Friday, May 29, 2009

RIP Obey Giant of 16th St.

I have a set of personal landmarks. These are usually places that have special meaning to well, just me. In my college days these things distinctly defined SF as home: DJ bars like The Top, The Distillery in HMB, Club Townsend/King St Garage Wicked parties, The Henry Miller Library, 2am waiting on the side of Highway 1 for some weirdo with a flashlight to take me down to Esalen, XLR8R mag, well, you get the gist…

I’ll get to the point. I am ok with change for the most part -- it is life. But sometimes change makes me pause, even if it is something seemingly small, and that’s just what happened yesterday when I noticed Fairey’s Obey Giant has been painted over. That Andre painting has been there for as long as I can remember, at the old Sports Basement building on the corner of 16th St and De Haro.

Now it is gone, poof, finito. (Boo. Hiss.) I know it is a tad irrational to mourn the loss of street art. Sorry, can’t help it! It made me happy when I passed by on my bicycle.

Speaking of Fairey, there are a couple of posts you may want to check out if you are a believer in artistic freedom. The first post addresses the Obama Hope poster (you know the one) & the Associated Press who are suing him because he used one of their photos to make the campaign poster. See here. And here.

And, here is another NYT blog post which does not touch the lawsuit topic, but discusses his work overall which found interesting.

 

RIP Obey Giant of 16th St.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Visual Poetry

Hello Friends!
I've decided to start blogging again, so here goes the first post. This past April I was super inspired by the "Free Verse Project" for National Poetry Month by the Academy of American Poets.
See here for more info:
I've since been crafting art pieces based on the concept that poetry can be a visual experience. Below are a few concepts I'm developing. I'll continue to post as I develop others.
I love the ocean, pirates & sea glass. The idea of a message in a bottle has always fascinated me since I was a child.
"bottle poem"
I wrote a lot of short poems initially meant to be postcards, but they work as here as short succinct snippets. Hopefully none of the exes will take offense!
"letters to the past"
My grandfather's Underwood. This is the best hand-me-down I've ever gotten. I'll need to dedicate a post to elaborate, but I've been typing up a lot of poems using this beauty. There is something so special and concrete about using a typewriter. Old school. It is nothing short of thrilling. If you send me a word, I'll send you an insta-poem!
old school beauty