taken down so that they can be taken home. They are therefore extremely delicate. Its interesting because just like the actual homeless, the people on the street ignore the pieces and many times see no worth in them. However, Some people have and are encouraged to take these home where the pieces can survive."
Posted by marc at 6:50 AM in Activism |
October 10, 2010
You Are What You Do from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.
Invisible Children use art and activism to help end Africa's longest running war. The mural in this video was made over the period of a couple days in order to rally people to raise funds for their Schools for Schools program.
Posted by marc at 7:46 AM in Activism |
October 4, 2010
The video above explains a method of creating art developed by the Sao Paulo based artist Alexandre Orion. He calls them "Pollugraphies". The technique captures the soot directly from car exhaust pipes to produce images on canvas. Each piece is exposed to the pollution for a week. If the truck shakes hard, the piece gets damaged. If it rains, the piece is gone. Orion produces an average of 4 pieces to save only one.
Posted by marc at 7:29 AM in Activism |
September 24, 2010
Budapest, Hungary
Nantes, France: "Entendre l'infini à perte de vue" - "hear infinity as far as the eye can see".
Posted by marc at 7:08 AM in Activism |
September 21, 2010
"i recycled election posters from the latest Philippine election. i printed the reversed side with the design of Philippine Cash ticket. added the word "crisisytem" below and replaced the the ticket amount with an inverted logo of a famous market in the Philippines"... koloWn
Posted by marc at 7:11 AM in Activism |
September 20, 2010
Artist: K•GUY
Posted by marc at 7:02 AM in Activism |
Posted by marc at 6:32 AM in Activism |
September 16, 2010
"The Last Polar Bear, a public art piece created by Bryan Snyder, interacts with its environment amidst the development of a previously open lot of land. This project’s goal is to showcase the relationship between a piece of art and its location when placed in the streets while highlighting the effects of global warming, deforestation and other current environmental concerns."
Posted by marc at 7:27 AM in Activism |
September 12, 2010
"Marking the back to school term, Preventable together with BCAA Traffic Safety Foundation and the District of West Vancouver have launched an optical illusion geared to making drivers slow down at high-risk intersections.
The optical illusion of an illustrated girl chasing a ball has been placed on the road northbound at 22nd street in West Vancouver. There are signs leading up to it saying "you're probably not expecting kids to run out on the road" to prepare drivers. The installation is meant to draw attention to the risk of children running into the street and was carefully tested before being put in place. It is in place for a few days only and is being monitored as a pilot to ensure pedestrian and driver safety are not risked. The illusion rises up gradually from about 100 feet away as not to surprise drivers, and it fades away by the time a driver approaches.
For more details on how we're shifting attitudes and raising awareness about preventable injuries, visit http://www.preventable.ca
From the organizers:
* Preventable, BCAA Traffic Safety Foundation, and the District of West Vancouver launched this pilot project as a back to school initiative to raise awareness about more kids on the streets this fall and drivers’ awareness in school zones during the critically important first week of back to school. This project will exist for one week only to capture drivers’ and pedestrians’ attention.
* We started in April 2010 with careful consideration and planning that included discussions with the District of West Vancouver, parents, the school board, engineers, and police.
* The District of West Vancouver engineers have done a full risk assessment of this initiative and are supportive of the concept and its implementation. Their helpful and professional advice led to additional safety measures including additional static and dynamic signage in advance of the image and a police presence. On-site monitoring of motorist behaviour has since confirmed that there has been absolutely no evidence of abrupt stopping or swerving by motorists. The police, traffic engineers, parents, and Preventable have been monitoring, and will continue to monitor, traffic around this 3D illusion.
* The 2D decal gradually appears 3D to drivers approaching the image. A risk assessment of this project shows that drivers do not mistake this image for a real girl and can see the image 100 feet away. The image does not “jump-out” at drivers and there is no “startling effect”, the road conditions on 22nd Street are very good for this project, which is precisely why this location was selected. Sight lines are perfect northbound along the road and to the cross streets. Although the community continuously grapples with unsafe driving behaviours in this particular school zone, twenty-second (22nd) Street in West Vancouver has a very good vehicle crash record. The number of crashes since 1996 (the earliest year for which we have records) is insignificant. This is was also an important criteria in choosing the site as the best location for the project.
* Preceding the illusion are clearly marked school zones signs (30 KM maximum speed limit), a cross walk, traffic calming curb extensions in advance of the illusion, and a Preventable signs that read, “You’re probably not expecting kids to run out on the road.” There is also a STOP sign at the end of the block. All these factors mean that motorists are slowing in anticipation of stopping regardless of the 3D illusion.
* A public awareness program was started in advance of implementation of this project to inform drivers and the general public of the image.
(via Laughing Squid)
Posted by marc at 4:29 PM in Activism |
September 10, 2010
"Inspired by John Fekner's critiques of urban decay and borrowing from the technique of Andy Uprock these installations draw attention to the empty industrial spaces littering even picturesque little cities like Hobart, Australia. The idea was simply to draw attention to the spaces which stand neglected rather than to beautify them.".... Tabasco
Posted by marc at 7:35 AM in Activism |
August 28, 2010
Posted by marc at 8:18 PM in Activism |
From Charushin:
"i did this action in Moscow in August 2d when the day of Air Assault Forces takes place. It used to be very brutal and aggressive day when former and current members of AAF get totally drunk and destroy everything/beat whoever they want. They are allowed to do it by government (because for government it's easier to allow such one-day-anarchy than pay them good salary and bring some changes into corrupted and demoralized army). Many people (especially colored) don't leave their home this day because it's quite dangerous. Others are afraid to pass these places where the AAF members are hanging over.
One of their favorite entertainment is swimming in the fountains. I colored water in one of them in pink color. Color of love and tenderness. These guys always have not enough love and affection"
Posted by marc at 8:01 PM in Activism |
July 21, 2010
"The Vancouver Transit Adspace Re-appropriation Project, or V-TARP, intends to reclaim the highly sought after mindspace used by corporations to communicate with the public, by collecting artworks from across the globe and installing them in the transit adspace."
Posted by marc at 8:16 AM in Activism |
Date: 18th July 2010 8.45am
Title: "Wish you were here?..."
Site: Southend-on-Sea High Street, Southend-on-Sea, Essex.UK.
The mermaid sculpture was almost surrounded by Ground coffee, coffee beans, coffee house cups and ephemera. I liked the idea of her drowning in this stuff"...Laura
Posted by marc at 8:00 AM in Activism |
Posted by marc at 7:52 AM in Activism |
July 7, 2010
"Jay Shells is the man behind Subway Etiquette, a new project that uses silk screen signs, which look identical to official transit signs, to speak not just to New Yorkers but all commuters, asking for a simple thing: Respect. Jay’s signs request that the reader does not do things like eat messy foods, preach their own religious beliefs or cut their toenails while riding the subway. What seems to be common sense is actually happening at every turn - bothering everyone around them. However our own concern with politeness keeps us from speaking up. We follow Jay from his silk screening studio in The New School, through the stairwells and tunnels of the New York Subway System, posting signs that hopefully remind us all to be a little more courteous. "
Posted by marc at 9:01 PM in Activism |
July 1, 2010
From Elmaks:
"The future of the Turcot Interchange has been a hot topic of discussion over the past year, with community groups, urban planners, citizens and politicians arguing over which plan for the interchange's remodelling is best. Current plans call for the expropriation and demolition of some 200 homes in a neighborhood that has been hard-hit by megaproject expansions.
To top it all off, a city politician who ran on a platform of openness and transparency has taken over the Turcot planning issue and shut out almost all community groups. So I made these posters in order to try and bring the Turcot Interchange and its future back into the public eye... This is the first in a series of posters I'm doing which will feature alternate futures for the Turcot."
Posted by marc at 7:05 AM in Activism |
June 30, 2010
From Ronen:
"Around the city of Lublin Poland, on empty buildings as well as inhabited ones, in the alleys of the old city and on streets of the newer parts, I posted photos of different examples of Jewish people who lived on these streets in these houses of the center of Lublin in between in the nineteen twenties 'till 1941.
In a modest gesture, I return the people in the photos to the place they were taken. The photos show all kind of Jews. Young, old, modern, religious, political activist, Bundist, Zionist, nihilists, bourgeois, Hasidic, yeshiva student, communist, who knows? In some photos the identity is clearly visible, while in others it’s not so clear.
Near the photos appear different questions in polish:
Czy zawsze czu?e? si? inny od swoich przyjació?? / Have you always felt different from your friends?
Czy w twojej rodzinie jest wielka tajemnica? / Does your family hide a great mystery/secret?
Czy twoja babcia mamrocze w obcym j?zyku przez sen? / Does your grandmother mumble in her sleep in a foreign tongue?
Jakim ?ydem jeste?? What kind of Jew are you?
The project was made as part of the Open City Festival – Festival of art in public spaces. Lublin, Poland. curator: Krzysztof Zwirblis / Studio Gallery
Posted by marc at 6:14 AM in Activism |
June 29, 2010
The Freedom Charter from rowan pybus & faith47 on Vimeo.
Posted by marc at 8:25 AM in Activism |
June 20, 2010
"This year Portland has been robbed of our summer and the past few months have seen almost constant rain. But when the sun does make a rare appearance a group of us have been painting murals at Dignity Village. Dignity Village is the country's first city-sanctioned homeless encampment. Now much more than the tent village that it started as, Dignity Village is a place for homeless individuals to find stable housing and resources while looking for work and permanent housing. Next month they will celebrate their 10th anniversary.
In an effort to strengthen the relationship between Dignity Village and local artists, to protect houses from the weather, and to brighten people's days, the mural project links artists with residents to paint murals in the village. The late start to summer has been the only thing holding us back. When we do get some sunshine a group of us head out there to paint and as more murals happen the more requests we get from the residents to do their homes"...Klutch
Posted by marc at 4:01 PM in Activism |
"I just got back from my first trip to Haiti. I'm working to develop a sustainable building project in the village of Barriere Leudi, in collaboration with a group of artists, builders, architects, and engineers - and with the Mango Grower's Association in Barriere Jeudi.
After the Quake, Ben Wolf, Olivia Katz, and I were asking ourselves how we as a small group of individuals could contribute to the situation there, especially with regard to so many people losing their homes. We knew that there would be many big NGO's doing projects large and small, but that there would still be room, and even need, for focused contributions on a person to person scale. So, we spent the last 5 months developing the Konbit Shelter project. We will be working to adapt the Super-Adobe building technique to the climate of Haiti, and building some structures in this Leogane village, starting with a community center, and moving on to housing of all works out.
Take a look at our site here, we will be posting more detailed updates soon!"... Swoon
Posted by marc at 3:46 PM in Activism |
May 25, 2010
More from AP here.
Posted by marc at 7:09 AM in Activism |
May 18, 2010
The Baltimore Love Project consists of 20 love themed murals that are currently being painted around different parts of Baltimore City.
Posted by marc at 7:39 AM in Activism |
May 14, 2010
The video above documents a fence weaving project that took place in a public housing development in Louisville, KY.
Posted by marc at 7:47 AM in Activism |
May 12, 2010
(click to enlarge)
(click to enlarge)
From Radya:
"Here in Ekaterinburg (it's a big industrial city in center of Russia, here is physical border (Ural mountains) between Europe and Asia) we don't have much info about world street art scene, and your news is really important for us. so we try to do some experiments in our city
this is a project about Second World War. 9 May, Day of Victory, is a really important for russian people, we lost about 20 millions in this war. For russians it's really free from political propaganda, just because every family in country participates in war. For example my grandfather was 7 years old, when first nazi bombers attack their village in Ukraine, and grandfathers of my friends reached Berlin in 1945.
ps: sorry for my English, i'm trying to learn it. :)
Here is text for my project:
"After the war"
Posters are made of pictures taken throughout the years of war. The first - the Flag over Reichstag, 1945 - this picture became a real symbol of a victory The second - a portrait of the guerrilla, 1943
I've decided to do that when I felt one thing:
We did not loose the country, but we lost a great, an incredible number of people
They just disappeared, left, they're gone Vanish into something bigger than emptiness - as when the person who remembered a great amount of already forgotten people, is gone and now they are gone together with him, forever. Like old cracked photos, on which you can still see faces, but you do not know who are they"
Posted by marc at 7:27 AM in Activism |
(click to enlarge)
From Dre Urhahn and Haas&Hahn of Favela Painting:
"Our latest work in Rio de Janeiro. It's called Praça Cantão and spans over 34 houses, covering 7000 square meters. We are slowly moving towards our goal: painting an entire favela and we're getting closer and closer.
Over the last month, Praça Cantão, the square at the entrance of the community of Dona Marta was turned into a vibrant artwork of monumental scale. 34 houses on the giant hillside favela, located in the center of Rio de Janeiro, have been painted in a design of colorful rays, radiating into the city. This 7000 square meter artwork is part of the 'Favela Painting' project by Haas&Hahn (Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn), a project that aims to transform communities into landmarks and inspirational monuments as a part of Rio’s image, next to the statue of Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf mountain.
Realization of the artwork is largely driven by the inhabitants of Dona Marta. 25 local youth have been trained as painters, providing for their own income and being responsible for turning their own neighborhood into a colorful monument. This grassroots method of working has proven to be successful in earlier projects, and gives the local community empowerment, pride and color. The local team is complemented by three painters from another favela, Vila Cruzeiro, where two of the previous projects by Haas & Hahn took place.
The project has thusfar been financed through grants and donations, but a co-operation with the dutch paint company AkzoNobel might open new doors. A meeting with their Managing Director Tex Gunning, showed they had a shared vision. “They wanted to give color to the community”, Dre recalls, “and we wanted to give art to the community. I see no reason why we cannot recreate this idea across 300 houses, 3000 houses, whether its in Rio, Johannesburg, Mumbai or anywhere in the world.”
About Favela Painting
In 2006, the Dutch artists Jeroen Koolhaas en Dre Urhahn conceived the idea of creating community-driven art interventions in Brazil. Named ‘Favela Painting’, their first efforts yielded two murals which were painted in Vila Cruzeiro, Rio's most notorious slum. The first mural is entitled ‘boy with kite’ and has a surface of 150 m2. The second mural proved to be more challenging, with a surface of 2000 m2. Painted on a staircase in the heart of Vila Cruzeiro, it depicts a flowing river with Koi Carp fishes in the style of a Japanese tattoo, designed together with Rob Admiraal. The artworks for the murals are painted in collaboration with the local youth. Training and paying them as painters, learning them the tricks of the trade and empowering them by contributing to the development of the artwork. These projects received worldwide press coverage and have become points of pride both within the community and throughout Rio.
Using a grassroots-based bottom-up approach has proven to be a key factor in the success and final results. In order to generate support and approval for their activities, the artists always make the favela their home. By spending their time within the local community, they’re able to connect to their surroundings more easily, winning the hearts and minds of people. In their point of view, the inhabitants of the favela are a legitimate part of the city, but not seen that way from the outside. Using these beliefs, they work with the locals to paint the artworks, literally helping them changing the face of their community. Over the years, inhabitants of the favela’s have become aware of this method, and are actively requesting their favela to be turned into an artwork. As one woman from Vila Cruzeiro put it: ‘I’ve never been to a museum in my life, and now I’m living in one’.
Favela Painting is supported by the Firmeza Foundation in the creation of striking artworks in unexpected places. It collaborates with the local community to use art and color as a tool to inspire, create beauty, combat prejudice and attract attention. The Foundation facilitates the worldwide realisation of art interventions, and looks after their maintenance. It also develops relevant spin-off projects in the areas of education, socio-economic / social support and development of local people involved in the projects.
As of March 2010, Favela Painting has established a collaboration with AkzoNobel’s decorative paint division. Based on their mission of “adding colour to people’s lives”, AkzoNobel intends to participate in an inspiring and meaningful manner in local communities in the countries in which it operates. The objective of the cooperation between both parties is to realise worldwide, large scale “community driven” works of art. Works of art that make a colourful difference in the lives of individuals, groups, communities and cities. Works of art that have the potential of inspiring others elsewhere, that leave an indelible impression and can work as a catalyst in the processes of social renewal and change.
Posted by marc at 7:20 AM in Activism |
May 5, 2010
From The Province: "Activists have entangled two sculpted porpoises in a giant plastic six-pack ring to protest the use of throwaway plastic and its impact on West Coast marine and wildlife.
The downtown Vancouver demonstration has been organized by the Plastic Pollution Coalition (PPC) and Vancouver advertising agency Rethink. The PPC is trying to draw attention to the fact that plastic pollution covers millions of square kilometres of ocean in the North Pacific and in the North Atlantic. Scientists expect to find similar accumulation areas in the remaining oceanic gyres. There is no known way to clean up the plastic pollution in the oceans as the plastic particles are very small and circulate throughout the entire water column.
The giant plastic rings were originally set up to strangle a wildlife statue at Georgia and Thurlow, but a building manager at that site asked the organizers to move their protest elsewhere. The environmentalists have since set up their exhibit in front of the Scotiabank building at Pender and Burrard."
Posted by marc at 6:39 AM in Activism |
April 30, 2010
"A protest against the misuse of Australian soldier icons by big business. Lasted one week. :)"
Will Coles
Posted by marc at 7:31 AM in Activism |
From Poster Child:
"I installed this piece yesterday!
It’s in a so-called “Info-To-Go” Pillar at University and Dundas! Only a few steps from the police station! :0
I wrote in 2008 about these pillars, and the rest of the Coordinated Street Furniture program in general, and that is a good place to go for background on this project, but I’ll get into more detail here about these “Information” Pillars specifically: 120 are due to be rolled out across Toronto- according to the cities website, 28 have been installed thus far.
They are an embarrassment and a shame for Toronto. Toronto is a great city, but we have a bad reputation amongst the rest of our nation. That isn’t anything new. We are thought of as a cold, ugly city obsessed with profit and completely bereft of culture. I live here, I love it here, and I know that image of us just isn’t true- but what other impression will we give to tourists and visitors to our city when we can’t even manage, as a city- the biggest in Canada I’ll remind you, to erect a simple post with tourist information and a map on it without succumbing to the temptation to privatize it and turn it into a profit-making venture? These “Information booths” are strictly billboards first, and tourist information second- and a distant second at that. The pillars are structured and oriented so that the ads get the best visibility and well over double the surface area. In fact, in most cases you would walk right past these ugly streetlevel billboards without ever realizing that it was SUPPOSED to be a tourist information pillar, never suspecting that there was a map tucked into the back, along with map dispensers- and in some cases- interactive touch screens. About those screens- I imagine that no one really ever expected the fancy hi-tech touch screens (How Toronto!) to operate indefinitely, but even I was taken aback when they were installed not working. They didn’t work from DAY ONE. They have NEVER worked. You can go check. Have a look at this booth I improved. The screen is dead. The map dispenser? It’s LED screen scrolls “SOLD OUT” and someone has posted the helpful label “Coming Soon” (Presumably, So you don’t waste your toonie on tourist information that actually won’t ever be coming.) The advertisements, of course, have been operational since the day the pillar has been installed. Like the streetlevel billboards masquerading as phonebooths in New York: As billboards, these pillars always work.
At least the scrolling LEDs at the top of the pillar give the time, right? It’s just too bad that the time displayed is incorrect by an hour.
But what more can we expect when we give the job of providing tourist information to a media giant? These companies are in the business of exploiting public space for profit, not in the business of enhancing
your experience of it for pleasure. They tell tourists what to buy, not where to go for free walking tours.
Toronto is spending tons of money selling itself as a cultural place. Events, promotions, slogans: we are told that we “Live With Culture”- and yet at the same time the city is defeating it all with short-sighted stupid moves like this. Yes, it’s just street furniture. But street furniture has such a huge impact on how our city looks and feels. It shapes it on the ground, it makes the first impression, and it continuously shapes further impressions as we explore the streets and all the sights and sounds that they have to offer.
And if we ever get lost in our explorations, we can always go to the nearest “info to go” pillar and find out what perfume we ought to be wearing.
(As you can see from the nightime shots that.. ah.. reveal which ads I.. harvested in order to make this work [I can't afford all that printing! Plus Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Right?] in this case, that perfume would be Marc Ecko.)
Of course, tourist information pillars should be providing a map and helping the lost AT MINIMUM. They should also provide some information on local lore, landmarks, and legends. So what I’ve done is fix this pillar (something I just couldn’t do with the broken payphones of New York) it is now, at least for the time being, a true tourist information pillar. It currently informs passersby that care to look, in the two official languages, about the nearby Canada Life Building and it’s weather beacon in brief. I hope it shows just a little of the great proud history and culture that we have to offer here in Toronto, and also how a different way is not only possible, but easily achieved. Imagine the rich possibilities if every future “info to go” pillar actually showcased some site-specific local history and knowledge?"
Posted by marc at 7:21 AM in Activism |
April 28, 2010
Posted by marc at 8:00 AM in Activism |
April 10, 2010
Posted by marc at 4:46 AM in Activism |
April 6, 2010
Astoria Scum River Bridge from Jason Eppink on Vimeo.
Posted by marc at 7:55 AM in Activism |
April 5, 2010
"At 12am April 1st, a group of "hactivists" and concerned public citizens infiltrated and hijacked the largest outdoor led screen in the north of England in Manchester for an April Fools day insurrection. The screen - all 7 stories of it, was subverted to display a different message to the 300,000 commuters that allegedly see the advertisements daily. The intervention stayed for 24 hours costing the fat cats over £30,000 of lost revenues"...The Dead Peasants
Posted by marc at 8:15 AM in Activism |
From Nazza stencil:
"The sadness and the happiness that walked side to side.
The carnival that is celebrated in Río de Janeiro is famous for samba's schools which parade opposite to the spectators named "sambódromo".
The complete city transforms in what goes from the second week of february to celebrate the carnival.
Throughout the world known as "carnival of Río de Janeiro", the most attractive popular and tourist of brazil.
In Brazil also dies an average of 100 persons a day, which turns to the country into the world champion into absolute number of deaths of this nature, overcoming to countries in conflict as Irak, Israel / Palestina and Colombia.
Only the Brazilian state of Río de Janeiro accumulates 7.027 violent deaths between January and November of 2009, as has reported the regional government.
The police of the city kill three persons every day in R.J.
The images of this artwork generated polemic in the opinions reflected by the local mass media.
Painted en February, 2010 in Brazil with great acceptance on the part of the people who understood that the sadness and the happiness travel side to side in the daily life of the Brazilians."
Posted by marc at 7:20 AM in Activism |
March 29, 2010
What happens when you place a wipeable life-size Prime Minister with a provocative empty speech bubble on the south bank opposite The Houses of Oarliament?
This interactive installation marking the upcoming election put freedom of speech in the hands of the public, and provided tourists with an up close and personal interaction with the man himself. This is the third in the series of Street Art Installations called "Glasnost UK" by Street Artist "Contra". A series of interactive installations that engage the public in playful way and aim to inspire creativity, openness, freedom of speech, and sometimes general amusement.
(Public Participation in the Video in order:
Man: An umbrella to the heart during installation
Italian tourists: "Hello Dear Bato"
Two Girls: Devil horns a missing tooth and a beard were drawn on to his head and face.
Father and young daughter: *Devil features removed* "Happy Birthday Helen"
*Corrected* "Happy Birthday Mum"
Large group and man before security *Bubble Win* "I Bow to you Obama"
(Unfortunately due to the location, the duration of Mr Brown was short lived to 32 Minutes, as he was later removed by security. Close ups in photos at the end)
Posted by marc at 6:26 AM in Activism |
Posted by marc at 5:48 AM in Activism |
March 22, 2010
Rebel:Art points us to this terrific public dialogue between mobstr and the Newcastle City Council back in late 2007.
Posted by marc at 10:58 AM in Activism |
March 11, 2010
Photo by Remi Carreiro/Torontoist
Torontoist has a terrific article on a series of site specific stencils that have appeared over the last few days on Harbord Street. Words like "OUCH!" "THUNK!" "OOF!" "YIPE!" have been painted to highlight to cyclists the deep potholes and cracks along the paths. The stencils were done by Urban Repair Squad.
Torontoist quotes a member of the Squad as saying:
"The action-hero drama of dodging obstacles and potholes, escaping devil-may-care drivers in super-fast cars, and braving the fierce, temperamental elements, may seem, and feel, quite comic. Unless you're face-down on the pavement. With some wit, we endeavour to provide warning with humour; suggest danger with comedy; invite caution without frightening...and most importantly, we appeal to our fine city to remember that potholes aren't just uncomfortable, they really, really hurt."
For more photos, and to read the full article, click here.
Posted by marc at 7:39 AM in Activism |
March 10, 2010
Posted by marc at 1:46 PM in Activism |
February 23, 2010
n May over 250 resin elephants will hit the streets of London for the Elephant Parade. The video above is the first of three short films showing the making of one of them. Founders of The Treatment Rooms Baroness Carrie von Reichardt and the Loving Mr Spunky combine their artistic skills with Nick Reynolds and Eugene Eebrill to make their one, named Phoolan.
Posted by marc at 1:56 AM in Activism |
January 28, 2010
Specter's latest project, a series of hand painted billboards to coincide with the Gentrification of Brooklyn show at MoCADA, took two months to create and can be seen throughout Brooklyn.
Posted by marc at 7:51 AM in Activism |
January 27, 2010
For several years, a leaky pipe on 33rd Street beneath the Hell Gate Bridge viaduct approach has submerged more than a hundred square feet of heavily-trafficked sidewalk under a festering cesspool of standing water. Astoria Scum River, as it's called, stretches the entire width of the sidewalk, and as winter approaches, the river ices over and becomes particularly hazardous to cross.
Astoria Scum River Bridge was constructed to offer Astorians an opportunity to safetly cross this hazard. The unauthorized bridge is a gift to the pedestrians of Astoria in the absence of successful municipal efforts to ameliorate the problem.
The bridge was made at zero cost entirely from recycled materials: an old work bench found on the curb, rescued screws from a disassembled desk, and a metal plate from an expired electrical component. It was installed and dedicated on December 30th, 2009.
On January 25th, 2010, Astoria Scum River Bridge was the subject of a commendation from the office of NYC Council Member Peter F. Vallone, Jr., accompanied by a pledge to work with Amtrak to re-route Astoria Scum River off the sidewalk.
The bridge remains in place as this work progresses.
Astoria Scum River Bridge is an unauthorized city improvement by Jason Eppink and Posterchild.
Posted by marc at 6:40 AM in Activism |
December 23, 2009
Title: Money makes the merry-go-round
Date: 21st December 2009
Site: Bank of England/The Royal Exchange, City of London
Twelve carousel horses created from recent issues of The Financial Times, with garlands made from replicated international bank notes. The bucking and galloping horses sit upon golden poles, circling the area. Reflecting the ups and downs of the world’s stock market, and financial climate.The carousel placed in London's financial district of Bank reflects on the city as a financial playground.
Posted by marc at 8:41 AM in Activism |
December 16, 2009
From Above:
"After five weeks of riding my bike around Portland interviewing the homeless, I'm finally finished with this passionate NON-PROFIT project I have been working on to support and bring awareness to the homeless crisis here in Portland, and in general. I recently made a screen printed edition of 100 prints that are priced to sell to get more people involved and support this benevolent fundraiser. My goal is to raise $5,000 to donate before the end of the year to the TRANSITION PROJECTS homeless shelter here in Portland, Oregon.
To make a donation and purchase the print, click here.
Posted by marc at 7:33 AM in Activism |
November 13, 2009
"my new poster represents an iraqi girl with school uniform and a flower on her hand. after the war ordinary daily life start again in Iraq and people go to work, at school, kids play in the parks, couples goes in cinema. you know that I love to draw muslim women in general, focus my attention on the veil, and iraqi women wears a tipical veil, similar to iranian chador, but young girls wear the normal veil, the most common in arab world. when I paste up a poster I try to make a sort of urban revaluation, and this time I choose an abandoned factory of FIAT motors group in the centre of Turin."... BR1
Posted by marc at 7:17 AM in Activism |
(Photos by Gustavo Sanabria)
From Luzinterruptus
"We cannot deal with another construction project on our sullen streets, nor another tax on our depleted pockets, therefore we have decided to hoist the white flag and turn ourselves in to see if we receive the humanitarian treatment accorded a prisoner of war, because lately we are not enjoying being ordinary citizens.
It cuts us to the quick to think that this round of projects has not finished and that for the candidature of the 2020 Olympic Games, everything done until now will already be obsolete, if not useless or out of fashion and will have to be started again.
Our symbolic act, Surrender before a possible Madrid 2020, took place on Tuesday the 27th of October and consisted of a walk around some of the most representative and long-lasting public works projects in Madrid, in whose tremendous trenches, we left our lighted white flags.
Our walk finished at the grandiose public projects in Colón, where we unfurled to the wind more than 30 flags, so that everyone who passed, would know that our surrender had been carried out.
Gustavo Sanabria was documenting the action and surrendered with us. Our friend Kaspar helped us at all times and also surrendered, a thousand thanks.
Time of installation: 4 hours.
Damages: none.
Exhibition time: ¿?."
Posted by marc at 6:59 AM in Activism |
November 12, 2009
The Eyewriter from Evan Roth on Vimeo.
Members of Free Art and Technology (FAT), OpenFrameworks, the Graffiti Research Lab, and The Ebeling Group communities have teamed-up with a legendary LA graffiti writer, publisher and activist, named Tony Quan, aka TEMPTONE. Tony was diagnosed with ALS in 2003, a disease which has left him almost completely physically paralyzed… except for his eyes. This international team is working together to create a low-cost, open source eye-tracking system that will allow ALS patients to draw using just their eyes. The long-term goal is to create a professional/social network of software developers, hardware hackers, urban projection artists and ALS patients from around the world who are using local materials and open source research to creatively connect and make eye art.
This week the team behind the EyeWriter project released all the Source code, free software, DIY instructions, and eye tags by Tempt1 to the public at eyewriter.org
Posted by marc at 8:02 AM in Activism |
Recently a group of medical students at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI constructed an outdoor medical clinic on the property of the Heidelberg Project, depicting a primary care clinic that is desperately needed in the neighborhood, but does not exist.
Paul tells us: "We used found materials, donated medical equipment that we begged for, cheap wood from an area scrap yard, spray paint, stencils, and a little imagination and creativity to make the project "work". "
The Detroit Free Press documented the work, including a terrific video. Check it out here.
Posted by marc at 7:10 AM in Activism |
October 23, 2009
"LA based graffiti artist Saber sends his message to the country on health care reform. This is his submission for President Barack Obama's Organizing For America Health Reform Video Challenge."
Posted by marc at 8:48 AM in Activism |
From Bastardilla - "In this occasion I want to share with you some information about some current issues in Colombia through image and text I send to you Minga: In "Kichwa" a dialect from the Amazon, means work or community actions, collective and solidary. MINGA is the name of a peaceful manifestation that is carried out through a march of hundreds of kilometers, in which different groups and organizations of various regions of Colombia, create through the use of dialogue a work agenda who's objective is to determine the steps to follow towards the defense of the dignity and sovereignty of the orginary people and native indians in their ancestral lands. This year ,it also proposes as part of the Global Minga the construction of a Climatic Justice Court, that judges the foreign companies and governments that work with them and prey on Mother Nature, looting her natural resources and vulnerate the respect and defense to the right of life."
Posted by marc at 7:39 AM in Activism |
October 11, 2009
Posted by marc at 4:53 PM in Activism |
Posted by marc at 4:40 PM in Activism |
Mike Dring was 23 when he broke his neck in a road traffic accident, resulting in paralysis from the upper chest down – medically he is classified as having a complete Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) resulting in Tetraplegia (level C6).
Between April 09 and April 2010, friends and family of Mike are attempting to raise money to put towards the purchase of an adapted car which will enable him to drive independently. Mikes needs are such that such a vehicle is highly specialized and comes at a very high price.
As part of this fundraising A group of artist have organised the GDM Art event and auction which will be held at the Paintworks, Bath Road, Bristol on the 14th and 15th of October.
The doors will be open from 11am to 9pm on Wednesday for a full days viewing of the works going under the hammer. Thursday will be a busy day with the opportunity for further viewing from 12pm. There will be live painting by Mr Jago, Inkie, Lokey, Felix, Eelus, Xenz, Paris, Boswell, Vermin, Milk and Dora starting at 4pm and the auction including lots by Guy Denning, Pam Glew, Rowdy, Ian Francis and Nick Walker to name a few, will commence at 7pm.
The work can be viewed on line at Dreweatts & The Saleroom (who have provided all of their extensive resources free of charge), www.dnfa.com and at www.the-saleroom.com . Bidding can be made in person or live online at www.the-saleroom.com on the evening auction or commission bids will be taken valid credit/debit card details, if you wish to make a commission bid and to register for bidding please contact The GDM team at getdringmobile@live.co.uk.
The show will also include a fine art ‘mystery’ postcard sale featuring work from award winning artists from all over the world, many of which have shown in the BP portrait awards and with some having work in the National Portrait Gallery their work usually thousands. This sale therefore gives people the opportunity to purchase a piece of art that would usually cost a small fortune, for just £50.
Finally, the team is also running a raffle to win a portrait painted by Vincent Brown, a multi award winning portrait and figurative artist from Bristol. Tickets will be available at the event and are also available now via the GDM blog at http://getdringmobile.wordpress.com. For more information about Vincent Brown and to see examples of his amazing work please visit his web-site at http://www.vincentbrown.co.uk.
Posted by marc at 1:04 PM in Activism |
September 27, 2009
From Klutch:
"For the past week I have been involved in an amazing project that reminded me why I do this and helped me to reconnect with both other artists and the street in a very real and loving way. Organized by Taylor Cass Stevenson, the project is called Live Debris and consisted of public installations and interventions along Portland's East Side Esplanade. Not content to simply be an art show on the river Live Debris sought to involve the homeless residents of the Esplanade through a huge welcoming breakfast on the opening day. What could have been a cold rainy washout for the opening turned out to be, at least for me, the most rewarding part of the entire week. Local residents who would have very likely gone hungry for the day were awakened to a massive spread of all the donuts, fruit, pastries, bagels, and more that they wanted. A hell of a lot of smiles were shining that morning including me grinning from ear to ear.
From the Live Debris site:
Live Debris 2009 is a traveling series of events and installations dedicated to sharing and establishing new reuse traditions as a way of reducing stigmas around garbage, poverty and street culture. Starting and ending in Portland, Oregon, Live Debris 2009 traveled to Rio de Janeiro as a bi-lingual, collaborative series of events networking local and international artists and innovators to reflect upon humanity’s rapidly changing relationships with garbage. Works of reuse art and design traveled from Portland to Rio de Janeiro, where Brazilian artists physically and philosophically added to the same works to express their more polemic and necessity-based attitudes towards humanity’s discards. After 5 months of workshops, clothing exchange parties, public installations and exhibitions, the artwork returned to Portland, Oregon for a series of final events.
Here is the piece I made from ceiling fan blades that I found on the riverbank during my first visit to the site:
And a collaboration I did with Ment from Rio de Janeiro on an old window shade:
You can see more photos from the project here.
Posted by marc at 7:56 AM in Activism |
September 21, 2009
"SPECIAL EDITION" NEW YORK POST from The Yes Men on Vimeo.
More here.
Posted by marc at 9:56 AM in Activism |
September 12, 2009
(click to enlarge)
(click to enlarge)
"My name is NAZZA and I do stencil work technique since 1994 in Argentina.
I live in a place called "La Matanza" (the murdering, mass murdering). The name was given because of the massacre of Indians here in 1890. Argentina celebrates 200 years of independence and in this context I made this project. This work was to remember and appreciate the native people of Argentina against the Spanish crown main colonizing South America
Aboriginal paintings are made in "la matanza" by attacking Europe and painted in Europe are the King Juan Carlos of Spain and Queen Isabel who were attacked by Aborigines.
Juan Carlos and Isabel representatives of the nobility blue blood caused in the epoch of the Spanish empire so many deaths
I apologize for the bad translation of the text
I do not speak English.
very good website wooster colective."
Posted by marc at 6:43 AM in Activism |
August 27, 2009
A few weeks ago we posted a call for artists to assist in a massive mural in Washington DC, sponsored by the fantastic nonprofit group Albus Cavus. The final wall is absolutely stunning.
But to show how ignorant some people can be, we heard today that the local Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Marshall Phillips is now protesting the mural because, according to him, for it to be acceptable it needs to include references to MLK, the Redskins football team, and the Nationals baseball team.
Watch below:
Posted by marc at 7:32 AM in Activism |
August 6, 2009
(Photo By Marcus Yam -- The Washington Post))
This morning our friend Frank at Post Secret sent us a link to a fascinating article from today's Washington Post that profiles Regina Holliday, a woman from DC who has become a leading advocate for health-care reform following the death of her husband who, at the age of 39, died of kidney cancer. With no insurance he could not pay for the tests that would have saved his life.
An interesting layer to Regina's story is that she's using street art as a primary vehicle to tell her story and to bring attention to the problems of our current health care system.
You can read the full story here.
Posted by marc at 7:23 AM in Activism |
July 31, 2009
Tactical Stencil Lab is "a stencil graffiti action aimed at counteracting concerted effort by US Military to recruit in minority and poor neighborhoods."
"We are a group of anonymous culture jammers. This action marks the start of our campaign of counteracting manipulative and exploitative propaganda aimed at the most vulnerable members of our community, through non-violent direct action.
We encourage everyone who watches this to think of a creative ways of engaging injustices in their communities. Do not be complacent, do not be indifferent...
Peace
Tactical Stencil Lab"
Posted by marc at 6:36 PM in Activism |
More info here.
Photo by Justin Farrelly.
Posted by marc at 6:20 PM in Activism |
July 29, 2009
From Jetro
"These are some pictures from San Quintin, Baja California Mexico. Its 6 hours to the south from Tijuana. In this territory, there's an interesting identity phenomenon because of the increasing indigen population that came from Mexico's southern states (especially Oaxaca) to work for the agriculture industry. All of the young people and the new generations are in a high vulnerability state of identity because they re not keeping their parents traditions and they don't relate with the non-indigen people. At the same time they feel ashamed because of their origins. These youth are waiting and looking for new symbols and elements to fulfill a new identity path or a new ideal icons to bring out a sense of pride inside their culture. With the spectatives of an interesting hybrid result, I really believe that this is an opportunity to intervene and give positive signs and provocative symbols in public spaces.'
Posted by marc at 7:32 AM in Activism |
July 23, 2009
The piece above was completed yesterday in Toronto by Patrick Evoke and Jenifer Rudski BonnetPlumem along with 15 young artists from the ages of 10 - 17.
Here's some info from Torontoist:
"A de-commissioned TTC bus gets re-wrapped by youth from Belka Enrichment Center.
Sponsored by Arts Etobicoke and Lakeshore Arts, the three-year initiative launched yesterday morning with the first three vehicles. The project was only an idea just a few short months ago, so, as opposed to the high-profile, grand-scale projects that often take years to realize, it's encouraging to see something of such profound effect get off the ground so quickly. The art for each vehicle was created by a different non-profit organization, in a collaborative fashion led by a professional mural artist.
The Belka Enrichment Center, located in the Jane-Finch area, got a decommissioned TTC bus to work with. The Center provides mentoring services, media and computer literacy, sports clinics, and is home to a homework club. A group of some nearly fifty kids, led by artists Patrick Thompson and Jenifer Rudski, put together a collage of photos and paintings, which were then manipulated in Photoshop. Fittingly, the Belka bus will eventually be outfitted as a mobile computer lab for youth."
Photos by H.C. Tinglin/Torontoist.
Congrats guys!
Posted by marc at 8:18 AM in Activism |
July 15, 2009
In response to the now 14-week long city workers strike in Windsor, Ontario, Broken City Lab installed a series of handmade signs...
A member of Broken City Lab explains...
"The strike has led to, among many thing, the grass not being cut at any public parks. As the strike began in the spring, many parks have had the opportunity to become full-fledged meadows, and we're quite in love with how it's softened the urban landscape of our city."In response to the now 14-week long city workers strike in Windsor, Ontario, Broken City Lab installed a series of handmade signs...
Posted by marc at 6:02 AM in Activism |
June 10, 2009
From our friend Nis in Copenhagen:
"I was on my way home from work today, and when I changed subway lines at Nørreport Station (the busiest travel hub in Copenhagen) - something seemed off. There were no ads at all! Somehow someone have taken down all the ads inside locked poster-frames on a heavily CCTV'ed train station. And I think it's been done during the day - because I didn't notice the ads missing this morning on my way to work.
At first I thought "I must be in the process of switching the posters right now", but then I noticed...
...that the logo on top of the poster frames had been altered. It no longer said CLEAR CHANNEL, but now read LIAR CHANNEL."
This prank was so fantastic in it's simplicity that I had to share it with you."
Nis
Posted by marc at 11:39 AM in Activism |
June 8, 2009
Posted by marc at 7:53 AM in Activism |
May 28, 2009
More from Dr.D here.
Posted by marc at 7:49 AM in Activism |
May 27, 2009
From Sean:
These are the first posters to hit the streets in an ongoing experimental campaign to raise cognitive awareness and more importantly to inspire benevolent action that we often forget, oversee, or might be in opposition to our often hedonistic culture."
Posted by marc at 7:48 AM in Activism |
As the impact of the current downturn in the global economy worsens, and more and more storefronts are being abandoned and boarded up, we expect to see more street art urban regeneration projects like 'Post No Bills, Post Pretty ART' in in downtown Edmonton, AB.
A group of local artists in Edmonton are encouraging other artists (local or international) to put up their work throughout the Summer. The project is being done without any grants, sponsorship or permission. The organizers explain -
"We feel the creation of the artwork free from these constraints allows a more honest and organic artistic expression. We decided to focus on this building as it's on a busy intersection of downtown and it seemed absolutely appalling from a pedestrian and urban experience point of view to simply leave this building boarded up--essentially it is unused space that people scurry around to avoid like the plague. Thus, we put up some of our work and it was really nice to actually see people slow down and examine some of the pieces (the paint chip one really throws people in a bender!)--we think there's a real appreciation for street art and what it can do for urban experience, it's simply not vocalized as coherently due to its inherent lack of organization (which we think is a good thing!). People were coming up to us saying that it was about time this happened--and it was strange that, on an institutional level, no public art program had been implemented to address urban abandonment in our city. So, we think from a street art perspective, the speed at which we were able to address this issue and to act upon this need is what makes street art an incredible possibility and potent tool for guerilla urban regeneration."
If you'd like more info. click here or here.
Posted by marc at 7:14 AM in Activism |
May 22, 2009
If you're not familiar with The Yes Men, this video of their Poptech speech from 2006 is a fantastic introduction.
(Hat tip to Brain Pickings)
Posted by marc at 11:24 AM in Activism |
May 17, 2009
There's now an interactive Google map which documents all the different spots in New York that were part of last month's amazing NYSAT project. If you're unaware NYSAT, check the Public Ad Campaign website.
The map includes images of the sites that were painted white, images of the artwork that was created, web links, video footage, and personal stories.
Click here to check it out.
Posted by marc at 7:37 AM in Activism |
May 14, 2009
To get a sense of the issues that the Wooster Collective "community" is most passionate about, we're asking today on the Wooster Facebook page: "What one cause or social issue are you most passionate about?"
Post your thoughts here: http://bit.ly/nce9r
Posted by marc at 11:08 AM in Activism |
May 13, 2009
It’s amazing how times change.
When Sara and I started the Wooster Collective eight years ago, it felt to us at the time that the ONLY lens the media was providing as a way into understanding street art and graffiti was vandalism. As a gatekeeper, mass media’s control of what was being said about graffiti and street art made it impossible for most people to appreciate the positive role that it can play in our lives. The media had shut out, and refused to amplify, any diversity of thought. And because of this, graffiti has never been recognized by mainstream society as an “important” art movement. Even though it’s in every city in the world.
We want this to change.
The great thing about the Internet, as we all know, is that no media company or city government controls it. Any of us, including two people who happen to live on Wooster Street, can become a media entity. All they need is a point-of-view. By simply celebrating unauthorized acts of public art when it seemed nobody else was - and then having people spread the positive message it sends - Wooster, by happenstance, has in essence become a media entity.
As the popularity of the Wooster website started to grow, and we began meeting other people who felt the same way as we did, it quickly became clear to us that MANY people understood that graffiti and street art was not about just about vandalism. But rather, that it raises important issues about the need to reclaim our public space; the need for us to affirm our existence on this planet by writing on walls; the need and importance of spontaneous acts of creativity to make our cities more “livable”. And so, so much more.
So last month when we received an invitation to attend a briefing at The White House (yes, that one), we were at first a bit shocked, definitely skeptical, and finally, after giving it a lot of thought - absolutely delighted. To be included in the conversation at the level of The White House, we felt, was a huge testament that our voice (meaning our collective voice) was being heard.
Yesterday, along with about sixty amazing organizations who are committed to grassroots arts initiatives, we met with various officials in the Obama Administration, to listen and learn what the administration was thinking in regards to the Arts, to ask questions, and then to participate in working sessions on issues that we felt passionate about. (Ours was the need to better understand the issues around public and private space)
We know that a lot of people will hate us for going to The White House. But for us, the goal of attending the meetings yesterday was not to attempt to “partner” with government on anything. Or to ask for their acceptance. The power of street art is that you don’t ask for, nor need, permission. At best, it’s about tolerance and understanding.
For us, we felt the issues related to the disappearance of common access to our public space and the need for a deeper understanding of what is and what is not “art” should not be limited to those who read blogs – especially ours. Talking solely to “the converted” will get you only so far. We learned a while back that when you have a chance to sit at the table you take it. Even if those around the table are not people you fully trust.
So all of this is to say that we felt that by going to meet with officials in the new Obama Administration we were representing not us, but all of you. It wasn’t about stroking our ego or having a photo-op with the President (which didn’t happen). It was about letting people who make decisions at the highest level know that the definition of what "art" is needs to change in our society. If art is "over there" and health and science and transportation is “over here" - then art will always be something that is perceived as elitist, misunderstood, undervalued, etc. It will always be something that is only found in museums and in galleries, not put on our streets and on our walls with the artist taking the risk of getting arrested.
Again - our definitions need to change. An we think Obama can do that. At the very least he can start to move the needle forward.
The amazing thing we found out yesterday is that there are people working directly for Obama who get it. We know this not from what they said, but from the diversity of their backgrounds.
Yes, there are indeed graffiti artists working in The White House!
On Monday, when we told a friend that we were heading down to Washington to participate in these meetings, he said - “That what I voted for!”
We felt the same way.
And that's why we went to the White House.
Posted by marc at 8:37 AM in Activism |
May 8, 2009
If you've ever heard Sara and I talk, then you know how much we love projects like EPOS 257's paintball splattered billboards in Prague.
We love a short phrase in his artist statement in which he calls his work - "a gesture expressing an opinion".
Because Street Art is ephemeral. And because the artist is always risking arrest. Every piece of street art is to us - "a gesture expressing an opinion"
From EPOS 257:
"Shooting into the white surface of vacant billboards with a paintball gun – blank canvasses in an urban environment, a gesture expressing an opinion and at the same time abstract painting in a urban environmemt."
Posted by marc at 8:46 AM in Activism |
May 7, 2009
Chris Johansen
ESPO
Our friends over at Paper Magazine recently invited an amazing group of "visual communicators" to create original advertising concepts that would redefine America's image. The full set can be found in the latest issue of the magazine as well as online here. They're terrific.
Posted by marc at 7:52 AM in Activism |
May 5, 2009
Last week we highlighted Jordan Seiler's NYSAT event in which a team of activists and artists whitewashed 120 Illegal outdoor billboards in New York City and replaced them with art.
This morning Carolyn Tripp posted a wonderful interview with Jordan on the Canadian site, illegalsigns.ca. It gives a terrific overview of the project for those interested in learning more. You can read it here.
http://illegalsigns.ca/2009/05/04/illegal-npa-outdoor-billboards-replaced-with-art-in-new-york-city/
Best,
--
http://www.trippcar.com
http://www.hoofinthemouth.blogspot.com
*new projects - Contact 2009 on the TTC
(http://www.trippcar.com/02_html%20docs%20-%20all/gtc001.html)
Posted by marc at 7:43 AM in Activism |
April 27, 2009
Jennifer Jacobs
Tristan Eaton
Gaia and Rachel
Peru Ana Ana Peru
Photos above by Rebecca Fuller
Posted by marc at 7:50 AM in Activism |
April 26, 2009
Jordan Seiler's incrediblely ambitious "New York Street Advertising Takeover" became a reality yesterday, when over 120 illegal billboards throughout the city were white washed by dozens of volunteers.
NYSAT was organized as a reaction to the hundreds of billboards that are not registered with the city, and therefore are illegal. While illegal, these violations are not being prosecuted by the City of New York, allowing the billboard companies to garner huge profits by cluttering our outdoor space with intrusive and ugly ads.
After the illegal spots were white washed, late in the day yesterday over eighty artists transformed these spaces into personal pieces of art.
Here's some of the initial photos that are coming in:
Artist: Ji Lee
Artist: Clarina Bezzola
Photo nicked from here.
Photo nicked from here.
Posted by marc at 2:02 PM in Activism |
April 22, 2009
Graffiti FAIL from Michael Mandiberg on Vimeo.
Posted by marc at 7:37 AM in Activism |
April 21, 2009
From Faith47 in Cape Town South Africa:
"with elections coming up the slogan. 'our dreams dont fit in your ballots' has been used as a slogan to say that a cross in a ballot box is not enough.
here the artists have given the space for passers by to say what they want within their art... i love it..."
Posted by marc at 7:36 AM in Activism |
March 31, 2009
We received the following note from faith47 in Cape Town South Africa and wanted to share it:
"We are facing a new anti-graffiti by-law in Cape Town which takes away the house owners rights to give permission for any artworks on their walls besides a house number.
The new, proposed graffiti by-law makes no distinction between vandalism and public art that is done with the permission of the owner of the property.
Please can you assist us in our efforts to amend this by-law by signing the petition and forwarding it on... As we need to present it to the council during the public participation process.
Here is the link and below are the details of the two points in the by-law that we would like to amend.
http://www.petitiononline.com/art4all/petition.html
To: The City of Cape Town
The new, proposed graffiti by-law criminalizes all forms of public art and violates our personal right to freedom of expression on private property. It makes no distinction between vandalism and public art that is done with the permission of the owner of the property. The by-law will soon be presented for public discussion and these are the two main issues that we feel need to be addressed:
1. The definition of ‘graffiti’ under the by-law is too broad. It classifies ‘graffiti’ as any inscription, word, figure, letter, sign, symbol, sketch, picture or drawing. There should be a clear differentiation between ‘graffiti vandalism’ [e.g. gang tags, scratchings] and public art that is done with permission from the owner [murals, colourful characters and positive, inspiring messages].
2. The by- law removes the legal right of the private property owner to paint anything other than a house number on his/her wall. We strongly believe that the private property owner should maintain the right to determine what to paint on to his/her property without permission from the City.
if you agree with these two amendments please sign the petition on the link above
and hopefully we can adjust the by-law to become a more inclusive one and thus limit the damage it can potentially do to the creative growth of our city."
Posted by marc at 7:42 AM in Activism |
March 9, 2009
More here.
Posted by marc at 11:38 AM in Activism |
February 25, 2009
Photos by Oyeperez
Posted by marc at 6:44 AM in Activism |
January 29, 2009
Turns out Neozoon has his a Flickr page. :)
Posted by marc at 8:54 AM in Activism |
Adam Martin's Beautiful Crime has a terrific post today highlighting "UpCycling" - improving on the last cycle of the products life. We love his example of using furcoats to create street art deers.
The work is by Neozoon with photos by Vitostreet
Posted by marc at 8:24 AM in Activism |
January 28, 2009
An anonymous female artist called Questionmarc has been causing a bit of a stir in Nottingham over the last couple of weeks in an attempt to highlight some ignored issues in the city.
From the BBC:
City hit by 'legal to pee' prank
The council said anyone taking the advice of the signs could be prosecuted
People should ignore signs telling them that it is legal to urinate in certain public places in Nottingham, the city council said.
The signs, which were put up by pranksters in and around Nottingham, are designed to look official.
They feature a toilet sign and include the words: "Public Urination Permitted After 7.30pm".
Nottingham City Council is now urging the public to ignore the notices as it sets about removing them.
'Cleaned daily'
The prank also featured a laminated note, headed with the logo of Nottingham City Council, which said the scheme was aimed at reducing the mess faced by residents outside their homes.
A spokeswoman for the authority said: "It is an offence to urinate in public and these signs have been put up illegally, for whatever reason.
"We would urge people to ignore them, otherwise they could find themselves inadvertently facing a prosecution.
"We are taking the signs down as quickly as possible and if anyone spots one of the illegal signs we ask them to please contact the city council so they can be removed."
The notice reads: "In an attempt to reduce late night public nuisance, during the holiday period, Nottingham City Council has designated several public urination areas across the city.
"This urination area will be cleaned daily between the hours of 5am and 6am."
From the Nottingham Evening Post:
Graffiti artist hoaxer strikes again in Nottingham
Thursday, January 22, 2009, 07:30
A GRAFFITI artist has called into question Nottingham's love for the legend Robin Hood.
A silhouette of Robin Hood, complete with a walking stick, has appeared just yards away from the statue in his honour near Nottingham Castle.
The artist has also penned a poem inspired by the closure of The Tales of Robin Hood tourist attraction.
Both have appeared on the side and front of a building next to the Lace Centre, in Castle Gate.
The artist behind the graffiti is claiming to be 'Questionmarc' –- the same person who last month put up official-looking signs in Nottingham stating that public urination was permitted.
On a dedicated website, called www.questionmarc.co.uk, the artist explained the reasoning for the latest stunt.
Questionmarc, who is thought to be a woman, said: "Visit Nottingham where you can look at a castle that's not really a castle, stand outside museums that shut down years ago and have your picture taken with a broken statue of Robin Hood."
The poem, entitled 'Robin Who?' reads: "Nottingham, Nottingham how we love thee.
The land of legends and mystery.
But the pilgrims here have nothing to see.
No Robin Hood and nowhere to pee."
The website also show pictures of last month's public urination sign prank.
In a recorded message to the Evening Post, Questionmarc, warned that she "will be back".
She said the signs – which appeared around the city before Christmas – were a reminder that there were so many pubs in Nottingham but no toilets after closing time. She also called into question the use of longer licensing hours.
The signs which were put up last month displayed a male toilet logo with text saying "Public urination permitted after 7.30pm."
They were accompanied by an official-looking, laminated letter in Nottingham City Council-headed paper which claimed the urination points were an "attempt to reduce late-night nuisance during the holiday period" and "address the growing problem of householders having to clean up after late-night revellers."
Nottingham City Council warned it was an offence to urinate in public.
Posted by marc at 8:15 AM in Activism |
From our friend Just in Berlin comes these photos of the german artist Hermann Josef Hack's "Climate Refugee Camp" installation. The Climate Refugee Camp, consisting of about 400 small tents, converts Brandenburger Tor and Alexanderplatz in Berlin into symbolic areas of crisis, drawing attention to the plight of refugees.
Posted by marc at 7:39 AM in Activism |
December 17, 2008
From Laurel:
"Your Urban Oasis imagines an alternative housing solution consisting of small domes made from coconuts. Inspired in part by Dome Village (1993-2006), a self-governing homeless encampment in downtown Los Angeles, YUO suggests the improbable but possible. An interventionist project, YUO banners are placed on development construction fencing, in some cases with plaster models of the coconut domes placed nearby. Both sublime and nutty, YUO spins notions of community, architecture, street culture, development economics and advertising. 2008-
Founded by activist Ted Hayes, Dome Village comprised 20 geodesic dome dwellings designed by Craig Chamberlain. A small but thriving community located in the elbow of 8th Place near the 110 freeway in LA, Dome Village was a model solution to difficult housing problems. Residents were evicted in 2006 to make room for development. Years later the site remains undeveloped, a virtual ghost town, and hosts the base installment of Your Urban Oasis in addition to a few wandering souls."
Posted by marc at 9:12 PM in Activism |
November 20, 2008
ParaSITE is an ongoing project by artist Michael Rakowitz (who we learned about via Charlie Todd's blog, Urban Prankster)
The text below was nicked from Michael's website. Be sure to check out not only this project, but his other one's as well.
"ParaSITE: Custom built inflatable shelters designed for homeless people that attach to the exterior outtake vents of a building’s Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system. The warm air leaving the building simultaneously inflates and heats the double membrane structure. Built and distributed to over 30 homeless people in Boston and Cambridge, MA and New York City.
PARASITISM IS DESCRIBED AS A RELATIONSHIP IN WHICH A PARASITE TEMPORARILY OR PERMANENTLY EXPLOITS THE ENERGY OF A HOST.1
paraSITE proposes the appropriation of the exterior ventilation systems on existing architecture as a means for providing temporary shelter for homeless people.
PARASITES LIVE ON THE OUTER SURFACE OF A HOST OR INSIDE ITS BODY IN RESPIRATORY ORGANS, DIGESTIVE ORGANS, VENOUS SYSTEMS, AS WELL AS OTHER ORGANS AND TISSUES.2
The paraSITE units in their idle state exist as small, collapsible packages with handles for transport by hand or on one's back. In employing this device, the user must locate the outtake ducts of a building's HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) system.
FREQUENTLY A HOST PROVIDES A PARASITE NOT ONLY WITH FOOD, BUT ALSO WITH ENZYMES AND OXYGEN, AND OFFERS FAVOURABLE TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS.3
The intake tube of the collapsed structure is then attached to the vent. The warm air leaving the building simultaneously inflates and heats the double membrane structure.
†
BUT A HOST IS CERTAINLY NOT INACTIVE AGAINST A PARASITE, AND IT HINDERS THE DEVELOPMENT AND POPULATION GROWTH OF PARASITES WITH DIFFERENT DEFENSE MECHANISMS, SUCH AS THE CLEANING OF SKIN, PERISTALTIC CONTRACTION OF THE DIGESTIVE APARATUS, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANTIBODIES.4
In April of 1997, I proposed my concept and first prototype to a homeless man named Bill Stone, who regarded the project as a tactical response. At the time, the city of Cambridge had made a series of vents in Harvard Square "homeless-proof" by tilting the metal grates, making them virtually impossible to sleep on.
In his book, City of Quartz, Mike Davis describes a similar war on homelessness in Los Angeles. He lists a series of these hindrances throughout the city.
"One of the most common, but mind-numbing, of these deterrents is the Rapid Transit District's new barrelshaped bus bench that offers a minimal surface for uncomfortable sitting, while making sleeping utterly impossible. Such bumproof benches are being widely introduced on the periphery of Skid Row. Another invention, worthy of the Grand Guignol, is the aggressive deployment of outdoor sprinklers. Several years ago the city opened a 'Skid Row Park' along lower Fifth Street, on a corner of Hell. To ensure that the park was not used for sleeping - that is to say, to guarantee that it was mainly utilized for drug dealing and prostitution - the city installed an elaborate overhead sprinkler system programmed to drench unsuspecting sleepers at random during the night. The system was immediately copied by some local businessmen in order to drive the homeless away from adjacent public sidewalks. Meanwhile restaurants and markets have responded to the homeless by building ornate enclosures to protect their refuse. Although no one in Los Angeles has yet proposed adding cyanide to the garbage, as happened in Phoenix a few years back, one popular seafood restaurant has spent $12,000 to build the ultimate bag-lady-proof trash cage: made of three-quarter inch steel rod with alloy locks and vicious outturned spikes to safeguard priceless moldering fishheads and stale french fries".5
PARASITES RESPOND TO THIS DEFENSE BY ANCHORING THEMSELVES WITH HOOKS AND SUCKERS ONTO SKIN, OR DIGESTIVE MUCOUS MEMBRANE, AND BY DEVELOPING PROTECTIVE DEVICES AND SUBSTANCES WHICH LESSEN DEFENSIVE CAPABILITIES OF THEIR HOST.6
The system by which the device attaches or is anchored to the building is designed to allow the structure to be adaptable. The intake tube can be expanded or tightened to fit the aperture of the vent through an adjustable lip made possible by elastic draw-strings. Hooks are attached to the metal louvers for reinforcement.
THERE IS "TENSION" BETWEEN A HOST AND ITS PARASITE, SINCE THE HOST ENDEAVOURS TO GET RID OF THE FOREIGN BODY, WHILE THE PARASITE EMPLOYS NEW WAYS TO MAINTAIN THE CONNECTION WITH THE HOST.7
The connection of the inflatable structure to the building becomes the critical moment of this project.
-------
Since February 1998, over thirty prototypes of the paraSITE shelter have been custom built and distributed them to homeless individuals in Cambridge, Boston, New York, and Baltimore. All were built using temporary materials that were readily available on the streets, such as plastic bags and tape.
While these shelters were being used, they functioned not only as a temporary place of retreat, but also as a station of dissent and empowerment; many of the homeless users regarded their shelters as a protest device, and would even shout slogans like "We beat you Uncle Sam!" The shelters communicated a refusal to surrender, and made more visible the unacceptable circumstances of homeless life within the city.
For the pedestrian, paraSITE functioned as an agitational device. The visibly parasitic relationship of these devices to the buildings, appropriating a readily available situation with readily available materials elicited immediate speculation as to the future of the city: would these things completely take over, given the enormous number of homeless in our society? Could we wake up one morning to find these encampments engulfing buildings like ivy?
This project does not present itself as a solution. It is not a proposal for affordable housing. Its point of departure is to present a symbolic strategy of survival for homeless existence within the city, amplifying the problematic relationship between those who have homes and those who do not have homes.
The issue of homelessness is of global proportions and it is foolish to think that any one proposition will address all the issues associated with this problem. There are many different types of homeless people. The mentally ill, the chemically dependent, those who are unable to afford housing, men, women, families, even those who prefer this way of life are included among the vast cross section of homeless people in every urban instance. Each group of homeless has subjective needs based on circumstance and location. My project does not make reference to handbooks of statistics. Nor should this intervention be associated with the various municipal attempts at solving the homeless issue. This is a project that was shaped by my interaction as a citizen and artist with those who live on the streets."
Posted by marc at 8:18 AM in Activism |
November 16, 2008
Last month, Barbara Kruger created a series of short films to play in the 5th Avenue storefront windows of the CUNY graduate center. They played for two weeks then taken away. In their place, two new posters went up...
Posted by marc at 9:15 PM in Activism |
November 13, 2008
From Subtopia:
"Activists in Tucson, Arizona have been placing life-sized cutouts of Maricopa County’s insidiously regressive anti-immigrant law enforcement officials around town on street corners and at intersections, including one of the chief of armed despicability himself, America’s self-described “toughest sheriff” Joe Arpaio, and another of a Border Patrol agent, presumed to depict Nicholas Corbett, who just recently faced a hung trial for the second time after being charged with the murder of Mexican immigrant Francisco Dominguez in January of 2007."
Posted by marc at 8:44 AM in Activism |
November 2, 2008
Great site specific piece.
Posted by marc at 8:34 AM in Activism |
October 14, 2008
Artist: K•GUY.
Posted by marc at 1:15 PM in Activism |
October 9, 2008
From Banksy:
“New Yorkers don’t care about art, they care about pets. So I’m exhibiting them instead. I wanted to make art that questioned our relationship with animals and the ethics and sustainability of factory farming, but it ended up as chicken nuggets singing. I took all the money I made exploiting an animal in my last show and used it to fund a new show about the exploitation of animals. If its art and you can see it from the street, I guess it could still be considered street art."
Posted by marc at 7:08 AM in Activism |
October 8, 2008
From Evan's website:
T.S.A. Communication is a project that alters the airport security experience and allows the government to learn more about you then just what's in your backpack. Thin 8.5 x 11 inch laser-cut sheets of stainless steel comfortably fit in your carry on bag, simultaneously obscuring the contents you don't want the TSA to see while highlighting ideas you do want them to see. Change your role as air traveler from passive to active.
You can learn more here.
Posted by marc at 7:06 AM in Activism |
September 29, 2008
More here.
Posted by marc at 7:35 AM in Activism |
September 24, 2008
More here.
Posted by marc at 8:02 AM in Activism |
From Jason's website:
About
Take a Seat is an ongoing series of public furniture installations aimed at increasing the availability of seating options in New York City subway stations. Perfectly functional chairs are rescued from trash piles and reassigned to stations where limited seating options leave subway patrons no choice but to stand for extended periods of time.
Take a Seat creates value simply by relocating an object to a new location. Rescued chairs - once liabilities - become assets with little to no effort.
Seating solutions installed for Take a Seat are not affixed to MTA property in any way, opening up opportunities for collaboration with subway patrons who, if they take the initiative, may continue the project by installing the chairs in other locations that could benefit from more seating options.
Why?
More than 5 million riders pass through the New York City Subway system every day, sometimes waiting as long as an hour or more for their trains. Unfortunately, benches intended for waiting passengers are sparse and inadequate, leaving many riders standing. According to NYC MTA's founders, "the subway should be an inviting and pleasant environment, geared to the user, with the highest levels of design and materials." I agree! What is more pleasant than sitting while waiting for your train?
Posted by marc at 7:32 AM in Activism |
September 2, 2008
From LISC Chicago:
Alicia Coria and two of her sons, Ivan Castro, 8, and Diego Castro, 10, never had a chance. As they crossed North Avenue at Kimball one afternoon last October, an 87-year-old driver lost control of his car, ran a red light and slammed into the mother and her children, killing them all.
On May 14, a makeshift memorial to Stowe Elementary School students Ivan and Diego Castro and their mother, Alicia Coria, gave way to this more permanent remembrance.
The accident, which shocked the entire city, was particularly devastating for students and teachers at nearby Stowe Elementary School, which Ivan and Diego attended. To express their grief and affection for the family, the students and others almost immediately assembled a community shrine of flowers and candles at the Humboldt Park intersection and maintained it until earlier this year.
But on May 14, that temporary memorial gave way to a more permanent remembrance of the two boys and their mother and the circumstances under which they died. Stowe third graders, under the tutelage of artists Mike Bancroft and Anthony Marcos Rea, installed a portable mural they had created. The mural’s imagery incorporates silhouettes of children, the mother holding her two children, and verbiage in Spanish and English that says “respect signs,” an admonition to motorists to obey traffic signals.
The community art project was spearheaded by Stowe Principal Dr. Charles Kyle, teachers Nellie Windsor and Juan Fernandez, and Bancroft and Rea, who are artists-in-residence at Stowe under a project of the School Engagement Initiative (SEI), which implements similar efforts in four other Humboldt Park schools. SEI, a project of LISC’s Building Community through the Arts (BCA), places artists in classrooms to create cross-disciplinary arts projects that address the culture of the community and further the broader aims of community development.
Stowe third graders, under the tutelage of artists Mike Bancroft and Anthony Marcos Rea, installed the portable mural.
The mural – a series of plastic silhouettes of students portrayed against a colorful background made with mylar tape – is affixed to two sides of a cyclone fence surrounding a vacant lot on the northeast corner of North and Kimball. It was officially unveiled at a May 17 ceremony attended by students, artists, neighbors and local officials.
“People were distraught about the accident,” said Bancroft, who has worked at Stowe for the past year. “This project is helpful in showing students that art can happen through a context. They’re not just doing it for art’s sake.”
But students aren’t the only ones learning through the North Avenue mural project or others generated by SEI, said Jorge Félix, of the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture (IPRAC), which with the Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE) administers SEI.
The mural’s imagery incorporates silhouettes of children, the mother holding her two children, and the words “respect signs."
“In addition to the artists training the students, the program is about informing local artists who are new to the community what the culture is like here,” he said. “Art can change minds and it can educate.” And through SEI, that process is a two-way street.
In another recent SEI project, at Lowell Elementary School, teachers Carmen Rivera-Kurban and Mary Muniz and visiting artists Charly Barera and Patricia Reyes created an original “plena” song for the school band and designed and printed original attires for the performance. The project addressed issues of cultural relevancy in the curriculum.
SEI is funded by LISC/Chicago, the City of Chicago Cultural Outreach Program, and The National Endowment for the Arts. Building Community through the Arts (BCA), an initiative of LISC/Chicago, celebrates the diversity of talent in three Chicago neighborhoods by bringing cultural relevance to community development.
Posted by marc at 8:04 AM in Activism |
August 14, 2008
You can see more of WIlliam's work here.
(via MAKE:)
Posted by marc at 8:47 AM in Activism |
August 11, 2008
(We're lovin' the David Wojnarowicz reference)
Posted by marc at 7:58 AM in Activism |
August 7, 2008
From Filippo Minelli:
"I'm actually in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritanie and as you may know yesterday the army made a coup d'etat. I'm passing in Mauritanie following a route through Western Africa, and for an unknown reason some days ago i stopped in Nouadhibou boats cemetery to make an painting on DEMOCRACY.
I chose the cemetery to represent democracy as a smashed boat, still quite strong even if full of leaks and unable to go far from this point.
This is not my opinion, but the synthesis of a high-level international philosophical dispute with subject "Is Democracy, with all his contradictions, the best political solution?"
But then, minute after minute, as the army closed the airport, the tv, the radio and put in jail the President with the Prime Minister this word "Democracy" i wrote, completely un-linked to the Mauritanie politics became of huge actuality, as Democracy here right now is a smashed boat in a sea of garbage.
The most crazy thing about this performance made by the fate is that on the boat i painted i met four young boys, cutting the boat into pieces to re-sell them, and yesterday after one week they were probably smashing with their hammers what i painted, sad metaphor of what the army is doing here in the capital, smashing Democracy, and not even to re-sell it."
Posted by marc at 7:16 AM in Activism |
July 2, 2008
Posted by marc at 9:28 AM in Activism |
June 4, 2008
From Torontoist.com:
Last Monday—using data gleaned from Rami Tabello's IllegalSigns.ca—Posterchild stenciled solicitations for feedback below three illegally-run fascia signs downtown ("persistent violators," as he put it). A play on the now-ubiquitous "How's My Driving?" slogan typically seen on the back of big rigs, the stencils feature the number of the City's Building Division, which is, among other tasks, responsible for sign permits.
More on the intervention here.
Posted by marc at 7:51 AM in Activism |
May 30, 2008
Artists: jerm9ine and ninja9ine
Posted by marc at 2:34 AM in Activism |
February 5, 2008
"I wanted to bring The Israeli border police in Weimar, the standard armored jeep that the border police uses to patrol will escort me in my daily life in town. I examine what such an action brings, how the presence of a militarized police force from Israel in a small quiet East German place would be perceived. Would it produce fear, antagonism, discomfort or maybe understanding and sympathy? The site of the Star of David is never neutral on the streets of Germany, all the more so when it is painted on an armored jeep. Not surprisingly, I could not bring a real jeep to Weimar. Instead, I built a two- dimensional life size cut out (like the fake police cars that deter driver from speeding). The cutout can do the same job that a real jeep can do and invoke the discussion I would like to create. Some people might recognize the jeep as an Israeli border police; others, who are less familiar with the situation in Israel/Palestine might not have any reference and not know the origin of the jeep. But all will recognize that it is a militarized jeep. This fake militarized jeep, I feel, will also bring another useful element to the discussion. The fake jeep, the two-dimensional façade barley standing on its wooden frame, is very much like the fake façades of Weimar's historic building. The façades, historical manipulations, and the cultural cloning wish to suggest authenticity, but they do have to be really convincing to fulfill their purpose and to create in Weimar the romantic Disneyland of the east. In the same way, security can work as a façade. It does not really have to be convincing, you don't need expensive systems, trained personnel, intelligence, and expertise. What is needed is a pretense of security, feeling of security, the knowing of its being and the statement that it is present."... Ronen
Posted by marc at 7:41 AM in Activism |
January 10, 2008
From Maxine:
"In post conflictual countries like Lebanon, the public sphere was condemned to death by war.
The residents of our cities lost the freedom to move around.
the public spaces that act as catalysers of the urban realm are appropriated.
They where claimed as private in the male struggle for power by the lethal bullets of snipers.
The stairs of gemmayzeh where one of those victims.
Now it was time to act and try to reclaim these spaces.
Open Air cinema ,a tribute to Fairuz the famous Lebanese singer, was a spontaneous extracurricular intervention During a workshop on public spaces organized by studiobeirut, Archis and Partizan Publik.
The idea was to reclaim the stairs as public space by screening a documentary on Fairuz and the Lebanese war.
The art intervention came as a mean to appropriate the stair case and declare the physical and the visual united.
The black and white image in the flyer was scaled up and printed as a 3mx3m poster. The printout was sliced into pieces then installed on the riser of the staircase.
The original image can be seen from a vantage point at a far distance and at close-up it turns into thousands of pixels.
The aim of the artwork is to attract the locals and to try to re-familiarize the public space in a therapeutic way."
Posted by marc at 7:47 AM in Activism |
November 22, 2007
You can see more photos here.
Posted by marc at 9:11 AM in Activism |
September 17, 2007
More from Vinchen here.
Posted by marc at 8:39 AM in Activism |
September 11, 2007
More from The Blind here.
Posted by marc at 7:25 AM in Activism |
August 28, 2007
Posted by marc at 7:26 AM in Activism |
Artist Jonathan Yeo was commissioned to create a portrait of President George W. Bush by a prominant US company, but was later told his services were not required. In response, he decided to do the portrait on his own.
Later today, the work will make it's debut at Lazarides gallery on Greek Street in London.
Posted by marc at 7:09 AM in Activism |
June 10, 2007
(Photos by Dan Berkman)
"Artist Nancy Hiss has embarked on a project to write the names of all dead coalition men and women. The names will thread their way through the fabric of Portland OR. Only last names will be listed to honor the sacrifice of individuals & their families.
As you reflect on these names also remember the hundreds of thousands of nameless Iraqis and others who have been scared by this war."
You can learn more about the project here.
Posted by marc at 12:25 PM in Activism |
May 17, 2007
"My sculptures look at access and disability in the built environment. My aim is simply to get people talking about disability, using symbolism not as a design element that dictates to us what to think but an object that provokes thought in context."
... Ben Bostock.
Posted by marc at 7:43 AM in Activism |
May 8, 2007
State Britain, Mark Wallinger's meticulous recreation of Brian Haw's Parliament Square protest camp has made the shortlist for the 2007 Turner Prize.
For State Britain, Wallinger recreated over 600 items including photographs, flags, flyers, and posters that Haw collected from supports (including Banksy) over a five year period.
Haw's protest started in June of 2001 opposite the Palace of Westminster. In May of 2006 most of Haw's installation was taken down after the the passing by Parliament of the ‘Serious Organised Crime and Police Act’ which prohibits "unauthorized demonstrations within a one kilometer radius of Parliament Square"
The original demonstration:
Posted by marc at 7:47 AM in Activism |
April 3, 2007
"The write/here project offers a critical exploration of public and personal relationships with Hobart, installed across twenty-seven advertising billboards during Ten Days on the Island, 23 March until 01 April 2007.
"The write/here project is part community event, part temporary public art project and part media intervention.
The artists have been motivated to transform 27 city billboard spaces from common advertising messages into a vast urban narrative which reveals the intimate personal stories and marginalised micro-histories of people who call this city home.
Each billboard hosts a single narrative text, a personal response to life in Hobart. These texts were selected from responses recorded from different community groups; recent arrivals to Tasmania from the Middle East and West Africa, prison inmates, clients at nursing homes, college students, members of the Aboriginal community; and anonymous submissions from the general public."
Click here to view the project.
Posted by marc at 7:43 AM in Activism |
March 16, 2007
Too much nudity in Norway?
Seems that at least one person thinks so.
Overnight someone has censored the amazing statues in the Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo.
A note left behind by "F.M.N.H." said - "There is too much nudity in newspapers and magazines, so here on the bridge the limit has been reached!"
Photo and story here.
Posted by marc at 7:20 AM in Activism |
March 7, 2007
More on the project here.
Posted by marc at 8:08 PM in Activism |
March 5, 2007
Posted by marc at 6:54 AM in Activism |
February 8, 2007
To give a little life to drab seats on buses and trains in Sweden, Ulrika performs random acts of "public embroidery" - small images or short words (for example hello, hugs) that are quickly cross-stitched on seats in public transportations.
Posted by marc at 3:31 AM in Activism |
January 24, 2007
We're thrilled to see that the Anti-Advertising Agency is back on the streets with a new project called Light Criticism, this time in collaboration with the Graffiti Research Lab. Click here to check out the project, and definitely watch the video. We're excited to see artists/activists begin to address the proliferation of these video billboards that are appearing all over New York and other cities. If you haven't yet seen The Bubble Project's Abstractor TV, click here.
http://antiadvertisingagency.com/category/projects/light-criticism/
Posted by marc at 6:36 AM in Activism |
January 22, 2007
We like this one a lot - On blank walls and white posters awaiting advertisements, Niko and Andrea cleverly co-opt the space by placing stickers of the "broken link" icon that appears on a web page when when the image is missing. We love how the simple sticker makesw a statement against the plethora of ugly white posters that you can't avoid seeing in cities around the world
Posted by marc at 8:49 AM in Activism |
January 12, 2007
If you've been to Buenos Aires then you know that the city has an incredible history for political stencils. The image above is one that we thought was quite clever. It's of Juan Peron. The text says "No left wing, No right wing". The line represents Paron's political view of a third party between capitalism and socialism.
But the dotted lines for the hands give the image a double meaning, as after Paron died his grave was robbed and his hands were stolen.
"No left wing, No right wing"
(Thanks, Gonzalo)
Posted by marc at 7:05 AM in Activism , Stencils |
January 10, 2007
From Rich Jones comes the photo above of street art in Somalia that depicts the militias that roam Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.
Rich says that this article - Doctors Without Borders 10 Most Underreported Humanitarian Crises of 2006 - is "one of the most important things you'll read this year".
We agree with him.
Posted by marc at 12:02 PM in Activism , Politics |
January 9, 2007
In November we profiled a group of artists who to protest extremely high rent prices in Tel-Aviv, took to the streets with cardboard "whores" attempting to show the city government that they "had enough of prices going up day after day.
From Blog Soup comes the video above found on Youtube.
Posted by marc at 10:04 PM in Activism , Video |
Abstractor is the latest guerilla intervention from The Bubble Project.
The project transforms the video billboards that are now popping up all over Manhattan (as well as other cities) into pieces of public art.
Click on the image above to watch the video
Posted by marc at 9:51 AM in Activism , Advertising , Video |
"A Chicano kid grows up with walls of many kinds around him. When somebody is born into that situation, there are several things he can do. He can ignore the walls and sink into apathy. Or he can become violent and try to blow up the walls. But there is a third way, a way that people have used for centuries. And that is to perform a kind of ritual magic to neutralize the force of the walls by decorating them with signs, symbols, and art. Chicano street writers choose this third way."
- Gusmano Cesaretti, Street Writers (1975)
Untitled Indio and V. Cholo 1975 3281 Olympic Blvd. (walkway) Acrylic on stucco, 32' x 24' Leopard crouching in a tree.
If you're interested in learning more about the graffiti and mural scene of East Los Angeles check out this terrific archive of vintage photographs on BrownPride.com. There's an incredible amount of information on the site attached to each picture.
Also, oli binnian found a book in the library the other day that was published in 1975 that has lots of old photos of Chicano graffiti from the early 70's taken by Gusmano Cesaretti. He's upload some of the pics on flickr here.
cheers
Posted by marc at 6:28 AM in Activism , History , Murals |
January 7, 2007
We've been a fan of Amnesty International's street campaigns for years. This one, about freedom of speech in Belorussia, was done by Saatchi & Saatchi Poland.
(via)
Posted by marc at 4:43 PM in Activism , Advertising |
December 30, 2006
As we begin to sort through the trash art photos from around the world (see the previous post here) this story from Rene Gagnon caught our eye. He tells us...
"Being someone who loves working on the street i'm also someone who is constantly searching for ways to do it legally, it hit me a few weeks ago, peoples trash. some stuff gets picked up quickly, but bulky items sit around awhile and are great opportunities to get my art on the street. this "top dollar garbage" thing is a statement about the value we put on things because there is a pattern associated with it, coach, gucci, doony and bourke, louis voitton, etc... because of this i thought "maybe people will put value on trash, because there is a "top dollar" pattern on it", probably not but thought i might make someone think of how ridiculous the whole thing is."
Posted by marc at 7:57 AM in Activism |
December 29, 2006
The photos above are of a Christmas wreath made out of signs collected from local homeless people in Seattle. It was put up on the street in a heavy trafficked shopping district early in the morning of the 23rd of Dec by Erock and remained up until it was taken down by city workers on the morning of Dec 27th.
To create the wreath, Erock went around and collected them from homeless people in the area. In return he gave each of them a few dollars and some more cardboard and pens to make another sign.
Posted by marc at 2:22 PM in Activism |
December 28, 2006
The Mob Squard are a group of young artists and activists living in Singapore. In May they put up the piece above basing the work and design on three words: rock, terror and evil.
He told us - "The image had based on incidents and scences that took place or affacted our lives on this island. For example we believe that somewhere in the higher authorities corruptions are taking place and had taken place esp for one of the recent events in singapore ( national kidney foundation saga), and sometimes we pray for someone with great power and heart to changes the lives of peoples and victims who are affacted by such incident."
Posted by marc at 9:43 AM in Activism |
In October we received an email from Jan & Affex of the artgroup Surrend. After traveling to various political hotspots including Poland, Belarussia, Turkey, and Serbia, the group contacted us from Sri Lanka where they were doing a street campaign with stickers.
They wrote...
"We are here in Colombo to proclamate peace since the breach of truce and the impending civil war has arisen again. We come with the message of peace through 4 stickers, which bare slogans such as "Potentially prosperous society" "Terrible beaches here" "The food is as bad as in Denmark" "Snow all year", all stickers containing the phrase "Of course you kill each other" underneath each single statement. We work with irony in the text. We ask of people to see the beauty and possibilities of their country. We don't have any solutions for the situation here, so it comes about in a naive and childish way to just ask for peace, and in that respect the stickers have been made with the appearance of children's drawings, originally made with watercolor as well. The status here is very tense, and we have been stopped in car up to 5 times in two kilometers, by armed guards in full gear with Kalashnikovs. They are present in the streets almost everywhere. The people we have met in the streets while sticking have been very friendly and interested, and seem to have a good attitude towards us and our business. The irony is hopefully understood by people who see the stickers by themselves."
Posted by marc at 8:59 AM in Activism |
November 10, 2006
From Murphy comes a series of links to a collection of photos of painted cardboard structures that the homeless lived in back in the 90's in the Shinjuku station. The site were we nicked them from has this description:
At the end of the 20th century In the underground beneath the enormous metropolis of Shinjuku.There was a commune, an independent nation even, of people who lived their lives on the street.
Hundreds of cardboard houses grew up in the underground passageways of the west exit. On each of these houses were paintings. Mysterious and magical, they threw vivid colors of resistance out into space, a kaleidoscope of derisive laughter against the state.
A group of painters painted them. Leading the group was Take Junichiro, who is also the person who made this website. Once during the painting process Take was arrested and forced to spend 22 days in jail. The painting continued even after his arrest, but finally came to an end when the underground kingdom was destroyed in a huge fire.
After the fire, the authorities started reconstruction on the tunnels so that the homeless could never occupy them again. They succeeded in kicking the homeless out of the west exit underground.
This website was made to call attention to the paintings on the cardboard houses, and bring back to life the kingdom within a city that once was there but has now become nothing more than a phantom.
The works included here are only a small portion of all the works that were painted.
We didn’t photograph the works ourselves. We felt that the moment of life didn’t leave room for recording.
The photographs here are the work of photographer Sakokawa Naoko and others who sympathized with what we were doing. They generously gave their permission to use them.
We give them our deep thanks.
This wasn’t art that bowed to the system, nor did it have the weakness of finding authenticity only in its marginalization. This is why the work that sustained the cardboard art is so important and valuable.
Take Junichiro
(訳:Justin Jesty)
Posted by marc at 9:54 AM in Activism |
November 8, 2006
Linus Oura, a graphic designer from São Paulo, Brazil, created an urban installation project called "Despercepções" ("Misperceptions") as his graduation project from college.
The project is a criticism to the citizens of Sao Paulo "about their careless of the urban vegetation in the cities and the benefits it can offer to them by creating elements of nature composed by urban elements, like street lamps, antennas, garbage cans and more."
You can see the whole process of the project here
Posted by marc at 6:57 AM in Activism |
October 31, 2006
From Andres and Maria:
"Anyone who has visited a public University in Latin America has probably seen this kind of graffiti art. This photos where taken at Colombia's largest public university (Universidad Nacional "la Nacho") in Bogotá. Every year the university's campus is painted white (Universidad Nacional is sometimes called "la ciudad blanca" the white city". Most buildings where designed by german architect Leopoldo Rother following Bauhaus principles of purity.
And every year the same graffiti reappear since the late 60's earty 70's showing heroes of the "revolution" (Mao, Che Guevara, Marx, Martí, Allende, Camilo Torres etc) and protests against capitalism.
It is interesting that this is traditional aesthetic that has been passed generation to generation of students for decades."
Posted by marc at 6:56 AM in Activism |
October 12, 2006
We're extremely pleased to see that early this morning Tokion Magazine announced an additional set of speakers for the Creativity Now Conference, and as we had sincerely hoped, the list does now finally include some amazing woman who will be speaking this weekend.
Bravo to Tokion for addressing this situation. We can imagine that it wasn't an easy week for them, and we do hope that they have a terrific conference this weekend. (You can learn more about the Creativity Now Conference by clicking here.)
Equally important - one of the things that we really liked that came out of the discussion this week is that there is now exists a terrific list - contributed to by people from all over the world - of incredible creative women in arts, fashion, design, etc. Jen Bekman has published the list on her Personism blog. Our hope is that....
(a) the list grows as more people contribute to it.
(b) organizations and conferences use it as a resource when planning events
(c) that people (including us) begin to research and learn more about the woman who are listed.
In the coming days and weeks we're planning on educating ourselves more about many of the women on the list and we will be showcasing them here on the Wooster site.
Finally, we want to thank everyone who sent us emails this week about this issue - both positive and negative. We've been on the road and it wasn't possible to respond to everyone who wrote us.
Best,
Sara and Marc
Posted by marc at 9:18 AM in Activism |
October 9, 2006
Yesterday, Ken Miller (the Editor and Chief of Tokion) and Sara and I exchanged a few emails about the comments we posted on the website over the weekend.
After speaking with Ken on the phone last night we both agreed that it would make a lot of sense to post the email exchange on the site so that people can get a better idea of where Ken is coming from.
Here's goes:
To the Wooster Collective:Before you rush to judgment...
Yoko Ono
Cindy Sherman
Sofia Coppola
Sam Taylor Wood
Nikki S Lee
Cecilia Dean
Nicole Phelps
Hope Atherton
Miranda July
Dana Schutz
Valerie Faris
Joanna Newsome
Elizabeth Peyton
Vivienne Westwood
Luella Bartley
Stella McCartney
Lance Still
Sally Mann
Cecily Brown
Swoon
Tina Fey
Amy Sherman-Palladino
Amy Poehler
Carolyn Strauss
Inka Essenhigh
Amy Larocca
Sophie Wong
Nicole Phelps
Lucy McKenzieAre just some of the women among the artists and creative professionals invited to speak at this year's conference. Unfortunately, they were unable to attend, for a wide variety of reasons.
As that list shows, it isn't hard coming up with talented women working in art, design, fashion, photography, film, new media, publishing and marketing. Which is why we have editorially supported many female creatives over the years. It is also why an inspection of our invite list for this year's conference would show that it was balanced.
Nevertheless, I would like to STRONGLY emphasize that Tokion and Creativity Now doesn't use considerations of gender, race, etc., as a factor for editorial consideration. We support people based on the fact that they're doing great work. And we believe that creating a list of potential conference participants based only on their gender is quite literally patronizing to all of the incredibly talented panelists we did invite based solely on the merit of their personal achievements. If we were to now begin adding speakers based just on the fact that they were women, we would be insulting all of the women who were already invited based just on the great work they are doing.
I think it is important for us to be clear that the final speakers list we emailed out is simply a reflection of the reality of who was willing/available to confirm for the conference. We are a small, independent institution with limited resources, and the speakers at the conference are incredibly busy people who are donating their time. Because this is the case, sometimes some of the people we would like to have participate are not available. We do not pursue an agenda that deliberately excludes speakers because of gender, race, sexual orientation or any other factor beyond their availability, but we do not have a quota system for invitees, and we are opposed to the concept on both political and practical grounds.
In a perfect world, there would be an equality in gender, race, religion and sexual orientation on each panel, as their would be throughout all of the creative professions and in the world at large. We are disappointed that this equal representation will not be the case this year. But we remain the same magazine that has the singer/songwriter Becky Starck as a lead feature story in our current issue, had the actress Jena Malone on the cover of the previous issue and had a photograph by Nan Goldin on our previous cover, to site just a few recent examples among many.
We understand and share your concern about the composition of this year's panelist list, and we sincerely hope that it will be a non-issue in years to come. But we would find it extremely regrettable that this dialogue might in any way create the impression that future panelists (or as-yet-to-be-announced panelists for this year's conference) were chosen on the basis of their gender, race, or any other criteria beyond their personal work and accomplishments. And we would also hate for this debate to take away from the positive things that the current confirmed participants have contributed to the creative community.
Thanks,
Ken Miller
Editor In Chief
Tokion
Here was our response:
Thanks very much for your note.First, please understand that our opinion is not that Tokion as an organization is biased against women. We've read Tokion for years and do indeed know that the magazine has for many years celebrated some amazing creative woman in its pages.
That's why we - and a lot of other people - are so upset over the fact that Tokion is moving forward with this event on Saturday, knowing that they have not secured a single woman for a panel.
While we understand that Tokion attempted to have women on the panels, to say that you tried is just not enough for us.
It's not the process that matters, it's the results.
And in this case, the results are sending a message that is unacceptable for us - under any circumstances.
We feel that if you took this issue more seriously, you would understand that there are many things that Tokion could have done, and still can do, to rectify this situation.
1. Reach out to more woman.
2. Consider rescheduling the event.
3. Ask for assistance from people like us, the speakers themselves, other organizations, etc.Our interest is in only one thing: Trying to compel you to change this situation between now and Saturday. We have nothing against Tokion, only the conference itself.
We'd love for you to call us to discuss. Perhaps there are ways that we can help. We're home tonight at 212-6XX-6DDD. Mobile is 917-4SS-9DDD.
Also, please let me know if you would like me to post your note and our response? Please let me know. We're home most of the evening.
Best,
Sara and Marc
To which Ken responded:
Sara and Marc,Actually, there are going to be some women panelists, they just haven't been announced yet because they were late confirmation. But it would be a pity if people got the impression that we invited them in response to the protest, rather than based on their work. It takes a long time to get anyone to agree to be in the conference (and this year we were in a scheduling conflict with the Frieze art fair), so everyone you see at the conference has been invited over the course of at least a month, and often, many months or even years.
Even with the inclusion of these speakers, the conference makeup will still not be anything close to ideal. My understand is, that being the case, your proposal is that we cancel the conference entirely and not have any kind of creative dialogue at all? That seems like a disappointing route to take.
But I understand your concern and I think your suggestions are reasonable. In fact, we already acted on a couple of them on our own.
> We feel that if you took this issue more seriously, you would understand that there are many things that Tokion could have done, and still can do, to rectify this situation.
>
> 1. Reach out to more woman.
We do take this very seriously, and we have reached out to a broad array of panelists at every stage of organizing the conference. I guess, at the end of the day, you can either choose to believe that or not...
> 2. Consider rescheduling the event.As I mentioned in my last email, we are a small, independent institution, with a full time staff of only four people. Really a tiny blip on the cultural radar, when you think about it. We'd rather put on the event, have people discuss their frustrations with it and then try and make next year better. (And trust me when I say that we have a new list of frustrations, rewards and hopes for next year every time we do it.)
> 3. Ask for assistance from people like us, the speakers themselves, other organizations, etc.
We do. That is part of why I'm comfortable sending out that list of invitees - because every invitation has required the assistance of numerous people who can all corroborate that we have been working with an equitable invite list. It's also a matter of necessity: we're too small to be able to do this on our own.But I do also want to be clear that we get very uncomfortable when it is suggested that we invite anyone based on their gender. We try to be fair - we really do - and that particular solution seems pretty unfair to everyone involved. So, while situation WILL be changing (slightly) between now and Saturday, it is not because we're setting up a gender-specific screening system.
We've spent a fair time trying to come up with another solution and haven't come up with one. If you can think of one that doesn't involve a quota, I'm all ears. I'm not kidding when I say that - we're at least as bummed about this as you are.
And yeah, feel free to post that last email and this one.
Ken
Then later...
Sara and Marc,I'm remembering to mention one other point I forgot to say before... You suggested that we delay the conference. We actually DID delay announcing the speakers for the conference. We usually do it about a month in advance, and this year we did it about a week in advance. That was a decision that will probably cost us in terms of ticket sales, and as an independent magazine, that was a very difficult decision to make.
I really, really want to emphasize that I disagree with the idea of highlighting the additional panelists' gender over their personal accomplishments. They were all part of a long list of invites we sent out at the same time. I hope they get equal treatment.
Again, thanks for your concern and your input. Feel free to send more,
Ken
To which we responded:
thanks Ken. we're having dinner in a few minutes at bond street sushi across from our house. do you want to join us? The one thing that I guess we'd say at this point is that we don't see it as a problem to invite great women because they are women. i do know you want women represented there and I do understand that getting women on the panels may be difficult. but there are a lot of amazing women out there, as you know.join us for a beer if you can. our mobile number is 917-4d-9dd5. Most likely we'll be at the sushi bar for the next few hours. marc is wearing a blue baseball cap.
sara
So our hope is that this email exchange clarifies a couple of things for people. We're hoping to meet up with Ken for a beer later tonight to see if there are things that we can do to help. The bottom line is that we want to support the Conference - we want it to be successful. But we can't support it until Tokion takes the issue more seriously and works around the clock to diversify the panelists. There is still time.
Our suggestion to Ken - Create a new panel at the Conference specifically about this issue. We'd even volunteer to moderate it. The panel would not be about Tokion or specifically about the Creativity Now Conference, but about the issues that are raised by this discussion..
More to come....
Posted by marc at 2:34 PM in Activism |
October 8, 2006
To:
Cory Arcangel, Grégoire Basdevant, Alex Burnard, Ron Galella, Doug Holroyd, Eli Horowitz, Jerry Hsu, Mitchell Hurwitz, Chris Johanson, Kim Jones, Natas Kaupas, Jason LaBeach, Jason Lee, Christian Marclay, Matmos, Patrick McMullan, Mike Mills, Phil Morrison, Os Gemeos Proenza Schouler, Graham Rounthwaite, Justin Theroux, Olivier Zahm, Wonder Showzen, David Cross, Carlo McCormick, Glenn O'Brien, Stephen "ESPO" Powers, Greg Foley Chris Pastras, John Cameron Mitchell
We believe that creativity emerges from people of all cultures, races, and backgrounds.
We believe that organizations who are representing and delivering a vision of "CREATIVITY NOW" should ensure that a diverse collection of voices are presented.
We believe that media organizations have an obligation to ensure that society does not perpetuate stereotypes of the past where only men were embraced as creative forces.
By not including a single female voice as a participant in this year's Tokion Creativity Now Conference, we believe that a message of inequality and sexism will be inherently delivered to the attendees of this years conference.
Because of this, we urge all speakers and attendees to withhold their participation at this weekend's Creativity Now Conference until and unless Tokion and the organizers of the Creativity Now Conference ensure that woman are included on the speakers list.
Signed,
Sara and Marc Schiller (The Wooster Collective), Taylor Twist, Nicholas Di Genova, Michael DeFeo, Mike Midden, Heather Rasley, Joseph Johnston, Simon Rydén, Leon Reid, Josh Mountain, Marko ZETS Prpic (BOONIKA editor), Florian Scharinger, Francisco Kemeny (CHIlE), Kastro, Topias Dean, Jonathan Morris, derrick taruc, Chris Palmeri, Norma V Toraya, joe thomas, Ryan Ford, Jen Bekman, Roy Reid, Annette Musick, Kristopher Whitman, Jeremy Dabrowski, Evan Silver, Jan Clamor, Scott Reinhard, Javier del Castillo, APA, rekal, Alek Shnayder, Biroe, the dark, Wes Harden, Frederic Henry, Melissa Bays, daniel müller, Alice Taylor, Abel Coelho, 2H, Dan Goldstein, Beau Gunderson, Faesthetic magazine, Jesse Edwards, Vinnie Smith, mickie quick, Kuan-Jian Foo, neil.dowling, Max Green, Gilles Manera, Keren Fleischer, Magnus Klang, Sabine Druce, cutter skink, ROLANDO DAVID, Ruby Gold, Jode Trumbull, Tamara Redondo, Jacquie Hooper, Pia De Bruyn, Maragaret De Bruyn, Asha Duggan, Em Victoria, Sam Jones, Christie Rohr, Gord Spence, Arie Musil, L Vascons, Heather Hayden, sean salmon, Beejoir, Pam and Jon Vogel, chase maclaskey, Paddy Johnson, DRYPNZ, Jamie Shoop, Julia Truelove, Bs.As.Stncl, Fabienne Serriere, Anthony Smyrski, Hallfridur Birnir, The Killer Gerbil, Maria Antonia Moser Ruello, Thorsten Gültekin, Mikaela D. Martin, Avery Cain Fritz, M. Jason Radosky, Rodney Fritz, Leanne DeGendre, Aren Anthony Fritz, io, Simon Quai, Malorie Bennett, Billy Bicket, brian antosz, Daniel Weise, Kalene Rivers, david hunter, Will Hamilton, Jordan Chatwin, Stephen Eichhorn, Chris Wright, Francisco Galárraga, Alison Kreitzberg, Daniella Curry, Lucie Eder, ...
(Readers of the Wooster Collective website who would like to support this request can add their names to the Open Letter by emailing us at woostercollective@gmail.com)
Posted by marc at 9:55 AM in Activism |
Jen Bekman shares our disgust about the fact that there are no woman participating at Tokion's two day creativity conference later this month.
Because Tokion can't seem to come up with any women who they are willing to deem creative enough to sit on their stage, on her weblog Personism, Jen (and her readers) have begun compiling a list for them.
We wanted to share the list with you, as well as people's suggestions...
Also, be sure to add you own here...
But first, here's the start of our list of amazing creative women whom we admire (we'll add to it later today):
Camille Rose Garcia
Beth Coleman
Aya Takano
Chiho Aoshima
Megan McGuinness
Erika Somogyi
Mary Ellen Mark
A'yen
Io aka Monkey Six
Nina Mouritzen
Maya Hayuk
Jenny Holzer
Barbara Kruger
Aiko (of Faile)
Martha Cooper
Kim Hastreiter
Merry Kernowsky
Magda Danysz
Jen Bekman
Christina Ray
Jiae Kim
Regine Debatty
Swoon
Alice Arnold
Jasmine Zimmerman
Tara McPherson
Caryn Coleman
Gaetane Michaux
Christina Ray
Kalene Rivers
Miss Van
.,,,
Jen's List:
Ellen Lupton
Jessica Helfland
Tina Roth Eisenberg (SwissMiss)
Julia Leach
Kate Spade
Alice Roy
Lisa Yuskavage
Mirabelle Marden (Rivington Arms)
Melissa Bent (Rivington Arms)
Alessandra Sanguinetti
Xeni Jardin
Meg Hourihan
Caterina Fake
Heather Champ
Paddy Johnson
Jessica Coen
Youngna Park
Lauren Cerand
Emilia Fanjul
Dannielle Romano
Pavia Rosati
Janice Erlbaum
Jessica Vitkus
Susan + Katherine Hable (Hable Construction)
Mara Hoffman
danah boyd
Mena Trott
Erika Hall (mule design)
Eileen Gittins (ceo:blurb)
Jill Greenberg (photographer)
Portia Wells (designer)
Julie Taraska (editor)
Jane Pratt
Caroline Waxler (The Glasshouse)
Shoshanna Berger (ReadyMade)
Kate Bingaman (Obsessive Consumption)
Kathy Ryan
Jody Quan
Sara Schiller (Wooster Collective)
Patricia Field
Gina Trapiani
Janice Fraser
Farai Chideya
Lily Burana
Mikki Halpin
Kristen Williams
Elizabeth Spiers
Karen Sandler
Paige West
Jennifer Chung
Rachel Sklar
Maud Newton
Molly Steenson
Grace Bonney (design*sponge)
Eva Hagberg
Maira Kalman
Paula Scher
Paola Antonelli
Jayne Mayle
Tracy Reese
• • •
4 Comments »
1.
more women
i have to say - me… and now more
mary ellen mark
susan goodman (art collector)
soffia coppola
amy arbus
karen mcgrane
lisa poseley (photographer)
sarah mangoit
dana buchman
Natsuo Kirino (author)
joyce carol oates
heather mchugh
Comment by Alison Grippo — October 7, 2006 @ 11:05 pm
2.
Nancy Savoca and Allison Anders. Would be interesting to hear them talk about if they perceived gender as an issue in getting projects underway, since they both seem to have had a hard time over the past decade, even though their early work was widely praised.
Comment by 99 — October 7, 2006 @ 11:23 pm
3.
Some other women that came to mind:
Lisa Kereszi (photographer)
Katy Grannan (photographer)
Jennifer Dalton (artist, currently showing at Winkleman/Plus Ultra)
Gallerists Janine Foeller and Jane Hait (Wallspace in Chelsea)
Zaha Hadid
Elizabeth Diller
Allison Arieff
Artist Shannon Ebner
Lia Halloran (painter, opening Fr. 10/13 at DCKT)
Leanne Shapton
Jen DeNike
Nanette Lepore
Cynthia Rowley
And, of course, any of the immensely talented women who’ve shown at jb - check my artist page or the index of previous winners of Hey, Hot Shot!.
Comment by Jen Bekman — October 7, 2006 @ 11:53 pm
4.
Stacy McKee - writer of gray’s anatomy
Marisha Pessel -actor and writer of special topics in calamity physics (on ny times bestseller list)
Lisa Strausfeld - Partner pentagram
Diane Keaton
Laura Innes
Miranda July
Callie Khouri
more ideas here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_directors
Comment by jg — October 8, 2006 @ 12:13 am
Posted by marc at 8:09 AM in Activism |
We expect that a lot of Wooster readers will be attending Tokion Magazine's Creativity Now Conference that is to take place here in New York on October 14th and 15th.
We won't be amongst them.
Why?
Well, first - here's how Tokion describes the conference:
Tokion Magazine announces the Fourth Annual Creativity Now Conference, to be held at Cooper Union's historic Great Hall on October 14th and 15th, 2006. This unique symposium will bring together top figures in art, design, fashion, photography, film, new media, publishing and marketing. In the same room for the first time, the people shaping today's popular culture will spend two days exchanging their ideas, methods and inspirations before an audience of 2,000.
So you would think that amongst the "top figures in art, design, fashion, photography, film, new media, publishing and marketing" there would be some amazing woman presenting their views, their vision, and their creativity, correct?
You would think that the conference would except nothing less than to present a diverse collection of views on creativity, from all kinds of people, right?
Well, here's the problem... amongst the 30 or so speakers at the conference, there isn't one woman.
Not a single one.
And that's absolutely unacceptable to us.
We don't give a shit what their excuse will be (no woman were available?) - How the fuck can you put together a group of speakers that are (according to Tokion) "shaping today's popular culture" and not one of of them be a woman?
Not a single one.
There are no creative woman who Tokion consider important enough to have at the conference?
Fuck that.
We won't be going.
Posted by marc at 7:54 AM in Activism |
June 7, 2006
On their website, Amnesty International has a series of images that look remarkably similar to the work of Tono in Chicago.
You may remember Tono. He does the amazing "see through signs" that we've featured on the Wooster site for quite some time.
Posted by marc at 2:20 AM in Activism |
June 5, 2006
Real Monster is an installation done by Owen Phillips in a public park in Bethnal Green, London. The project was to highlight the problems with drug abuse.
You can see more of Owen's work here.
Im a friend of Dface and Mysterious Al, we share a studio in london and used to work at the Outside Institute. I used to go under the name GORB but have resently begun doing my illustration work on the street. This is a new departure for me and Im really excited about it so far.
I have resently launched my new webiste it would be great if you could check it out, I've included the last thing I painted so u can see my street type work.
http://www.owenp.com/
Big up!
Owen
Posted by marc at 4:21 AM in Activism |
May 9, 2006
From Acciones in Chicago:
" I have a bit to say about one of the large issues int he country today. And that is Immigration. As a son of two once illegal immigrants from Mexico, I feel very strongly against the movement to send back all immigrants, after all immigrants did build this country. I have started a project in which i can talk to people in my community and find out how they feel, i take their photograph and blow it up to later on paste on the streets. I am trying to create the sense that i am "adding" immigrants to the city as opposed to kicking them out."
Posted by marc at 7:37 AM in Activism |
May 8, 2006
Today the British government won its court case to evict a peace protester from parliament square in london. Brian Haw has been living in a makeshift tent on the pavement opposite the house of commons for nearly five years. He has built up a collection of artwork donated to him by passersby including two ten foot Banksy canvases which Tony Blair has to drive past every time he goes to work.
For details on his forthcoming eviction check www.parliament-square.org.uk and banksy.co.uk
Posted by marc at 11:30 AM in Activism |
April 3, 2006
Graffiti has been popping up in some of the most unlikely places. But if this one turns out to be legit, it has to be the strangest use of graffiti we've seen to date.
Rich Jones points to a new political ad in the Ukraine for Yulia Tymoshenko, a representative of the Orange Pary in Ukraine. You might remember the 'Orange Revolution' last year. The combination of street art and advertising has indeed taken one step further as it reaches the political campaigns in Ukraine.
Posted by marc at 3:08 PM in Activism |
January 27, 2006
The artist of the work above - one of the best hits we've seen in a long time - is specter from the kops crew out of montreal. Location is Montreal.
Posted by marc at 7:48 AM in Activism , Wheatpastes |