Shepard Fairey: Think about it.

A few weeks ago I went to Boston for work and was fortunate enough to explore the city a bit while I was there. A coworker of mine told me about a Shepard Fairey exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art. Fairey is most recently known for his Obama "Hope" poster that made the presidential candidate a pop icon. But Fairey's more notable work is his street art - tagging street signs, highways, brick walls and any other urban spaces with his famous Andre the Giant image and "OBEY" tagline. Fairey's work reflects that of Andy Warhol or Keith Haring, overstepping the lines between political, iconic and popular images. Realizing how overcrowded outdoor space had become with advertising and marketing images or words, Fairey wanted to impact people beyond what they saw on the canvas. He wanted people to stop and think about what they were looking at. Think about what the image or images meant to them personally. What did they feel while looking at the image? The fact that the image may stir question or thought or rejection was Fairey's source of inspiration. Fairey looked to cross-cultural references, historical movements, political propaganda and musical influences to help create his line of work.

"Shepard Fairey: Supply and Demand traces the development of the artist's career, from the earliest Obey imagery through his latest efforts, and includes screen prints, stencils, stickers, rubylith illustrations, collages, and works on wood, metal, and canvas. The artist is also creating a new mural for the ICA and public art works at sites around Boston." (ICA, Boston website)

After viewing the exhibit I really gained a sense of appreciation and respect for this artist, this visionary person who uses his work to get people to think beyond what they are told or shown in everyday life. It is too often that we are inundated with images and words but what do they really mean? To us? Not what should it mean, but what is the story being told? What is the purpose beyond it? If there is even one at all? Fairey sometimes found it funny that people would try to explain everything about his images. Sometimes there is no explanation, it just is a result of what the artist felt that day. Nothing more, nothing less. To me, art is emotional, and not always logical. It is a method of expression.

Satirical Journalism Deserves Awards Too

Wall Street Journal
April 1, 2009
The Onion Wins a Peabody Without Even Trying

The 68th annual Peabody Awards were announced today, and among the winners are widely praised radio journalists (NPR and This American Life’s “The Giant Pool of Money”), popular TV shows (”Lost,” “Entourage”) and the Onion’s online-video unit, Onion News Network, which is best known for segments like “Prague’s Franz Kafka International Named World’s Most Alienating Airport” and “Congressman Offers Preemptive Apology For Extramarital Affair.”

Another April Fools’ Joke?
“We were afraid people would think that,” says Horace Newcomb, director of the awards, which are given by the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
“We think they’re just rather wonderful satires, and as much as we want to reward outstanding journalism,” he says, “we’ve also been quite aware of the kinds of humor that poke fun at, and, in some ways, keep the news organizations on their toes.”

Dr. Newcomb pointed out that other satires have won in the past, including Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show” and Stephen Colbert’s “Colbert Report.” Other online winners included YouTube and the New York Times’s video section.

The award came as a surprise to the Onion, since it didn’t submit an entry. The New York-based operation, which also publishes a newspaper and Web site, was notified of its win by the university today.

“The Peabody Board has complete freedom to nominate on its own,” Dr. Newcomb says.
It may also complicate the Onion News Network’s anchor bios page, which is sprinkled with tongue-in-cheek references to Peabody Award recipients. “It’s an odd moment of comedy meeting reality,” says Will Graham, the network’s 28-year-old executive producer.
“But it was incredibly nice of them,” he says. “We weren’t expecting it, but it’s a real honor.”
The video site launched in April 2007 and has a staff of about 20 people. It contains about 200 clips, including regular segments like “Today Now” (a morning-show spoof), “In the Know” (fake “Meet the Press”) and “O-Span” (based on C-Span). Its voice is meant to parody CNN and Fox News “on seriousness steroids,” Mr. Graham says.

Like the Onion’s printed matter, the Onion News Network’s faux-earnest tone sometimes results in its jokes being taken seriously, like a viral hit called “Child Bankrupts Make-A-Wish Foundation With Wish for Unlimited Wishes” that eventually merited its own entry on Snopes, a site that debunks rumors, email hoaxes and other urban myths. And because the Onion’s videos air on the Internet, they tend to get embedded on unaffiliated sites and take on a life of their own, Mr. Graham says.

“We’re the people outside the party making fun of everybody who’s in there,” he adds. “Sort of a cynical, outsider perspective that’s pointing out the things that are terrible in the world, but hopefully in a way that lets you laugh at them.”