July 2, 2008
Seen On The Streets Of Portland, Maine
Posted by marc at 9:28 AM in Activism | Recommend this! (34) |
| June 4, 2008
Posterchild Asks The Quesiton: "How's My Advertising?"
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.
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May 30, 2008
Seen on the Streets of Vancouver
Artists: jerm9ine and ninja9ine
Posted by marc at 2:34 AM in Activism | Recommend this! (57) |
February 5, 2008
The Israeli Border Police in Weimar - An Explanation
"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 | Recommend this! (56) |
January 10, 2008
Urban Salvations in Beirut Lebanon
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 | Recommend this! (55) |
November 22, 2007
Filippo Minelli Hits The West Bank Barrier
You can see more photos here.
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September 17, 2007
Vinchen's Latest Culture Jam - Taco Bell
More from Vinchen here.
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September 11, 2007
Braille Graffiti In Paris
More from The Blind here.
Posted by marc at 7:25 AM in Activism | Recommend this! (75) |
August 28, 2007
WK Interact's "Bring Me Back" Series - Phase 2
Posted by marc at 7:26 AM in Activism | Recommend this! (71) |
JONATHAN YEO UNVEILS ‘BUSH’
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 | Recommend this! (106) |
June 10, 2007
The Iraq Names Project in Portland
(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 | Recommend this! (15) |
May 17, 2007
Making A Statement with Sculpture: Access Denied
"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 | Recommend this! (59) |
May 8, 2007
Wallinger's State Britain Shortlisted for Turner Prize
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 | Recommend this! (20) |
April 3, 2007
the write/here project
"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 | Recommend this! (13) |
March 16, 2007
Too much nudity in Norway?
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 | Recommend this! (22) |
March 7, 2007
JR and Marco Pull It Off - The Other Side of the Wall Is Now Complete
More on the project here.
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March 5, 2007
The Wall - They Did It!
Posted by marc at 6:54 AM in Activism | Recommend this! (40) |
February 8, 2007
Little Ideas We Love: Random Acts of "Public Embroidery"
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 | Recommend this! (106) |
January 24, 2007
NYC's True Graffiti Problem from the Anti-Advertising Agency
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 | Recommend this! (20) |
January 22, 2007
Broken Link
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 | Recommend this! (97) |
January 12, 2007
Every Image Has A Story - "No left wing, No right wing"
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 | Recommend this! (19) |
January 10, 2007
Street Art In Mogadishu
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 | Recommend this! (10) |
January 9, 2007
The Whores of Tel-Aviv - The Video
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 | Recommend this! (16) |
Abstractor's Transformation of Video Billboards Into Public Art
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 | Recommend this! (17) |
Know Your History: East LA Graffiti and Murals
"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 | Recommend this! (4) |
January 7, 2007
Freedom of Speach in Belorussia.
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 | Recommend this! (29) |
December 30, 2006
Top Dollar Garbage
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 | Recommend this! (24) |
December 29, 2006
A Christmas Wreath Like None Other
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 | Recommend this! (66) |
December 28, 2006
Speaking Out About Corruption in Singapore
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 | Recommend this! (14) |
Surrend in Sri Lanka
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 | Recommend this! (4) |
November 10, 2006
"In the underground beneath the enormous metropolis of Shinjuku...."
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 he