This is basically a link to a law periodical, which ran a brief article about one of my least favorite artists "coming clean" in regards to the misappropriation of a highly seen photograph to make a highly seen poster. I feel bad for the Obama campaign to have even been involved in this stupidity.
I just want everyone to know that Shepard Fairey was/is/and always will be a tool in my opinion.
18 comments:
That's annoying. I had found this whole conflict interesting because I thought it posed interesting questions about fair use, as well as the nature of exactly what an artist does. I never thought it was about copying a picture... Except now it's all about copying a picture. Way to go, Balloon Boy.
Why lie? Why didn't he just make the case he had a right to base his art on the photo in question? What an idiot.
I, too, would have liked to have seen the outcome of a rigorous debate and legal battle on whether Fairey had a "fair use" right base his painting on the AP photo.
I can see it both ways. Fairey made this image his own in many ways, and this picture was just one of thousands of Obama photos before Fairey made it famous with his poster.
At the same time, it's expensive to send photographers out to photograph politicians everywhere and in all sorts of situations. AP, Reuters, Getty et al spend millions of dollars doing this. So to cheaply piggyback on their work seems unfair.
(At AP anyway, the need to cover the prolonged Democratic primary basically wiped out the photo budget for almost everything else in 2008. Small AP bureaus suddenly couldn't hire photographers to shoot basic assignments because photographers following the Obama and Clinton campaigns everywhere were using up all the money.)
i like fairey's art aesthetically speaking, and i don't think that what he does is plagiarism, but the fact that he lied about this (when, as odori pointed out, he didn't have to) and the fact that he has the gall to threaten to sue other artists for appropriating his imagery makes me think he is a megadouche.
This reminds me of something that Picasso may have said: all artists steal, the good ones are able to hide their sources. I don't understand why some visual artists have such a problem with citing a source. Writers do it all the time (or are supposed to). Maybe when money and fame gain momentum the reasonable and fair parts of the human brain take a vacation.
It gets better.
Ugh. Would you say that general artist stereotypes tend to be defined by the last big infamous/famous artist? I mean more so than in other professions. Chefs, say.
That is an interesting hypothesis, Pone. I can't say for certain. I'd hate to think that Fairey could potentially be a history book level artist of this time, but I wouldn't rule it out, just because of the controversy.
Art historians eat up controversy.
speaking as an art ignoramus, his work seems a little too shallow (in the case of andre) and derivative (in the case of hope) to land him a spot in the norton anthology of visual art. hey, you know who was a great graphic designer? hitler!
(apologies for the misplaced modifier)
Maybe. He may be what passes for an artist in the public mind, thanks to Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst.
Interesting that you bring up the swastika, Lungclops (if that's what you're bringing up, and not Hitler's later book jacket work)! The Nazi flag is often seen as a triumph of design, but was the power of the symbol not heightened by Hitler's relentless storming of Europe? Of course the symbol gained power and intensity--if you saw it, that meant you were being fucking invaded!! NOT UNLIKE Fairey's mass production of his Andre the Giant Has a Possé stickers, and the accompanying meme of sticking them all over the planet!!! Recognizing it meant you were part of an increasingly global club/tribe/false karass!!!! The image gains power through repetition and grafted meaning!!!!! EVEN WHEN THE IMAGE ITSELF IS MEANINGLESS!!!!!! (This was actually rumored to be the original idea behind the original Andre piece, but like, whatever.)
When did you start hating Shepard Fairey, Galspanic?
maybe... or maybe the swastika's inherent power is what allowed the nazis to storm around so relentlessly. people saw that weird symbol and shat their trenches. when the nazis entered paris, charles de gaulle is said to have cried, "aaiiee! le swastique! alors! tout le monde surrendez!"
I know a lot of graphic designers that would like that theory very much. It's a great case for paying designers well for good design. Kind of hard to bring up with clients, though.
I wonder if all the Mongols shat their leathers when they saw the Buddhist monks rockin the reverse swastikas for all those thousands of years. Funny what a little direction reversal does.
I actually didn't have any attitude towards Shep until I met him and ate dinner with him. (He came to Hawaii to do an installation at the Contemporary Museum, and in turn visited several local galleries...one of which I used to own and operate.) He had an entourage who was much cooler and funnier than him. (this appears to be a trend. Entourages take the pressure of being cool away, or something.) His wife was mucho grande hot too She was smart, funny, great conversationalist, and mega hot. But Shep, he just reminded me of so many of those cheap ass wanna be badboy guys from art school that wanted to stick it to the system, but ended up doing graphic design for mountain dew promotional posters. True story bro.
Pattern Recognition is a good variation on the theme of symbols affecting people on a more subconscious level. Good fun.
Also, this. I'm surprised it doesn't come up more here, actually.
While I haven't seen much of his work, it seems that much of the impact of his design is based on the cultural importance and cool factor of his subject (and not any amazing visual treatments or innovations). Is he bringing some Warhol to this current place in time? I'm not sure if he'll have the Art/Historical legacy of Warhol because I don't see him doing anything new or adding anything particularly interesting to conversation. But then again all this legal wrangling, lying, and story back-tracking may be his intent and true cultural message and artistic genius? I'm sure a lot of artists who are now revered were once viewed as Class-A douches by their peers. Hope floats.
Some of us grew up on Acme Shorts, where it was commonplace to lead with Hitler, and Godwin's law was rendered inert.
I'm not sure if this is the sort of thing one can recover from, SithPoon5. I do think that Fairey's work is more about interacting with the marketplace than any visual originality, but being a liar does sort of mean that no one is ever going to take you seriously.
(I draw a distinction between someone lying to get away with something; and someone lying to perpetrate a hoax, which history does forgive, quite generously.)
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