C215

Christian Guémy bombs London with over 30 different stencils in as many hours.

link

SANTA'S GHETTO

In a creative bid to boost Bethlehem's sagging economy, Banksy has brought his seasonal "Santa's Ghetto" exhibition to this Palestinian town that has seen few tourists in recent years.

The infamous stencil artist joined several others in creating over a dozen works on the concrete wall surrounding the town, turning a hated symbol of Israeli occupation into an massive open air art gallery. Another dozen or so works are on display in a former chicken shop in Manger Square.

In pictures: Banksy returns to Bethlehem

More info can be found at the Santa's Ghetto website.

Anarchy in the DK

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Demolition crews on Monday started tearing down a disputed youth center that was at the heart of recent street riots in Copenhagen.

Workers wore face masks under their helmets to conceal their identities as an excavator tore into the so-called Youth House, a graffiti-sprayed brick building in the Noerrebro district of the Danish capital.

A police anti-terror squad on Thursday evicted squatters from the building, triggering three nights of clashes with leftist youth that turned parts of the city into a battle zone.

More than 600 people were arrested and more than 20 injured as protesters hurled cobblestones at riot police and set fire to cars and trash bins in Copenhagen's worst riots in 14 years.

Punk Status

The Youth House for years served as a popular cultural center for anarchists, punk rockers and left-wing groups. The squatters considered it as free public housing, but courts ordered them out after the city sold the building to a Christian congregation.

The building, which has served among other things as a concert venue and featured performances by big stars like Icelandic pop artist Bjork and Australian musician Nick Cave, was recently sold to the Christian group Fadershuset, which requested the eviction of the youths.

An August 2006 court ruling ordered the occupants to be evicted from the centre, which they insist belongs to them. Riots have also been taking place around the Freetown Christiania area.

Related:
Solidarity Action
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Comments
ungdomshuset

saturday morning me//
wokeup/fellouttabed/draggedacombacrossmyhead/
daughter texting/husband twisting/j-on his mac/
k-on her cell/mom's sipping espress-ieio/
waiting for my yayas, uh-huh/
everyone's all plugged in one way or the other/
holiday hangover/must.begin.healthy.regimen.stat/
listening: intervention by the arcade fire-wow!/
so what about you?/


* Banksy Opens Xmas Shop - Banksy said: "I felt the spirit of Christmas was being lost. It was becoming increasingly uncommercialised and more to do with religion, so we ­decided to open our own shop and sell pointless stuff." link

* Hangman, hangman, upon your face a smile

* George W. Bush QUOTES:
"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace."

Banksy Got Banksied

"This is so genius I kind of can't believe more people didn't do something like this this weekend."


“Los Angeles artist Jeff Gillette ‘banksied’ Banksy this weekend by sneaking in and installing his 11×14 painting Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass with with Taliban, Burkhas, RPG’s and McDonalds taken out. Apparently Gillette made it through security with ease and installed it in the back room. It was only up for 15 minutes.”

link

Wednesday | WebTrail - 2 Flicks on a Flickr, Coffins, "F", Nate & Di, Hanging Dolls

In May 2004, Italian sculptor Maurizio Cattelan hung three plastic "children" from the ancient oak in Piazza XXIV Maggio, Milan's oldest tree. The exhibit was expected to remain on the square for a month but Franco Di Benedetto, a Milanese man, was so horrified by the installation that he tried to "liberate" the dolls. He took a ladder, climbed up the tree, cut through two of the ropes with a hacksaw but fell to the ground while trying to free the third dummy. He was eventually fined and sentenced to 2 months in jail, later dropped. Link

Would you call this art? I'd fight for his right to call it art if it's his/her vision but I personally wouldn't be fulfilled creatively if I had made the hanging dolls. I do find this odd and quirky expression of art uplifting in my own strange way. Some say art is no rules, only chaos.

Stoneth's Poverty series on Flickr is very powerful and thought-provoking. Lots of street people and the homeless in downtown San Francisco are given a voice through him. Nicely done. Link

What is it exactly that listeners find so compelling about a couple of left-leaning college dropouts from Aiken, S.C. who smoke a lot of pot and have no background in radio internet technology or, for that matter, comedy? Link

Brought to you today by the letter "F". Studies reveal we read web pages in an f-shaped pattern. Interesting read with graphics. Link

Mark Dery giving a talk this Friday and among other things, he'll speak about the popularity of post mortem Victorian photographs on eBay. Can anyone please tell me who really wants to see-- let alone buy -- a picture of someone's dearly departed child in a coffin? Gruesome doesn't even cover it. Or I'm just not strong enough for it. Link

Enjoy Jilly's collages, fabric art, embellished books and more. I bet she has fun making this stuff. It's just so joyful and lively.

Corpus Delicti

Corpus Delicti debuted on Saturday February 15th, 2003 with 25 performers on the street - joining over 100,000 protestors in Hollywood - for the largest Anti-War march in LA history. Since then, Corpus Delicti has performed 15> times at various locales in Los Angeles - with over 50 performers from various disciplines - participating with the company.

I have so much respect for good performing artists in all their many expressions. Particularly with the camaraderie of the participants. Our 1970s group, Montrose, was extremely fulfilling and brought together several departments at our university -- art, drama, music, even political science. via

"Street Meme": a sticker, stencil, or poster that can spread a single image around the world. Unlike traditional graffiti art where each piece is unique, street memes can be copied repeatedly, taking on a life of their own, and spreading through the collective effort of people scattered around the world.

"Meme": A term coined by Biologist Richard Dawkins to describe self replicating ideas. Read more about the concept of the meme

Think Only As Directed
Visual Narcotics 20mg (vizh'oo el nar-kot'iks)slang

1. stupor inducing "mass media". 2. a term used to describe the mind-numbing effects caused by prolonged exposure to stupor inducing "mass media".

One of the most popular Street Memes. Obey Giant by Shepard Fairey, is more familiar street art, but I hadn't seen or heard of the Visual Narcotics 20mg meme.

Tripping Thru The Web, April 1 Edition

Happy St Stupid's Day!
Celebrated by The First Church of the Last Laugh. The 27th annual absurd parade wanders, totters and meanders around, starting at the Embarcadero Plaza. Bring old lottery tickets, pennies and socks for the stations of stupid, and dress accordingly. Free. Noon. Justin Herman Plaza. (SF, CA) I feel a little silly, does that count?

Ilustration Friday is a photo meme with a weekly challenge. This week's topic is, "Crowded".
(via: Anne?)

And speaking of photos, take a look at this one Marie took of the Blue Ridge Mtns. Adjectives fail me.

Comedian Mitch Hedberg dies at 37 - That's sad. He had the dry-est delivery of any comedian I'd ever heard. A truely unique individual. I saw his first television appearance, which was on Letterman several years ago, and every chance I had after that.
[more...]

Sez the Rev Falwell:
"Grown men should not be having sex with prostitutes unless they are married to them."
[more noxious gems...] (via: maru whow gets best quote of the day honors for this: Boy, will he be suprised to find out that the Almighty is a liberal black lesbian... )

I Spy A Screw-Up - Latest column in which Maureen Dowd calls bullshit.

NYPress's 50 Most Loathsome New Yorkers list is relentless. It must have been a blast constructing this column. Better duck, bloggers. The shit's slinging in your direction, too, as the first target is the " Franken-headed Gawker Media emperor Nick Denton". Priceless.
[more...]

There's a brand spanking new collaborative blog in town. The Scarab Dreamer, is ticking with wild anticipation. Go on over and have a look.

Art With Latex Designs has great looking necklaces and chokers uniquely make of latex so I'll be having one when I can make up my mind. (via: ollapodrida who's in the midst of a posting frenzy of most excellent links and we're all the beneficiaries.)

Two notable men both born on the same day in 1915. Alan Watts was born on Jan 6, 1915, in Chiselhurst, England. The original California guru, polymath, liberationist. He become widely recognized for his Zen writings and for The Book On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. He died in 1973 at his home in California, and is survived by his second wife and seven children. {Deoxy Link}
~ ~ ~
And John Lilly who was born on Jan. 6, 1915, in St Paul, MN. A physician and psychoanalyst specializing in biophysics, neurophysiology, electronics, computer theory, and neuroanatomy. Inventor of The Isolation Tank Method of exploring consciousness. Which led to research projects between man and dolphin. Specifically a research program dedicated to interfacing dolphins and whales through music, art, and ceremony: Interspecies Communication.