Refa One: Obama train

A Brand New Illustration by Oakland Artist "Refa One" Depicting Obama. This is the Latest Subway Car illustration from the popular Series "Train of Thought".

Title: "The Winds of Change" (ObAmA)
Medium: Permanent Ink, Pigment Pens and Marker Illustration
Size: 8 X17 inches (framed)
Price: $350.

Signed Prints:
8 X 17 inches $50
5 X 11 inches $25

contact: refa1@hotmail.com

A.K.A. Graffiti - Oakland California - August 2008

At FIVEten Studio with Peeta (check out his new canvases) and TDK crew and performers of many kinds.

Photos by Peeta, Kemrexx, and Susan Farrell. Regrettably these are not all the items in the show, but here are some of the more photographable highlights.


Dream.TDK RIP

Peeta

Peeta

detail

Vogue

Vogue

Low Rider, parked


Peeta

Low Rider with Vogue paint, character

Vogue

Merx

Merx

Merx

Merx

Peeta

Vogue

Banksy talks about his endangered piece in London

Pretty funny and profound stuff. It turns out the Royal Mail is the complainant and the defender claims it's theirs and it's advertising. Banksy is not amused.

On Oct. 23, the Council of Westminster in London ordered the removal of a 23 ft (7 m) Banksy mural -- reportedly his largest work in central London -- claiming that it encourages graffiti.

In an exclusive statement to TIME, the mysterious guerrilla prankster has responded to the council's decision. "I don't know what next door is complaining about -- their building is so ugly the 'No Trespassing' sign reads like an insult," the statement reads, referring to Royal Mail, a tenant of the building that has sought the mural's removal.

NYC high school rents out its graffiti roof room

This is the same space I posted about a while back, Seward Park High School in NYC, that let some of the Kings come in and paint. This article explains the rooftop space's influence a bit more and mentions in passing that it's also a rentable party space. Support their school and the Old School at the same time. Sweet. Open air.

Video the Vote

A great idea: Put an army of citizen reporters out there with video cameras and thus monitor the voting irregularities online. It might not protect against the ballot boxes that get dropped in Florida swamps, but at least we'd get that license plate number.

Tim O'Reilly: Why I support Barack Obama

(via BoingBoing)
This is great info with very interesting links to other stuff. My favorite reason here:

9/11, The War in Iraq, and the Growth of Authoritarian Government

Perhaps the most frightening thing about 9/11 is how easily we, as a nation, forgot who we are and what we stand for. We threw away the sympathy of the world by acting as though the threat of terrorism justifies the abandonment of human rights. The false intelligence and the lies that linked Iraq with the terrorists of 9/11, the abuses in Guantanamo, the drumbeat of fear that was used for political gain, all lost us the respect and moral leadership we once enjoyed. Meanwhile, Americans gave up freely the liberties that were the very foundation of our nation and made us a model for the rest of the world.

We need a clear break with that sordid epoch. John McCain is as outraged by Guantanamo as Barack Obama, but he continues the misplaced focus of American foreign policy on Iraq. And he seems to share the Bush administration's idea that terrorism is the greatest threat facing this country.

Barack Obama has outlined a commitment to extricate ourselves from a colossal foreign policy mistake. This plan, derided as naive by the Republicans, is in line with the wishes of the Iraqis, and will allow us to realign our foreign policy priorities to deal with far more substantial threats to our national interest.

But more importantly, it is itself a strategic move in "the war on terror. " By invading Iraq, we created a haven for terrorism that didn't previously exist. Even worse, we gave them exactly what they wanted, an enemy that could serve as a recruiting tool.

And we played completely into their hands here in America as well! What, after all, is the goal of terrorism? To disrupt the society of an enemy by creating an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty.

Al Quaeda no longer needs to do anything to create that atmosphere of fear. Our government does that for them! From the horrific -- abuses of civil rights that undermine fundamental constitutional freedoms -- to the ridiculous -- what Bruce Schneier has so ably criticized as security theater that has increased the costs and inconvenience of travel while providing no added security, the Bush administration has acted the puppet to Osama bin Laden's game plan.

On the internet, we know how to deal with people who try to disrupt our activities. While griefers are not the same as terrorists, the same principle applies. We say, "Don't feed the trolls!"

Even without any overt action, an Obama presidency will undermine the aims of terror by providing a clear break with the past, a break with the policies that have made America more of a target for terrorism than we were before 9/11.

My hope -- and I'll admit that it's only a hope -- is that Obama is smart enough to know, like Roosevelt, that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself," and will use the power of the presidency to reverse the fear-driven policies of the past seven years.

Perhaps the most alarming aspect of what has happened in those years is the way that fear has been used to claim extraordinary power for the Presidency. Those of you who know my background know that my degree is in Greek and Latin Classics. So it's perhaps forgivable that historical parallels with ancient Rome are quick to come to my mind. The claims of the Bush administration to be above the law, its claims that the threat of terrorism demand the suspension of civil liberties, are eerily reminiscent of the events that led to the end of the Roman Republic. Faced with an invasion by pirates (the terrorists of 68 BC), Pompey the Great was given extraordinary powers. Within a decade, Rome was a dictatorship, led by the one Senator who had supported Pompey's exaggerated claims, Julius Caesar.

Of course, we are a long way from that point, but the drift of our country towards authoritarianism is alarming. John McCain has been trying to paint Obama as the candidate of big government. Yet it is the Right, not the Left, that is bringing us the biggest, most powerful, most centralized, and most intrusive government that America has ever seen. Many members of the technical community have libertarian leanings; you should vote for Obama for this reason alone!

I don't see evidence in Obama's platform that he has come to explicit grips with this issue. But it is seems far more likely to me that any Supreme Court justices he appoints will be more inclined to stop this mad slide towards an authoritarian society than the candidates who might be proposed by John McCain. I do know that the technological sophistication and political predilections of Obama's advisors will be to warn of the slippery slope that awaits us if we continue down the path of fear, with the tools of technology applied to end freedom rather than to increase it.

Pop Lockin'

via BoingBoing

Bando on Flickr

Bando has long been considered one of the most influential style masters since Dondi. He wrote in NYC, Paris, and London in the 1980s with CTK and the Chrome Angels.

Thanks to Rough for the heads up.

Election maps, USA

Here are a bunch of election maps from various sources shown on one page from Yahoo. You can see that things are looking good for Obama, but that there are a bunch of battleground states that could go either way. Your vote will matter more this year than ever, especially if you're in a state where the count is close. It isn't over until it's over. In lots of districts the race will probably be decided by a few hundreds or thousands of votes.

Some reports are coming in about the touch screen voting machines changing votes. This seems to be a calibration problem. Be careful to check your results on those before you finalize your vote. If you're more than 5 feet tall, it's easy to hit the wrong candidate with your finger, just like on ATMs. Report any problems at the polls and to reportvotingproblems.org.

Expect long lines in some places and take something to entertain yourself. Expect idiots to try to discourage you and fool you into not voting by trying to get you out of line somehow. Expect to get lies on flyers and mailings. Whenever the vote is tight this kind of discouragement happens to try to get people to give up. Most of that stuff is illegal, so report it as best you can.

Save the Banksy campaign

Not surprisingly, citizens would rather save that Banksy (see previous post) in London rather than let the authorities whitewash another masterpiece. Bristol saved one of theirs this way, so who knows. You'd think the Tate Modern would step up to defend it given their recent focus on street art.

Here's the email address in a usable format: planninginformation@westminster.gov.uk

Here's a photo of the work in question

Bill Moyers speaks truth at National Conference for Media Reform

"... We're not alone and we know what we need to say. So let us all go tell it on the mountains and in the cities. From our websites and laptops, the street corners and coffeehouses, the delis and diners, the factory floors and the bookstores. On campus, at the mall, the synagogue, sanctuary and mosque, let's tell it where we can, when we can and while we still can.

Democracy only works when ordinary people claim it as their own." - Bill Moyers

Media matters. Media variety matters. Media ownership (and its ugly other side of purchasability) is what's wrong. Control of information always serves the state and not the people. When all people know is what they are told, it matters a lot how many people can speak.

NY Times - Obama endorsement

They do an excellent job pointing out why they think Barack Obama, and not John McCain, should be the next US president. It's a very interesting read. Here's my favorite reason from the article:

The Constitution and the Rule of Law

Under Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the justice system and the separation of powers have come under relentless attack. Mr. Bush chose to exploit the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, the moment in which he looked like the president of a unified nation, to try to place himself above the law.

Mr. Bush has arrogated the power to imprison men without charges and browbeat Congress into granting an unfettered authority to spy on Americans. He has created untold numbers of ?black? programs, including secret prisons and outsourced torture. The president has issued hundreds, if not thousands, of secret orders. We fear it will take years of forensic research to discover how many basic rights have been violated.

Both candidates have renounced torture and are committed to closing the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

But Mr. Obama has gone beyond that, promising to identify and correct Mr. Bush?s attacks on the democratic system. Mr. McCain has been silent on the subject.

Mr. McCain improved protections for detainees. But then he helped the White House push through the appalling Military Commissions Act of 2006, which denied detainees the right to a hearing in a real court and put Washington in conflict with the Geneva Conventions, greatly increasing the risk to American troops.

The next president will have the chance to appoint one or more justices to a Supreme Court that is on the brink of being dominated by a radical right wing. Mr. Obama may appoint less liberal judges than some of his followers might like, but Mr. McCain is certain to pick rigid ideologues. He has said he would never appoint a judge who believes in women?s reproductive rights.

London to eradicate another Banksy production

Better get photos now, Londoners. The grey paint committee is on the way. The lovely anti-CCTV piece is going to be destroyed.

B.OLD in UK

Wonderful picture.

Anarchists raise $1000 for MFone defense in PA

The state claims [MFone] caused over $600,000 in damage in a years-long stretch of writing. We know this ridiculous claim was made to demonize Danny and further the career of certain politicians like city councilman Bill Peduto (the fake hipster). We intend to work hard to make sure that Danny gets an appeal and is out of prison as soon as possible. We also want to stand in solidarity with all graffiti writers and other marginalized people in our city and all over the world. We want a world where the sanctity of property is not more important than the life of a young artist.

-Greater Pittsburgh Anarchist Collective
Member of the Anti-Racist Action Network
GPAC412 AT gmail.com

For more information on the case of Daniel Montano visit FREEMFONE.org

"In our city, a neo-nazi who killed an unarmed woman served less time than a young man is presently facing for a graffiti conviction."

MFone is currently serving a 2.5 to 5 year sentence after the media made him out to be public enemy number one in Pennsylvania.

Chor Boogie on his color theory and his work

VIMBY - Chor Boogie

Afghan Journalist Receives 20-Year Prison Term for Blasphemy

... which is only good because before they were going to kill him for it.

"Journalist [Perwez Kambakhsh] distributed an [Iranian] Internet article criticizing the Prophet Mohammed's views on women."

If you can't criticize your religion or ask questions about it, you're already in prison.

Voting for religious fanatics is also a terrible idea. Just say no to mixing Church and State. No telling what they might make illegal next.

Let's hope he gets a real appeal or a BBC airlift.

Malaysia: Make space for graffiti

Adobe Illustrator Tutorials - Smashing Magazine

Another free self-education opportunity for those with the software to play with.

Obama graffiti

PinkSmith, NYC


Cre, L.A.

I can probably show a few more between now and election day, so if you've got them, send them to yo@graffiti.org soon.

Video Roundup

Crayone movies

Teaser painterz vol2
by flocuscityzen

Whales and polar bears are bad for the economy: Palin

We can't drill our way out of any crisis.

Oh for some reality-based government.

100,000 turn out for Obama in Missouri

Missing Hungarian Writer

Maybe you heard about Miki going missing this spring, but it turns out he's still out there somewhere (Europe) and maybe in trouble.

NSA Spying, Winter Soldier, Impeachment, ACLU, IVAW

A good 10 minutes. You are not alone.

COMET, PJAY, DUSTER, CAP, SEEN - canvases and sketches

For sale online, in France. worldwide delivery.

info: contact@blkmarket.fr

Where to get those cool Obama artist stickers

El Mac, Shepard Fairey, Ron English, David Choe, and more! These stickers are big, vinyl, nice collectibles and the proceeds go to making more stickers. Limited to 5000 by each artist.

John McCain's Rage is a National Security Concern

Scary stories.

Banksy's Pet Store in New York

Banksy's "Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill" will be open until October 31st (Halloween) daily from 10am until midnight. And you can see the stuff through the window too, so just go.

While New Yorkers have been consumed by the stock market meltdown, a tiny little pet store quietly opened four days ago at 89 7th Avenue between West 4th and Bleeker Street in the West Village of New York City.

It's an installation with no live animals (finally). And it's stencil and graffiti free. It would be hard to believe it's Banksy's if Wooster Collective hadn't said so. Follow the link to see their video of some of it.

Wooster: From Banksy:

?New Yorkers don?t care about art, they care about pets. So I?m exhibiting them instead. I wanted to make art that questioned our relationship with animals and the ethics and sustainability of factory farming, but it ended up as chicken nuggets singing. I took all the money I made exploiting an animal in my last show and used it to fund a new show about the exploitation of animals. If it's art and you can see it from the street, I guess it could still be considered street art."

DJ Z Trip - Free music download: The Obama Mix

"DJ Z Trip, recently named in the top five DJs in the United States by DJ Times, has created a free downloadable mix for all to share called "Obama Mix". Perfected over months, the Obama Mix is one masterful 54-minute mp3 track. "

"Presented along with the now iconic Shepard Fairey Obama HOPE print, Z Trip's Obama Mix showcases exactly how Obama is changing the way youth culture views and engages in politics."

"In a note to his fans, Z Trip urges people to get informed and to vote, 'Please share the message. Educate those who may not know what is really going on. There is still time. I encourage you to make it a priority to speak to your friends, family and co-workers. Speak to anyone who will listen. This election is WAY too important for anyone to not get involved. Together we will vote to change our current course and reclaim a leadership of which we can be proud' "

Good news: Data driftnets rejected as both bad and wrong

In an astounding feat of intelligent analysis and courage, a privacy and terrorism commission composed of technical experts funded by Homeland Security (USA) has reported that sifting through everyone's information about everything will not be an effective way to detect terrorists. Plus it would cause a lot of innocent people's doors to be kicked in, which is "un-American." They recommend revamping privacy laws to make them more coherent and protective and using traditional methods to look for terrorists.

Truly a triumph of mathematics and civil rights over fear.

Next let's elect people who will prevent the government from collecting and purchasing and seizing data on everyone. Because that's un-American too. And un-British, and un-Australian.

Anyway, a little good news in our handbasket to hell this week. Check the comments on the article too. Some intelligent life is out there.

Election Dirty Tricks: Scaring Student Voters

Fooling people into not voting through intimidation and trickery. Oh joy. You have been warned.

Some cave art may have been painted over millennia

"The results so far are in line with archaeologists' hypothesis that sudden flowerings of cave art came as rapid climate change was causing Palaeolithic cultures to move quickly about Europe, first as the coldest period of the ice age approached, and then as the ice age drew to a close and inhabitable areas expanded."

"There have been surprises, though - in several caves whose art had previously been assumed to date from the same period, the new dating technique has revealed that the paintings were done in several phases, possibly over 15,000 years (25,000 years ago to just 10,000.)"

Imagine living in English caves for tens of thousands of years waiting for the ice to go away again.

Olbermann: Palin's own anti-American associates (her husband, for one)

In case the mainstream media forgets to mention it ... here's a little concrete. This woman who would be president is looking scarier (and more desperate and out of control) by the minute.

US Voter registration is ending in days - are you ready?

Check your deadline to see if your state has closed registration yet for the presidential election. You can register online at the same site and get questions answered in their FAQ.

Oakland graffiti - on KPFA radio

Meeting of Styles in Oakland last month was covered by KPFA community radio, who interviewed members of the TDK crew on graffiti art and its role in society and politics. You can listen to it in MP3.

Dream.TDK RIP. The legacy lives on.

Dondi prints for sale for charity

Purchase link (see link above for the image of the print)

"Happy Birthday Dad" by Dondi White (published by the Baurmann Gallery/Dondi White Estate)

In honor and commemoration of Dondi White, a special charity silkscreen edition of 129 will be released for $129 + shipping on October 2nd, 2008. Dondi White passed away on October 2nd, 1998. "Gods Love We Deliver" helped him tremendously in the final years.

Seattle gets lovely mural

NKO and Scratchmaster Joe have incorporated ghost signage into their crystalline, 100x65 ft mural on Monique Lofts between Pike and Pine streets on 11th Avenue, and the result is strikingly wonderful.

The mural is a collection of crystalline geometries; a site-specific, improvisational painting reacting to the architecture and vibrancy of the location it occupies. The mural seeks to represent the history of its surface through the preservation of raw concrete and ghost signage, while acknowledging contemporary urbanism through palette, form and materials.