The Con Artists Have Taken Over the Asylum
by Andrew BreitbartThis week’s Washington Times column:
Can we all agree that the “hope, “change” and “transparency” part of the Barack Obama media carnival is officially over, and it’s finally time that we start holding our new president accountable?
Consider the tale of the ubiquitous “Hope” poster that helped get Mr. Obama worshiped, inoculated and elected — and the anti-capitalist street artist who “created” it.
Shepard Fairey last week was sued for copyright infringement by the Associated Press, which claims he stole photographer Manny Garcia’s work and made it the basis of the iconic off-red, white and blue posters whose signed editions are being sold on eBay for thousands of dollars.
If found guilty — a liberal application of “fair use” law could protect Mr. Fairey — we have a case of the white man stealing from an ethnic minority in order to turn a quick profit. (I thought an Obama presidency would automatically end such practices.)
Chinese, Latin American and former Soviet Communist artists may also have a claim against Mr. Fairey, whose style is brazenly ripped off from the propaganda campaigns of totalitarian states. If regimes that murdered tens of millions of innocent human beings can be so revered and redeemed, can the swastika be reappropriated, too?
Later in the week, Mr. Fairey was arrested en route to his first solo exhibition — aptly called “Supply and Demand” — at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art. Apparently, the artist chosen by the current leader of the free world has been arrested 14 times, mainly for “tagging,” which is the art world’s euphemism of choice for graffiti and other forms of defacing private property.
Mr. Fairey’s previous “street art” sensation was “Obey” posters that littered urban America for a good portion of the Bush administration. Mr. Fairey was artistically positioning someone to cleanse the body politic of corruption and cynicism.
“The whole concept of ‘Obey’ was getting people to question their obedience,” Mr. Fairey told Wired magazine.
Yet Mr. Fairey and his fellow artists are now part of a seemingly endless artistic vanguard pledging obedience to their new leader. Those who codified the slogan “dissent is patriotic” now march lockstep with the new president, no matter what he does, and use their elevated place in society to cast an evil eye on those who question his early blunders.
You can read the column in full here.
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147 Comments
that's it…for now.
Corky,
As a lurker I'm going to reply only once because you really don't deserve more than that.
I'm a veteran of the first Gulf War and I can honestly say that I didn't want this second hostility to go foward. You simply don't wish that on anyone in the military and I knew what they were in for.
Once they were there though, I hoped for nothing but victory, so the deaths were not in vain. Ours and the innocents.
However, you and most Ron Paulians come across as selfish turds. I will never forget the bedouin children that we came across, begging for handouts. That girl with the uncovered, down-to-her-ass hair is unforgetable. She was worth it.. you aren't.
Go climb under a bed.
Interesting the irony pointed out here.
I remain amazed at how the proverbial, “What’s good for the goose, is good for the gander…” just doesn’t seem to take root with the liberals.
Still, I remain hopeful one day they’ll wake up to their mistakes.
The same artist as the Obey posters. My, that’s rich!
Makes me think of infowars.com.
Notice the AP waits till after the election, inauguration, indoctrination and the rest, to file suit.
This just makes me very sad.
BevfromNYC – February 8th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
This just makes me very sad.
Exactly. The pathetic thing is that they are so consumed by their blind admiration for Obama, that columns like this will mean nothing to them. All of the crap thrown at Bush over every mistake (real or perceived) will be ignored when the same things happen to Saint Barrack. The guy is from my neck of the woods and trust me, his best asset up to now has been his propensity for voting present. This is going to be a really bad four years (and we’ll have to hear how it’s not his fault the entire time, no matter what he screws up).
And the censorship on this site is shameful!
What censorship specifically?
Heatherfeather – February 8th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
….It’s going to be hilarious to watch the consternation of liberals everywhere when they react to it, too.
I’m more interested in seeing the reaction of the Center and even Right who supported him based on the warm fuzzy feeling they attributed to his rhetoric. The reality is going to be anything but what they expected. It’s going to be the equivalent of 4 years of waking up after a hard night of partying and looking over only to see Helen Thomas looking back lovingly.
Strange argument.
So if one argues against allegiance to one politician, they then can’t pledge allegiance to that politicians opposition??
So unless you are a true anarchist, you can’t voice your dissent against those that support a candidate you disagree with?!?
Your point is overly literal and makes little sense.
You’re missing the point, David. Liberals didn’t just oppose Bush, they attacked him personally on everything that happened. The election? He stole it. The war? He did it so Haliburton could become rich(er). Katrina? All his fault because he, “Hates black people.” Their delusional attacks had little to do with reality and often hurt the interests of the country. Now that Obama is elected, the very same people say you can’t criticize anything about their guy or you’re a hater. Their overwhelming love affair with a guy that none of them actually understand has already surpassed what Conservatives felt about Reagan.
It’s become a creepy cult, which I suppose is fine because those things never end badly….right?
A few months ago, some clever person was pasting up mock Obama posters in the Fairey style that actually said “OBEY” beneath the image – it was brilliant and very subtle – especially in the hipster neighborhoods! Now THAT’s subversive, kiddies…
David, The point is that Obama is making mistakes left and, well, left. And there is no in for anyone to pipe up against it in the traditional media, film and art world. It’s lockstep. And anyone that dissents is toast. And you and left wing trolls of right wing sites play a small but systemically important role in this new order.
Unlike the Bush & co. who brazenly ripped off the methods of totalitarian states. Oh I forgot thats just to keep us “safe”.
Billy, dear, please explain to the class, what could you do before 1/20/01 that you couldn’t do until 1/20/09? This has baffled me for 7 years. Okay, I will give you airport security measures, but what else?
It truly is amazing how so many people who claim that they are being censored oddly enough keep speaking out about things at will without any sort of interference whatsoever.
I’m not allowed to fly.
Cheesy Potatoes – February 8th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
It truly is amazing how so many people who claim that they are being censored oddly enough keep speaking out about things at will without any sort of interference whatsoever.
And never address the fact that they weren’t censored in the first place. Somebody check Corky’s tinfoil….I’m afraid it’s slipped off. A Ron Paul fan, huh? I never would’ve guessed.
Great piece, Andrew. Here’s more on Shepard Fairey and plagiarism, written by a fellow lefty:
http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Obey/index.htm
A choice quote:
“I’ve never seen any evidence indicating Fairey can draw at all. Even the art of Andy Warhol, reliant as it was upon photography and mass commercial imagery, displayed passages of gestural drawing and flamboyant brushstrokes.”
Worth a look.
And never address the fact that they weren’t censored in the first place. Somebody check Corky’s tinfoil….I’m afraid it’s slipped off. A Ron Paul fan, huh? I never would’ve guessed.
I’m betting he’s nothing more than a troll. These sites attract them like flies. Though it might be more appropriate to compare him to a mosquito.
Corky it is astonishing that you went straight to the personal attacks and did not address a signal point from my previous post.
P.S. Whenever someone resorts to personal attacks it generally is a sign that they are grossly immature and that own viewpoint is lacking a structurally sound foundation.
As usual, Mr. Breitbart has every thing wrong.
And judging from flimsiness of this non-issue, much more time on his hands than most people I know. The ones who actually have to work for a living.
Must be nice to be able to sit around all day thinking “hm…what trivial bit of horse manure can I cram down the throats of my frothing-at-the-mouth , blog-reading minions today?”
Cuz this one is a whopper.
Unless I’m reading this wrong, and I could be- most of the posts here make almost no sense, so it’s tricky at times- Mr. Breitbart is somehow blaming Obama for – wait a minute- A POSTER?!? Somehow he’s trying to connect a work of art created by someone whom he has most probably NEVER EVEN SPOKEN TO, much less met in person, to “hope” “change” and “transparency”?
He wants to hold Obama “accountable” for a POSTER.
That someone entirely unconnected to him made.
Unbelievable.
And just as obviously, Mr. Breitbart had probably best take a couple of courses in art history at his local community college, as this- “Chinese, Latin American and former Soviet Communist artists may also have a claim against Mr. Fairey, whose style is brazenly ripped off from the propaganda campaigns of totalitarian states”- would seem ridiculous to most 5th graders.
But the icing on this bit of comedy has to be: “If regimes that murdered tens of millions of innocent human beings can be so revered and redeemed, can the swastika be reappropriated, too?”
That one is priceless.
Also, kudos on finding out this bit of information: ” Yet Mr. Fairey and his fellow artists are now part of a seemingly endless artistic vanguard pledging obedience to their new leader. Those who codified the slogan “dissent is patriotic” now march lockstep with the new president, no matter what he does.”
Thanks for finding that out for me.
I had no idea.
Who told you?
I mean, I hadn’t gotten that memo yet. Then again, I have a crappy old Mac, and Sprint, so sometimes I’m really behind the times.
Well done, and thank you.
Okay Billy. I have to admit that kinda’ caught me off guard. I won’t pry as to why you are not allowed to fly but besides that, were there any other Bush related restrictions to your life?
damn that marxist propoganda, so effective!
there’s an old quote from jim goad…
“say what you like about the nazis, they should have won an oscar for costume and set design.”
totalitarians always have excellent graphics. i love the old russian constructivist stuff. i’d swear after effects was designed to make that style move. have a few books on the subject. when you know what to look for, amazing how often you see the it. though most of it is two or three generations removed, and the artists don’t really even know what they’re ripping off.
If you compare Fairey’s photo to the original AP photo they look exactly the same. If I took the words from an AP article and put them into a paper without citing it as a source, I would get expelled from the University of Missouri. But when Fairey steals material he becomes famous.
Cheesy has two e’s look in the dictionary.
By the way Cheesy Potatoes is my favorite food.
Wow, corky you have popped your cork. Hope you will be alright.Why so angry? One would think that you would be elated what with your candidate being elected. The truth is President Obama is turning out to be not what you HOPED for but what you feared. Calm down, take a breath. You can’t stop what is coming. America will have to admit we have elected a president that is trying to do a job that is way above his pay grade. Now post a message that calls me all kind of names too so I will know you read this.
Corky: Major Graham did thank you for your service, as would I. If you had actually rendered said service to our country, I’m sure you would have thanked him as well for his service. Being a troll who cites his uncle’s service credentials is not the same.
Corky, I must say the depth of your reasoning is astounding. Usually arguments of that caliber are restricted to the leftwing blogs. Obama couldn’t ask for a more convincing ally. Your approach nearly mirrors that of the President.
Corky, Relax.
briscoe county
big emotional overly simple ideas work well in poster form. same with t-shirts and pop songs. i’m not sure the right has had a great iconic image since “don’t tread on me”.
This is more freaky than a Tim Burton movie.
You are the only one sliming people Corky.
And beside Abraham Lincoln never spent a single day in the Armed Forces. Should he have been prevented form speaking his mind and offering forth his opinions?
Collect your thoughts, dude. You are making almost no sense. And your recent response: paranoid and defensive… and helpfully suggestive. I have no problem CENSORING you if you don’t respect the site. Relax.
CHEESY POTATOES –
Is Arianna drunk and posting again?
Please DON’T mention Arianna Huffington’s name again. Being a senior at Mizzou I already have to hear her name way too many times on this campus.
And also they say that if you mention her name three times then she will suddenly appear in the room. She must be some sort of ghoul just like Beetlejuice.
I get the point of the article. The glorification of form over substance. Now back to the point I’ve made two or three times before on this site. This site will go the way of so many others with considerable promise, but no control. Andy, use your unfettered power of editorial control to eliminate trolls. Some of them seem to have gone back to their lunatic asylums, but this thread indicates you have a new one. Block him. He contributes nothing but vitriol and personal attacks. This kind of nonsense is the reason people like me stop reading uncontrolled blogs, and I’m almost at that point. Allowing trolls to continue spewing just because they dare you to block (“censor”)them is counterproductive.
There is plenty of room for dissent, disagreement and advocacy without tolerating childish garbage. As for this troll, only government can “censor.” All others, including you Andy, are permitted to use discretion in allowing what gets printed and what doesn’t.
I permit guests in my house. But I expel rude guests. That isn’t censorship, it’s just common sense. And we have some really hot political discussions at my home without anybody getting out-of-control, over-the-top obnoxious. It’s the difference between liberty and license. And at least one of my regular guests is a Ron Paul supporter. I haven’t had to ask him to leave once, even though everyone else, conservatives, liberals, progressive, Democrats and Republicans at our get-togethers think Ron Paul is more than a little nuts. We don’t insult him, and he doesn’t insult us. Anyone doing so will be told to leave. Andy, please do the same thing.
As for your current troll, if he is still online, he will no doubt call me an idiot, a fool, a know-nothing, a moron, a wuss, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseam. I won’t respond because it is a waste of my time and our host’s space. I suggest that the rest of you follow my lead. Trolls live on the respect that they don’t deserve but get anyway from reasonable people responding to the troll attacks. Don’t dignify them with a response. Ignore them and they go away. Argue with them and they are happy as a pig in crap, and they will respond by throwing some crap back at you. When you get done, everybody is covered in crap, but only the troll is happy about it.
Thanks LawhawkSF. I agree.
“HEATHERFEATHER – February 8th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Now that Obama’s fifteen minutes are up, I can’t wait to see the plethora of politically incorrect merchandise poking fun at this buffoon and the starry-eyed crowd who elected him.”
Ah, HF, if only. Can’t see it happening, though I would love it.
‘A couple of months ago Shepard was approached by Penguin Books (UK) to do his take on the cover art for the literary classics, “1984″ and “Animal Farm.” Being that both books were inspirational and favorites of Shep, this was a no brainer.’
http://obeygiant.com/headlines/george-orwell-x-shepard-fairey-print-set
“inspirational” in what way Shepard? Inspirational in collectivist and anti-individualistic kind of way? just wondering. And really you might want to reconsider calling those phoned-in book covers “art” unless you mean “clip-art” cause I think I think I have seen that piggy and eyeball before.
Thanks for speaking up LadyhawkSF. I’ve had enough experience with trolls to fully agree that there is no reason to allow the comments to continue. He isn’t attempting to contribute to the conversation, he’s simply looking for someone to antagonize. Political sites are prime targets for trolls because they know people get emotional about the topic. They’re not invested in the discussion, they’re just looking for attention. I don’t know what kind of a sad, lonely life one must have to seek attention in this way. There’s no point in getting angry– all you can do is feel sorry for them.
Amen LadyhawkSF. The only thing that trolls like this person contribute to is the exiting of people form the site who actually do want to contribute to the discussion.
Don’t blame me I voted for the “Cuda!
God help us somehow to remove this cancer from the White House.
“I do not INSULT VETS! I Am one; you hand job I served and I have the right to speak!!!!!”
Last time I checked, CORKY, you didn’t have to serve to have the right to speak, even on issues concerning the military.
“Am I sure I was in the Navy? UH OHH I Thinks it was the US NAVY, Grey prison walls and all; you twit.”
Just out of curiosity, what made you think of “Grey prison walls and all”?
….Brown Shirt Filth…
Mr. Breitbart, it isn’t the con artists who have taken over the asylum, but more like they’ve locked up the guards and hold the key, with the inmates waiting to come out.
Now would be a good time to pray to God for the survival of America as we know her.
Yup, the sale of Kool-Aid must be up big time in the blue states. And thanks for putting a cork in him.
Great, Andy! Bye-bye Corky. Love your new site, and BTW I always pay extra attention to Red Eye when you’re a guest. And I also thank SQT and Cheesy Potatoes (even though you called me LadyhawkSF) for your kind comments. It’s LawhawkSF cuz I’m a retired lawyer in San Francisco. But my kids and grandkids love me and forgive me anyway. I’m not so sure about my ex-wife, however. I just have to say I sorta feel sorry for the folks who joined this thread late. They will have to wonder why everybody is so angry at poor ole Corky. Trust me (as we lawyers are wont to say). You didn’t miss a thing. And Pandax nailed it with the four point restraints.
DRG, a ton of words in your comment but nothing to refute.
Seems like a waste of time.
Obama used this guy’s art for a campaign poster. The One approved it.
So yeah, Obama’s connected to this guy.
Copyrights I meant to say.
Hysterical paranoia from one whose mantra is “the sky is falling” : in reality just a thin veneer over bigotry and hate.
Terrific piece; we noticed the similarity of the image to those used in communist and totalitarian propaganda straightaway. Ironic that now it is in the news, but a good thing.
Of course you are right on the money with your article, and it is exhilarating to see it published in the WT.
You must know that Obama’s turn as the butt of jokes is coming; the bloom is very much off the rose now and if there is money to be made, the jokes will be there.
Thank you for what you do.
DRG, it wasn’t that hard to find.
http://obeygiant.com/headlines/check-it-out
But ya know, maybe one of Obama’s staff went rogue and sent this while the one wasn’t looking
Obama must be one dense dude.
Ayers was just some guy he ran in to at the dogpark or something.
Barack must have been listening to his Ipod during Reverend Wright’s sermons .
Tony Rezko was just the friendly neighborhood ReMax agent.
The list goes on.
So I guess it’s plausible that Obama didn’t know this Fairey guy or approve of this piece…..yeah, sure
In Oppositeland .
Anyone familiar with Shepard Fairey, and his previous works, knows his politics. He admits freely to being a socialist/marxist type, and he cites the Russian Constructivist propaganda posters of Lenin as his inspiration for the Obama poster. Once you know the back story, the pieces do come together.
The notion that this guy is a “street artist” is also silly. He owns a successful graphic design studio in LA, but I guess street artist sounds better within the whole grass roots (ska George Soros) myth surrounding Obama.
Jeeez, the lengths people will go to hate on someone.
pathetic.
The Obama haters have drunk far more kool-aid that the people who wanted him to be elected.
Andrew, you said: “If regimes that murdered tens of millions of innocent human beings can be so revered and redeemed, can the swastika be reappropriated, too?”
Perhaps not the swastika, but certainly the Gestapo’s “Death’s Head” symbol: http://consumerist.com/consumer/3rd-ss-division-totenkopf/fairey-responds-to-walmart-ripping-off-his-nazi-shirt-215151.php
In this article it states that “When the street artist and guerrilla marketer Shepard Fairey got word from the Obama people that they would welcome his contribution to the campaign, he knew what he wanted to create: a phenomenon.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/05/16/ST2008051602005.html
Great article Andrew, thanks for the site. It’s my new addiction.
So Andrew have you had your “special chocolate” (Red Eye)…LOL!
Fine, have it your way, censor me and lose a reader of your blog who was initially excited about this blog and very sympathetic to its aims. Have fun with your knuckle-dragging echo chamber!
And this time my comment gets through! *rolleyes*
[...] ANDREW BREITBART: The con artists have taken over the asylum. [...]
I feel someone should point out that Abraham Lincoln DID, in fact, serve in the Armed Forces, in the Black Hawk War of 1832– and often told rather comical stories about his service, though biographers tend to credit it with early examples of his talent for leadership.
http://www.geocities.com/old_lead/abe.htm
Dear Mr. Man, sometimes there is a delay when posting. Nobody is censoring you! You may have to refresh to see your post. Patience is a virtue in which you are obviously in short supply. However your paranoia is overly abundant. Just relax and take a deep cleansing breath.
Andrew, check out the meaning of the term “mixed metaphor.” You’re one of my favorite people, so don’t take it personally, but con men aren’t usually confined to asylums. They normally go to prison.
I saw the story and the photo side by side with the poster, and I thought the AP’s claim was ridiculous. Obama has been photographed from every possible angle and that three quarter profile angle from slightly below the face as the subject looks into the distance is one that photographers go for all the time, one reason that you always see them crouched in front of speakers and pols.
What Fairey did was not so much cashing in on that particular photo as posterizing a very typical photo with stark colors and a different background. Ultimately, his source was Obama’s face, which is hardly the property of AP. I don’t think that it makes much sense for politicians to try to collect royalties from their faces, even if the courts would condone their claims. Who would vote for somebody that self-involved.
Why not just combine Fairey’s two most popular creations into one? With the word OBEY replacing the word HOPE under Obama’s smug mug? After all, isn’t that what the goose-stepping facist lefties want everyone to do now, anyway?
Carolina, if your dog hadn’t eaten the toast, you could have made a fortune on E-bay…LOL!!!
I'm really glad that a trillion dollar phony war has no mention here. I'm glad suspending the Constitution to secure Presidential and VP authoritarianism has no mention as well. Did you rocket scientists really believe that Obama wanted to spend all of this money bailing out companies that were set up for failure by the GOP by the deregulation of everything. Have you also forgotten all of the NO BID Contracts for Cheney's ex company in the IRAQ/Afghanistan Wars. My how one sided is your thinking.??? Open your eyes!!!!
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