tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37750963297035987372024-03-13T03:36:23.356-07:00The Red Lanternshining a light on radical politics in popular culture (and in "the arts")koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-1786951419253317962015-07-04T14:23:00.002-07:002015-07-04T14:24:24.949-07:00Late Review: Manifest Justice<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">From
May 1 to May 10 of this year, an old, abandoned theater in Baldwin Hills was
turned into a giant gallery with over 200 works of art by over 150 artists for
a pop-up art exhibit called Manifest Justice.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
large-scale exhibit featured art that spoke to social justice issues;
everything from gender wage inequality to mass incarceration, but—with the people
of Baltimore still out in the streets protesting the death of Freddie Gray—works
of art that dealt with police brutality and police murder seemed to speak to
people the most.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uFB977PXkECUYmakehZx-LqgVHTCI_tEhNYiqJhhitIi9DMAXrPBOS7oiHO2GRMsKMB_ZLmvn2pOKTroOTB1ZLKFDd9mZx41xd1YRstjuSl0PdlWYzrK8yh4aoMKOLW-_uatQifsVY2r/s1600/ChokeHold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uFB977PXkECUYmakehZx-LqgVHTCI_tEhNYiqJhhitIi9DMAXrPBOS7oiHO2GRMsKMB_ZLmvn2pOKTroOTB1ZLKFDd9mZx41xd1YRstjuSl0PdlWYzrK8yh4aoMKOLW-_uatQifsVY2r/s320/ChokeHold.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">There
was an installation piece by Artist Ti-Rock Moore called, “Protect and Serve,”
that consisted of a neon sign of the words, Choke Hold, but with the letter O
being substituted by a noose; there is no mistaking the connection the artist
was making to how Black people were treated by the KKK, in the days after the
end of the Civil War, and the way they are treated by the police today.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“Dis
Arm,” an image of a police baton on fire, by well-known Street Artist Robbie
Conal, seemed to be there to remind us that the anniversary of the 1992 L.A.
Rebellion had just passed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Other
pieces even seemed to speak about the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For instance, a painting by Graffiti Artist Mear One, of a youth wearing
a gas mask and kaffeiyah, holding a large shield with the words, “Fight For
Humanity,” spray-painted on it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Another
piece, “American Dreamers (Phase 2),” a large installation of a gutted police
car in the middle of the floor, couldn’t help but stand out to most people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Looking
at this piece, (which was made to look like an NYPD car on one side, and a
Ferguson police car on the other side), one could imagine a future society
where this art piece was actually a relic of a horrible, long-forgotten past.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
car had many plants, a sort of garden, growing from inside it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, in an interview with a local TV station,
the creator of the piece, Jordan Weber said, “It’s a symbol of young black
Americans who have not come to fruition before being taken.”</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It
is very significant that many artists are being brought together to display
these kinds of art pieces to large crowds; art that makes people confront the
reality, injustice and horror going on right now.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">At
this time, there are no plans to take the Manifest Justice exhibit to other
cities, but you can see photos of most of the pieces mentioned here, (and many
more), at <a href="http://www.manifestjustice.org/artists">www.manifestjustice.org/artists</a></span></div>
koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-50115692165156634312015-05-26T16:14:00.002-07:002015-05-26T16:14:42.771-07:00Add to your bookshelf: Genius Vol 1<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaal336GzcDgj4PxR2hcwFpg6Y75vrs0fRdLNxHakbUvUz8Bs_7lbb3Cnru89wlZB-ZGbayu2L-P6TavpAuVPGlkh_Yn-RTuoix95yN_VFGlEc6sIqyOxKGrgLFd64jzKwVAF6YqnprqY4/s1600/Genius.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaal336GzcDgj4PxR2hcwFpg6Y75vrs0fRdLNxHakbUvUz8Bs_7lbb3Cnru89wlZB-ZGbayu2L-P6TavpAuVPGlkh_Yn-RTuoix95yN_VFGlEc6sIqyOxKGrgLFd64jzKwVAF6YqnprqY4/s400/Genius.jpg" width="400" /></a>Tomorrow, (May 27, 2015), marks the release date of <a href="https://imagecomics.com/content/view/genius-vol.-1-calls-for-revolution-this-may" target="_blank">"Genius," Vol 1</a>, which collects the five issue mini series, (and "pilot" issue), of the story of a young Black teen named, Destiny Ajaye, who unifies all the gangs in South Central L.A. to fight against the police.<br />
<br />
A Black female as the lead character in a comic-book would be enough to grab a headline, but this series was catching a lot of people's attention last year--when it first came out--because it was released during the time of grand protest and upheaval in Ferguson, Missouri.<br />
<br />
In "Genius," Destiny is fighting against the police, after having witnessed the brutal murder of her parents by the LAPD; meanwhile, in real life, the people of Ferguson took to the streets, destroying property--especially police cars, after the local district attorney said that he would not press charges against the police officer who killed a young, unarmed, Black man. (Coincidentally, this Vol 1 release comes right on the heels of another rebellion against police murder, this time in Baltimore).<br />
<br />
The story in "Genius" is not perfect. There are a lot of things a revolutionary would disapprove of: For instance, Destiny is not using ideology to beco<span id="goog_1417985490"></span><span id="goog_1417985491"></span>me a revolutionary leader; she actually ends up being the top dog in the gang underworld by sleeping with a top gang-member and killing many rivals.<br />
<br />
She is also uniting gang members based mostly on revenge, not mostly on the idea of creating a better world. (There is also a dialogue problem because I cringed every time I read something that sounded like it was coming from a Nuyorican in the Bronx, rather than a South Central Chicano).<br />
<br />
Despite all this, I really like this story because it shows people actually fighting back against the police--in the only way they understand, and it's a story that tells us that there is potential for a kid in South Central to be a military genius. One great thing I really liked about the character is her understanding that she also needs to win public opinion during the fight with the LAPD.<br />
<br />
For anyone interested, you can <a href="https://www.comixology.com/Pilot-Season-Genius-1/digital-comic/10510" target="_blank">download the pilot/preview issue</a> for <strong>free</strong> and read it on your tablet or mobile device.<br />
<br />koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-57471687317565817502014-03-20T18:21:00.001-07:002014-03-20T18:21:36.655-07:00My new favorite street artist: Starchild Stela<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwNzRfTbAVMyj9yjrqPIkciea3S8IysjsOkIoTdgu3XU_T_EFOfDZ0yiB8npa19HVUR7WruI3bAHrQRdzjMbyEG5oDZNSkGsw14Rg2sDaLZWVkBjFzwUTkfq9quyc37HSgvXl40PM0TqT_/s1600/Stela2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwNzRfTbAVMyj9yjrqPIkciea3S8IysjsOkIoTdgu3XU_T_EFOfDZ0yiB8npa19HVUR7WruI3bAHrQRdzjMbyEG5oDZNSkGsw14Rg2sDaLZWVkBjFzwUTkfq9quyc37HSgvXl40PM0TqT_/s1600/Stela2.jpg" height="320" width="241" /></a><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">A few months back, I was introduced to the art of
Starchild Stela when someone posted a photo of one of her pieces on Twitter. It was so different, so colorful, so political, and cute! She instantly
became my new favorite street artist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(She
considers herself more of a feminist graffiti artist and not a street artist
per se).</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Dr. Jessica N. Pabon, who interviewed Stela for <a href="http://jessicapabon.com/2013/03/21/interview-with-stela/" target="_blank">her blog</a>,
described her style like this, “Stela’s work caught my eye because her
absolutely curvilinear handstyle, pastel color palette, and pretty soft-eyed
characters are almost always adorned with explicit and aggressive language.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Indeed, it is that juxtaposition of cute, big-eyed, (almost
anime style), female characters, with strong political messages, which sets
her apart from her contemporaries.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I think it works artistically because, even though her
drawings seem simple, they are colorful and full of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, I think, it works politically because
there is an element of humor to it, (which is what I believe makes Banksy so
popular among basic masses).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Take for example, a cute little girl with the words, <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">“Fuck your macho bullshit” spray-painted under
her; or her clever drawing of a woman with some kitties and the words, “Cats
against cat-calls.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">In the same interview
referenced above, Stela says about her work:</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I love adding a little
feminist twist to my pieces. I don’t really intend to add a social message to
my pieces, the words I add often reflects the discussion I’m having with
friends. But indeed we are talking about what matter to us, and what makes us
pissed off."</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Check
out more of her work—and support her—by buying some of her stickers, prints,
and original art from her </span><a href="http://littlestarchild.storenvy.com/products" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">online store</a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span></div>
koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-62227765649425614962014-03-18T18:37:00.000-07:002014-03-18T18:37:43.134-07:00Add to your Bluray collection: Killing Them Softly<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh56__KtugQLgNuxICCOOmonP5kArJxar8Z_Bm8sbB4BI1QsJfPmyaLmE8gdT386YsB0g2uUT935aFi3N6blZ1OOHWOqmDmiiMHas0VWUe8dxEBpMy5C7ApPg3gcBtmmiKnZPbtmSiZTcSO/s1600/KillingThem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh56__KtugQLgNuxICCOOmonP5kArJxar8Z_Bm8sbB4BI1QsJfPmyaLmE8gdT386YsB0g2uUT935aFi3N6blZ1OOHWOqmDmiiMHas0VWUe8dxEBpMy5C7ApPg3gcBtmmiKnZPbtmSiZTcSO/s1600/KillingThem.jpg" height="317" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">From
the start of the film you see that, besides being a gangster flick, it is also
a very political film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It takes place
during the presidential elections of 2008, and we meet the first characters,
two heist-men, having a meeting in an empty lot with Obama and McCain
billboards in the skyline.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
heist-men do a sloppy—but successful—job robbing a card game run by local
mobsters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is where Brad Pitt’s
character, Jackie Cogan, is brought in: to hire independent contract killers to take care of those heist-men.</span><br />
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">One of the many interesting scenes involves Jackie Cogan telling the mob representative who hires him how emotions can sometimes hinder an assassination attempt. He tells him he likes "killing them softly," from far away.</span><br />
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Another interesting thread in the story is how they handle the guy running the card game, Markie (Ray Liotta). Markie had nothing to do with the robbery, but since people on the street think he had something to do with it, then Markie needs to get whacked. (If you read all the above and don't think about Blackwater, drones, Iraq, or Afghanistan, then I don't know what to do with you).</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In a statement found on a promotional <a href="http://killingthemsoftlymovie.com/" target="_blank">website for the film</a>, Director Andrew Dominik says:</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I've always felt that crime dramas are essentially about capitalism, since they show the capitalist idea working in its most base form. It's also the only genre where it's completely acceptable that the characters are motivated only by a desire for money. None of this 'family values,' 'follow your dream,' moral compass bullshit."</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Unfortunately, this film fell way under the radar when it was released in theaters in 2012. It is also very much dialogue driven, which can be hard for an audience that has been trained to love only action driven films.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">If
you didn’t love Brad Pitt before, you’ll love him in this role, as a no-nonsense
enforcer who delivers some of the best dialogue that takes a shit on American
Democracy—which also includes some of the best final lines in any movie I can
remember.</span></div>
</div>
koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-69346086628988984672014-03-16T14:19:00.000-07:002014-03-16T14:19:16.182-07:00That powerful new Johhny Cash video<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGCL-Ka2gDfJ4Kjay83Eb3HeT-cC0RiLC4aSF7TObbkTrNDM9o4_aWG2RN_Eoe1PRCac5FB7O2T7YF3Z-eykt63yvBIP3pNIxm3jLhFTH1wtfAa0finW1BhUJK7UEZLtq2QWWYipu-TLFF/s1600/MyHeroes.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGCL-Ka2gDfJ4Kjay83Eb3HeT-cC0RiLC4aSF7TObbkTrNDM9o4_aWG2RN_Eoe1PRCac5FB7O2T7YF3Z-eykt63yvBIP3pNIxm3jLhFTH1wtfAa0finW1BhUJK7UEZLtq2QWWYipu-TLFF/s1600/MyHeroes.png" height="216" width="400" /></a></div>
Last week Columbia Records released a brand new video for a Johnny Cash song as a way of promoting a new album of lost Johnny Cash songs to be released on March 25.<br />
<br />
I've been watching it repeatedly everyday since its release. It is powerful imagery and it captures a lot in just under four minutes.<br />
<br />
The video starts with some recorded dialogue by Cash: "I'm no slave to whistle, clock, or bell; Nor weak-eyed prisoner of Wall Street. Let me be easy on the man that's down; Let me be square and generous with all. And guide me on the long, dim trail ahead that stretches upward, toward the great divide."<br />
<br />
The video then takes you on a road trip of America: of the downtrodden, juxtaposed with the luxury that few in this country are privileged to. Sometimes in color, but mostly in black and white, we see Downtown L.A. Skid Row and its residents; native peoples living in the reservations; jails and prisons and the men who are housed there.<br />
<br />
My favorite scene looks like it takes place while driving by a reservation. From a drivers point of view we see a house with large words spray-painted on them, it says, "My heroes have always killed cowboys."<br />
<br />
In a press statement, the Director of the video, John Hillcoat, says:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The lyrics seemed to speak to America as it is now, to the nation that loved him and to the great divide he fought so hard against. This divide has only grown exponentially since he died, so we wanted to show America under this stark light and as a homage to the very reason Cash always wore black: to the shameful increase of the disenfranchised and outsiders</blockquote>
.
<br />
<br />
To watch the video and learn more click <a href="http://pitchfork.com/news/54324-watch-the-video-for-johnny-cashs-she-used-to-love-me-a-lot-directed-by-john-hillcoat/" target="_blank">HERE</a>.koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-21530047914220471282013-02-28T16:24:00.000-08:002013-02-28T16:24:23.456-08:00Orchid Comes to An End with #12<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsdzROuTFBdO2VGZut7ke7TWnyijPOurgqVrjL_AxiTC-I6r2Vstg1cZ6USiUTWgJYJhQPwNL-Db7nNN1LpO7jFHuu1iS01-hxzz0fOBUXsSnY_S3PRFG3k9LNP4uSa0pn4F-EWYczCN9H/s1600/Orchid12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsdzROuTFBdO2VGZut7ke7TWnyijPOurgqVrjL_AxiTC-I6r2Vstg1cZ6USiUTWgJYJhQPwNL-Db7nNN1LpO7jFHuu1iS01-hxzz0fOBUXsSnY_S3PRFG3k9LNP4uSa0pn4F-EWYczCN9H/s400/Orchid12.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
***SPOILER ALERT***<br />
<br />
The beginning of this month brought us the ending to Tom Morello's maxi series, "<a href="http://koffee-kommie.blogspot.com/2011/10/review-orchid-1.html" target="_blank"><strong>Orchid</strong></a>." In 12 issues, first-time comic-book Writer, Tom Morello, and Artist Scott Hepburn told us the story of Orchid: a young girl who only cares about the survival of herself and her immediate family, but transforms into a great fighter of all oppressed people living in fear of the evil dictator, Tomo Wolfe.<br />
<br />
This last issue is action-packed with lots of great moments where you don't know if the cast of characters will survive the final battle with Tomo Wolfe. But, of course, there are last-minute reinforcements to come save the day, personal sacrifices, and some unexpected surprises to keep you hanging on.<br />
<br />
There's even a nice epilogue to show what all the key characters ended up doing after their hard-fought victory and to show the new--much better--community that everyone now enjoys. (There's even a scene that leaves enough room for a possible sequel).<br />
<br />
Orchid's gradual transformation from a person willing to just do anything to survive, into someone who finally only wishes to do all she can do away with the current living conditions of all who live in misery was the whole point of this story. And it takes new friends, many battles, many deaths, and the help of a magical mask to help her become the courageous and ferocious fighter for the people that she becomes.<br />
<br />
For now, "<strong>Orchid</strong>," can be collected in <a href="http://www.darkhorse.com/Search/Browse/orchid/PpwNwkt8" target="_blank">12 separate issues or three volumes</a>. But, I'm hoping, Dark Horse will release some sort of special edition hardcover containing the entire 12 issues.koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-15883174031451942822013-02-20T14:39:00.003-08:002013-02-20T14:39:52.419-08:00Art Criticizing Anti-Immigrant Law Deemed Too Controversial<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh132oBlIdX6Ud2CQIHATVMuP-Dm46P6rEf00bI61a0eqBpRXqlBPC1IyI2FkRrTMdlWdN6Kej9q5hHvyCDjgzkoBBgqKyFIGC3eo_qy9FyRRcYDFRVGDO9mRvOJ1vxx2Pz_OsmlbhFFBom/s1600/EthnicCleanser.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh132oBlIdX6Ud2CQIHATVMuP-Dm46P6rEf00bI61a0eqBpRXqlBPC1IyI2FkRrTMdlWdN6Kej9q5hHvyCDjgzkoBBgqKyFIGC3eo_qy9FyRRcYDFRVGDO9mRvOJ1vxx2Pz_OsmlbhFFBom/s400/EthnicCleanser.jpg" width="182" /></a>Last month, for an exhibit of Troy University faculty members, Art & Design Professor Edward Noriega created some pieces that criticized Alabama's anti-immigrant law, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama_HB_56" target="_blank">HB 56</a>, (which some people have said is tougher than Arizona's infamous SB 1070).<br />
<br />
But directors of the Heritage Hall Museum, in Talladega, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/29/alabama-immigration-law-nazi-art-edward-noriega_n_2576673.html" target="_blank">objected to some of the content in his artwork</a> and had some of his best pieces removed from the exhibit.<br />
<br />
Some of the pieces deemed too controversail were a portrait of the Virgin Mary holding a broom and dust-pan called, "Nuestra Señora de la Limpieza," ("The Cleaning Lady"); an ashtray adorned with the words, "State of Alabama," and "Feed me -- Get Out"; something that looks similar to a stack of Ajax cans, but instead reads, "ALA with HB56 ethnic cleanser"; and a swastika that sharply points out the indifference, or non-action, by religious denominations in resisting HB 56 become law.<br />
<br />
"I wanted to be able to compare what Alabama is doing with that the Nazis did. I do believe that this law is a form of ethnic cleansing," Noriega told <a href="http://www.waka.com/news/troy-news/Troy-Professors-Targets-Alabama-Immigration-Law-with-Controversial-Artwork-187970771.html" target="_blank">a local news station</a>.<br />
<br />
You can view all of Noriega's political artwork on his website: <a href="http://politicalabamadesign.com/">http://politicalabamadesign.com/</a>koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-9556018808094389682012-12-21T11:52:00.005-08:002012-12-21T11:55:17.923-08:00When My Brother Was an Aztec (Poetry Review)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOmXNtYoEUAmeqkC3pdIYCFtsWBdQw_ma0NOA8Hw2yXcK8QazzUYUTQyqNICSbHXhyphenhyphenmCTfYk4crsJQi9YFEPNCwlTPC4RO4icSGSchW4w8pfefF5W12VsO4WTuiS01KCQ420FAD3xaNdbA/s1600/BrotherAztec.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOmXNtYoEUAmeqkC3pdIYCFtsWBdQw_ma0NOA8Hw2yXcK8QazzUYUTQyqNICSbHXhyphenhyphenmCTfYk4crsJQi9YFEPNCwlTPC4RO4icSGSchW4w8pfefF5W12VsO4WTuiS01KCQ420FAD3xaNdbA/s1600/BrotherAztec.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOmXNtYoEUAmeqkC3pdIYCFtsWBdQw_ma0NOA8Hw2yXcK8QazzUYUTQyqNICSbHXhyphenhyphenmCTfYk4crsJQi9YFEPNCwlTPC4RO4icSGSchW4w8pfefF5W12VsO4WTuiS01KCQ420FAD3xaNdbA/s400/BrotherAztec.jpg" width="266" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
Natalie Diaz is a
storyteller poet. Her debut collection reminds me of the work of Gary Soto, but
with much more words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a powerful book,
separated in three sections, and full of emotion, imagery, and history.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first group of
poems is all about growing up on a reservation: childhood experiences
(<em>Hand-Me-Down Halloween</em>, <em>Why I Hate Raisins</em>); stories of other people on the
rez (<em>Reservation Mary</em>, <em>The Gospel of Guy No-Horse</em>); and poems about racism and
national oppression that native people have lived and continue to live through
(<em>The Facts of Art</em>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The best of these
are the pieces about memories that show how racism was embedded into their
daily lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shown, for instance, in
this long-titled poem, <em>Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan
Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Reservation</em>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like I said, no
Indian I’ve ever heard of has ever been or seen an angel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe in a
Christmas pageant or something—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nazarene church
holds one ever December, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">organized by Pastor
John’s wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s no wonder<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pastor John’s son
is the angel—everyone knows angels are white.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quit bothering with
angels, I say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re no good for
Indians.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember what
happened last time<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">some white god came
floating across the ocean?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The mid section
group of poems is what people will remember the most.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are all pieces about having a brother
heavily addicted to meth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And most describe
the agonizing details her parents went through on a regular basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“My brother is arrested again and again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And again/ our dad, our Sisyphus, pushes his
old blue heart up to the station.” (<em>Downhill Triolets</em>); “Mom finally saw it, a
hellish vision, my brother./ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">O God, O
God,</i> she said.” (<em>My Brother at 3 a.m.</em>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s amazing how someone can write so beautifully about something so
ugly, as in the following stanza from <em>How to Go to Dinner with A Brother on
Drugs</em>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meth—his singing
sirens, his jealous jinn<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">conjuring up
sandstorms within him, his Harpy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">harem—has sucked
the beauty from his face.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He is a Cheshire
cat, a gang of grins.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His new face all jaw,
all smile and bite.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last section
seems to be a miscellaneous section, with poems about different topics; some
nice poems about a lover with lines like “She has always been more orchard than
loved,/ I, more bite than mouth.” (<em>I Lean Out the Window and She Nods Off in
Bed, the Needle Gently Rocking on the Bedside Table</em>), and a very disturbing
poem about a brother returning from war, (<em>Why I Don’t Mention Flowers When
Conversation with My Brother Reach Uncomfortable Silences</em>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Diaz’s lines are
longer than what I’m accustomed to reading and some might say that she tells
more than she shows with her poetry, but she makes up more than enough for it
with emotion and the beautiful and disturbing images that these poems will
create in your mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-49638133563526541482012-11-29T15:39:00.001-08:002012-11-29T15:39:30.160-08:00They Live, We Sleep<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjlbN4ikwJyQiqNMtW6k53limZxrt27j2docPuBdm9zL825KqcAjpGR-msrcw2JLOXKVis9WbajBiJDrqI5ZGip4hj9h3yHG0PcJxi6dy0ilUGInTJlB_LpLWJFvjCW3rkE9vCyO8HzQ-E/s1600/TheyLive1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjlbN4ikwJyQiqNMtW6k53limZxrt27j2docPuBdm9zL825KqcAjpGR-msrcw2JLOXKVis9WbajBiJDrqI5ZGip4hj9h3yHG0PcJxi6dy0ilUGInTJlB_LpLWJFvjCW3rkE9vCyO8HzQ-E/s400/TheyLive1.jpg" width="282" /></a>On November 6, 2012--the same day that millions of American citizens hit the voting polls to "choose" who was going to run the country-- John Carpenter's 1988 classic cult film, "<strong>They Live</strong>," was released on DVD (<a href="http://www.shoutfactory.com/?q=node/215656" target="_blank">Collector's Edition</a>) and Blu-ray.<br />
<br />
In this film, Carpenter gives us a world where poverty is abundant and groups of people have to live in homeless camps; where only the rich prosper; where police are brutal enforcers; and despite all this--people are still stuck to the television!<br />
<br />
What we soon learn is that, aliens from a far away planet control everything. With their technology, they have hidden themselves among regular people and send out signals through advertising in magazines, billboards, and (mostly) television, that are designed to numb the regular masses and keep them submissive as happy consumers.<br />
<br />
Soon though, we are introduced to John Nada (played by Roddy Piper, a famous wrestler), who by pure accident, discovers this astonishing truth when he stumbles upon a pair of sunglasses that reveal to him who is really human and who is alien; and also let him see the subliminal messages that are being forced on the masses. Messages like, "Obey," "Reproduce and Marry," "No Independent Thought," "Consume," "Watch TV," "Stay Asleep, "Buy," and many others.<br />
<br />
John also discovers a small underground resistance group and enlists himself, and his new buddy Frank (Keith David), to reveal the truth to the American public, and encounter lots of blood and betrayal along the way. Without giving away too much about the ending, it is not a typical Hollywood-ending. I would describe it as more of a love-letter to those who spit in the face of authority, and also a personal statement on the sacrifice of the individual.<br />
<br />
What really makes this film work is the changes the characters go through. In the beginning, John is a very pull-yourself-by-your-own-bootstraps kind of guy. He doesn't like handouts and believes he's just going through a rough time. "I believe in America," he says during an early scene. Frank, however, has seen factory owners give themselves raises while he was taking pay-cuts. He tells John that he believes in the Golden Rule, "He who has the gold, makes the rules." But, despite his feelings toward a system that he knows is rigged, he strongly refuses to accept the truth that John has discovered. In fact, he wants nothing to do with him, and it is only through a lengthy street-fight among the two friends that Frank finally puts on the sun glasses and sees what is really going on.<br />
<br />
This, of course, is why I hold this film close to my heart. Anyone who's read Lenin's "<strong>What Is To Be Done?</strong>" can see that this is an allegory for one of the main points in that polemic: that class-consciousness is not spontaneous; in fact, it can only come from without. I love this movie and I recommend everybody get a copy and share it with others.koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-47220702844954536002012-10-26T14:22:00.001-07:002012-10-26T14:22:17.116-07:00Recommended: November '12 Issue of Juxtapoz<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi27UXczGo1E-sVq8p_fNlPeeALqZXCeOLbI2dzP1N0KE-YMjq1yLNGvd1rCGcc86bJqbdCgOHnnfZuf6b32dzfNgu_0vjniPiL0ILO8hxDa_Ns7IeGx4MObwoqZABWcjM0XCEAGugMw2Ql/s1600/JuxtapozNov12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi27UXczGo1E-sVq8p_fNlPeeALqZXCeOLbI2dzP1N0KE-YMjq1yLNGvd1rCGcc86bJqbdCgOHnnfZuf6b32dzfNgu_0vjniPiL0ILO8hxDa_Ns7IeGx4MObwoqZABWcjM0XCEAGugMw2Ql/s1600/JuxtapozNov12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi27UXczGo1E-sVq8p_fNlPeeALqZXCeOLbI2dzP1N0KE-YMjq1yLNGvd1rCGcc86bJqbdCgOHnnfZuf6b32dzfNgu_0vjniPiL0ILO8hxDa_Ns7IeGx4MObwoqZABWcjM0XCEAGugMw2Ql/s400/JuxtapozNov12.jpg" width="308" /></a>My love/hate relationship with Juxtapoz magazine continues. One month I see it on the magazine stand doing some gimmicky Halloween issue that makes me feel like I should never look through it again. But then this month, they have an <strong>amazing</strong> <a href="http://www.juxtapoz.com/Current/issue-preview-nov-2012?catid=" target="_blank">Art & Politics issue</a> <em>curated</em> by <strong>Ron English</strong>!!!<br />
<br />
It's a very impressive group of artists that English has rounded up. There are some well-established street-artists you've heard a lot about, like <strong>Shepard Fairey</strong> and <strong>Robbie Conal</strong>; documentary filmmakers <strong>Morgan Spurlock</strong> and <strong>Susan Saladoff</strong>; and some up-and-coming artists--who are not new to the art world, but will probably start receiving a lot more attention--and that you should start following: <strong>Molly Crabapple</strong> and <strong>Ernesto Yerena Montejano</strong>.<br />
<br />
One of the stand-out interviews is with conceptual artist Tom Forsythe who was involved in a long legal battle, in the 90's, with the toy-company, Mattel, who sued him for his depictions of <strong>Barbie</strong> dolls that he used a various series of photographs. He talked about why he choose to work with Barbie:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I needed something that exemplified the crass consumerism I meant to critique. It took a nano second or so to come up with Barbie, since Barbie had every consumer need imaginable, and every outfit and accessory that any good consumer could dream of. . ."</blockquote>
<br />
But, my favorite interview in the issue is with revolutionary communist artist <a href="http://www.juxtapoz.com/Gallery/november-2012-issue-preview/1112issuepre5-42256#1112issuepre7-42257" target="_blank">Dread Scott</a> who was in the national spotlight in the late 80's when his installation piece, "<a href="http://www.dreadscott.net/artwork/photography/what-is-the-proper-way-to-display-a-us-flag" target="_blank">What Is the Proper Way To Display A US Flag?"</a> caused so much controversy that the US Senate passed legislation to "protect the flag." (And that later resulted in a landmark Supreme Court decision that ruled flag burning to be protected by the First Amendment).<br />
<br />
In the interview, he shares his very refreshing views on his approach to art ("I make art with the basic assumption that a lot of people agree with me"), how he sees the role of art, and the role of the artist. He says about being a communist and an artist:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"For me, constantly making work that concentrates my communist world view has limited some opportunities. Some people in powerful places in the arts don't want a truly radical work to get seen and sometimes my work gets pigeonholed into the "political art ghetto." But my work has been shown in major museums, had many students study it, been called disgraceful by G.H.W. Bush, and outlawed by Congress. All because I stuck to my beliefs."</blockquote>
koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-1610379393370306422012-09-19T11:17:00.000-07:002012-09-19T11:38:19.053-07:00Recommended: 'Rodney King'<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2SYITXPTfMu40HmhFvGP5BBPKP1j2iaphaDtu8BdHLgpKs13GQsrqcGna0rUH0yXuqTCbRY8Z3WIxQKQY5KZZG1AQrUfPq_i6biBSKj8QY4O_EZLcPesj_yQTqLG1PviQgeZEUlyVvp36/s1600/RodneyKingPlay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2SYITXPTfMu40HmhFvGP5BBPKP1j2iaphaDtu8BdHLgpKs13GQsrqcGna0rUH0yXuqTCbRY8Z3WIxQKQY5KZZG1AQrUfPq_i6biBSKj8QY4O_EZLcPesj_yQTqLG1PviQgeZEUlyVvp36/s1600/RodneyKingPlay.jpg" /></a>What importance is there for a kid from the ghetto to learn about Rodney King? This was one of the questions raised at a Q&A after a performance of "Rodney King" that I saw last month. Indeed, though, why should anyone care to learn about who Rodney King was?<br />
<br />
Although, I don't believe writer/actor Roger Guenveur Smith was asking himself this when he started to create his latest one-man show, he certainly did get into that question.<br />
<br />
In the play, he tells the story--in as much details as he can--about what happened that infamous night when Rodney King was brutally beaten by four LAPD officers, whose subsequent acquittal--after being caught on tape--sparked the 1992 L.A. Rebellion. (Also known as the "Rodney King Riots" by some people in the media--even though Rodney King didn't riot; all he did was survive "the baddest ass-whopping in history"). <br />
<br />
But, Smith also gets into what was going on in the community prior to the King incident--all the injustice and systematic oppression that Black people in South Los Angeles had been facing for decades. (For instance, the story of Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old girl who was unlawfully shot and killed by a Korean store owner--which occurred just weeks after the videotaped beating of King).<br />
<br />
In a recent <a href="http://www.kpfk.org/programs/51-michael-slate/6277-michael-slate-8312-roger-guenveur-smith-on-rodney-kingvoices-of-basics-bus-tour-nyc-nicky.html" target="_blank">interview with Michael Slate on KPFK</a>, Slate told Smith, "One of the things that happened with Rodney King from the moment he was targeted and beaten, the dehumanization...They robbed him of his humanity when they beat him--they tried to beat him to death; they robbed him of his humanity when they made him into this icon that he wasn't; and then other people robbed him of it too when they continued, all the way up through the end of his life, the struggle over, is he a hero? Is he a victim?...He was Rodney King. He was a human being that was thrust unto the stage of history in a way that he never expected and didn't want, and then had to deal with the repercussions of that the rest of his life. And I thought you did a really wonderful job in capturing that humanity."<br />
<br />
Indeed, what can be most appreciated by this performance is the artists' ability to treat the subject with respect as he helps us explore the ills of society. Smith does not put King on a pedestal as some kind of hero or idol because he wasn't any of those. He was just a human being that--by way of accident--got caught put up on the national spotlight. Most importantly, we are reminded that he was not unlike the many human beings in South Los Angeles today that continue to deal brutality by the LAPD.<br />
<br />
"Rodney King" will return for a limited engagement, (only seven performances), from September 20-29, 2012 at the <a href="http://www.bootlegtheater.org/" target="_blank">Bootleg Theater</a>. Please, check it out!koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-13588085016006728822012-08-16T15:39:00.001-07:002013-01-10T08:48:03.739-08:00Must See Film: Beasts of the Southern Wild<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMeweSvewzraHasmSNdFweA9_MEGpsVWT1PpfkOMlqexo3QFonNSke6NjmlARx4BAmNLwmXar3IRHYU0CSKD0JPfztJtGuoM_Rbex4rFvtXSQDOyBJrHLZsrYXlFEBX1sBeZQc14oYwPsd/s1600/Hushpuppy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMeweSvewzraHasmSNdFweA9_MEGpsVWT1PpfkOMlqexo3QFonNSke6NjmlARx4BAmNLwmXar3IRHYU0CSKD0JPfztJtGuoM_Rbex4rFvtXSQDOyBJrHLZsrYXlFEBX1sBeZQc14oYwPsd/s400/Hushpuppy.jpg" width="400" /></a><em>"I see that I'm a little piece of a big, big universe." </em>-Hushpuppy<br />
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Last week I saw a great film called <strong><a href="http://www.beastsofthesouthernwild.com/" target="_blank">Beasts of the Southern Wild</a></strong>. I knew nothing about this film, but a few people who had recently seen it, highly recommended it to me. I had high expectations due to all the positive movie reviews I read online and was very delighted with this film.<br />
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On the surface, it's a nice story about a cute, brave little girl--named Hushpuppy!--and what she and her single father, ( an alcoholic), have to do to survive a giant storm on a tiny island called, "The Bathtub." But, in reality, this movie is about global warming--even though the only clue we are given about this are scenes throughout the film of the polar ice caps melting.<br />
<br />
A lot has been made about the six-year-old girl, Quvenzhané Wallis, who plays Hushpuppy in the film. Indeed, it is great acting for such a young girl. But more than her acting, I was really in love with the ideas of her character. Throughout the film, you see that she has much respect for all animals and all of nature. "The whole universe depends on everything fitting together just right. If one beast busts--even the smallest beast--the entire universe will get busted," she says. She is young and optimistic, and really believes that the whole universe is connected. Just for that, this film is worth seeing!koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-64751766355162274422012-07-30T16:37:00.000-07:002012-07-30T16:39:05.452-07:00Remembering Ghost World<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN2yhZtV3HwKko8s-2INQkhyphenhyphen4-MYGswjlTV__IqG5ghSRbqU8C5zPFF0ETUh7DpjTYPExlapcZs49UADUJMQmKW2MyMhAIiiSmLViQzSnuj_oi38KYM3zWy4nbZiDai1yTGS88JKPhWXIS/s1600/GhostWorld.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN2yhZtV3HwKko8s-2INQkhyphenhyphen4-MYGswjlTV__IqG5ghSRbqU8C5zPFF0ETUh7DpjTYPExlapcZs49UADUJMQmKW2MyMhAIiiSmLViQzSnuj_oi38KYM3zWy4nbZiDai1yTGS88JKPhWXIS/s320/GhostWorld.jpg" width="320" /></a><em>"I can't relate to 99% of humanity." -Seymour</em><br />
<br />
Just over a decade has passed since <strong>Ghost World</strong> was released in theaters (October 2001) and on DVD (February 2002), but no one in mainstream media even said a thing. (Only <a href="http://alisongang.blogspot.com/2011/07/ghost-world-10th-anniversary-screening.html" target="_blank">these people in San Diego</a> seemed to have noticed).<br />
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But, it's one of my favorite films. I've watched it so many times that my DVD copy is all messed up. As a matter of fact, the idea for this blog post came up because as I was searching for a new copy of the DVD online, I was hoping to find some kind of 10-year anniversary special edition, but no such thing has been made. It would be a real damn shame if future generations don't have access to this film.<br />
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For those who haven't seen the movie, <strong>Ghost World</strong>, (which was actually based on a graphic novel), is a movie about two young women, recently graduated from the high school, and the different paths their lives take as settle into adulthood. Rebecca (played by Scarlett Johansson) quickly gets the first job she find in order to help realize her dream of moving-in with her friend, Enid. But Enid (Thora Birch) just can't seem to fall into the mundane, 9-to-5, existence. Instead, she spends her summer befriending a much older man, Seymour (Steve Buscemi), who has problems relating to people and pretty much <u>hates everything</u>.<br />
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On the surface, <strong>Ghost World</strong> is a coming-of-age tale filled with lots of sarcastic--even dark--humor. But, below the surface, lies a story about how this consumerist culture has alienated a section of the population. As one <a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/R1L5G8D61VYXYO/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00005T30L&nodeID=130&store=dvd" target="_blank">reviewer on Amazon</a> said: "Ghost World isn t for everyone. But it should be. It gives a window into the
world of the disenchanted, those of us who walk the streets and feel ill at the
sights of the conformist and soulless masses."<br />
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I encourage everyone to watch this film. For the first time--or the hundredth time--it is worth examining.koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-35119502992550582902012-06-11T11:57:00.001-07:002012-06-11T12:00:32.559-07:00The Monthly Review remembers Adrienne Rich<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDsa2WkrM5xcc5EWogs-rdVoTDzslHRCb3xOzJBvVpNT6O5h2erTdKSWYaRYAKZDQmboWXabsGNNk3-MERK2VOW9sJ8dVadc8r-p68YF5ADXlAgYdPW1pMUgpPPSq-x9FFN4LxFrOhb4ye/s1600/MR-June2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDsa2WkrM5xcc5EWogs-rdVoTDzslHRCb3xOzJBvVpNT6O5h2erTdKSWYaRYAKZDQmboWXabsGNNk3-MERK2VOW9sJ8dVadc8r-p68YF5ADXlAgYdPW1pMUgpPPSq-x9FFN4LxFrOhb4ye/s320/MR-June2012.jpg" width="212" /></a>When Adrienne Rich passed away recently (March 27, 2012) I did not mention it on this blog. Somewhere in my library I have a signed copy of a collection of her poetry, but I've never studied/read her work enough to be able to speak about her, even though I've known for a long time that the work (poems and essays) of Adrienne Rich commands a lot of respect from feminists and Marxists.<br />
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So, I was pretty happy when I saw that the new (June) issue of the Monthly Review had a whole section devoted to remembering this great poet.<br />
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Besides some selected poems, (that had appeared in the magazine in recent years), there was also an essay titled, "<a href="http://monthlyreview.org/2012/06/01/credo-of-a-passionate-skeptic-2" target="_blank">Credo of a Passionate Skeptic</a>," (which first appeared in MR in June 2001). It is a very thought-provoking essay in which she gets into a number of topics and questions. But, what stood out the most to me seemed to be some self-criticism about how she had viewed Marx and Marxism.<br />
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She mentioned that she was, at first, dismissive of Marxism, but this was because she had been "echoing the standard anti-Marxism of the postwar American cultural and political mainstream." She recognizes that this anti-Marxism was embedded in the early women's movement "both by garden variety anticommunism and by fear that class would erase gender..." She talks about how she went back to study Marx and "found no blueprint for a future utopia but a skilled diagnosis of skewed and disfigured human relationships."<br />
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Although she didn't totally break with common-held American views of communism, (e.g. her summation of Stalin), she did embrace Marxism and was eager to show people where gender intersected with class. <a href="http://monthlyreview.org/2012/06/01/mr-064-02-2012-06" target="_blank">The short obituary in MR ends like this</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
So it was not surprising that when the commercial media ran obituaries of her, they sanitized her life and work, giving more emphasis to her awards than her work, characterizing her as angry rather than radical. At <em>MR</em> however, we preferred to hear her words: “Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts; hence, grappling with hard work” (from “Claiming an Education,” 1977).</blockquote>koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-21659636461105632202012-06-05T13:38:00.000-07:002012-09-19T11:06:13.419-07:00Music Review: Killer Mike's 'R.A.P. Music'<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKUzuUPhrhfUfT8we0oxFh_RO4lMGTUv0AhnUncjU8YZ6tfdJiByr5VlCoX9_0FzfrZO3qwtYN-L0ZipxyNwsKBzZxCnt_7AQ4oBA5wrb9FoQIm22vfSBam4Kx5wxpaUaR-lzJPFD_jKsd/s1600/RAPMusic.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKUzuUPhrhfUfT8we0oxFh_RO4lMGTUv0AhnUncjU8YZ6tfdJiByr5VlCoX9_0FzfrZO3qwtYN-L0ZipxyNwsKBzZxCnt_7AQ4oBA5wrb9FoQIm22vfSBam4Kx5wxpaUaR-lzJPFD_jKsd/s1600/RAPMusic.png" /></a><em>"This some real G shit/ Ya gotta show respect."</em><br />
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That's the ending to the first track on Killer Mike's new album, <strong>R.A.P Music</strong>, and if you leave it there, this could just be another gansta rap album. But it's a whole lot more than that.<br />
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For starters, there is the stand-out track, "Reagan," which was named Best New Track by <a href="http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/13626-reagan/" target="_blank">Pitchforck Media</a> in May. (The album was released May 15, 2012). I could write a whole essay on the beauty of this track, which exposes some of the oppressive crimes against the basic masses during the Reagan era, but also rants against some of the silly ideas often promoted by hip-hop artists. Some of the lyrics: <em>"So it seems our people starve/ from a lack of understanding./ Cause all we seem to give them/ is some balling and some dancing./ And some thinking about cars/ and imaginary mansions./"</em><br />
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A couple of the other stand-out tracks include the title track, which is a real homage to hip-hop music, as it compares it to a religious experience. And the very honest autobiographical track "Willie Burke Sherwood," (which has the best summary of the classic book, "Lord of the Flies," you will ever hear in any song).<br />
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Of course, what stands out the most on the album are all the contradictions. For instance, you will hear references to Mumia Abu Jamal and the lack of justice for Black people, but in the same song you will hear Killer Mike refer to women as "Jezebel whores."<br />
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He's definitely not a "conscious MC" like Mos Def or Talib Kweli. (Although his stance on Obama is a lot more radical than most conscious rappers). He's more in the vein of someone like Ice Cube, who comes from the "hard streets," and whose lyrics reflect the best and worst thoughts of people living in the ghettos and barrios.<br />
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"A lot of people try to peg me as a political rapper and I'm not. I'm a social commentator and at times people have politicized the things I say, but I don't care too much for any political party. I care about people..." he recently told <a href="http://www.spin.com/#articles/hear-killer-mikes-fiery-rap-music-mc-runs-us-through-his-new-lp" target="_blank">Spin</a> magazine.<br />
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Killer Mike keeps his ear to the streets, and tells it the way he sees it. This, (and the great production from El-P throughout the album), are good enough reason to listen to what he's saying.koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-83144692987677018842012-05-14T14:38:00.000-07:002012-05-14T14:55:45.009-07:00On The Davis Dozen & Political Poetry<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9O4Jn1ElqThuI-1tlIXverv-beI-3sTPHmS4L4Ypv04UC9kqY9OUh1X_WPqgcZ9rdWw2BJF00ryIOuV3iC9BIxMhHQlYHJ4Jpu2UpX94hfOixtCUOoGmkLXFv_fyVdkqRyd8CbI8J0hPf/s1600/DropDozenCharges.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9O4Jn1ElqThuI-1tlIXverv-beI-3sTPHmS4L4Ypv04UC9kqY9OUh1X_WPqgcZ9rdWw2BJF00ryIOuV3iC9BIxMhHQlYHJ4Jpu2UpX94hfOixtCUOoGmkLXFv_fyVdkqRyd8CbI8J0hPf/s320/DropDozenCharges.jpg" width="320" /></a>The <a href="http://davisdozen.org/" target="_blank">Davis Dozen</a> (also called referred by some as the Bankers Dozen) are a group of 11 students and one Professor from UC Davis that received arrest notices weeks after they participated in a sit-down protest outside a U.S. Bank branch located on their campus. <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-mct-uc-davis-sues-u.s.-bank-for-breach-of-contract-20120508,0,3385589.story" target="_blank">The bank decided</a> to close that particular branch and now the university is trying to get this group to face misdemeanor charges of conspiracy and blocking a public entrance.<br />
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Those who have been paying attention to the Occupy movement might remember that UC Davis was the site of the infamous attack by campus police on students using pepper spray. In fact, some of the same students who were pepper-sprayed, are part of the Davis Dozen. So, this is actually a case where the university is trying to set an example of students and faculty by criminalizing dissent.<br />
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I write about this on my blog, not only because more people need to know about this, but because the professor--who is facing prison time (along with the students)--is a poet, who has actually been doing some good work writing about poetry and politics. First check out his piece, "<a href="http://www.lanaturnerjournal.com/poetry/clovergeorgic.html" target="_blank">Spring Georgic</a>" that was recently published in the Lana Turner Journal, and ends like this: "why would we not call these/ <em>the possessed</em>/ green and gold in the springtime/ in March and in April and in May/ especially in late March/ seize the banks"<br />
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Then, there is this <a href="http://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/poetry/crossroads/red_white_blue_poets_on_politics/joshua_clover_juliana_spahr_1/" target="_blank">wonderful essay</a> co-written by Clover and fellow Poet Juliana Spahr where they talk about being poets and activists--at different times, and at the same time! A short excerpt here:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We suspect as well that more poets couldn't find jobs or pay debts than has been true in the near past. In this we suspect they are like those who are not poets. And from this unemployed and debt-steeped position, we are even so bold as to believe, more poets thought seriously about making massive, substantive changes than they have in the past few years, changes in how society is arranged regarding things like jobs and debts and jails. Then they stood at moments together and at moments alone and talked about this on the steps of various public plazas some holding megaphones and some holding the microphone from an unpermitted amplification system and some using their voices which then got echoed by the others. Some stood in the crowd or went marching down streets holding cardboard signs with pithy and poetic phrases written on them with a Sharpie. And for the most part they did not call it poetry even as they knew a great deal of the thinking and the motivation that got them there came from being a poet. And even as they did this standing or this marching in the supportive presence of other poets, in spaces made possible by other poets.<br />
</blockquote>
Visit the groups <a href="http://davisdozen.org/?page_id=11" target="_blank">website</a> and keep up to date with their case. They recently <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2012/05/davis-dozen-rejects-plea-deal-sets-new-court-date-for-june-1/" target="_blank">rejected a plea deal</a> and a a new court date has been set for June 1. More recently, the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/pageviews/2012/05/poet-joshua-clover-11-uc-davis-students-will-head-to-court-over-us-bank-protest" target="_blank">New York Daily News</a> ran a piece on Clover and the case he and the rest of Davis Dozen are facing.<br />
<br />koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-80341258523058692032012-05-10T16:59:00.001-07:002012-05-11T07:59:43.336-07:00Recommended: May '12 Issue of Juxtapoz<a style="clear: left; margin-right: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; float: left;" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEqVms0JDlLwoswZyHDvnQrlTzqLxLXrq7ZaCuH-uHX7iyeVjJimOjrl24KSIRnXIDBmpKgtUpQD8CO3Syi5niFpCETc54Mjv-UuY701xu7Y9beuctogq9EYFWFpyUnyQ4SKmaDDt7nH6k/s1600/JuxtapozMay2012.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEqVms0JDlLwoswZyHDvnQrlTzqLxLXrq7ZaCuH-uHX7iyeVjJimOjrl24KSIRnXIDBmpKgtUpQD8CO3Syi5niFpCETc54Mjv-UuY701xu7Y9beuctogq9EYFWFpyUnyQ4SKmaDDt7nH6k/s320/JuxtapozMay2012.jpg" width="320" height="213" /></a>I haven't been excited to look at--much less read--an entire issue of Juxtapoz magazine since March of 2011 when they had a <a href="http://www.juxtapoz.com/Current/an-in-depth-look-at-the-march-2011-juxtapoz-featuring-emory-douglas-gus-van-sant-and-johanna-jackson" target="_blank">cover story of Emory Douglas</a>, (the Black Panther Party's Minister of Culture). But the current issue on the stands is the "<a href="http://shop.juxtapoz.com/detail.php?id=423" target="_blank">Public Art Issue</a>" which features, (besides four different covers), great photos and interviews of some of the biggest street artists working today.<br /><br />There's also articles written by the artists themselves. For instance, El Mac, who starts off an essay about murals with a quote from one of the great Mexican muralists, Jose Clemente Orozco:<em> "The highest, most logical, purest and most powerful type of painting is mural painting. It is also the most disinterested, as it cannot be converted into an object of personal gain nor can it be concealed for the benefit of a few privileged people. It is for the people. It is for everybody."</em> And then there's this quote from the introduction of <a href="http://www.juxtapoz.com/Search/newest-first?searchphrase=exact&searchword=Ron+English" target="_blank">Ron English's</a> article where he talks about his long-time involvement with public art:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"Most of the public art that I've done in my career was unsanctioned. So for me, public art means street art, which is DIY, immediate, unfiltered, non-paying, physically and legally risky, and sometimes resulting in situations unplanned for and out of control. I seem to have an innate ability to generate imagery that pisses people off. Combine that with a penchant for putting it on the street and what you have is a life of constant trouble with periods of great delight."</blockquote><br />Other great pieces in this issue include the profile piece on <a href="http://www.juxtapoz.com/Search/newest-first?searchphrase=exact&searchword=Swoon" target="_blank">Swoon</a>, an artist known for taking her beautiful wheat pastes and highly creative "out-stallations" all over the world: from Brooklyn to Sao Paulo, Brazil; from New Orleans to Haiti; from San Francisco's Mission District and back again. You can tell she has a lot of love for the planet and loves to engage with all kinds of people. The interview with L.A. graffiti artists <a href="http://koffee-kommie.blogspot.com/2011/09/saber-protests-with-skybombing.html" target="_blank">Saber</a> and Revok is also good, as it spends much time speaking on the criminalization of graffiti artists (mostly youth), and the constant harassment from police and city government.<br /><br />But, my favorite article is the profile on <a href="http://www.tedprize.org/jr-2011-ted-prize-winner/" target="_blank">JR</a>, a french artist who also travels the world trying to utilize art for social change an has gone to many different places like Brazil, Palestine, South Africa to wheat paste giant sized portraits of regular people that seem to bring out their humanity. "When I'm in the streets and I paste, I have to talk to people, so that's why it's easy for me to talk and paste because that's what I do, working in the streets everyday. I have to explain it to folks. I love people, and I love exchanging, and those projects are a great way to learn about people and ask them questions about their story and really learn about their conflicts," he said in the interview.<br /><br />If you only buy one issue of Juxtapoz a year, make sure this is the one!<br /><br />[<strong>UPDATE</strong>: Some stores have already removed this issue from the stands and have replaced it with the new June issue. However, you can still order this issue online].koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-39444193646392124942012-04-30T11:26:00.000-07:002012-04-30T11:27:27.191-07:00Recommended: In Wonderland at LACMA<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf3T0VvQ0x6hon_67aFvyFsyo_FM4kx36A1WrCjVZqkzIg_HE_kPuB5Jpt1XRp7-Q0X79j028Yh7_UrCLbW7ZZe-ppoglYdaBJKWVOy2IFh0-vgTMu8WQYWePxtVx425gEKNecJ08LoIzZ/s1600/Wonderland-LACMA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf3T0VvQ0x6hon_67aFvyFsyo_FM4kx36A1WrCjVZqkzIg_HE_kPuB5Jpt1XRp7-Q0X79j028Yh7_UrCLbW7ZZe-ppoglYdaBJKWVOy2IFh0-vgTMu8WQYWePxtVx425gEKNecJ08LoIzZ/s1600/Wonderland-LACMA.jpg" /></a>This past weekend, I finally got a chance to see "<a href="http://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/in-wonderland" target="_blank">In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States</a>," which is on view at the LACMA <a href="http://www.lacma.org/visit/plan-your-visit" target="_blank">only until May 6</a>! Ever since I read the description for this art exhibit I had been wanting to check it out. In part it read: "While their male counterparts usually cast women as objects for their delectation, female Surrealists delved into their own subconscious and dreams, creating extraordinary visual images. Their art was primarily about identity: portraits, double portraits, self-referential images, and masquerades that demonstrate their trials and pleasures."<br />
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The show has been very widely promoted on streets all over Los Angeles with large ad-banners featuring a self-portrait of Frida Kahlo, <em>Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird</em>. (A detail of which is seen here on this blog). As I knew this was going to be group show featuring many artists, I was a bit worried that this show would only have one of Kahlo's pieces in the collection, but I was very happily surprised that they had seven of her paintings--including one of her most famous (and larger pieces), <em>Los Dos Fridas</em>, which is a real treat to see up close.<br />
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With over 170 paintings, sculptures, photographs in this exhibit, it was a great opportunity for me to discover new artists that I had never heard of before. One of the artists that stood out the most to me was Remedios Varo, a Spanish-born artist, who worked in Paris before fleeing to Mexico during the Nazi Occupation. She had a couple of beautiful paintings in the exhibit, including one titled, <a href="http://nativethinghood.tumblr.com/post/18215705418/remedios-varo-papilla-estelar-celestial" target="_blank"><em>Papilla estelar (Celestial Pablum)</em>,</a> which was very dreamy, but also evoked some sadness.<br />
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By the time some of you read this, it may already be too late to see this exhibit. However, there is a companion book, and although it is pricey ($60) it is worth purchasing and is available in English, Spanish and French.koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-21060742555880667032012-04-26T10:01:00.009-07:002012-04-26T13:45:45.954-07:00Tom Morello & others Join Occupy Guitarmy<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWnazl2WOWJ9R0es4PgjnmLfPLj8bDnlAXtgzOAt2DRhLgbWGXfeCD78P0f32ao3_rD7rHjIqWz3gytGEm2PWbslsacacvcfpk-EKWmpIAscBnuAiU80rAcoP6rWJsAM6OE3lZ7PAK2_sD/s1600/Guitarmy.png"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 295px; height: 400px; float: left; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5735803883201205778" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWnazl2WOWJ9R0es4PgjnmLfPLj8bDnlAXtgzOAt2DRhLgbWGXfeCD78P0f32ao3_rD7rHjIqWz3gytGEm2PWbslsacacvcfpk-EKWmpIAscBnuAiU80rAcoP6rWJsAM6OE3lZ7PAK2_sD/s400/Guitarmy.png" /></a>As many of you radicals know, this May first is International Workers Day, (also known as May Day), and the Occupy Movement is calling on people to participate in a General Strike (No work, no school, no business as usual). Over in New York, specific plans have been made for large protest marches that will include a "<a href="http://occupyguitarmy.tumblr.com/">Guitarmy</a>."<br /><br />A call has been made for a 1000 musicians to enlist and other blogs have reported that The Nightwatchman, (AKA Tom Morello), will be leading this <em>guitarmy</em> to Union Square where he will be performing at 4 p.m. alongside artists like Immortal Technique, Ben Harper, Das Racist, and others. Morello has showed the Occupy Movement a lot of support; he's played some sets at a few of the Occupy encampments around the country, including <a href="http://koffee-kommie.blogspot.com/2011/10/tom-morello-at-occupyla.html">in L.A.</a>, and even did a dance party for Occupy at <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/tom-morello-plans-flash-mob-dance-party-for-occupy-sxsw-20120313">SXSW earlier this year</a>.<br /><br />Here is what <a href="http://pitchfork.com/news/46237-das-racist-dan-deacon-tom-morello-immortal-technique-to-play-occupy-wall-street-may-day-rally/">Pitchfork Media</a> has said about the march route:</div><div> <blockquote>Morello will also lead a "Guitarmy" of 1,000 guitarists, string players, and singers that will march from New York's Bryant Park, through midtown Manhattan, down to Union Square, culminating in a performance at 4 p.m. An open rehearsal for the performance will begin at 12 p.m. in Bryant Park, to practice Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land", Sergio Ortega's "El Pueblo Unido", Willie Nile's "One Guitar", the Nightwatchman's "World Wide Rebel Song", and the traditional protest song "We Shall Not Be Moved".</blockquote> </div><div> </div><div>The song list seems pretty tame and lame to me, but this is still a pretty cool idea!</div>koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-65404480046141149522012-04-24T10:45:00.005-07:002012-04-24T11:25:07.191-07:00Juan Felipe Herrera; Poet Laureate of California<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNDMh3LdHiyh6C-IMWkKH25Ny1TH0vRlk_BZGs5qTmdKjD33JUMfX7ZH1OOiQPIKWYu8yQQd7iZ-nBDvs8xyn4mg5ArkFExBpMg0lPuWwFZAryS8hwCAWM7NIdqHkf9KTdS1yGyTRSKDzu/s1600/187Reasons.gif"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 277px; height: 400px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5735032324719271890" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNDMh3LdHiyh6C-IMWkKH25Ny1TH0vRlk_BZGs5qTmdKjD33JUMfX7ZH1OOiQPIKWYu8yQQd7iZ-nBDvs8xyn4mg5ArkFExBpMg0lPuWwFZAryS8hwCAWM7NIdqHkf9KTdS1yGyTRSKDzu/s400/187Reasons.gif" /></a><a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2012/03/juan-felipe-herrera-california-poet-laureate.html">I'm late on this</a>, but since it is still National Poetry Month, I wanted to acknowledge <strong>Juan Felipe Herrera</strong>, who was appointed the Poet Laureate of California last month. He becomes the first Chicano to ever hold this post.<br /><br />It might be of importance to people who read this blog, as his work is very much influenced by the Beat Generation (writers like Allen Ginsberg), as well as the whole Chicano movement. In fact, Herrera was at the very first <a href="http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search/controller/collection/florcanto-m1.html">Festival de Flor y Canto</a> (Festival of flower and song) at USC in 1973 where he shared the stage with some of the great Chicano/a writers of the time like Oscar "Zeta" Acosta, Alurista, Juan Gómez Quiñones, José Montoya, Ricardo Sánchez and many others. (In 2010, he was also present at USC for <a href="http://libguides.usc.edu/florycanto">a new Flor Y Canto</a> that included artists from the original festival, as well as representatives of a new generation of voices).<br /><br />His most recent work, "Half of the World in Light" was a winner of that year's National Book Critics Circle award in poetry, but I'm more familiar with his 2007 collection, "<a href="http://www.citylights.com/book/?GCOI=87286100576310">187 Reasons Mexicanos Can't Cross The Border: Undocuments 1971-2007</a>." The title piece is perhaps his most known--and most hilarious--poem. A short excert below:<br /><blockquote>Because Lou Dobbs has been misusing the subjunctive again<br />Because our suitcases are made with biodegradable maguey fibers<br />Because we still resemble La Malinche<br />Because multiplication is our favorite sport<br />Because we’ll dig a tunnel to Seattle<br />Because Mexico needs us to keep the peso from sinking<br />Because the Berlin Wall is on the way to Veracruz<br />Because we just learned we are Huichol<br />Because someone made our IDs out of corn<br />Because our border thirst is insatiable<br />Because we're on peyote & Coca-Cola & Banamex<br />Because it's Indian land stolen from our mothers<br />Because we're too emotional when it comes to our mothers<br />Because we've been doing it for over five hundred years already...</blockquote>koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-8846608084751040552012-04-20T11:13:00.008-07:002012-04-20T13:20:52.224-07:00Ludlow: a Massacre, a Verse-Novel<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmW182nvqkzQ1AtYdpzp4n-rlpT1MQqKjGXRz16HiiWBVGI8ZoLESj7pz8ZPl3-jopDzkxykfI2X1NLEA3p9km0HSGBH5ZDQh4I0ThGUlE32z1OAknQ8L5zncbPRdleAvwVUw8hm-ayW0n/s1600/Ludlow.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 322px; height: 372px; float: left; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5733551881429965218" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmW182nvqkzQ1AtYdpzp4n-rlpT1MQqKjGXRz16HiiWBVGI8ZoLESj7pz8ZPl3-jopDzkxykfI2X1NLEA3p9km0HSGBH5ZDQh4I0ThGUlE32z1OAknQ8L5zncbPRdleAvwVUw8hm-ayW0n/s400/Ludlow.jpg" /></a>Almost a century ago, on April 20, 1914, the Colorado National Guard attacked a tent colony of 1,200 coal miners, and their families, who were on strike. As a result, there were between 19 and 25 deaths--including 13 women and children. The Ludlow Massacre, as this moment in history came to to be known, has been described by Historian Howard Zinn as "the culminating act of perhaps the most violent struggle between corporate power and laboring men in American history."<br /><br />In 2007, <a href="http://redhen.org/book/?uuid=525BA3BC-EF5A-BED8-71A6-7188E1C0CD4E">Red Hen Press</a> published a verse-novel called <strong>Ludlow</strong>, (think of it as a book-length poem), by the Poet David Mason (who years later was later named the Poet Laureate of Colorado). The author's note describes the poem as "a work of fiction, but certain characters and events have their origins set in historical fact..."<br /><br />In 2010, when a 2nd edition of the book was released, the author was featured on the <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-june10/davidmason_04-01.html">PBS News Hour</a> where he talked about his book. He said, "To use all this language, all this history, all this knowledge about versification and put it all together in what I hope is a very compelling story about a very serious moment in American history that's still with us, because we still are a nation of immigrants. We still are a nation that struggles with issues of corporate power, corporate greed, the rights of individual people."<br /><br />Below is a short excerpt that describes working-life in the mines:<br /><blockquote>The mines made windows too, when timbermen<br />or diggers deep inside the earth cut through<br />to gas and lanterns set it off, or when<br />the pillared chambers fell. You heard a slump<br />within, and some poor digger ran out choking<br />there was thirty boys still trapped in the seam.<br />And some days all you'd see was bodies carted<br />down the hill and bosses counting heads.</blockquote>koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-28208453490298387972012-04-16T10:37:00.004-07:002012-04-16T11:04:22.468-07:00Two Things to Learn from the Günter Grass PoemA few weeks ago, the German Writer, (1999 Nobel Prize in Literature winner), Günter Grass published a poem called “<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/04/gunter-grasss-controversial-poem-about-israel-iran-and-war-translated/255549/#.T4BwU9yuvx8.twitter">What Must Be Said</a>.” In this poem, Grass denounced the state of Israel for its nuclear weapons program and its recent aggression towards Iran, which he feels endangers world peace. A few stanzas of it here:<br /><blockquote>Why though have I stayed silent until now?<br />Because I thought my origin,<br />Afflicted by a stain never to be expunged<br />Kept the state of Israel, to which I am bound<br />And wish to stay bound,<br />From accepting this fact as pronounced truth.<br /><br />Why do I say only now,<br />Aged and with my last ink,<br />That the nuclear power of Israel endangers<br />The already fragile world peace?<br />Because it must be said<br />What even tomorrow may be too late to say;<br />Also because we--as Germans burdened enough--<br />Could be the suppliers to a crime<br />That is foreseeable, wherefore our complicity<br />Could not be redeemed through any of the usual excuses.</blockquote><br />As Mr. Grass, is a very public and well-known literary figure, it did not take long for the government of Israel to respond and condemn the poet, calling him anti-Semitic and barring him from ever entering the country by declaring him a <em>persona non grata</em>.<br /><br />There are two lessons to learn right away from all this: 1) Poetry is still very fuck’n powerful! 2) If you dare to criticize Israel, you will automatically be declared anti-Semitic. (This is actually brought up very sharply—and in a humorous way—by Michael Robbins in one of his <a href="http://koffee-kommie.blogspot.com/2012/04/recommended-alien-vs-predator-by.html">poems from Alien vs. Predator</a>.<br /><br />Unfortunately, too many people let Israel get away with what it’s doing. (Not just for its nuclear weapon threats, but for the occupation of the Palestinian people every day since its existence). Even Dave Eggers, author of the book, Zeitoun, refused to accept a literary award from the Günter Grass Foundation last week, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/apr/16/eggers-shuns-gunter-grass-prize?newsfeed=true">most likely for fear of being associated with Grass</a>.<br /><br />This reminds me of the way that Revolution newspaper Writer Alan Goodman ended a short article he once wrote about the lack of criticism of Israel for its war crimes. <a href="http://revcom.us/a/151online/never_again-en.html">He wrote:</a> In this light, this statement by Bob Avakian, the Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA is something that needs to be confronted by everyone, and poses a critical moral challenge: <strong>“After the Holocaust, the worst thing that has happened to Jewish people is the state of Israel.”</strong><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinGFkyJ82kJf8x8mtMtltVRwPdTzkPE_e0bv_22mxuxZQW5vqGpt83SJN7MUN_6Lc__Jf0LDa6KoCscby8GyKfGB6DmmiP7h7UpCV1AG7nU-ftlx6ht0e9YGdr84KWC673X3sJcWBZ85gf/s1600/GrassHat.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 261px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732060652702996162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinGFkyJ82kJf8x8mtMtltVRwPdTzkPE_e0bv_22mxuxZQW5vqGpt83SJN7MUN_6Lc__Jf0LDa6KoCscby8GyKfGB6DmmiP7h7UpCV1AG7nU-ftlx6ht0e9YGdr84KWC673X3sJcWBZ85gf/s400/GrassHat.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinGFkyJ82kJf8x8mtMtltVRwPdTzkPE_e0bv_22mxuxZQW5vqGpt83SJN7MUN_6Lc__Jf0LDa6KoCscby8GyKfGB6DmmiP7h7UpCV1AG7nU-ftlx6ht0e9YGdr84KWC673X3sJcWBZ85gf/s1600/GrassHat.jpg"></a>koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-56590740842214081852012-04-13T11:05:00.004-07:002012-04-13T15:06:04.559-07:00Recommended: Alien vs. Predator by Michael Robbins<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5QkT-4XDT3uxP-64TUIhfdyUE3Jwwu_qY744bL2V4_ME3rQmrqOuKevJ7iGEuf9o5Bqc2_v_ql8844msb8pt1kTCXY3oOyeudx132ZcqDmK3AxGmc8u3gforfs3Er9kKHXatiFuSTuLnv/s1600/AlienVsPredator.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 263px; height: 400px; float: left; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730954683108679778" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5QkT-4XDT3uxP-64TUIhfdyUE3Jwwu_qY744bL2V4_ME3rQmrqOuKevJ7iGEuf9o5Bqc2_v_ql8844msb8pt1kTCXY3oOyeudx132ZcqDmK3AxGmc8u3gforfs3Er9kKHXatiFuSTuLnv/s400/AlienVsPredator.jpg" /></a>Much has been said about Michael Robbins and the way his poems are deliciously drenched in pop-culture references. And I would be lying if I didn’t admit that it was this particular style (milkshake, if you will) that brought me to his <strong>Alien vs. Predator</strong> yard. His choice of words, not only brings much humor to his poems, but also makes them feel very timely—not just contemporary.<br /><br />Once you look past the pop-culture references you will see Robbins’ real love for the poetic tradition of rhyme. For instance, in <em>Welfare Mothers</em>, “Little Bo Mercy in heels and hose,/ just under the water she usually goes./ She moves grams and ounces, prays for war./ She’s not the droid you’re looking for.”<br /><br />And these two great final lines for the poem, <em>Dig Dug</em>: “Memory is the bended grass where deer have lain./ It’s hard to hold a candle to the cold November rain.” Throughout the book, you’ll find rhymes like these that make the reading experience enjoyable.<br /><br />There are a lot of themes in the book, including some very serious political stuff. The poem, <em>Remain In Light</em>, gets into the struggle of the Palestinian people—in a very different and unique way: “This is a poem for the Caterpillar D9./ I, Rachel Corrie, one of the rough, a kosmos./ This must be nasty anti-Semitic poem!”<br /><br />Some readers might have a difficult time finding out the meaning to these poems, as it will almost never be obvious. Truth be told, most of these poems went over my head. But I’ve only done one quick reading of the book, and I know reading this collection over and over again and really studying these poems will never be boring.<br /><br />Have I sold you on buying this book? Well, here’s one last thing: You know how you’ll be at a bookstore flipping through poetry books, and in the last page there’s usually a photo of the poet—which is usually some old professor guy in a nice button shirt or sweater who looks like he’s spent too much time in the library studying the meaning of a Shakespearean sonnet? Well, in the last page of this book, there’s just a picture of some dude…in a <strong>Slayer </strong>t-shirt!koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-10114455278758633562012-04-10T15:36:00.009-07:002012-04-11T08:50:29.775-07:00From the Back Issue Bin- Punisher: Going Out West<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI1i62d20q4bry6RLncyNxIWYC-KRLIIX8M7chmVPS0QV27aOJ2AdODIYruwctkoh4oqSbzPf1tD6aAP9WRvEuHu1vYaXfmAkk1ja1gFIXKHCNsvTFlzYevTl_WKXMVpPq9GBgSHkjnH3K/s1600/Punisher-West.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 263px; height: 397px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729912280283267106" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI1i62d20q4bry6RLncyNxIWYC-KRLIIX8M7chmVPS0QV27aOJ2AdODIYruwctkoh4oqSbzPf1tD6aAP9WRvEuHu1vYaXfmAkk1ja1gFIXKHCNsvTFlzYevTl_WKXMVpPq9GBgSHkjnH3K/s400/Punisher-West.jpg" /></a>Recently, while I was at <a href="http://www.emeraldcitycomicon.com/">Emerald City Comic Con</a>, I was able to talk to one of my favorite comic-book writers, Matt Fraction. I was happy that he autographed a few of my <strong>Punisher War Journal</strong> books that he penned back in 2007. These particular books were special to me because they were part of a storyline called, "Goin' Out West." I enjoyed this storyline a lot because it was a very political story that dealt with the issue of immigration.<br /><br />The villain here was the Hate-Monger, who was leading a group of high technology-powered Nazis that were killing immigrants, (or would-be immigrants), near the U.S./Mexico border in the Sonoran desert. This was very important because, around the same time, there was a lot of controversy at the Arizona border due to "<a href="http://revcom.us/a/045/minutemen-enforcers-of-death.html">The Minutemen</a>," armed militia groups who had taken it upon themselves to "patrol" the U.S./Mexico border.<br /><br />In the story, instead of Minutemen, they are Nazis, which is essentially what they are, and exactly why I like the story so much--because they truly are villains! (Not heroes, or patriots, or whatever someone else might come up with to dress it up).<br /><br />Frank Castle, the Punisher, does not like what these Nazis are doing. And although he usually spends his time taking out mob bosses or super-villains, he decides to infiltrate them so to best kill them. Although most of the story is about how Frank goes about infiltrating the Nazi camp and the repercussions of that, the beginning of the story does shed some light on some of the reasons why people go come to the U.S. from Mexico. In one whole page, Staurt, (a sort of sidekick to Frank), reads him some information, including this passage:<br /><br /><br /> <blockquote><p>"Maquilas or maquiladoras, depending on your grasp of Spanish, exist throughout Mexico and Latin America in these--these special zones. No tariffs or taxes. They bring raw goods in and ship finished crap out. They're...dictatorial sweatshops, basically. NAFTA-sanctioned sweatshops."</p><p></p></blockquote><p>I like this story so much that I even went ahead and bought a hardcover collected trade and recommend the same to anybody who is looking for a good story. As long as you don't mind a little violence.</p>koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3775096329703598737.post-13609402819831516302012-03-23T12:17:00.004-07:002012-03-23T12:29:52.594-07:00A Quick Guide to Banksy Books<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUiTw1sxWX4uN1-MZEX7oTFh1arhOlYs2yuoIMfz-Eh1grGp2hMZpIc2hcXICxJX_oPbtHJefRKiLcnN26rtwVL6mk5fh-KhhYbBPYLuSYNnjx4WYpsopgxzostgmbnFdkRfIRJBt9zOk0/s1600/Banksy-LevelofThreat.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 266px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723175208512813266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUiTw1sxWX4uN1-MZEX7oTFh1arhOlYs2yuoIMfz-Eh1grGp2hMZpIc2hcXICxJX_oPbtHJefRKiLcnN26rtwVL6mk5fh-KhhYbBPYLuSYNnjx4WYpsopgxzostgmbnFdkRfIRJBt9zOk0/s400/Banksy-LevelofThreat.jpg" /></a>While flipping through a book catalog yesterday I noticed some new books on infamous street artist, Banksy. I thought I would list them here, along with the other titles that I’m familiar with:<br /><br /><strong>Wall and Piece by BANKSY</strong><br />This is the one book that should definitely be on your bookshelf. And as far as I know, the only official Banksy collection out there put together by the artist himself. It is very popular and I have seen it “out of stock” on Amazon quite a few times, especially since the time that <em>Exit Through The Gift Shop </em>came out in theaters. (I know for sure it is one of the best-selling items at <a href="http://revolutionbooksla.blogspot.com/">Revolution Books L.A.</a>)<br /><br /><strong>Banksy’s Bristol: Home Sweet Home by Steve Wright</strong><br />A nice <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Banksys-Bristol-Home-Sweet/dp/0867197080/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332526560&sr=1-14">hardcover collection</a> that focuses on Banksy’s hometown of Bristol and stands out because it has many images of the artist’s early work. (Also, some interviews with people who worked with him early in his career).<br /><br /><strong>Banksy Locations and Tours Vol. 1 & Vol.2 by Martin Bull</strong><br />These first came out in the U.K., but then <a href="http://www.pmpress.org/content/article.php/Banksy">PM Press</a> put out their versions. The collections were put together by photographer Martin Bull, and can be very useful if you ever decide to go on vacation to areas where Banksy has left artwork behind. (Both books also have images of great art from other infamous street artists). But, the drawback to these editions is that they are small (for art books), so even though they have many great photographs, the images are rather small.<br /><br /><strong>Banksy: Myths and Legends by Marc Leverton</strong><br />This book just came out at the end of last year, from <a href="http://www.gingkopress.com/05-str/banksy-myths-and-legends.html">Ginko Press</a>. It’s a smaller book with about 80 color illustrations; however it seems to focus more on “stories” and “facts” about the artist. It seems to feature some of his most recent work and looks like it’s priced very affordably.<br /><br /><strong>Banksy: You Are An Acceptable Level of Threat compiled by Gary Shove & Patrick Potter</strong><br />A new collection, set to be released this summer, and the <a href="http://www.youareanacceptablelevelofthreat.com/">preview</a> makes it look very promising—especially because it’s supposed to include photos of the work Banksy did in New Orleans, and the stencils he did out in Los Angeles when he was in town for the Oscars. If you see this at a bookstore, grab it because it definitely looks like it would be worth to add to your home library.koffee-kommiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01649516541115034956noreply@blogger.com1