viscom
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Typography for book. Tried my best to get the tracking right, keeping the letters pretty tight to each other. Not perfect tho. ¶ 6:02 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
West Yorkshire Police
Please check out the following reports from West Yorkshire Police. There is a general absence of anything that could be considered 'street art' in Leeds, but there is a proliferation of tagging and random, generally poor graffiti, which is what the police seem intent on stamping out.
However, all these articles and schemes are underscored by a very basic lack of knowledge and understanding of the subject. The terms of the debate are limiting; where do stencils, posters and stickers fit into this equation? What if some street actions provoke positive responses in communities? What if a well placed poster or stencil actually makes an area feel more safe, more attractive, more fun? There is no room, it seems, for this debate. Shame. The only plus is that most of these retaliatory actions are in response to public complaints, so if people did like what they saw, there would be no complaint, and therefore less chance of reprisal. Interesting reading.
Thursday, August 3, 2006
A group of young people will be giving a helping hand this weekend to clean up graffiti at Earlsheaton Park.
The four, from the Chickenley and Earlsheaton areas will be helping to scrub down the furniture and play equipment using materials provided by the Kirklees Park Ranger.
Also in attendance will be PCSO Joe Walshaw and PC Mike Beardsley from the Dewsbury Neighbourhood Policing Team.
PCSO Joe Walshaw, who organised the event said: “We’re delighted that the young people have offered their services this weekend.
“It sets an excellent example to other young people to get involved in doing something worthwhile in their community.
“The clean up will make the park feel safer and cleaner for those using it.
“Anyone who decides to try and spoil that by writing graffiti should be warned that we will take it seriously and do our best to find out who the offenders are.”
-----------
Crimestoppers Cleans Up at Graffiti Awards
Yorkshire and Humber Crimestoppers are celebrating after receiving recognition for tackling of graffiti.
The regional police charity won the National 2005 Easy ONTM Award after showing the National Graffiti Association how they combated graffiti within communities and how they engaged with outside agencies to achieve this goal.
The Yorkshire and Humber Crimestoppers application included the transport crime initiative and the ‘Turn in a Tagger’ campaign.
The entry came top of the pile of the 65 entries submitted and the winners were rewarded with £1000 worth of products to help support the fight against graffiti.
Detective Constable Kevin Mosley of the region’s Crimestoppers said: “This is the icing on the cake for the Crimestoppers team who have work tirelessly all year on exciting projects which involve the seven police forces and outside agencies.
“What we must not forget is that without the publics’ support in passing information about graffiti and suspect offenders via Crimestoppers we would not be able to achieve these high rates of detected crimes.
“So we offer our thanks and urge them to continue to supply the information that assists police investigations daily. Ring us today, anonymously, on 0800 555 111 and you could earn a cash reward.”
------------
Thursday, November 17, 2005.
Graffiti in Kirklees is being tackled head on by a new campaign targeted at encouraging people to report graffiti and suspect offenders.
Crimestoppers together with the division’s Neighbourhood Policing Team and Kirklees Council are urging the public to ‘name the tagger’ anonymously through Crimestoppers.
The drive is focused on reducing criminal damage and improving the public’s perception on their environment. The council will be issuing posters containing images of graffiti from across the area and a number for the public to ring to report sightings or information on suspected offenders.
Through information then gathered by Crimestoppers, the division’s intelligence unit and the Council, offenders will be identified and arrests will be made.
Detective Constable Kevin Mosley of Yorkshire and Humberside Crimestoppers said: “Graffiti is an eyesore in the community and makes people think the area is suffering from high levels of crime, which isn’t necessarily the case. This is basically criminal damage, costing thousands of pounds worth of damage, which needs stamping out.
“We would also like to put the fear of crime back to the offender and make it clear that they are the ones being watched, either by the public or a member of the criminal gang who maybe tempted to 'name the tagger'.
“What we’re asking the public to do is ring us on 0800 555111 with information about those individuals they know are responsible. If that person is arrested and then charged with criminal damage the caller can claim up to a £1000 reward. It is a simple as that and the caller always remains anonymous.”
Inspector Martin Lister from Kirklees Neighbourhood Policing team said: “We are working closely with our partners to wipe out graffiti and prevent acts of mindless vandalism.
“This is a real team effort involving police patrols, partnership interventions and public information and together we will work towards making our neighbourhoods a safer and cleaner place to live.”
As well as reporting the offence to Crimestoppers, the public are also urged to report any graffiti to the Council's Streetcare team. They will then be able to come out and remove it.
Councillor Ann Denham, portfolio holder for Kirklees Council Highways and Transportation said: "People need to understand the damage they cause, areas that are covered in Graffiti are intimidating and give the impression they are run down. We need to target these areas and target the people who are making them a mess.
“I would encourage anyone with information about the people who do this to call Crimestoppers and to call ROSS, the Streetcare cleaning team, on 0800 731 8765 to notify us were there is graffiti so we can remove it."
-------------
Friday April 22, 2005
Whilst graffiti artists may think they’re the creative ones, as of this weekend, the tables are turning.
Local police have designs on anyone intent on causing damage on or around public transport in the region.
Target patrols will join British Transport Police in Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Halifax and Huddersfield to discourage damage and take action against anyone vandalising buses, trains, timetables or waiting areas.
More than 100 officers will be out on high visibility duties tomorrow. They will be focusing on the most troublesome routes and stations, as identified by the bus and rail operators.
This activity is part of Target’s safer transport drive, which has seen many crime-fighting initiatives on public transport throughout the county over the last six months. In particular, it will enforce the recently launched Crimestoppers ‘Turn in a Tagger’ campaign.
As Crimestoppers Regional Co-ordinator, Detective Sergeant Ian Froggett explains: “’Turn in a Tagger’ is all about cleaning up transport crime. By working alongside the police, Metro and bus and rail operators we want to wipe out vandalism.
“Repair bills for graffiti and window etching run into thousand of pounds. The repairs also take time and can have a significant impact on the provision of reliable services.
“To help fight this, Crimestoppers is offering a reward of up to £1,000. We’re asking the public to ‘Turn in a Tagger’ by ringing us on 0800 555 111 with
information about the individuals they believe to be responsible. If that individual
is arrested and then charged, the caller can claim their reward.”
Target Sergeant Mark Eilbeck said: “Local officers and Special Constables from both West Yorkshire Police and British Transport Police will involved in this initiative. We’re aiming to reassure the public and deter anyone who may thinking of committing criminal damage. Anti-social behaviour of any kind will not be tolerated. If you break the law you can expect to be arrested, maybe even prosecuted.
“Target’s safer transport operations have proved to be very successful in the past and will continue for the foreseeable future. These initiatives genuinely help to reduce transport crime and have been recognised as such by the Department of Transport.”
Chief Inspector Terry Nicholson of British Transport Police, said: "Graffiti is not an art, it’s vandalism, a costly eyesore that increases the fear of crime. For this reason it carries a penalty fine of up to £2,000. This operation is the first of several to identify and arrest individuals causing criminal damage.
“Together with our partners, British Transport Police is committed to providing a safe and comfortable environment for the county’s passengers."
To urge people to ‘Turn in a Tagger’ and increase awareness about the implications of vandalism and criminal damage, partner agencies will distribute more than 25,000 leaflets during the initial stages of the campaign. ¶ 12:34 PM 0 comments
Please check out the following reports from West Yorkshire Police. There is a general absence of anything that could be considered 'street art' in Leeds, but there is a proliferation of tagging and random, generally poor graffiti, which is what the police seem intent on stamping out.
However, all these articles and schemes are underscored by a very basic lack of knowledge and understanding of the subject. The terms of the debate are limiting; where do stencils, posters and stickers fit into this equation? What if some street actions provoke positive responses in communities? What if a well placed poster or stencil actually makes an area feel more safe, more attractive, more fun? There is no room, it seems, for this debate. Shame. The only plus is that most of these retaliatory actions are in response to public complaints, so if people did like what they saw, there would be no complaint, and therefore less chance of reprisal. Interesting reading.
Thursday, August 3, 2006
A group of young people will be giving a helping hand this weekend to clean up graffiti at Earlsheaton Park.
The four, from the Chickenley and Earlsheaton areas will be helping to scrub down the furniture and play equipment using materials provided by the Kirklees Park Ranger.
Also in attendance will be PCSO Joe Walshaw and PC Mike Beardsley from the Dewsbury Neighbourhood Policing Team.
PCSO Joe Walshaw, who organised the event said: “We’re delighted that the young people have offered their services this weekend.
“It sets an excellent example to other young people to get involved in doing something worthwhile in their community.
“The clean up will make the park feel safer and cleaner for those using it.
“Anyone who decides to try and spoil that by writing graffiti should be warned that we will take it seriously and do our best to find out who the offenders are.”
-----------
Crimestoppers Cleans Up at Graffiti Awards
Yorkshire and Humber Crimestoppers are celebrating after receiving recognition for tackling of graffiti.
The regional police charity won the National 2005 Easy ONTM Award after showing the National Graffiti Association how they combated graffiti within communities and how they engaged with outside agencies to achieve this goal.
The Yorkshire and Humber Crimestoppers application included the transport crime initiative and the ‘Turn in a Tagger’ campaign.
The entry came top of the pile of the 65 entries submitted and the winners were rewarded with £1000 worth of products to help support the fight against graffiti.
Detective Constable Kevin Mosley of the region’s Crimestoppers said: “This is the icing on the cake for the Crimestoppers team who have work tirelessly all year on exciting projects which involve the seven police forces and outside agencies.
“What we must not forget is that without the publics’ support in passing information about graffiti and suspect offenders via Crimestoppers we would not be able to achieve these high rates of detected crimes.
“So we offer our thanks and urge them to continue to supply the information that assists police investigations daily. Ring us today, anonymously, on 0800 555 111 and you could earn a cash reward.”
------------
Thursday, November 17, 2005.
Graffiti in Kirklees is being tackled head on by a new campaign targeted at encouraging people to report graffiti and suspect offenders.
Crimestoppers together with the division’s Neighbourhood Policing Team and Kirklees Council are urging the public to ‘name the tagger’ anonymously through Crimestoppers.
The drive is focused on reducing criminal damage and improving the public’s perception on their environment. The council will be issuing posters containing images of graffiti from across the area and a number for the public to ring to report sightings or information on suspected offenders.
Through information then gathered by Crimestoppers, the division’s intelligence unit and the Council, offenders will be identified and arrests will be made.
Detective Constable Kevin Mosley of Yorkshire and Humberside Crimestoppers said: “Graffiti is an eyesore in the community and makes people think the area is suffering from high levels of crime, which isn’t necessarily the case. This is basically criminal damage, costing thousands of pounds worth of damage, which needs stamping out.
“We would also like to put the fear of crime back to the offender and make it clear that they are the ones being watched, either by the public or a member of the criminal gang who maybe tempted to 'name the tagger'.
“What we’re asking the public to do is ring us on 0800 555111 with information about those individuals they know are responsible. If that person is arrested and then charged with criminal damage the caller can claim up to a £1000 reward. It is a simple as that and the caller always remains anonymous.”
Inspector Martin Lister from Kirklees Neighbourhood Policing team said: “We are working closely with our partners to wipe out graffiti and prevent acts of mindless vandalism.
“This is a real team effort involving police patrols, partnership interventions and public information and together we will work towards making our neighbourhoods a safer and cleaner place to live.”
As well as reporting the offence to Crimestoppers, the public are also urged to report any graffiti to the Council's Streetcare team. They will then be able to come out and remove it.
Councillor Ann Denham, portfolio holder for Kirklees Council Highways and Transportation said: "People need to understand the damage they cause, areas that are covered in Graffiti are intimidating and give the impression they are run down. We need to target these areas and target the people who are making them a mess.
“I would encourage anyone with information about the people who do this to call Crimestoppers and to call ROSS, the Streetcare cleaning team, on 0800 731 8765 to notify us were there is graffiti so we can remove it."
-------------
Friday April 22, 2005
Whilst graffiti artists may think they’re the creative ones, as of this weekend, the tables are turning.
Local police have designs on anyone intent on causing damage on or around public transport in the region.
Target patrols will join British Transport Police in Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Halifax and Huddersfield to discourage damage and take action against anyone vandalising buses, trains, timetables or waiting areas.
More than 100 officers will be out on high visibility duties tomorrow. They will be focusing on the most troublesome routes and stations, as identified by the bus and rail operators.
This activity is part of Target’s safer transport drive, which has seen many crime-fighting initiatives on public transport throughout the county over the last six months. In particular, it will enforce the recently launched Crimestoppers ‘Turn in a Tagger’ campaign.
As Crimestoppers Regional Co-ordinator, Detective Sergeant Ian Froggett explains: “’Turn in a Tagger’ is all about cleaning up transport crime. By working alongside the police, Metro and bus and rail operators we want to wipe out vandalism.
“Repair bills for graffiti and window etching run into thousand of pounds. The repairs also take time and can have a significant impact on the provision of reliable services.
“To help fight this, Crimestoppers is offering a reward of up to £1,000. We’re asking the public to ‘Turn in a Tagger’ by ringing us on 0800 555 111 with
information about the individuals they believe to be responsible. If that individual
is arrested and then charged, the caller can claim their reward.”
Target Sergeant Mark Eilbeck said: “Local officers and Special Constables from both West Yorkshire Police and British Transport Police will involved in this initiative. We’re aiming to reassure the public and deter anyone who may thinking of committing criminal damage. Anti-social behaviour of any kind will not be tolerated. If you break the law you can expect to be arrested, maybe even prosecuted.
“Target’s safer transport operations have proved to be very successful in the past and will continue for the foreseeable future. These initiatives genuinely help to reduce transport crime and have been recognised as such by the Department of Transport.”
Chief Inspector Terry Nicholson of British Transport Police, said: "Graffiti is not an art, it’s vandalism, a costly eyesore that increases the fear of crime. For this reason it carries a penalty fine of up to £2,000. This operation is the first of several to identify and arrest individuals causing criminal damage.
“Together with our partners, British Transport Police is committed to providing a safe and comfortable environment for the county’s passengers."
To urge people to ‘Turn in a Tagger’ and increase awareness about the implications of vandalism and criminal damage, partner agencies will distribute more than 25,000 leaflets during the initial stages of the campaign. ¶ 12:34 PM 0 comments
Legality
This from Leeds City Council's website:
"Antisocial behaviour (ASB) is any behaviour that causes, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to other people living in your neighbourhood. If anyone threatens or disrupts the quiet enjoyment of other people, we will take action to make sure the nuisance stops.
This from Leeds City Council's website:
"Antisocial behaviour (ASB) is any behaviour that causes, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to other people living in your neighbourhood. If anyone threatens or disrupts the quiet enjoyment of other people, we will take action to make sure the nuisance stops.
Anti-social behaviour covers everything from letting your garden become an eyesore to drug dealing or physical violence. For example:
- Playing your music too loud.
- Dumping rubbish.
- Threatening or swearing at neighbours.
- Assault or physical violence.
- Racist or homophobic abuse or graffiti.
- Damaging neighbours’ homes or property.
Many criminal acts are also classed as anti-social behaviour - for example vandalism, drug dealing, abusive language and abusive behaviour. The council's anti-social behaviour unit will take action against the person committing such acts, but you should always contact the police first. Telephone 0845 6060606 to report any crime to the police, but if the crime is in progress or there is a danger to someone’s life, ring 999."
Why the hell is graffiti thrown in with racist and homophobic abuse? How are the two even comparable? It is a disservice to people who have been racially or homophobically abused to put graffiti on a par with those crimes. Or maybe the council are just muppets, that could be possible too..
¶ 12:10 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Banksy's museum abuse
Everyone is used to seeing public space appropriated by street artists, so planting your work on display inside the Tate, the Louvre and other prestigious institutions seems like the next logical step. Banksy is essentially challenging similar systems of power structures that say, "you can't do this here", and simply proving them wrong
¶ 10:44 AM 0 comments
Everyone is used to seeing public space appropriated by street artists, so planting your work on display inside the Tate, the Louvre and other prestigious institutions seems like the next logical step. Banksy is essentially challenging similar systems of power structures that say, "you can't do this here", and simply proving them wrong
¶ 10:44 AM 0 comments
Monday, November 20, 2006
The V&A's Street Art collection
Perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised, but here it is: The V&A Street Art collection.
No joke: they have one, a subdivision of their Books & Prints collection. They seem to realise though, that what they have here is not truly a collection of street art - amounting to, as it does, a collection of expensive screen prints, lithographs and stickers - offering the explanation that "the V&A collected these works in an effort to capture an ephemeral contemporary aesthetic".
This section raised a few eyebrows:
"Traditional genres are newly interpreted: portraiture, surrealism, pop art. Random references and symbols run through the street art story: Warhol's kids stencil film stars, arte povera students recycle free stickers, political propagandists take on the self-promoting signature taggers. Narratives emerge, visual worlds are created. Politics are less discussed, more shouted. A psychedelic sense of visual humour bounces through." ¶ 9:34 AM 0 comments
Perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised, but here it is: The V&A Street Art collection.
No joke: they have one, a subdivision of their Books & Prints collection. They seem to realise though, that what they have here is not truly a collection of street art - amounting to, as it does, a collection of expensive screen prints, lithographs and stickers - offering the explanation that "the V&A collected these works in an effort to capture an ephemeral contemporary aesthetic".
This section raised a few eyebrows:
"Traditional genres are newly interpreted: portraiture, surrealism, pop art. Random references and symbols run through the street art story: Warhol's kids stencil film stars, arte povera students recycle free stickers, political propagandists take on the self-promoting signature taggers. Narratives emerge, visual worlds are created. Politics are less discussed, more shouted. A psychedelic sense of visual humour bounces through." ¶ 9:34 AM 0 comments
TIME magazine photo essay
20 photos and short text on each. Find it at http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/street_art/
Notes:
- Language used in text is informative, avoids cliche or sensationalism; a balanced view.
- The insight you get into small details of what else the artist gets up to is spot on, including their description of Bast as a "member of a maintenance crew at a New York City airport" (!!!)
- I like what Gore-B is doing and Michael de Feo, who I haven't seen before.
¶ 9:14 AM 0 comments
20 photos and short text on each. Find it at http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/street_art/
Notes:
- Language used in text is informative, avoids cliche or sensationalism; a balanced view.
- The insight you get into small details of what else the artist gets up to is spot on, including their description of Bast as a "member of a maintenance crew at a New York City airport" (!!!)
- I like what Gore-B is doing and Michael de Feo, who I haven't seen before.
¶ 9:14 AM 0 comments
Potential sites for appropriation
Blenheim
City centre
Woodhouse
What I like about these locations are how broken and forgotten they are. I've been passing all these sites every so often in the last few years, and they never change. That billboard in Woodhouse must not have been changed in years. The space at the Merrion Centre is surreal: an abandoned outdoor escalator connecting the street and an entirely useless area down below, its whitewashed wall an unintended visual metaphor for this disused space. As Buff Monster says in the interview I blogged earlier, "if you think about parts of the city that are really dull, shitty, gray places, then street art becomes this amazing burst of color, suddenly changing the environment". In the full text of the interview he talks about boarded-up buildings such as a lot of these are, to me they say something about our society of waste and neglect, and something about this city, which lavishes millions on city-center development but leaves its people behind living in run-down, forgotten neighbourhoods.
The last image is such a perfect frame for an intervention, with its arc and head detail, I will have to hit this
¶ 4:28 AM 0 comments
Blenheim
City centre
Woodhouse
What I like about these locations are how broken and forgotten they are. I've been passing all these sites every so often in the last few years, and they never change. That billboard in Woodhouse must not have been changed in years. The space at the Merrion Centre is surreal: an abandoned outdoor escalator connecting the street and an entirely useless area down below, its whitewashed wall an unintended visual metaphor for this disused space. As Buff Monster says in the interview I blogged earlier, "if you think about parts of the city that are really dull, shitty, gray places, then street art becomes this amazing burst of color, suddenly changing the environment". In the full text of the interview he talks about boarded-up buildings such as a lot of these are, to me they say something about our society of waste and neglect, and something about this city, which lavishes millions on city-center development but leaves its people behind living in run-down, forgotten neighbourhoods.
The last image is such a perfect frame for an intervention, with its arc and head detail, I will have to hit this
¶ 4:28 AM 0 comments
Legal spaces in Leeds
Royal Park school / Hyde Park
This is a legal wall around the side of the disused school on Royal Park Road which is used exclusively by graffiti writers/artists. It is a free wall in the sense that anyone can do anything whenever they want (although I'm told its regulars are fairly territorial). It is a positive thing that the wall has been allowed but personally I found it uninspiring - my view is that this kind of graf has developed little since its inception.
I find it quite an eyesore and fail to engage with it - the people that do it seem only to be communicating to other graf writers, that is, it fails to engage with a larger audience, or explore larger ideas/issues. Given the disdain with which most graf writers view new forms of street art - stickers, posters, stencils etc - these forms would seem inappropriate here, and would probably result in broken legs (from what I'm told).
I found this, scrawled on the floor, which made me laugh:
¶ 4:07 AM 0 comments
Royal Park school / Hyde Park
This is a legal wall around the side of the disused school on Royal Park Road which is used exclusively by graffiti writers/artists. It is a free wall in the sense that anyone can do anything whenever they want (although I'm told its regulars are fairly territorial). It is a positive thing that the wall has been allowed but personally I found it uninspiring - my view is that this kind of graf has developed little since its inception.
I find it quite an eyesore and fail to engage with it - the people that do it seem only to be communicating to other graf writers, that is, it fails to engage with a larger audience, or explore larger ideas/issues. Given the disdain with which most graf writers view new forms of street art - stickers, posters, stencils etc - these forms would seem inappropriate here, and would probably result in broken legs (from what I'm told).
I found this, scrawled on the floor, which made me laugh:
¶ 4:07 AM 0 comments
Route1 / old arcade, city centre
Round the side of Route1 on Briggate inside the arcade are two large wooden boards that they had put up a while back. They are covered in fairly standard spraycan graf. I went in to ask one of the staff about how they operate. He told me:
- They had them put up by an artist a while ago. After they did it they were told they weren't actually allowed to do it - the arcade is owned by an old guy who has say over everything affecting its interior. However, this guy didn't really care, so while they technically shouldn't have done it, it was ok by him. So this is a privately-owned 'public space'.
- They have only had it redone once by some artists who approached them. He asked if I was interested in doing something, which might be a possibility in the future. It is not a free wall in the sense that anyone can come along and throw something up, it is basically commission-based.
"As long as you pick the right time to do it, it's probably fine" ¶ 3:54 AM 0 comments
Arches / city centre
This is the 'wall' or the arches just behind the Corn Exchange near Rehab and Fudge bar. When I first came to Leeds I was told this was a legal wall and and even - I think - about a year ago, it was absolutely plastered with graffiti. I noticed a 'For Sale/Redevelopment' sign on it though so I guess that means that the only legal wall in the city centre is now in fact illegal, and has been cleaned up as such. A few tags and one stencil remain. ¶ 3:32 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Interview with Buff Monster
Interview with Buff Monster from Archinect:
http://archinect.com/features/article.php?id=46913_0_23_0_C
Quotes:
"Hopefully, graphically, [I achieved] aspects to the design of the Buff Monster that are immediately familiar but also new – it should exist as part of a language that you’re already familiar with: Hello Kitty, the Smurfs, Powerpuff Girls. Everybody has an understanding of this [family of] visual language in popular culture, and the idea was to tap into that in a new way. Also, I’d say that it’s not necessarily fair to blanket all street art as confrontational. Some of it is, [particularly traditional graffiti] which is usually a terrible blight, but certainly some of it isn’t. To some degree, street art can be considered like a gift for the city, something created to make the environment more interesting. Instead, consider thinking of street art as a candy coating on the city."
"If you think about parts of the city that are really dull, shitty, gray places, then street art becomes this amazing burst of color, suddenly changing the environment. So I looked at that idea very loosely, and then established it more concretely, and then [specifically] as ice cream, cherries, etc. The imagery of the Buff Monster character is very vague. I didn’t want to dictate the interpretation. I like that the motifs can be interpreted as tits and cocks and cherries and ice cream, but kids can look at it and not be threatened by it. It wasn’t something that would cause parents to hide their kids from it. I wanted it to be fun."
"I like to work at two different scales: I like to have mass-produced T-shirts that are affordable, and also have paintings that are really nicely detailed, rare and fun, but pricey. I don’t want to be super-exclusive with my stuff. It’s a weird thing, because on the one hand, I put my stuff everywhere in the streets, so everyone can “have it” and see it, [and then on the other hand,] owning it can be the exclusive part. My heroes – Takashi Murakami, Shepard Fairey, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring – as much as I love their work, they’re my heroes because of the empires they’ve built. Like them, I’m trying to be patient and avoid going after the quick buck. Takashi Murakami, in terms of a business model to follow, makes more sense for me than Hello Kitty. And also, Hello Kitty doesn’t yet have a theme park. Walt Disney had the idea to make Mickey Mouse into a theme park. I think it would be rad to have a [Buff Monster theme park, with a] big, giant Buff Monster Cloud Coaster."
"BM: One of my biggest inspirations is heavy metal music. I almost exclusively listen to heavy metal. And metal can be considered this incredibly masculine thing. There are guys on stage wearing all black; it’s loud and aggressive. For the audience, it’s really empowering. But really, the most masculine thing you can be is feminine. So, pink, the idea of pink as femininity [due to] color associations we were given as kids, is enormously empowering." ¶ 4:03 AM 0 comments
Interview with Buff Monster from Archinect:
http://archinect.com/features/article.php?id=46913_0_23_0_C
Quotes:
"Hopefully, graphically, [I achieved] aspects to the design of the Buff Monster that are immediately familiar but also new – it should exist as part of a language that you’re already familiar with: Hello Kitty, the Smurfs, Powerpuff Girls. Everybody has an understanding of this [family of] visual language in popular culture, and the idea was to tap into that in a new way. Also, I’d say that it’s not necessarily fair to blanket all street art as confrontational. Some of it is, [particularly traditional graffiti] which is usually a terrible blight, but certainly some of it isn’t. To some degree, street art can be considered like a gift for the city, something created to make the environment more interesting. Instead, consider thinking of street art as a candy coating on the city."
"If you think about parts of the city that are really dull, shitty, gray places, then street art becomes this amazing burst of color, suddenly changing the environment. So I looked at that idea very loosely, and then established it more concretely, and then [specifically] as ice cream, cherries, etc. The imagery of the Buff Monster character is very vague. I didn’t want to dictate the interpretation. I like that the motifs can be interpreted as tits and cocks and cherries and ice cream, but kids can look at it and not be threatened by it. It wasn’t something that would cause parents to hide their kids from it. I wanted it to be fun."
"I like to work at two different scales: I like to have mass-produced T-shirts that are affordable, and also have paintings that are really nicely detailed, rare and fun, but pricey. I don’t want to be super-exclusive with my stuff. It’s a weird thing, because on the one hand, I put my stuff everywhere in the streets, so everyone can “have it” and see it, [and then on the other hand,] owning it can be the exclusive part. My heroes – Takashi Murakami, Shepard Fairey, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring – as much as I love their work, they’re my heroes because of the empires they’ve built. Like them, I’m trying to be patient and avoid going after the quick buck. Takashi Murakami, in terms of a business model to follow, makes more sense for me than Hello Kitty. And also, Hello Kitty doesn’t yet have a theme park. Walt Disney had the idea to make Mickey Mouse into a theme park. I think it would be rad to have a [Buff Monster theme park, with a] big, giant Buff Monster Cloud Coaster."
"BM: One of my biggest inspirations is heavy metal music. I almost exclusively listen to heavy metal. And metal can be considered this incredibly masculine thing. There are guys on stage wearing all black; it’s loud and aggressive. For the audience, it’s really empowering. But really, the most masculine thing you can be is feminine. So, pink, the idea of pink as femininity [due to] color associations we were given as kids, is enormously empowering." ¶ 4:03 AM 0 comments
Article on 'The Creationist Museum'
Monday November 13, 2006
The Guardian
The world's first Creationist museum - dedicated to the idea that the creation of the world, as told in Genesis, is factually correct - will soon open. Stephen Bates is given a sneak preview and asks: was there really a tyrannosaurus in the Bible?
The Creation Museum's motto: Prepare to Believe.
Just off the interstate, a couple of junctions down from Cincinnati's international airport, over the state line in rural Kentucky, the finishing touches are being put to an impressive-looking building. When it is finished and open to the public next summer, it may, quite possibly, be one of the weirdest museums in the world.
The Creation Museum - motto: "Prepare to Believe!" - will be the first institution in the world whose contents, with the exception of a few turtles swimming in an artificial pond, are entirely fake. It is dedicated to the proposition that the account of the creation of the world in the Book of Genesis is completely correct, and its mission is to convince visitors through a mixture of animatronic models, tableaux and a strangely Disneyfied version of the Bible story.
Its designer, Patrick Marsh, used to work at Universal Studios in Los Angeles and then in Japan before he saw the light, opened his soul to Jesus, and was born anew. "The Bible is the only thing that gives you the full picture," he says. "Other religions don't have that, and, as for scientists, so much of what they believe is pretty fuzzy about life and its origins ... oh, this is a great place to work, I will tell you that."
So this is the Bible story, as truth. Apart from the dinosaurs, that is. As you stand in the museum's lobby - the only part of the building approaching completion - you are surrounded by life-size dinosaur models, some moving and occasionally grunting as they chew the cud.Beside the turtle pool, two animatronic, brown-complexioned children, demurely dressed in Hiawatha-like buckskin, gravely flutter with movement. Behind them lurk two small Tyrannosaurus Rexes. This scene is meant to date from before the Fall of Man and, apparently, dinosaurs.
Theological scholars may have noticed that there are, in fact, no dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible - and here lies the Creationists' first problem. Since there are undoubtedly dinosaur bones and since, according to the Creationists, the world is only 6,000 years old - a calculation devised by the 17th-century Bishop Ussher, counting back through the Bible to the Creation, a formula more or less accepted by the museum - dinosaurs must be shoehorned in somewhere, along with the Babylonians, Egyptians and the other ancient civilisations. As for the Grand Canyon - no problem: that was, of course, created in a few months by Noah's Flood.
But what, I ask wonderingly, about those fossilised remains of early man-like creatures? Marsh knows all about that: "There are no such things. Humans are basically as you see them today. Those skeletons they've found, what's the word? ... they could have been deformed, diseased or something. I've seen people like that running round the streets of New York."
Nothing can dent the designer's zeal as he leads us gingerly through the labyrinth of rooms still under construction, with bits of wood, and the odd dinosaur head occasionally blocking our path. The light of keenness shines from the faces of the workers, too, as they chisel out mountain sides and work out where to put the Tree of Life. They greet us cheerily as we pass.
They, too, know they are doing the Lord's Work, and each has signed a contract saying they believe in the Seven Days of Creation theory. Mornings on this construction site start with prayer meetings. Don't think for a minute that this is some sort of crazy little hole-in-the-corner project. The museum is costing $25m (£13m) and all but $3m has already been raised from private donations. It is strategically placed, too - not in the middle of nowhere, but within six hours' drive of two-thirds of the entire population of the US. And, as we know, up to 50 million of them do believe that the Bible's account of Creation is literally true.
We pass the site where one day an animatronic Adam will squat beside the Tree. With this commitment to authenticity, I find myself asking what they are doing about the fig leaf. Marsh considers this gravely and replies: "He is appropriately positioned, so he can be modest. There will be a lamb or something there next to him. We are very careful about that: some of our donors are scared to death about nudity."
The same will go for the scene where Eve is created out of Adam's rib, apparently, and parents will be warned that little children may be scared by the authenticity of some of the scenes. "Absolutely, because we are in there, being faithful to scripture."
A little licence is allowed, however, where the Bible falls down on the details. The depiction of a wall-sized section of Noah's Ark is based, not on the traditional picture of a flat-decked boat, but one designed by navy engineers with a keel and bows, which might, at least, have floated. "You can surmise," says Marsh. When you get inside, there's nifty computer software telling you how they fitted all the animals in, too.
The museum's research scientist, Dr Jason Lisle, has a PhD in astrophysics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He realised he was a Christian while he was an undergraduate, but didn't spread it around: "People get very emotional about the issue. I don't believe we should ever be obnoxious about our faith. I just kept quiet." And how did he pass the exams? "I never lied, but if I was asked a question about the age of the universe, I answered from my knowledge of the topic, not my beliefs."
The museum's planetarium is his pride and joy. Lisle writes the commentary. "Amazing! God has a name for each star," it says, and: "The sun's distance from earth did not happen by chance." There is much more in this vein, but not what God thought he was doing when he made Pluto, or why.
Now, we are taken to meet Ken Ham, the museum's director and its inspiration. Ham is an Australian, a former science teacher - though not, he is at pains to say, a scientist - and he has been working on the project for much of the past 20 years since moving to the US. "You'd never find something like this in Australia," he says. "If you want to get the message out, it has to be here."
Reassuringly, on the wall outside his office, are three framed photographs of the former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh - "cricket's never really caught on over here" - and inside, on his bookshelves, is a wooden model of a platypus. On top of the shelves is an array of fluffy poodle toys, as well as cuddly dinosaurs. "Poodles are degenerate mutants of dogs. I say that in my lectures and people present them to me as gifts."
Ham is a large man with a chin-hugging beard like an Old Testament prophet or an old-fashioned preacher, both of which he is, in a way. He lectures all over the world and spent a month in Britain earlier in the summer spreading the message to the faithful in parish halls from Cornwall to Scotland. "We want to try to convince people using observational science," he says. "It's done very gently but forthrightly. We give both sides, which is more than the Science Museum in London does."
This is true in that the Creation museum does include an animatronic evolutionist archaeologist, sitting beside a creationist, at one point. But there's no space for an animatronic Charles Darwin to fit alongside King David and his harp.
On the shelf behind Ham's desk lie several surprising books, including Richard Dawkins' latest. "I've skipped through it. The thing is, Dawkins does not have infinite knowledge or understanding himself. He's got a position, too, it's just a different one from ours. The Bible makes sense and is overwhelmingly confirmed by observable science. It does not confirm the belief in evolution."
But if you believe in the Bible, why do you need to seek scientific credibility, and why are Creationists so reluctant to put their theories to peer review, I ask?
"I would give the same answer as Dawkins. He believes there is no God and nothing you could say would convince him otherwise. You are dealing with an origins issue. If you don't have the information, you cannot be sure. Nothing contradicts the Bible's account of the origins."
We wander across to the bookshop, which, far from being another biblical epic, is done up like a medieval castle, framed with heraldic shields and filled with images of dragons - dragons, you see, being what dinosaurs became. It is full of books with titles such as Infallible Proofs, The Lie, The Great Dinosaur Mystery Solved and even a DVD entitled Arguments Creationists Should Not Use. As we finish the tour, Ham tells us about the museum's website, AnswersInGenesis.org. They are expecting 300,000 visitors a year. "You've not seen anything yet," he says with a smile. ¶ 3:25 AM 0 comments
Monday November 13, 2006
The Guardian
The world's first Creationist museum - dedicated to the idea that the creation of the world, as told in Genesis, is factually correct - will soon open. Stephen Bates is given a sneak preview and asks: was there really a tyrannosaurus in the Bible?
The Creation Museum's motto: Prepare to Believe.
Just off the interstate, a couple of junctions down from Cincinnati's international airport, over the state line in rural Kentucky, the finishing touches are being put to an impressive-looking building. When it is finished and open to the public next summer, it may, quite possibly, be one of the weirdest museums in the world.
The Creation Museum - motto: "Prepare to Believe!" - will be the first institution in the world whose contents, with the exception of a few turtles swimming in an artificial pond, are entirely fake. It is dedicated to the proposition that the account of the creation of the world in the Book of Genesis is completely correct, and its mission is to convince visitors through a mixture of animatronic models, tableaux and a strangely Disneyfied version of the Bible story.
Its designer, Patrick Marsh, used to work at Universal Studios in Los Angeles and then in Japan before he saw the light, opened his soul to Jesus, and was born anew. "The Bible is the only thing that gives you the full picture," he says. "Other religions don't have that, and, as for scientists, so much of what they believe is pretty fuzzy about life and its origins ... oh, this is a great place to work, I will tell you that."
So this is the Bible story, as truth. Apart from the dinosaurs, that is. As you stand in the museum's lobby - the only part of the building approaching completion - you are surrounded by life-size dinosaur models, some moving and occasionally grunting as they chew the cud.Beside the turtle pool, two animatronic, brown-complexioned children, demurely dressed in Hiawatha-like buckskin, gravely flutter with movement. Behind them lurk two small Tyrannosaurus Rexes. This scene is meant to date from before the Fall of Man and, apparently, dinosaurs.
Theological scholars may have noticed that there are, in fact, no dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible - and here lies the Creationists' first problem. Since there are undoubtedly dinosaur bones and since, according to the Creationists, the world is only 6,000 years old - a calculation devised by the 17th-century Bishop Ussher, counting back through the Bible to the Creation, a formula more or less accepted by the museum - dinosaurs must be shoehorned in somewhere, along with the Babylonians, Egyptians and the other ancient civilisations. As for the Grand Canyon - no problem: that was, of course, created in a few months by Noah's Flood.
But what, I ask wonderingly, about those fossilised remains of early man-like creatures? Marsh knows all about that: "There are no such things. Humans are basically as you see them today. Those skeletons they've found, what's the word? ... they could have been deformed, diseased or something. I've seen people like that running round the streets of New York."
Nothing can dent the designer's zeal as he leads us gingerly through the labyrinth of rooms still under construction, with bits of wood, and the odd dinosaur head occasionally blocking our path. The light of keenness shines from the faces of the workers, too, as they chisel out mountain sides and work out where to put the Tree of Life. They greet us cheerily as we pass.
They, too, know they are doing the Lord's Work, and each has signed a contract saying they believe in the Seven Days of Creation theory. Mornings on this construction site start with prayer meetings. Don't think for a minute that this is some sort of crazy little hole-in-the-corner project. The museum is costing $25m (£13m) and all but $3m has already been raised from private donations. It is strategically placed, too - not in the middle of nowhere, but within six hours' drive of two-thirds of the entire population of the US. And, as we know, up to 50 million of them do believe that the Bible's account of Creation is literally true.
We pass the site where one day an animatronic Adam will squat beside the Tree. With this commitment to authenticity, I find myself asking what they are doing about the fig leaf. Marsh considers this gravely and replies: "He is appropriately positioned, so he can be modest. There will be a lamb or something there next to him. We are very careful about that: some of our donors are scared to death about nudity."
The same will go for the scene where Eve is created out of Adam's rib, apparently, and parents will be warned that little children may be scared by the authenticity of some of the scenes. "Absolutely, because we are in there, being faithful to scripture."
A little licence is allowed, however, where the Bible falls down on the details. The depiction of a wall-sized section of Noah's Ark is based, not on the traditional picture of a flat-decked boat, but one designed by navy engineers with a keel and bows, which might, at least, have floated. "You can surmise," says Marsh. When you get inside, there's nifty computer software telling you how they fitted all the animals in, too.
The museum's research scientist, Dr Jason Lisle, has a PhD in astrophysics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He realised he was a Christian while he was an undergraduate, but didn't spread it around: "People get very emotional about the issue. I don't believe we should ever be obnoxious about our faith. I just kept quiet." And how did he pass the exams? "I never lied, but if I was asked a question about the age of the universe, I answered from my knowledge of the topic, not my beliefs."
The museum's planetarium is his pride and joy. Lisle writes the commentary. "Amazing! God has a name for each star," it says, and: "The sun's distance from earth did not happen by chance." There is much more in this vein, but not what God thought he was doing when he made Pluto, or why.
Now, we are taken to meet Ken Ham, the museum's director and its inspiration. Ham is an Australian, a former science teacher - though not, he is at pains to say, a scientist - and he has been working on the project for much of the past 20 years since moving to the US. "You'd never find something like this in Australia," he says. "If you want to get the message out, it has to be here."
Reassuringly, on the wall outside his office, are three framed photographs of the former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh - "cricket's never really caught on over here" - and inside, on his bookshelves, is a wooden model of a platypus. On top of the shelves is an array of fluffy poodle toys, as well as cuddly dinosaurs. "Poodles are degenerate mutants of dogs. I say that in my lectures and people present them to me as gifts."
Ham is a large man with a chin-hugging beard like an Old Testament prophet or an old-fashioned preacher, both of which he is, in a way. He lectures all over the world and spent a month in Britain earlier in the summer spreading the message to the faithful in parish halls from Cornwall to Scotland. "We want to try to convince people using observational science," he says. "It's done very gently but forthrightly. We give both sides, which is more than the Science Museum in London does."
This is true in that the Creation museum does include an animatronic evolutionist archaeologist, sitting beside a creationist, at one point. But there's no space for an animatronic Charles Darwin to fit alongside King David and his harp.
On the shelf behind Ham's desk lie several surprising books, including Richard Dawkins' latest. "I've skipped through it. The thing is, Dawkins does not have infinite knowledge or understanding himself. He's got a position, too, it's just a different one from ours. The Bible makes sense and is overwhelmingly confirmed by observable science. It does not confirm the belief in evolution."
But if you believe in the Bible, why do you need to seek scientific credibility, and why are Creationists so reluctant to put their theories to peer review, I ask?
"I would give the same answer as Dawkins. He believes there is no God and nothing you could say would convince him otherwise. You are dealing with an origins issue. If you don't have the information, you cannot be sure. Nothing contradicts the Bible's account of the origins."
We wander across to the bookshop, which, far from being another biblical epic, is done up like a medieval castle, framed with heraldic shields and filled with images of dragons - dragons, you see, being what dinosaurs became. It is full of books with titles such as Infallible Proofs, The Lie, The Great Dinosaur Mystery Solved and even a DVD entitled Arguments Creationists Should Not Use. As we finish the tour, Ham tells us about the museum's website, AnswersInGenesis.org. They are expecting 300,000 visitors a year. "You've not seen anything yet," he says with a smile. ¶ 3:25 AM 0 comments
Friday, October 06, 2006
Thursday, October 05, 2006
