I must first come clean, I studied fine arts in high school from years nine to 12. Since my studies were concluded, I had never held a paintbrush again.
I've decided to post about a recent experience, considerable an "action" in its nature, and how it felt, which was comparable to solicitation rather than activism. However, there was a sense for consciousness-raising regardless of any tangible outcome.
This is a prime example of the marriage of art and activism. The Silence = Death poster is simple but extremely powerful representation of the obstacles the AIDS movement was facing (suppression of gay people + their problems, lack of awareness surrounding the pandemic).
JAY SHELLS DROPS “RAP QUOTES,”
HIS MOST SITE-SPECIFIC STREET ART PROJECT YET
By Aymann Ismail | March 25, 2013 - 12:30PM
After schooling New Yorkers on etiquette via numerous unsanctioned interventions, artist Jay Shells channeled his love of hip hop music and his uncanny sign-making skills towards a brand new project: “Rap Quotes.”
Many girls in China may have seen the advertisements of egg donation as a surrogate, in hospitals, schools, public toilets, shared bikes, ATMs...... They are everywhere and the number of this kind of advertisements is large. Though there are lots of girls who have never seen such advertisements or would never believe in them, there would still be some girls who would dial the numbers on the advertisements.
Iran is a nation with a fine art tradition that stretches back thousands of years; its reputation for contemporary fashion design less so. Writing that from an external, Western perspective may read unduly dismissive, but it’s a statement that holds up even from within the country’s borders, Shiva Vaqar assures us. “Being a designer has never really been considered a serious job here,” she says over the phone from Tehran.
It seems a lot of powerful people hate Benetton's new 'Unhate' Campaign ads. The recently unveiled images show world leaders like the Pope and U.S. President Barack Obama kissing their perceived enemies.
On Thursday, the White House issued a statement condemning Benetton for its provocative campaign.
Ricardo Levins Morales is an artist and organizer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was born into the anti-colonial movement in Puerto Rico, and when his family moved to Chicago in 1967, he became interested in activism. After leaving high school early, he worked in various industries and began to use art as part of his activism work.
Peggy Digg’s The Domestic Violence Milk Carton Project consisted of an image printed by Tuscan Dairy Farms on over one million milk cartons, which were distributed during January and February of 1992 throughout New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. This wide-reaching project sought to both raise awareness of domestic violence and distribute a helpline.
“The Feminist Zine Fest showcases the work of artists and zine makers of all genders who identify on the feminist spectrum, and whose politics are reflected in their work. For the second consecutive year, Barnard proudly hosts the zine fest, welcoming approximately 40 zine-makers eager to share their work.
One of the most pressing questions before us in the United States now is how to resolve the tension between our personal visions and needs, on the one hand, and the demands of being a member of a community, on the other.
“Piano Stairs” is an interactive playful musical stairway installation created into the Odenplan underground station of Stockholm to make people use stairs more often than elevator. The project was part of a Wolkswagen initiative called “The fun theory” whose main objective and mission is to “change people’s behaviour for the better by making it fun to do.”
Sitting at a folding table in the basement of Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Columbus, Monica Jacobo used a felt tip marker to write the words “No means no!” on a white bandana.
Without having been commissioned—or even given legal permission at all—Haring set out to create Crack Is Wack on the wall of an abandoned handball court in a park at 2nd Avenue and East 128th Street on June 27, 1986. Upon the completion of the mural, Haring was arrested by the New York City Police Department for vandalism of city property and faced potential jail time in addition to heavy fines.
Following in the strong tradition of using graphic novels to explore social ills, DC Comics is releasing two new politically activist issues in their "New 52" series.
The first is called "The Movement" and is written by Gail Simone. Simone describes that "The Movement is an idea I’ve had for some time. It’s a book about power–who owns it, who uses it, who suffers from its abuse."
Imagine if back in the 1960s, creators Jack Kirby and Stan Lee had found inspiration for The Avengers in Yoruba mythology. Instead of Iron Man, we'd have the warrior Oxaguiã. Taking the place of the blue-eyed, blonde-haired Norse god Thor would be the equally strong and black-skinned Xangô, the ruler of justice — who also happens to carry a hammer.
"Two weekends ago, a loose network of these artists and activists, under the name Subvertisers International, launched their first global effort to reclaim our shared public environment from its monopolization by commercial media. The demand was not for better or more truthful advertising, but to imagine what a city would look like when the stories we told ourselves in public space reflected a democratic voice.
Fuck. Damn. Shit. Ass. Everybody curses. Don’t say you don’t. Everyone does it when they’re mad, upset, happy, or excited. It’s human nature. Is it that the words are sinful? Offensive? Violent? Nobody really knows but we as a society do not like them in the slightest. People associate cursing with a stigma of being uneducated, uncultured, and lazy. But boiled down, language is one of the strongest tools and assets that we have. Language is power.
In Citizen, Claudia Rankine recounts mounting racial aggressions in ongoing encounters in twenty-first-century daily life and in the media. Some of these encounters are slights, seemingly slips of the tongue, and some are intentional offensives in the classroom, at the supermarket, at home, on the tennis court with Serena Williams and the soccer field with Zinedine Zidane, online, on TV—everywhere, all the time.
Two reflective stickers in a bathroom stall. When you sit down you can see your face in the bottom one. When you stand you can see your face in the top one, your groin in the bottom one. The top one says "Public", the bottom one says "Private". Or maybe the top one says "Private", and the bottom one says "Public". Which one is correct?
Do we need to crowdsource a new Australian Constitution? Does anything matter more than the environment? Should Australia become a republic with an Australian head of state? Should whistleblowers be protected? Is representative democracy antiquated? Controversial artist Carl Scrase is asking these questions in a new project that mixes street art posters with political activism and aims to go viral through social media.
Institute of psychology in Shenyang, a major city of China, recently reveals 6 most frequently used utterances in verbal abuse of children among local parents: “Garbage”, “You know nothing but eating”, “Pig head”, “Shame on you”, “Why don’t you die”, “No one else is lamer than you”.
Ronald Reagan was elected President of the United States on November 4, 1980. In less than a year, in the Summer of 1981, AIDS was first identified in medical journals. However, it took until 1987 before he would give his first major address on AIDS.