Category: The Man stickin' it Back

Back to business

Gareth Dale’s “Popular Protest in East Germany, 1945-1989” (Routledge, 2005) is proving to be an extremely helpful resource as I try to gain a better understanding of political protest in contemporary Germany – protest as represented in the stickers I’ve collected in Berlin and Munich since 2003.  In particular, he describes the mass uprising of June 17, 1953, that started in East Berlin and moved rapidly to over 700 cities throughout East Germany.  Half a million to a million workers protested; 1,000 workplaces were stopped.  Ultimately, by the end of the day (one day!), Soviet tanks, 20,000 Soviet soldiers, and…

Protests everywhere

Research from yesterday: February 13th and 14th mark the anniversary each year of the Dresden bombings, during which Allied forces killed an estimated 25,000 civilians by dropping incendiary bombs.  Far-right extremists have since used the occasions to gather in remembrance and march through the city with flags, banners, and torches.  In 2011, two funeral marches were scheduled within days of each other.  The first on February 13th drew 1,300 neo-Nazis, but what was remarkable were the 17,000 counter-protesters who also showed up to block the parade by creating a human chain extending two miles around the city.  The second gathering…

Ha ha.

The .png shots I take for this SK blog are too small in size and too low-res to be used in any other printed matter.  No surprise.  It’s weird, though.  I can re-save a .png shot as a .jpeg, and the file size remains the same?  I can’t remember.  In any case, I created a .png shot at 72 dpi, re-saved it as a 72 dpi .jpeg, and re-saved it again as 150 dpi and 300 dpi .jpegs.  You’re not supposed to enlarge files like this, but I’m having Shutterfly make 5 x7-inch photographs to see how they compare in…

It’s a (Tea) Party

I’m heading to Boston today to visit sis #2 for a couple of days.  While there, I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for anti-Tea Party stickers along what was then Griffin’s Wharf (now Independence Wharf at 470 Atlantic Avenue), the site of the historical Boston Tea Party.  Here is what it looks like now. One could write a thesis on the irony of this.  Talk about taxation without representation.  Who paid for that? On a related note, I found a great sticker in NYC last year with a picture of Sarah Palin and the phrase “Trojan Horse,” which…

Back home + time to restore some honor!!!

While there is still so much to think and write about regarding the recent trip to Berlin, I want to add this post about the upcoming Restoring Honor rally in DC this summer.  Check out the rip-off of Shepard Fairey’s rip-off design (below).  Hello, post-modernism!  Is that what you’d call this?  I can’t keep track anymore, much less tag this post….  Lately it seems that “Stickin’ it to the Man” combined with “The Man Stickin’ it Back” seems to work in a number of situations.  Not sure what that means quite yet, but it might be an unfortunate reality in…

Street art + art fair = an oxymoron

The Stroke 02 urban art fair was disappointing.  Aside from its overly commercial focus, it lacked the vibrancy we’ve seen and experienced on the streets and elsewhere.  Right from the beginning, we all asked, “Why Munich?” and later learned “that’s where the money is.” The fair itself was situated in a four storey building next to the well groomed Englischer Garten in Munich, which alone seemed an odd and unfortunate decision.  The most interesting project was a live painting by 11 artists from Switzerland.  They had pieced together a large grid of 80 or so 16 x 20 boards, which…

Sold Out

I’m on the e-list to receive newsletter updates from Obey Giant, which occasionally features new prints for sale from Shepard Fairey.  I swear, by the time I click on Prints, every limited edition is already sold out.  The byline on the OG Web site says “Manufactured Dissent.”  Maunfactured is right.  This Man is making a factory fortune.

When Fear Goes Graphic

Last week’s NY Times featured an article, When Fear Goes Graphic, about political posters that helped spur voters in Switzerland to pass a 2009 referendum to ban the building of minarets.  Among several examples, one poster created by the Swiss graphic designer Alexander Segert, depicted “three fluffy white sheep kicking a black sheep off the Swiss flag.  ‘For More Security’ was the accompanying slogan.” (I have a similar image found recently on a sticker in Berlin, which I’ll post later.) From the article: “A(nother) poster was widely cited as having galvanized votes for the Swiss measure but was also blamed…

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. …