February 2011
Posters in Support of Wisconsin Workers : Downloadable Graphics
Posted February 28, 2011 by colin_matthes in Downloadable Graphics
Here are six downloadable copyright free images about Wisconsin Labor Protests. Feel free to use images for posters, signs, flyers, patches, etc.
Download Recall Image by Nicolas Lampert
Download Super Bowl Image by Colin Matthes
JBbTC 47: Kropotkin pt.2
Posted February 28, 2011 by jmacphee in Judging Books by Their Covers
Here is the next batch of Kropotkin beard covers. Like I mentioned last week, most covers of books by classic anarchist protagonists seem to focus on portraits, but since most of said dudes lived in the 19th or early 20th century, their are limited photographic or photo-like representations of them, so the same basic images get cycled through over and over again. The cover to the right, for Caroline Cahm's study of Kropotkin from 2002, mixes an often used image with an edgy and well-designed type treatment. Although the time period covered by the book pre-dates the constructivist style by 40-50 years and makes little actual sense in relation to the subject, the cover looks cool, and is far superior to most of the Kropotkin books out there. The actual image of Kropotkin is also nicely distressed, looking almost photocopied, which adds an additional anachronism to the design and a solid post-modern "wink-wink" to the rest of it being out-of-time. The image is listed as being courtesy of the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam, but the designer is not noted. In addition, and it is hard to see at first glance, the source photo for the cover image is the same one as the cover for the Grove Press edition of Memoirs of a Revolutionist I featured last week.
Occupied for Labor
Posted February 28, 2011 by nicolas_lampert
On Saturday, Feb. 26th, 100,000 people demonstrated at the State Capital in Madison - the largest demonstration in Madison's history. Massive demonstrations are called for Tuesday and beyond. The Capital Building still remains occupied despite Gov. Walker's attempt to have demonstrators removed on Sunday night by State Troopers.
A few days back, Jim Palmer, the Executive Director of Wisconsin's Professional Police Association, called on the police to join the demonstrators and sleep in the Capitol. Palmer noted, “Law enforcement officers know the difference between right and wrong, and Governor Walker’s attempt to eliminate the collective voice of Wisconsin’s devoted public employees is wrong. That is why we have stood with our fellow employees each day and why we will be sleeping among them tonight.”
Elsewhere, the Madison-based South Central Federation of Labor took the unprecedented step of endorsing a general strike among its 45,000 members if Gov. Walker's "budget repair bill" is made law.
On Sunday night, Rep. Dale Scultz announced that he would oppose the bill. Two more Republicans are needed to stand up on the side of working people and the bill will not pass. Expect this struggle to last for months. A people's movement is arising in Wisconsin. Solidarity knows no borders. Come to Madison and join the protests.
Below are some photos I took at Saturdays demo.
Chicago Anarchist Film Fest 2011
Posted February 26, 2011 by jmacphee in Calls for Art
The Chicago Anarchist Film Fest is looking for films to show during its 11th annual festival this coming May:
For the 11th year the Chicago Anarchist Film Festival will present a sample of films culled from mainstream sources, rediscovered classics and the works of filmmakers engaged in providing entertainment, documenting social change, and projecting a world that could be. Chicago Anarchist Film Festival organizers seek un- and under-distributed films and videos to include in the May 2011 Chicago Anarchist Film Festival. We also welcome suggestions for titles that may inadvertently allow anarchy to seep through the cracks of the status quo. Movie collage, music videos and trailers for works-in-progress will also be considered. This is a film festival with an anarchist vision. We invite you to share your images and stories that reveal and invigorate a rich anarchist presence in society.
You can find out more, and download an entry form, HERE.
Paper Politics gets mention in Providence City Paper
Posted February 25, 2011 by meredith_stern in In the News
Paper Politics got props in the latest issue of the Providence Phoenix (our weekly paper). Greg Cook has constantly given positive and well written articles about printmakers in Providence: his latest is a review of "Printed In Providence" where both Paper Politics and myself are mentioned.
The full article is HERE.
Solidarity with workers the workers in Wisconsin
Posted February 25, 2011 by Jesus_Barraza in Downloadable Graphics
This is a poster we want to share, please feel free to download and print your own copy.
Click here to download: Solidarity with workers the workers in Wisconsin
Over the past couple weeks I have been hearing about the Workers in Wisconsin who are fighting to stop the passage of AB11, a bill that would strip workers of collective bargaining and cuts to other things like their pensions and health benefits. In the crazy economy we are living through, we see the response by government to cuts to social services, we see the tuition hikes in our public universities. And we look around and see that the rich are still getting richer and paying less and less taxes. While this is happening we see working people under attack for being greedy and demanding too much in these hard economic times, a perfect time to attack workers and take away what has been won by the Labor Movement. The worst is seeing attacks on Unions by idiots who call their members unamerican, hearing people on the radio call the protestors thugs. Hearing the Governor of Wisconsin who was recorded on a telephone call with a blogger pretending to be one of the Koch Brothers talking about how he has contemplated sending agent provocateurs to undermine protesters efforts. This was what really pushed me to make a solidarity poster, I think that in these though economic times we need to support workers when they demand fair treatment so they can survive these times.
Wisconsin heading towards a General Strike?
Posted February 25, 2011 by nicolas_lampert
Events in Madison, Wisconsin have escalated. The Republican controlled Assembly passed the "Budget Repair Bill" in a move that should make anyone who cares about democracy shudder. Next, the Bill moves to the Senate which cannot be voted on until one of the 14 Democratic Senators who fled the State returns or is arrested and dragged back to the State Capital. Massive demonstrations are planned for today and Saturday. Rumors abound that Walker will use the State Police to clear the occupied State Capital at 6:00pm on Saturday. If and when the Bill passes the Republican dominated Senate, we can expect walkouts and calls for a general strike in Wisconsin and beyond.
The Wall Street Journal reports that on 1:00am on Friday "Debate had gone on for 60 hours and 15 Democrats were still waiting to speak when the vote started around 1 a.m. Friday. Speaker Pro Tem Bill Kramer opened the roll and closed it within seconds. Democrats looked around, bewildered. Only 13 of the 38 Democratic members managed to vote in time. Republicans immediately marched out of the chamber in single file. The Democrats rushed at them, pumping their fists and shouting "Shame!" and "Cowards!" The Republicans walked past them without responding. Democrats left the chamber stunned."
Wild and Neglected Like Me: John Clare the Peasant Poet
Posted February 25, 2011 by molly_fair in Art & Politics
A long time in the making, my collaborator Jesse Goldstein and I just finished a 10 color print called "Wild and Neglected Like Me". The piece refers to line in a poem by John Clare the Peasant Poet of Northamptonshire (1793-1865). It is a love poem written to a weed, and its untamed beauty.
Here is an essay by Jesse about the piece and Clare's lament about the destruction of the commons.:
Ah cruel foes with plenty blest
So ankering after more
To lay the greens and pastures waste
Which profited before
(John Clare, The Lamentations of Round Oak Waters)
Recently, Molly and I made a print based on a line from John Clare’s poetry: a love poem written to a weed. The poem offers some interesting insights into commoning as a way of life, and in particular how unused, unnoticed, and untamed natures – which capitalists saw as wasted resources, were a source of value to the commoners that lived on them. Commoning was an entirely different way of relating to the world, than what comes to be naturalized through our capital-infused culture. There’s so much interest in the idea of commons today – whether digital commons, cultural commons, political commons – but less attention is spent on understanding commoning and private property as qualitatively different relationships to the world.
So, I thought it could be a good idea to use Clare’s poem as an entry point, to go back to the history of English commons and reflect on this way of life, especially some of the different sorts of ‘values’ and ‘wastes’ that it entailed. These are values and wastes that are still with us today, and appreciating them in a new light might help us find some of the radical possibilities that lurk in the most mundane and overlooked corners of our social lives and landscapes.
CPH in Okinawa
Posted February 25, 2011 by jmacphee in Posters & Prints
Okinawa has long been a site of struggle against U.S. militarism and occupation. Recently activists have been fighting against a U.S. Army helipad. You can read about this struggle HERE and HERE. A group of the activists posted Celebrate People's History posters along the fence around the helipad as part of the struggle!
Viva Michael Rossman! Viva the Poster!
Posted February 24, 2011 by Favianna_Rodriguez in Posters & Prints
This Fri, Feb. 25 in Oakland CA, there will be a massive Poster Jam celebrating the Oakland Museum's recent acquisition of Michael Rossman's AOUON (All of Us or None) Political Poster Archive..
Lincoln Cushing, who archived the collection of over 23,000 posters explains, "The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most prolific places in the world for the production of independent political posters, with an unbroken tradition spanning over 45 years. The AOUON Collection reflects the incredibly rich, talented and cooperative community of graphic artists, print shops and activist organizations that show how this democratic public art contributes to the movements for social justice.” (see full article here)
I will be participating in a Political Poster Jam at the Oakland Museum alongside my mentors and fellow poster artists, including former Black Panther Minister of Culture, Emory Douglas; archivist, Lincoln Cushing; Founder of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics, Carol Wells; fellow JustSeeder, Jesus Barraza; and the San Francisco Print Collective...to name a few. Rarely does such a talented group convene on the same night!
February 25, 2011 • 8-11 pm
Oakland Museum of CA • 1000 Oak St. Oakland, CA 94607
9 pm, Panel with Favianna Rodriguez, Emory Douglas, Lincoln Cushing & Carol A. Wells.
In the video below, Lincoln remembers about Michael Rossman. Michael, your love for the poster lives strong in all of us!
Dancing for Dara NYC
Posted February 24, 2011 by jmacphee in Events
For everyone in NYC, please, please, please come out to the Dancing for Dara screening and out Birthday Party!!!!
Dancing for Dara NYC
Saturday, February 26 · 3:00pm - 6:00pm
anthology film archives
2nd ave. and 2nd st., Manhattan, NYC
a benefit screening for dara greenwald @ 3pm
birthday festivities for dara and josh @ 4.30pm
all at anthology film archives!
Video Data Bank of Chicago has assembled a 75 min video program called DANCING FOR DARA composed of work by internationally-recognized artists who have donated their work to benefit Dara Greenwald who is currently battling cancer.
SUGGESTED DONATIONS (cash or check):
$20 for the screening
$30 for the screening and the birthday after-celebration (with drinks and treats!)
$40 for the screening, after-celebration, and a copy of dara and josh's new book Signs of Change: Social Movement Cultures
Please RSVP—on facebook or by sending an email to: rachaelrakes [at] gmail.com
Can't attend but want to donate?
please visit http://healdarag.org/donate-2/
image: Ben Coonley, One Trick Pony. Image courtesy Video Data Bank.
special thanks: the Chocolate Room, Brooklyn
Anti-Advertising Agency Archive
Posted February 24, 2011 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
The full archive of the projects of the Anti-Advertising Agency (2004-2010) have just been put up online, including Dara Greenwald and my contribution, the Samaras Project, an exploration into alternative economics. You can check out the archive and projects HERE.
Political Poster Jam in Oakland
Posted February 24, 2011 by jmacphee in Events
A reminder, coming up in the Bay Area on Friday:
Please join us for a Political Poster Jam on Friday, February 25th at Oakland Museum from 8 to 11pm. We'll honor the power of political graphics and the Museum's recent acquisition of a major collection of political posters.8pm - 11pm Printing Demonstrations:
San Francisco Print Collective - print your own screenprint!
The Great Tortilla Conspiracy - Edible tortilla prints and new technology of food breakthroughs in honor of African American History!
& Eddie Colla - cut your own stencil!9pm Discussion:
Emory Douglas, former Black Panther Ministry of Culture
Favianna Rodriguez, artist/activist
Lincoln Cushing, poster archivist
moderated by Carol A. Wells, director of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics
Union Made (downloadable graphic)
Posted February 24, 2011 by colin_matthes in Downloadable Graphics
Image about the current labor movement in Madison.
Look below for a larger downloadable graphic and drag it to your desktop. You can only see a sliver of it, but once you drag it to the desktop you get the whole image.
Dancing for Dara Baltimore
Posted February 23, 2011 by jmacphee in Events
Dancing for Dara Baltimore
A video screening to benefit Dara Greenwald's fight with cancer
Thursday, February 24 · 7:30pm - 10:30pm
Space 2640
2640 St. Paul St., Baltimore, MD
Video Data Bank of Chicago has assembled a 75-minute program of exciting videos by internationally recognized artists who have donated their work to benefit artist and activist Dara Greenwald who is currently battling cancer. Jesse Stiles and Jenny Graf will play some lovely music before and after the screening so all can mill and visit with each other.
Suggested donation of $5-$10 all money goes directly to Dara.
THE PROGRAM:
• Pink Bloque, DANCING IN THE STREET (excerpts) (Domestic Violence Awareness Month Rally), October 2003 to end, 8:00—14:00
• Ben Coonley, ONE TRICK PONY, 2002, 4:50
• Tara Matiek, OPERATION INVERT, 2003, 12:30
• Caspar Stracke & Gabriela Monroy, KULESHOV SUKIYAKI, 2004, 2:58
• Melinda Stone & Igor Vamos, SUGGESTED PHOTO SPOTS, 1997, 10:00
• Jim Finn, SHARAMBABA, 1999, 3:00
• Jem Cohen, LITTLE FLAGS, 2000, 6:30
• Paul Chan, UNTITLED VIDEO ON LYNNE STEWART AND HER CONVICTION, THE LAW AND POETRY, 2006, 17:30
• Dara Greenwald with Ona Mirkinson, THE PACKAGE, 2010, 12:00
A nice write up in the Baltimore City Paper HERE.
(Image from Jem Cohen's Little Flags)
Wisconsin Workers United Against Union Busting
Posted February 23, 2011 by nicolas_lampert
The massive labor protests in Madison have not slowed down during week two. The State Capital is still packed and massive rallies are taking place outside. Huge numbers are expected this Saturday. The right-wing/corporate assault on collective bargaining has touched a nerve and set off a major protest movement that is now expanding to Ohio, Indiana, PA, and beyond. Above, is the first image that I made in response to the events taking place in Wisconsin. Colin, I, and others plan to screenprint like mad over the weekend. We will post images and down-loadable graphics on the Justseeds blog soon!
Feed the protesters in Madison!
Ian's Pizza on State Street (www.ianspizza.com) has been delivering hundreds of pizza to people demonstrating inside the Capital everyday. Call Ian's Pizza (608) 257-9248 (then press 1) to donate a pizza to those occupying the Capital.
More Signs from the Labor Movement in Madison
Posted February 23, 2011 by colin_matthes in Art & Politics
This week for drawing all the time I am picking some of my favorite hand drawn signs from the Capital in Madison WI.
Saving the best for first:
I love the I blame Favre sign.
Post-Chicana: Upcoming Artist Talk w/ some Dope Sistahs
Posted February 23, 2011 by Favianna_Rodriguez
From now through March 18, 2011, you can catch my work in a group show at the Center for Integrative Studies. The exhibit, ChicaChic, showcases the work of five prominent Chicana visual artists who are responding to the social shifts in their communities. Raquel De Anda, guest curator, explains:
“ChicaChic is about stepping beyond the boundaries of identity, challenging stereotypes about what it means to be Chicana. It’s about the fluidity of identity and the need for new kinds of images in a fast-paced, media-saturated society.”
Check out this video of Raquel speaking about the exhibit.
I will be part of a panel on March 12. Don't miss it.
Intergenerational Panel Discussion
Sat., March 12, 6 pm
CIIS Minna Street Center - 695 Minna at the corner of 8th St., Downtown San Francisco
Featuring: Ana Teresa Fernández , Angelica Muro, Patricia Rodriguez, Viva Paredes, Favianna Rodriguez, and Lorraine García Nakata
JBbTC 46: Kropotkin pt.1
Posted February 21, 2011 by jmacphee in Judging Books by Their Covers
Given the last 2 months of book covers relating to prisons, I thought it would be nice to take a little break and go off on some tangents. To start, I've been collecting a bunch of classic 60s and 70s anarchist book covers, and some of favorites have great illustrations of the old bearded protagonists of anarchy, so lets take a jaunt through some cool Kropotkin covers. Who doesn't love a big white beard! This first week is my favorite Kropotkin beards, next week I'll tour more Russian facial hair, and then some other non-bearded Kropotkin covers.
The above left is one of my all-time favorites, largely because the illustration is so unique. Anyone with a even a small shelf of anarchist classics at home knows that the same handful of images of Kropotkin, Bakunin, Proudhon, Goldman, etc. get recycled over and over. The source photo for this cover is actually a much used image of Kropotkin (check out next week for many more permutations), but the artist has used some creative license to fabricate a younger Peter, which is rare. The almost regal cross hatching on his balding head makes it look like this image was created to put on currency, but then the duotone black and red in the beard is totally trippy, a seeming product of the times (this edition was produced by Grove Press/Evergreen in 1970). Unfortunately the art and design are uncredited.
Signs from Madison: Working Class Solidarity and an Occupied Capital Building
Posted February 21, 2011 by nicolas_lampert
The massive labor demonstrations in Madison, Wisconsin have reached day six and some patterns have emerged that are as recognizable as they are unexpected. First and foremost, this is a protest movement unlike one that I have ever seen before. This is not a leftist movement, a student-dominated movement, or a fringe activist movement. Instead, it is a mainstream, middle class movement.
The people that have gathered around the State Capital Building are everyday people - school teachers, nurses, health workers, sanitation workers, high school students, college students, fire fighters, and others. Even some police officers have joined the ranks of protesters, some with signs that read "Police for Labor."
This is a movement of middle class people who are pissed off and taking to the streets because Governor Walker's proposed bill will economically hurt them. This is a labor movement that is fighting for it's very life. Win now and make a major stand against corporate power or watch Wisconsin become a "right to work" state and watch the dominoes fall, watch as other Republican governors attack collective bargaining rights for public employee unions in Ohio, New Jersey, and beyond.
Appalachia Rises Again! March on Blair Mountain!
Posted February 19, 2011 by shaun in Art & Politics
The March on Blair Mountain will be June 5 to 11, 2011 in West Virginia. It commemorates the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921, when 10,000 coal miners rose against the rule of the coal operators and fought for the basic right to live and work in decent conditions. Today, Blair Mountain is threatened with obliteration by mountaintop removal (MTR) mining. It is here that a new generation of Appalachians takes a stand to preserve Blair Mountain, abolish mountaintop removal, defend worker's rights, and begin a just transition to a sustainable economy in Appalachia.
Political Poster Jam
Posted February 18, 2011 by Jesus_Barraza in Art & Politics
I designed this for poster for the Political Poster Jam happening at the Oakland Museum next week.
From 8 to 11pm on February 25, 2011, the Oakland Standard will honor the history of political posters in the Bay Area, and the Museum’s acquisition of the All Of Us Or None (AOUON) collection with an evening of printmaking and conversation.
The Oakland Standard has invited the San Francisco Print Collective, Great Tortilla Conspiracy, and street artist Eddie Colla to host informal drop-in workshops.
Solidarity Forever: Wisconsin Becomes Ground Zero for the Labor Movement
Posted February 17, 2011 by nicolas_lampert in In the News
Wisconsin workers fight back! A slumbering labor movement has awakened in Wisconsin in response to the extreme anti-union legislation that Gov. Scott Walker (in office for six weeks) is attempting to pass that will eliminate collective bargaining rights for nearly all of the state's public service workers. Walker has threatened to call in the National Guard, but those fear tactics have not stopped upwards of 30,000 people who have been in the streets of Madison for the past three days. Today, campus and high school walkouts are taking place all over the state.
Links to the Madison coverage:
http://host.madison.com/ct/
http://www.thedailypage.com/
Tocada Punk-Hc de adiós a la Z.A.M.
Posted February 17, 2011 by santi
La Makhnovtchina es inmortal…
14:00 horas charla: Punk + Autonomía + Arte
Después las bandas:
El Punkeke
Antimaster
Lucha Autónoma
Crimen
Inservibles
Domingo 20 de febrero 2011
14:00hrs $25 pesos
Avenida Xola no. 181-A, a 2 calles del metro Xola de la linea 2 y a una
calle del metrobús Xola, Col. Alamos, Ciudad de México.
http://espora.org/zam/sitio/archives/889
Favianna speaking in Delaware today
Posted February 16, 2011 by Favianna_Rodriguez in Justseeds Collective Projects
Favianna Rodriguez is in Delaware visiting with students and faculty at the University of Delaware Art Department. Today she has a big lecture! Come check it out if you are nearby.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., in Brown Lab 101 @ Univ. of Delaware click here for map
Favianna is part of speaker series that will also feature Emory Douglas, former Minister of Culture of the Black Panther Party, also from Oakland, California.
Drawing All the Time : 44
Posted February 16, 2011 by colin_matthes in Inspiration
Silly post this week. I was hired to draw for a few hours in the lobby of the business school at Marquette University last week. It was a bizarre experience. a few cell phone photos of the experience....
Visualizing Radical History
Posted February 15, 2011 by jmacphee in Justseeds Collective Projects
For those in NYC this Thursday, I'll be having a "public conversation" with filmmaker John Gianvito regarding the representation of, and cultural engagement with, history:
Thursday, February 17 · 6:30pm - 9:30pm
CUNY Graduate Center, James Gallery
365 5th Avenue, New York, NY
Join artist Josh MacPhee and director John Gianvito as they discuss the triumphs and challenges of Howard Zinn’s "A People’s History of the United States," which famously re-wrote American history through the eyes of the common people rather than political and economic elites.
John Gianvito's hour-long 2008 documentary "Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind" will be screened. There will be a one-night exhibition of the posters from Josh MacPhee's new book, "Celebrate People’s History: The Poster Book of Resistance and Revolution."
You can find the event on facebook HERE.
Portable Utopia
Posted February 15, 2011 by mary_tremonte in Art & Politics
In lieu of Rad Teen Print of the Week, here is Rad Post-Teen Project of the Week!
From Johannesburg, South Africa: check out this rad portable project organized by Kevin Clancy, who I worked with in a class I taught at the Mattress Factory several years ago.
From his website:
Portable Utopia is a mobile resource library and expandable social space initiated by Kevin Clancy in partnership with Keleketla!Library in Johannesburg, South Africa. The mobile unit will circulate through the city and surrounding townships in January and February of 2011, providing a transient platform for learning, sharing, making and discussion.
The mobile unit will contain a library of books, a computer, flat files for prints and works on paper, a micromuseum, a collapsible stage for lectures and performances, and an inflatable geodesic dome gathering space.
Portable Utopia is an open platform that will adapt to the energy and desires of the community.
The photo is from Good News!, an interventionist silkscreening project with young people:
Good News! subverts the omnipresent headlines that line the roads of Johannesburg to provide moments of hope and optimism in the urban landscape. Expired headlines are collected each day, recycled into new handmade paper, printed with wishful headlines, and reinserted back into headline frames.
We lead Good News! workshops with primary school students in Sebokeng, teaching them about paper making, silkscreen printing, artistic interventions, and environmental issues. The students generated the headline "PLANT TREES", in conjunction with a tree planting ceremony and lesson about environmentalism.
more info, please check out www.portableutopia.org
(i can) read the writing on the wall-14
Posted February 14, 2011 by k_c_ in Justseeds Collective Projects
Happy Valentines Day!
Brooklyn, NY 2011
Why the media (and particularly Wiki leaks) is importantPublishing improves transparency, and this transparency creates a better society for all people. Better scrutiny leads to reduced corruption and stronger democracies in all society’s institutions, including government, corporations and other organisations. A healthy, vibrant and inquisitive journalistic media plays a vital role in achieving these goals.
JBbTC 45: Prisons pt.7/Mumia
Posted February 14, 2011 by jmacphee in Judging Books by Their Covers
So moving on, this is the final entry of the posts covering the covers of prison books. I've missed a lot along the way, and maybe I'll do a follow-up post in the future with some of the gems I skipped over this time through (if you have some handsome looking prison-related books, take pictures and email them to me!).
Last week I looked at the books by and and about George Jackson, the 60s/70s political prisoner par excellence. This week I turn to the closest thing to his contemporary equivalent, Mumia Abu-Jamal. For those that don't know much about Mumia, rather than take the time here, you're better off checking out his backstory HERE and HERE. Mumia was a Black Panther like Jackson, but he survived the original government crackdown on the movement, and was living as a journalist in Philadelphia in the 1970s until he was arrested and imprisoned in the early 1980s.
Proposed Justseeds/IVAW mural #1
Posted February 13, 2011 by nicolas_lampert in Justseeds Collective Projects
Aaron Hughes of IVAW sent me a photo of my "Operation Exposure" image wheatpasted up in the streets of Lawrence, Kansas for a recent exhibition of the prints that Justseeds created for the IVAW Operation Recovery campaign.
Seeing my image large got the wheels spinning...a proposed mural. Anyone with a large white wall interested in making this a reality? If so, please post a comment and lets talk.
Keep Coal in the Hole!
Posted February 12, 2011 by jmacphee in Posters & Prints
For our readers in New Zealand. A nice new poster by Jared Davidson/Garage Collective.
He(art) of the Revolution
Posted February 11, 2011 by k_c_ in Art & Politics
"heART of the revolution" is an online exhibit displaying art from around the world in support of the recent uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East. Website presented by elev8. elev8 aims to educate and empower through the arts.
If you would like to submit artwork for the site, please email sidroos (at) gmail.com
* Videos - please include url link.
* Photos - at least 72dpi
Due to the high volume of emails, submissions without a bio/description/artist name will be disregarded. We would like for all artwork to be credited to the artist as well a short description. Thank you!
Egypt Support Poster by Mark Vallen - Downloadable
Posted February 10, 2011 by Favianna_Rodriguez in Downloadable Graphics
Our friend Mark Vallen explains:
Along with people all over the world, I have been profoundly inspired by the heroic Egyptian people’s struggle for democracy against the 30-year old U.S. backed dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. As an expression of solidarity I created a digital artwork titled “Freedom,” so named because the word appears in my graphic in Arabic, Spanish, and English; my creation is dedicated to the people of Egypt, with hopes that their democratic aspirations will soon be realized.
New poster addressing exploitation of migrant healthcare workers
Posted February 10, 2011 by Favianna_Rodriguez in Posters & Prints
There is a shortage of health workers across the globe today and as a result, health workers are migrating abroad at alarming rates. These workers are overwhelming women of color from Asia, Africa & Latin America.
Public Services International Union (PSI), based in Geneva, Switzerland, is responding to this crisis with a campaign for the ethical recruitment of health care workers. They recently commissioned me to produce a poster for the campaign which will be produced in various languages. This is my second project with them (see International Migrant Rights poster I did in December with them).
Remembering Reagan, ugh.
Posted February 10, 2011 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
Mark Vallen has published a nice piece remembering the terror of the Reagan years, and has included a great collection of political flyers he made during the 80s. Here is the first couple paragraphs and a flyer from 1986, and you can read and see the rest HERE.
Ronald Reagan would have turned 100 on Sunday, February 6, 2011, and many U.S. citizens are celebrating this centenary from coast to coast with frenzied idolization, praise, and adulation for the “Great Communicator.”As my beloved country undergoes another bout of historical amnesia that is every bit as debilitating as the Alzheimer’s disease our acclaimed 40th President was known to have suffered from, a comforting blanket of forgetfulness descends upon the land. As Reagan himself affirmed in 1988, “facts are stupid things,” but oh what the passage of time and a little bit of corporate propaganda can do to wipe away silly truths. Memories of Reagan supporting the rightist lunatic Generalissimos and terrorist death squads of Central America have been banished. Likewise, all recollections of his financing, training, and arming Islamic fundamentalists to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan have been forgotten; so too his support of the white minority racist regime in South Africa. All unhappy episodes from the B-actor’s mediocre career have been erased, and America is once again stuck in “Re-Ron” mode.
Celebrate People's History in Toronto
Posted February 9, 2011 by jmacphee in Books & Zines
Toronto Free Gallery and Groundswell present Celebrate People’s History!, a show of poster art created by over ninety artists – including many of Toronto’s own – to document the hidden history of social justice movements. The Celebrate People’s History series is the culmination of 12 years of work, a massive collection of 110 posters, the complete set of which has just been released as a hardcover book by The Feminist Press. The full collection will be on display at Toronto Free Gallery from February 10 – March 19, 2011, and you’re invited to the opening on Thursday, February 10th at 7:00PM.
Drawing All the Time : Week 43
Posted February 9, 2011 by colin_matthes in Inspiration
Click on post to see a larger version of the image. 
Theodore Harris Artist Talk
Posted February 9, 2011 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
A nice video of an artist talk by Theodore Harris, one of my favorite political collagists working today. The show he is talking about is "COLLAGE and CONFLICT: The Anti-Imperialist Art of Theodore A. Harris" which is on view thru April 1st at Philadelphia Community Access Media in Philadelphia, PA. More info about the show can be found HERE.
Taylor Sparrow needs our help
Posted February 8, 2011 by jmacphee in Books & Zines
Taylor Sparrow, a good friend of Justseeds, and the author of the introduction to our book Firebrands, is working on a new project. He's trying to publish a new book on the life and work of Rick Turner, an anti-apartheid and anti-capitalist activist from South Africa. An earlier piece about Turner he wrote can be found HERE. He's got a kickstarter page up, and is less than $500 from his goal. Help him out in the final week of the fundraising! Check it out HERE, and watch his video below:
Antimaster Record Covers
Posted February 7, 2011 by santi in Posters & Prints
For a while I've been doing illustrations for my friends punk band Antimaster. It has been really fun working with them and this time they asked if I could do the cover for their new LP record. The record actually came out in Europe a little while ago but only a few records made it to this side of the world. So we printed a nice silk screened edition to be released in Mexico.
The packaging is on a fancy heavy weight Kraft paper, a gatefold with illustrations on the Front and back cover, and inside. We used matte sepia ink.
Antonio Valverde and I printed an edition of 350 at the Martires del 68 school.
JBbTC 44: Prisons pt.6/George Jackson
Posted February 7, 2011 by jmacphee in Judging Books by Their Covers
In many ways the quintessential political prisoner of the 60s was George Jackson. At age 18 he was caught robbing a gas station, and sentenced to an indeterminate period of one year to life in prison. He was politicized while in Soledad Prison in California, and eventually joined the Black Panther Party. Jackson and two other prisoners were accused of killing a guard, and became known as the Soledad Brothers. While in solitary confinement he wrote two books, the first, Soledad Brother, is comprised of letters to his lawyer and became an international bestseller. The cover to the left is the mass-market paperback edition that was very widely circulated. (A slightly different cover was published on a later edition, with two boxes at the bottom, one with the image of Jackson, one announcing new material inside.) The image of Jackson walking cuffed and chained became an icon of the era, not only reproduced on his books, but in underground press articles about him. And notice the stencil font for the titling, near ubiquitous for prison-related titles.
Victory to those who struggle for their liberation
Posted February 6, 2011 by Melanie_Cervantes in Downloadable Graphics
I created a downloadable poster in the tradition of OSPAAAL (Organization of Solidarity of the People of Asia, Africa & Latin America) a Cuban political movement with the stated purpose of fighting globalization, imperialism, neoliberalism and defending human rights. The have created a vault of political posters to support freedom fighting world wide and promoted Third World solidarity.
This is a poster we want to share, please feel free to download and print your own copy.
Click here to download: Solidarity with Tunisia and Egypt
Hi-Res Egypt Solidarity Poster Download
Posted February 5, 2011 by jmacphee in Downloadable Graphics
My friend Tim Simons, co-creator of the great Oaxaca Celebrate People's History Poster, has produced a new poster in solidarity with the unfolding revolution in Egypt, and he's asking people to spread it around. The poster is to the right, and you can download a high-res version HERE. Check out Tim's other work HERE.
The Burning World: a map
Posted February 4, 2011 by roger_peet in Environment
I've got a new print on the site called "The Burning World". It's based on a graphic device called a radial tree of life, which is a method of depicting the incredible diversity of life on Earth and the ways in which those life-forms are related, and when they diverged from each other. Here's the tree of life with it's radii labeled. You can click on the image for a larger version.
OPERATION EXPOSURE KANSAS
Posted February 4, 2011 by jmacphee in Justseeds Collective Projects
OPERATION EXPOSURE KANSAS
PERCOLATOR Lawrence, KS
Friday, February 11th 5-9PM (reception starts at 6PM)
ONE NIGHT ONLY
Operation Exposure: War is Trauma - a collaboration between the Justseeds Artists' Cooperative and veterans and supporters from Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). It is a direct response to the suicide epidemic and violation of GI's right to heal within the active duty community. The work focus is on a veteran led movement called "Operation Recovery" - a new IVAW campaign aimed to stop the redeployment of traumatized troops and focus public attention on Military Sexual Trauma, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Traumatic Brain Injury.
Paths Through Utopias
Posted February 3, 2011 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
I just got this in from my friend John Jordan in the UK:
Dear friends, rebels and fellow utopians, We are delighted to invite you to the Launch of our new book-film published by La Découverte, Les Sentiers de l’Utopie (Paths Through Utopias), which will take place in Paris from February 11th to 15th. As the global financial crisis surfaced in 2007, we journeyed for 7 months across Europe to investigate and experience examples of post-capitalist living - from a direct action Climate Camp set up illegally on the edges of Heathrow airport to a hamlet squatted by French punks, an off grid low impact permaculture community to occupied self-managed Serbian factories, a free love commune in an ex Stasi base to a farm where private property had been abolished, we shared different ways of loving and eating, producing and sharing things, deciding together and rebelling. We were not looking for escapist Neverlands, blueprints for a perfect future or universal systems, but communities who simply dare to live differently, despite the catastrophe of capitalism. From this experience came our film-book, fusing reflective travel writings with an attached DVD. Whilst the book is a rich travelogue, analyzing the communities, their practices and their histories, the film is a magicorealist road movie set in an imagined post-crash future but shot in the style of a fictional documentary during the journey.Watch the trailer here:
Snow Fort
Posted February 2, 2011 by dylanminer in Justseeds Collective Projects
Like many others across a continent that is being ravaged by a changing climate, Mid-Michigan experienced a foot of snow last night. In response to this blizzard, Michigan State University closed operation for only the fourth time in its 150-year history. Lazing around the house, my daughter and I decided to make use of our time and build a snow fort. No self-respecting Justseeds fort would be complete with the colors black-and-red. In the moments leading up to this photo, Mexica marched victoriously into the fort, waving the flag, before claiming the space as her own. A true, temporary autonomous space.
I hope everyone else enjoyed their snow days as much as I.
Two Book Events in Philly!
Posted February 2, 2011 by jmacphee in Events
For all in Philly, please come out to these events!
I'm doing two different book release activities, this Thursday and Friday nights:
Thursday, Feb. 3rd, 7-9pm
Signs of Change Book Release
Wooden Shoe Books, 704 South Street
Signs of Change is a visual introduction to the past 50 years of social movements from around the globe. An archive of more than 350 posters, prints, photographs, films, videos, music, and ephemera, the material included and discussed here is from more than twenty-five countries. Surveying the creative work of dozens of international social movements, from the do-it-yourself graphics and media of the 1960s to today's instantaneous digital technologies, it investigates the themes and representations of global struggles for equality, democracy, freedom, and basic human rights.
Join co-editor and Justseeds member Josh MacPhee for the Philly release of Signs of Change along with his other brand-new book, Celebrate People's History!: The Poster Book of Resistance and Revolution.
Friday, Feb. 4th, 7-10pm
Celebrate People’s History: peace, justice, freedom, creativity, revolution and love
Studio 34, 4522 Baltimore Avenue
The closing event for the Celebrate People’s History art show, as well as a release party for the Celebrate People’s History poster book (Feminist Press, 2010). The posters and book beautifully visualize revolutionary movements from around the world and throughout history: antimilitarism, autonomy, Palestine solidarity, prisoners rights, queer and trans liberation, sustainability, Theater of the Oppressed, universal health care, worker rights and so much more.
We will be joined by Josh MacPhee, the curator of the CPH series and editor of the book; and former political prisoner and CPH poster artist Laura Whitehorn. Local poster artists and activists will also speak about their work in the book.
Occupied London: Cairo
Posted February 2, 2011 by jmacphee in In the News
The folks at Occupied London have set up a site for some comrades in Cairo to post on-the-ground updates about what's going on in Egypt. There are also a bunch of great political graffiti pictures on the site. Check it out HERE. The image to the left says "The people want to bring down the regime."
In the News & New Reviews
Posted February 2, 2011 by k_c_ in Justseeds Collective Projects
There is an article about Colin Matthes' Carlos Cortez mural at OnMilwaukee.com:
Mural project is a work of admiration and kindred consciousness
"The campaign increased my desire to make something really graphic with a specific message but it also made me want to focus on something that celebrated something a little more than 'Stop this. Or no that.' I wanted to do something celebratory about someone I admire and don't hear much about and that is how I got to Carlos Cortez," Matthes said.
There is a review of Justseeds book Firebrands: Portraits From the Americas on the ElevateDifference.com by Clarisse Thorn:
I was initially unimpressed by Firebrands, but that was because I approached it wrong. I tried to sit down in my living room and read it cover-to-cover, and that's not what this book is for. It's a pocket-sized compendium of amazing people—people "left out of the schoolbooks because they were too brown, too female, too poor, too queer, too uneducated, too disabled, or because they daydreamed too much." Each firebrand gets a page-long description, a lovely illustration, and a number of suggestions for further reading.
Read the rest at: Elevated Difference Firebrands Review
Over a Week of Protests, Egyptians Still Demand Mubarak Step Down
Posted February 1, 2011 by k_c_ in Inspiration
I'm still following the Egyptian demonstrations with an incredible amount of excitement. Almost 2 million people demonstrating in Tahrir Square in Cairo, with hundreds of thousands of people in many other cities around Egypt. Demonstrators from across all social and class boundaries are out in the streets demanding Mubarak "step down".
You can live stream Al Jazeera news at:
Al Jazeera Watch Now.
There is finally a position forming in USA foreign policy with Senator John Kerry saying
"President Hosni Mubarak must accept that the stability of his country hinges on his willingness to step aside gracefully to make way for a new political structure."in an op-ed in todays New York Times.
Dark Matter: Art and Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture
Posted February 1, 2011 by jmacphee in Events
Book Release and event
Dark Matter: Art and Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture
Thursday, February 10, 2011, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Parsons The New School for Design
The Sheila C. Johnson Center for Design
Fifth Avenue at 13th Street, Ground Floor, NYC
Admission: Free
Dark Matter: Art and Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture is both a book launch for Gregory Sholette's new work of the same title, and a concrete application of the principles laid out in the book. The book argues that imagination and creativity in the art world originate and thrive in the non-commercial sector. It examines the political economy of art and business by highlighting interventionist and collective art as the 'dark matter' of the art world. This dark matter is indispensible to the survival of mainstream culture which it frequently opposes.
Rad Teen Print of the Week: Sowing the Seeds of Justice
Posted February 1, 2011 by mary_tremonte in Inspiration
This week's Rad Teen Print is by Maya Dean, and is another piece for Just Harvest. Maya puts a contemporary twist on the familiar Rosie the Riveter image in her style of dress and also references the services of Just Harvest, and the fact that many students use social services, and stop after graduating. The crux of this project was combating myths and stereotypes about who is on welfare, how it is used, and for how long. Just Harvest is using this design for T-shirts, which Power Up is printing at the Cotton Factory. Power Up!
