The woman in a red dress being blasted by pepper spray in Gezi Park, Istanbul, is not an anomaly. Women are on the front lines of Turkey’s protest movement and were also well represented in the series of upheavals that was dubbed the Arab Spring. But to gain a full
Continue readingTag: Visual art
Art Threat: Butch Dykes: A Herstory told in zines
At the recent Montreal Anarchist Bookfair, where another (better) world of incredibly inspiring, provocative and boundary-pushing art and media is on display each year, I stumbled upon Eloisa Aquino and her wares – a series of zines on awesome butch dykes, appropriately called The Life and Times of Butch Dykes.
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: 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: 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: Little girls are better at designing superheroes than you are
“Little girls are better at designing superhoroes than you are” is a part-time project of California based artist Alexandria Law. Of the project she says: “Kids are more impressionable than you, but kids can also be less restricted by cultural gender norms than you. Kids are more creative than you,
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 readingArt Threat: Weiwei-isms: the Coles Notes of an infamous Chinese dissident
A magnitude 8.0 earthquake shook through Wenchuan County in Sichuan province of the People’s Republic of China on May 12, 2008. Official figures listed 69,197 dead, including 5,335 children, mostly killed as a result of shoddy school construction — a horrible tragedy, particularly due to China’s one-child policy, that caught
Continue readingArt Threat: Tillett Wright’s million shades of gay
When Tillett Wright began her photographic project, Self Evident Truths, back in 2010 she didn’t expect the groundswell of requests for photographs that she ended up receiving. She originally wanted to shoot 4-5,000 people, but the response has led her to increase her goal to 10,000 people. “I basically decided
Continue readingArt Threat: Sonny’s happy future demands you perk up your ears
Sonny Assu meets you where you’re at. I first came across his artworks as the Idle No More movement began to swell, his dusty blue and red posters could be spotted in protests reading “rise” “lead” “confront” “learn”. Less than a month later, a set of posters on display at
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 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.”
Continue readingArt Threat: Art at War surveys creativity under Nazi occupation, from Picasso to Dubuffet
“History isn’t the lies of the victors … I know that now. It’s more the memories of the survivors, most of whom are neither victorious nor defeated.” – The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes On the last Sunday in the year, the Parisian bourgeoisie were out in force.
Continue readingArt Threat: A visit to Josh Keyes’ dystopian zoo
If Josh Keyes’ paintings don’t take a bit of your breath away, I suggest you visit an optometrist. Each one sits as a stand-alone diorama, a moment caught in a fictional time, with beautiful realistic paintings of animals in a world so strange that it is most likely caused by
Continue readingArt Threat: When It Scares You – Where’s your idle art?
I’ve been on the hunt for Idle No More related art – illustrations, photography, songs, etc. If you have leads, please send them my way! In the meantime, the first thing to come across my desk was this drawing by illustrator Stephen Gladue – inspired initially by the news
Continue readingArt Threat: Graphic Advocacy: International Posters for the Digital Age 2001–2012
An international exhibition of political poster design, Graphic Advocacy: International Posters for the Digital Age: 2001-2012 is currently on display at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Curated by MassArt professor and Chair of Graphic Design Elizabeth Resnick, the featured work spans nearly three dozen countries and touches on
Continue readingArt Threat: Infographic: equal education, unequal pay
It’s 2012 and close to four years after the Lilly ledbetter Fair Pay Act was signed into law in the United States. Surely, the gender wage gap has been closed, right? Wrong. Even with moves toward equalizing pay between men and women, men still make almost 20% more than women
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