169 credit cards + $12.50 in change = Indebted States of America
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…
Rob Maguire
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…