Indebted States of America by Maine artist Eric Leppanen is created with 169 of his own credit cards, collected over the past 23 years, adorned with the 50 U.S. state quarters and framed in gold leaf. “It speaks to the marketing of ‘Big Banks’ to indebt Americans with bait and
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Art Threat: Joe Sacco depicts one dreadful day of The Great War
The latest book by comic artist Joe Sacco isn’t really a book at all. The Great War is a single 24-foot-long panoramic image that illustrates the first day of the battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916. And while the style is certainly Sacco, The Great War differs from
Continue readingArt Threat: Banksy in NYC: highlights from the first two weeks
New Yorkers have spent the past two weeks tripping over themselves as they attempt to locate new Banksy works as they pop up each morning. The British artist is currently halfway through a month-long residency “on the streets of New York,” and his daily creations, which include video and other
Continue readingArt Threat: Syrian president Bashar al-Assad mocked in satirical finger puppet performance
From The Guardian: Anonymous Syrian art group Masasit Mati launched the online finger-puppet show Top Goon: Diaries of a Little Dictator in 2011 to lampoon Bashar al-Assad’s oppressive rule. Amid escalating violence, in January 2013 the group secretly travelled to the town of Manbij, north of Aleppo to perform episodes
Continue readingArt Threat: The Art & Money Project
It’s no secret that money rules our lives. I think what we’re now seeing is really the final and most ruthless stage of the integration of art and creativity into the capitalist market or, in other words, the final stages of art’s subordination to money. But I think that almost
Continue readingArt Threat: Democracy on Trial: The Morgentaler Affair
Abortion-rights activist and pioneer Dr. Henry Morgentaler died Wednesday of a heart attack. Appropriately, our Friday Film Pick is Democracy on Trial, a 1984 NFB documentary by Paul Cowen in which Morgantaler’s historic legal battle over abortion in the 1970s is unraveled and explored using a combination of archival footage,
Continue readingArt Threat: Two songs about Rob Ford smoking crack
The Rob Ford crack controversy has a soundtrack. First we have the bluntly titled Rob Ford Smoking Crack by 21-year-old hip hop artist Corey Charron. The three-minute ditty tells a fictional account in which Charron, who recently won a $5,000 freestyle competition on US network BET, smokes crack cocaine with
Continue readingArt Threat: Bank of Canada cries counterfeit over Duffy Buck cartoon
Editorial cartoonist Dan Murphy has created a parody of a Canadian bank note featuring maligned senator Mike Duffy — he of the fraudulent $90,000 in expense claims. The humourless Bank of Canada, however, demanded the cartoon be removed in an email sent from their “anti-counterfeiting compliance program.” The Bank argues
Continue readingArt Threat: Ai Weiwei brings 1200 bicycles to Nuit Blanche Toronto
Chinese dissident and artist Ai Weiwei will create a new edition of his Forever Bicycles sculpture at this year’s Nuit Blanche festival in Toronto. The eighth annual event will take place between sunset and sunrise on October 5, 2013 and feature more than 110 contemporary art projects scattered across the
Continue readingArt Threat: Hungry Planet pictures what we eat around the world
Whenever I shop for groceries, I’m reminded of our collective obsession with processed and packaged foods. As someone who makes an reasonable effort to make decisions that are good for both my health and that of the planet, my shopping cart is largely filled with whole foods. I’m certainly no
Continue readingArt Threat: Mapping the world’s largest solar farm with Project 929
How large of a solar farm is needed to completely power the United States? The simple answer is that a solar farm 100 miles long and 100 miles wide would be “more than enough to meet the country’s entire energy demand.” The far more interesting answer, however, is that this
Continue readingArt Threat: Gay South Korean film director causes stir in Seoul with wedding announcement
Openly gay South Korean film director Kim Jho Gwang-soo announced he will symbolically marry his partner in a ceremony designed to both celebrate their love and make a statement on LGBTQ rights in the conservative country. “We wanted to convey the message that all sexual minorities should be given rights
Continue readingArt Threat: Conservative Christ illustrates America’s evil Jesus
The latest work by American artist Michael D’Antuono has once again drawn ire from US conservatives for pointing out the hypocrisy amongst their ranks. His latest work, The Conservative Christ, depicts Jesus with an AK-47 hoisted into their air, clutching tightly to a pot of gold, and sneering derisively at
Continue readingArt Threat: Disney abandons efforts to trademark Day of the Dead
Thanks to a wave of online backlash, Disney is withdrawing its application to trademark the term Dia de los Muertos — otherwise known as the traditional Mexican Day of the Dead holiday. The trademark filing was done in advance of an upcoming animated film release by Disney-owned Pixar based on
Continue readingArt Threat: Sadly, Neil Young’s Ohio still relevant 43 years after Kent State massacre
It was 43 years ago today that four students were killed at Kent State University, shot dead by the Ohio National Guard as they protested US military involvement in Cambodia. The bloody tragedy would move Neil Young to write the timeless protest song Ohio, which was recorded and heard on
Continue readingArt Threat: Calgary muzzles artists critical of tar sands
The Raincoast Conservation Foundation had a permit from the City of Calgary to display their travelling art exhibition, Artists for an Oil-Free Coast, at city hall. However, once the show opened, a backlash from conservative politicians caused the city to revoke the permit, arguing the show was too “political” and
Continue readingRob Maguire: The New Rockstar Philosophy:a marketing bible for DIY musicians
Every musician and their dog knows that the music industry ain’t what is used to be. Heck, it’s not even what it was ten years ago when I was still packing gear into rusted-out Econolines and pulling red-eye shifts along the Trans-Canada. So how do emerging artists get noticed these
Continue readingArt Threat: Has Banksy been arrested by London cops?
Rumours are circulating that British activist and street artist Banksy has been arrested. Fortunately, they seem to be false. From a suspiciously unattributed press release (update — the web link seems to be down again. Here is a PDF of the release.): London Police Chief Wayne Leppard held a press
Continue readingRob Maguire: The danger of contextual advertising
Clipped from CBC.ca last year, this unfortunate little gem illustrates how contextual advertising may not always showcase your brand in a flattering environment. As they say, buyer beware. (Click the image to enlarge.)
Continue readingArt Threat: Digital media challenge offers $100,000 for critical work on democracy
A new digital media challenge is looking for creative work that addresses the need to improve democracy in the United States. And as it is with American democracy in practice, large sums of money are at stake — $100,000 in cash prizes will go to “the most fresh and creative submissions.”
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