General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsShepard Fairey approves of NSA parodies of his Obama 'Hope' poster
By David Ng
June 27, 2013, 8:00 a.m.
In the weeks since renegade National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden revealed that the U.S. government is harvesting phone and online data, a humorous series of Internet memes has been taking comic aim at artist Shepard Fairey's famous "Hope" image of Barack Obama.
The parodies, which have appeared on numerous blogs and news sites in recent weeks, deconstruct Fairey's image, giving it a biting, NSA-themed spin. In one parody, Obama is shown wearing headphones with the words "Yes we scan" emblazoned above him and with text circling his head that reads: "United we progress toward a perfectly monitored society."
In another send-up, the "Hope" image is captioned with the text, "Yes, we can... read your emails."
...
Here is Fairey's full response to The Times:
"I originally supported Obama vigorously because his proclaimed policy positions aligned with my beliefs. I have never been an unconditional Obama supporter or cheerleader, so I'm pleased to see people subvert my Obama images as a way to critique him and demonstrate the wide gap between some of his promises and actions. Subversion of well known symbols and images for social commentary has long been a technique in my repertoire, so I'm glad to see it in the work of others. I have even subverted my own Obama image in support of Occupy. There are no sacred cows, and I agree that Obama needs to be called out on an NSA program that over-reaches to the extreme and shouldn't be secret. We live in a remix culture and remix is a valuable form of communication when the re-configuration makes a strong statement."
The artist used stronger language in a recent blog post he wrote in which he addresses the NSA scandal: "The extent of Obamas spying is unacceptable and I feel sickened and betrayed by someone I dedicated a huge amount of time, energy, and money to support based on the way he presented his views as the antithesis of Bush's."
more
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-shepard-fairey-obama-nsa-surveillance-20130626,0,1666290.story
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,297 posts)whatchamacallit
(15,558 posts)we can do it
(12,116 posts).................Last Friday, Los Angeles street artist Shepard Fairey pleaded guilty in a New York City courthouse to a copyright case filed by the Associated Press. Fairey admitted to using an unauthorized AP photo for his Obama Hope poster and for forging documents to conceal it.
Read more: Shepard Fairey Pleads Guilty In Copyright Case · NYU Local http://nyulocal.com/national/2012/02/27/shepard-fairey-pleads-guilty-in-copyright-case/#ixzz2XVvTdiEW
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
http://nyulocal.com/national/2012/02/27/shepard-fairey-pleads-guilty-in-copyright-case/
frylock
(34,825 posts)unfortunately, AP owned that piece of property and sued.