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Art Threat - Political Art Journal

Art Threat - Political Art Journal
Art Threat is a journal of political art. We embrace art that confronts, interrogates, or even shrugs off the status quo, and explore pressing issues affecting art and culture, stimulating debate on the world around us and how it is interpreted.

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Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Articles

Greener Gadgets design competition
2008-01-06 16:59:00
I'm sure many of you have been lusting over the gadgets you got—or didn't get—over the holidays. But did you know that the latest object of your technolust will likely leech toxic chemicals once you've parted ways? Or that fresh water streams may have been poisoned during the production of its parts? The Greener Gadgets Conference will convene in New York City on February 1 to discuss the greening of technology. They have launched a design competition challenging established designers and students alike to "come up with new and innovative solutions to address the issues of energy, carbon footprint, health and toxicity, new materials, product lifecycle, and social development." The entry deadline is January 27, and finalists will be showcased at the conference. Submission guidelines can be found at the website of their partner Core77.
More About: United States , Design , Competition

Taryn Simon unearths the hidden meanings of American culture
2008-01-04 23:43:00
Although the race for presidency has officially begun, many are still left wondering what makes America tick. Photographer Taryn Simon may just have the answer. Her current body of work is a collection spanning four years of photographs. An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar documents the cultural dogma that forms American identity. The work came for Simon at ???a critical time in American history when I think America was seeking secret sites outside of its borders whether it be weapons of mass destruction or to understand different cultures,??? she says in a March 2007 interview with Charlie Rose. ???I wanted to look inward during this important time in my history as an American, and find these secret sites within our own borders.??? Simon???s images are of sites that would generally be hidden from the view of average Americans. They are sites that feature ???various subjects from the fields of science, politics,medicine, nature, and religion that remain inaccessible to u...
More About: Culture , American Culture

Taryn Simon unearths the hidden meanings of American culture
2008-01-04 23:43:00
Although the race for presidency has officially begun, many are still left wondering what makes America tick. Photographer Taryn Simon may just have the answer. Her current body of work is a collection spanning four years of photographs. An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar documents the cultural dogma that forms American identity. The work came for Simon at ?a critical time in American history when I think America was seeking secret sites outside of its borders whether it be weapons of mass destruction or to understand different cultures,? she says in a March 2007 interview with Charlie Rose. ?I wanted to look inward during this important time in my history as an American, and find these secret sites within our own borders.? Simon?s images are of sites that would generally be hidden from the view of average Americans. They are sites that feature ?various subjects from the fields of science, politics,medicine, nature, and religion that remain inaccessible to us for natura...
More About: United States , Culture , American Culture

Czech artists face jail over hoax nuclear blast on TV
2008-01-04 06:11:00
Had you been watching Czech Television on June 17, 2007, you might have seen what appeared to be a nuclear explosion on your television screen. A mountain resort in the Krkonose region of the Czech Republic appeared to go up in a mushroom cloud of smoke. The video was a hoax, cleverly perpetrated by Ztohoven, a local art group. They later released a statement on their MySpace page claiming responsibility for the event: ?We are neither a terrorist organization nor a political group, our aim is not to intimidate the society or manipulate it, which is something we witness on daily basis both in the real world and in the world created by the media?We hope our action will become an appeal for the future and remind the media of their duty to bring out the truth.? The performance, entitled ?Media Reality? sparked controversy throughout the country. The Czech National Gallery awarded the group with the newly created NG 333 prize for their work. ?This piece---alongside all of the art th...
More About: Nuclear , Artists , Face , Blast

Czech artists may face jail over hoax nuclear blast on TV
2008-01-04 06:11:00
Had you been watching Czech Television on June 17, 2007, you might have seen what appeared to be a nuclear explosion on your television screen. A mountain resort in the Krkonose region of the Czech Republic appeared to go up in a mushroom cloud of smoke. The video was a hoax, cleverly perpetrated by Ztohoven, a local art group. They later released a statement on their MySpace page claiming responsibility for the event: ???We are neither a terrorist organization nor a political group, our aim is not to intimidate the society or manipulate it, which is something we witness on daily basis both in the real world and in the world created by the media???We hope our action will become an appeal for the future and remind the media of their duty to bring out the truth.??? The performance, entitled ???Media Reality??? sparked controversy throughout the country. The Czech National Gallery awarded the group with the newly created NG 333 prize for their work. ???This piece---alongside all o...
More About: Nuclear , Artists , Face , Blast

Radiohead on how music is killing the planet
2008-01-03 22:47:00
The highlight of this month's Wired is a conversation between David Byrne and Radiohead 's Thom Yorke on "The Real Value of Music ". As expected, they discuss In Rainbows, the album that achieved music industry infamy through its web only, pay-what-you-want release. (The downloads are over, however, as the recording was released on CD earlier this month.) What I find most striking about this interview is not the tired discussion about why music labels are evil. (Although there is no doubt in my mind that they are). At one point the discussion turns to the environmental impact of touring, with Yorke musing on how this might be minimized or avoided altogether: "At the moment we make money principally from touring. Which is hard for me to reconcile because I don't like all the energy consumption, the travel. It's an ecological disaster, traveling and touring... We did one of those carbon footprint things recently where they assessed the last period of touring we did and tried t...
More About: United States , Planet , Global

The Pinky Show: Clever Cats Cultivating Curiosity and Compassion
2008-01-02 14:33:00
The Pinky Show has given me continuous food for thought since I first stumbled upon the episode The Iraq War: Legal or Illegal? a few months ago. These online video, radio and interview programs focus on a wide range of topics, most of which are marginalized, distorted or excluded from mainstream media and dialogue. During these lo-tech, hand-drawn shows, a cat named Pinky asks obvious questions that are rarely raised or answered by popular news outlets. She and her inquisitive cat friends then scour the earth in search of documents and experts to clarify misrepresented or ignored issues In the new episode Kicking the Apartheid Habit, Pinky ponders segregation and inequalities. This keen cat concludes that refusing to benefit from unjust institutions is a powerful way to get equal rights for all. She then poses a simple question that would be unthinkable to most: Hey, what about marriage? Because that's also something that doesn't allow everyone to participate equally, right? Li...
More About: United States , Cats , Compassion , Clever

30 Ways To Fight the Digital Millenium Copyright Act
2007-12-31 14:33:00
The Canadian government is getting set to pass the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DCMA) into law. But most Canadians have never heard of the DCMA, let alone considered its implications for artists, educators and personal freedoms. Let's face it, copyright law is a confusing nest of fine print about rights and restrictions that give most non-lawyers a giant headache. The puppet masters at dotboom have produced a somewhat hilarious Rant Puppet video to help Canadians make some sense of the copyright confusion. In a charming froggish way, the video introduces some of the critical issues being addressed in the DCMA. For more information about getting involved in the campaign to stop the DCMA, check out the Campaign for Democratic Media and Michael Geist's website.
More About: Canada , Fight

Iraqi prisoner portraits, the US-Mexico Hyperborder, and wicked infographic
2007-12-29 22:38:00
It's time to clear out the mailbags and feedreaders before heading out to a hockey game. Philadelphia artist Daniel Heyman is exhibiting watercolours and dry point etchings made during interviews with prisoners of the infamous Abu Ghraib prison. The works recount their stories of abuse at the hands of American forces. (Via Signal Fire.) We Make Money Not Art reviews Hyper-Border: The Contemporary US-Mexico Border and Its Future by Fernando Romero. Armed with a provocative design and smart infographics galore, Hyper-border "provides the most nuanced portrait yet of this dynamic region." Speaking of infographics, HistoryShots produces beautiful prints of informational graphics, telling stories like the race to the moon, the history of France , and the internet country codes of the world.
More About: Iraq , Iraqi , Wicked

Everyone hates Hillary Clinton: a visualization
2007-12-29 19:06:00
The New York Times has published an interactive feature showing how often major presidential candidates refer to each other during debates. Each line in the graphic represents one candidate speaking the name of another, while the big arrows are the culmination of all references to a particular candidate. The most obvious conclusion? Everyone loves to talk about Hillary Clinton , and it's safe to say the sincere pleasantries are few and far between. (Via Information Aesthetics)
More About: United States , Visualization

Crafty consumerism-free fun with Readymech
2007-12-29 09:11:00
It might be a fortnight late for Christmas, but you can still embrace some fun free of consumerism with Readymech. These free, beautifully illustrated flatpack toys are designed by Fwis and can be printed on any old printer. All you need is some double-sided tape, 15 minutes, and the burning desire to embrace the arts-and-crafts kid in you.
More About: United States , Free , Consumerism , Dyme

? the War: iconic imagery for the anti-war movement
2007-12-29 08:00:00
Juxtapoz magazine's blog features a handful of images from the ? The War show, a one night only exhibit featuring works intended to create modern imagery for the anti-war movement. The Corey Helford Gallery produced 25,000 free posters of the works that were handed out at the event, and how I wish I was there to snag one. I forgot about how often Juxtapoz dishes out leads to good, political art—It's about time I renew my subscription. (Jealous? You should be. You can mosey on over here to grab one for yourself.) (Image: "Fatherless, Motherless, Pointless" by M. Mararian)
More About: United States , Global , Anti-War , Anti , Imagery

Negativland cuts up copyright on Our Favorite Things DVD
2007-12-28 06:40:00
You won't find any raindrops on roses, but Our Favorite Things , the latest DVD by Negativland, delivers the sound of music for mashup fans. The self-proclaimed Kulture Kut-up Kings have turned nearly three decades of "greatest hits" into a collaborative video project featuring 18 filmmakers from across the United States . I have not yet had an opportunity to watch the flick, but if you value Cory Doctorow's taste at all, it looks like we're in for a treat: "There's hours and and hours of mind-meltingly weird, funny and entirely illegal art here, video renditions of Disney's Little Mermaid spouting obscenities recorded from a phone conversation with an abusive entertainment exec, a blasphemous remix of The Passion of the Christ (The Mashin' of the Christ) and plenty of fun bonus material documenting the band's long history of media pranks and hoaxes." Our Favorite Things also comes with a bonus CD featuring the 180-Gs, a Detroit doo-wop group, performing Negativland trac...
More About: Copyright , Cuts

Suicycle animation show us how we kill the planet
2007-12-27 21:59:00
Even squirrels experience heartbreak when their lover is killed in a missile attack. This tragedy is but one brief chapter in Suicycle, a dark yet cute animation that looks at "what goes in, what goes out, and how everything we swallow gives the environment a case of indigestion". The short was created by Curiosity, a slick commercial marketing firm, specifically for the 2007 DesignPolitcs exhibition in Santiago, Chile. Suicycle plays as a never ending loop, and a fun counter keeps track of how many times you've seen the video repeat. I've watched it 27 times (and counting) while writing this post, and I'm still loving it. Via Drawn.
More About: Animation , United States , Planet , Show , Latin America

Anarchist action figure is spot on Target for Christmas
2007-12-25 20:23:00
Did you awake to find an anarchist hiding under your Christmas tree this morning? If so you might not be alone, as artist Packard Jennings shopdropped a batch of Anarchist action figures at Target and Wal-Mart stores across San Francisco, waiting for unsuspecting consumers to pick them up this holiday season. ???When better than Christmas to make a point about hyper-consumerism???? Jennings asked the New York Times in a recent interview. A stereotype to the max, his plastic black block buddy sports a gas mask, bolt cutters, a gerry can of petrol and two Molotov cocktails. And did I mention he looks very, very angry? You can watch the confusion as cashiers attempt to ring in the toy, as Jennings sticks around and videotapes the interaction. Actual quote from store manager: "It actually looks like something that some anti G6 [sic] summit activist would just put on our shelf." Check out more photos and video at Packard Jennings' website.
More About: United States , Action , Spot

Anarchist action figure is spot on Target for Christmas
2007-12-25 20:23:00
Did you awake to find an anarchist hiding under your Christmas tree this morning? If so you might not be alone, as artist Packard Jennings shopdropped a batch of Anarchist action figures at Target and Wal-Mart stores across San Francisco, waiting for unsuspecting consumers to pick them up this holiday season. ?When better than Christmas to make a point about hyper-consumerism?? Jennings asked the New York Times in a recent interview. A stereotype to the max, his plastic black block buddy sports a gas mask, bolt cutters, a gerry can of petrol and two Molotov cocktails. And did I mention he looks very, very angry? You can watch the confusion as cashiers attempt to ring in the toy, as Jennings sticks around and videotapes the interaction. Actual quote from store manager: "It actually looks like something that some anti G6 [sic] summit activist would just put on our shelf." Check out more photos and video at Packard Jennings' website.
More About: United States , Action , Spot

Alter and swap your greeting cards with shopdropping.net
2007-12-25 06:01:00
Do you have some extra greeting cards kicking around this holiday season? Put them to good use by participating in this collaborative project by Shopdropping.net: SHOPDROPPING.NET is now calling on artists, designers, media makers, and creative folks to purchase or "regift" greeting cards and alter them in any way they see fit in order to create a new and unique card. Any form of commercial card, from wedding to graduation to birthday to bereavement, is eligible. But clever and witty will be given preference over easy and distasteful. Please submit JPEG reproductions of the altered greeting cards to submissions@shopdropping.net with GREETINGS as the subject line. All files must be sized to 1024 x 768 at 72 dpi. Each altered card must include the text "www.shopdropping.net" somewhere in the new design. It can be discreet, on the back of the card, and unobtrusive but it must be present. When submitting the cover and inside of the same card please indicate this clearly in the file ...
More About: Cards , Swap , Greeting Cards , Alter , Greeting

Short webfilm tells the story of stuff in time for stuff-filled holidays
2007-12-21 17:33:00
Annie Leonard became interested in the materials economy when she was attending college in NYC. During the daily six-block treks on 110th street she became fascinated with where the morning's piles of trash ended up as she walked home on the emptied sidewalks in the evenings. Her interest in material accumulation and disposal has manifested into a new 20 minute web-released animated film, produced with Free Range Media, the folks who brought us The Meatrix. The Story of Stuff is an engaging and extremely straightforward walk-through of the stages of the materials economy. From "Extraction" through to "Disposal" Leonard's narration is hard-hitting but not riddled with too many facts or technical jargon. The animation visually interprets much of what is spoken by Leonard, and it too is kept to a minimalist, simple presentation. The end result is a film that is both and activist tool and a pedagogical resource. If you've ever wanted to explain what was wrong with the global economy ...
More About: Holidays , United States , Time , Global

Short Webfilm Tells the Story of Stuff in Time for Stuff-filled Holidays
2007-12-21 17:33:00
Annie Leonard became interested in the materials economy when she was attending college in NYC. During the daily six-block treks on 110th street she became fascinated with where the morning's piles of trash ended up as she walked home on the emptied sidewalks in the evenings. Her interest in material accumulation and disposal has manifested into a new 20 minute web-released animated film, produced with Free Range Media, the folks who brought us The Meatrix. The Story of Stuff is an engaging and extremely straightforward walk-through of the stages of the materials economy. From "Extraction" through to "Disposal" Leonard's narration is hard-hitting but not riddled with too many facts or technical jargon. The animation visually interprets much of what is spoken by Leonard, and it too is kept to a minimalist, simple presentation. The end result is a film that is both and activist tool and a pedagogical resource. If you've ever wanted to explain what was wrong with the global economy ...
More About: Holidays , United States , Time , Global

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1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7