A few years ago, I stumbled across the faith of graffiti in a used book store. Published in 1973, it includes documentary photographs by Mervyn Kurlansky and Jon Naar, with an essay by Norman Mailer. As A-1, Aesthetic Investigator, Mailer describes meeting up with CAY 161 and other young street artists in an apt. in Washington Heights. They talk about “the curiosity of past passions to write the name, as if, like the Twist, it was over.” That is, by the time Mailer wrote the story in the early ’70s, legal penalties against graffiti artists in NYC were getting serious…
Politics as unusual
Seriously, I’ve been debating for weeks whether or not to include any of my own personal comments on Stickerkitty regarding current US politics, etc., but the recent announcement that Sarah Palin will be joining FOX News makes me sick. Enough is enough, for crying out loud. FOXNews.com reports that Palin “has signed a multi-year deal to offer her political commentary and analysis across all Fox News platforms, including Fox Business Channel, FoxNews.com and Fox News Radio.” And, if that weren’t bad enough, check out this new accoutrement: Kitteh doesn’t want to be catty, but the packaging here blows me away. …
Merry Christmas 2009
A few weeks ago, I tracked down A Frightening Prospect, the creators of this powerful street poster that I saw on Houston Street last fall during the weeks surrounding the US Presidential elections. Unfortunately I was driving too fast in rush hour traffic to stop or even take a picture of it. These posters were really difficult to find on the streets, undoubtedly b/c they were such a hot item. The artists kindly donated one to me, however, and I offered to have SLU buy another one for the Permanent Collection.
Shepard Fairey
The NY Times ran this article in March 2009 about Shepard Fairey, which provides a useful bio and overview of this ne’er-do-well’s career.
B.N.E.
Check out this story about B.N.E in the NY Times today, forwarded by the tallest ninja in the sticker posse, Grant Cornwell. From the article: “Peter F. Vallone Jr., of Queens, chairman of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, condemned the show. ‘This isn’t even someone who’s decided to go legitimate,’ he said. ‘This is an unrepentant criminal who has cost honest taxpayers a lot of money, and he’s profited from it’.” Sorry, Pete!! B.N.E. uses a “serious-looking Helvetica Neue Condensed.” I just watched the film Helvetica a few days ago, which describes the way the font was developed 50…
Obay
I just typed in obay for a Google search and came across this Wikipedia entry: “Obay is a fictional mind control medication at the centre of a viral marketing campaign begun in February 2008 by Colleges Ontario, the advocacy group for colleges and institutes of applied arts and technology in the province of Ontario, Canada, and developed by the Smith Roberts advertising agency. The campaign seeks to eliminate what the group calls “academic snobbery”[1] on the part of parents, who often see colleges as inferior to universities,[2][3] and who may push their children towards the latter option against their wishes.”…
oBey eBay
More of the same on eBay. Resistance meets capitalism = capitalism.