Well now Fairey is back with a new poster. One a little more reflective of the times.
This image represents my support for the Occupy movement, a grassroots movement spawned to stand up against corruption, imbalance of power, and failure of our democracy to represent and help average Americans. On the other hand, as flawed as the system is, I see Obama as a potential ally of the Occupy movement if the energy of the movement is perceived as constructive, not destructive. I still see Obama as the closest thing to “a man on the inside” that we have presently. Obviously, just voting is not enough. We need to use all of our tools to help us achieve our goals and ideals. However, I think idealism and realism need to exist hand in hand. Change is not about one election, one rally, one leader, it is about a constant dedication to progress and a constant push in the right direction. Let’s be the people doing the right thing as outsiders and simultaneously push the insiders to do the right thing for the people. I’m still trying to work out copyright issues I may face with this image, but feel free to share it and stay tuned… -Shepard Fairey
Well I don't know about the copyright issue either, but I agree with Mr. Fairey's point of view, and hope the President is paying attention.
As soon as the Occupy Hope poster goes on sale, I am buying a bundle of them.
ReplyDeleteThey will make perfect little X-mas gifts.
Uh. I don't think so. The creepy anarchist V dude is more an icon for wishful thinking about revenge than thoughtful leadership...
ReplyDeleteI don't like the image either. Creepy. I hope it isn't supposed to be an image of our president.
ReplyDeletei find the poster grotesque; a creepy attempt by the artist to monetize the movement; a perversion of something beautiful that is now dirtied by his cross-messaging.
ReplyDeletesuch is life....
G, thank you for posting this. Shep Fairey is over a year late.
ReplyDeletehttp://williambanzai7.blogspot.com/2010/11/11-v-2010.html
nswfm
Transcript of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s remarks at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner November 19, 2011, via the Iowa Democratic party.
ReplyDelete'While we meet here tonight, the Republicans are having a debate across town.
I’ve watched a number of them, and I’ve got to be honest, I never thought I’d say this, (pause) I’m beginning to miss Sarah Palin’s insights.
Their debate was called the Thanksgiving Family Forum — which is fitting because I have never seen such a collection of turkeys.
Look at their top candidates: Take Mitt Romney. He said he would be in Iowa tonight. (pause) We should have known he would change his mind.
Newt was at the debate. I heard he had to leave early to spend the holiday with his loved ones … the salespeople at Tiffany's.
And Herman Cain? I was actually hoping Herman would stop by today and see me before the debate, but he was at his tutorial on Libya. The scary part, his tutor was Rick Perry.
In truth, the Republicans do have an impressive field…
Governor Mitch Daniels, Governor Haley Barbour and former Governor Jeb Bush …
The only problem, they’re not on the field.
I just want you to think about this for a second. Think of our field in 2008. At our debates in Iowa, we had Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Senator Chris Dodd, and President Obama.
Now think about their field: Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum …
I’m beginning to feel sorry for Republican primary voters.
Four years ago, at this very dinner — and many of you were in attendance — a young senator from Illinois, who was 23 points down in the polls, spoke to you in words you will never forget. With the promises he made in that speech, he began a journey that would change history — and he did it with your help.
Now all of us may be a little older and a little grayer - or as my youngest daughter likes to say, “Dad they can say it’s salt and pepper, but for you, it’s all salt.” But we can remember what he said and what he believed was worth fighting for.
He stood on this platform, and promised to end “a war that should never have been authorized and should never have been waged.”
Republicans didn’t want to let it happen, and Democrats didn’t believe it could. Yet, tonight, the last of 170,000 of America’s finest are on their way home. The war is over.
Four years ago, at this very dinner, President Obama promised he would take the fight to Al Qa’eda, those who were actually responsible for 9/11. He said he would bring justice to Al Qa’eda’s leaders.
Tonight, Osama bin Laden is history. Al Qa’eda has been decimated. Thanks to the bold, determined leadership of our President, justice has been done. And America is safer for it.
Typical of the person I know, President Obama did not brag. He thanked our troops and intelligence services for their excellent work, and he moved on to the next terrorist who was threatening America and brought him to justice.
He didn’t hang a banner and he didn’t pretend the mission was accomplished. He got the job done.
Four years ago, Senator Obama stood before you and said he wanted to “stop talking about the outrage of 47 million Americans without health care and start actually doing something about it.”
He promised then: “I will make certain that every single American in this country has health care they can count on and I won’t do it 20 years from now, I won’t do it 10 years from now, I will do it by the end of my first term as President.”
Now folks, you know this, politicians have been making that promise for over 60 years. President Obama delivered.
Because of President Obama’s leadership...
the link:
ReplyDeletehttp://news.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/full-remarks-of-rahm-emanuels-speech-at-jefferson-jackson-dinner.php
I truly wish this creepy image were not the face of the movement also, and I am on their side.
ReplyDeleteHow can they be expected to be taken seriously with this?
It makes me sick to my stomach; it's the wrong way to go. It's so bad it makes me wonder if someone somewhere is trying to undercut the movement by attaching it to this Anonymous logo.
I see this as akin to the *Nobody for president* movement.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I found Obama to be a huge disappointment. Sure he's better than the pond scum GOP, but we are still in so many wars I can't keep track & 60% of our budget continues to flush down the toilet in military spending.
Things like car fuel efficiency & the tars sands pipeline get pushed to a date beyond Obama's term ( shcluff off the big decisions as they are too much of a hot potato). Obama has cowtowed to the repugs & the tax breaks for the wealthy remain firmly in place.
So if the face of the movement that has finally brought *mad as hell* people to the streets in protest over a severely broken system to the mix of the next presidential campaign, then good.
I'll probably have to hold my nose & vote Obama-- really voting AGAINST the worst of the lot remaining.
The Occupy movement is young & will develop into pushing specific focal points. The civil rights movement shifted it's focus over the years. And it did take years & non violence.
I'm giving a thumbs up to the artists contribution & stream of thought.
*Whose country? Our country!*
Gryphen, the Rahm Emmanuel text quoted by Anon@7:17 is pretty powerful (and humorous) stuff. To counter the lies of the tee-hee-hee-baggers, the supporters of our president will have to step up the narrative. I hope to see items like this elevated to IM blog posts.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, the political space is filled with "Obama is a socialist" and "Obama says Americans are lazy"....
I agree that this is not an appropriate image for OWS, and I also think maybe OWS should remain without any "image". They need to remain a fluid thing that requests "merely" that there be justice in the world.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I DO enjoy this design, and it seems fitting that it be an image for Anonymous (which I believe it has been for awhile). The Anon folks are kind of the wild card, the wily coyote;they represent mystery, maybe magic, and trickery. As such, they are a little scary. So, I think this image serves the Anon movement well.
The President only issues anti-violence-against-protestors sentiments if the protestors in question are protesting against Middle Eastern dictators.
ReplyDeleteBut when it comes to AMERICAN protestors protestor against financial dictators, the President is silent.
His silence speaks volumes.
I love it!
ReplyDeleteFran,
ReplyDeletePULEEESE, you sound like a Firebagger if I ever heard one.
You can't keep track of the wars, huh? You mean the ones that President Obama is bringing to a close? Those wars? If you can't keep track of them, you reveal your ignorance immediately. I'm not having any trouble at all watching our soldiers come home and watching the happy families welcoming them. Using war as an excuse to bash President Obama is a sure fire sign of a Firebagger. He didn't start the wars, he finished them. The 'war' that he had any part of is OVER, done and brought to successful finish, Libya, with not one single American soldier giving up their life or limbs. You're disappointed?
You are disappointed in Obama? You give no credit for all the amazing things that he has accomplished in the face of the obstruction and lies and 24/7 pushback from FOX and Right wing radio? No recognition just whining and complaining? No acknowledgment for the HUGE shifts in this country and the world by the hand of Obama? Why not? Why are you disappointed? What did you expect?
Do you even do your homework before you come and spew your crap on this blog? The list of accomplishments and the promises kept by our president is not only unprecedented, it is spectacular! You got so used to the dictatorial position taken by Bush that you expect the same from Obama? Here, let me give you a little civics lesson, there are THREE branches of government, and the White House doesn't make the laws. Why don't you take your lame ass disappointment and direct them to the GOP and the right leaning dems who are fucking up the entire system with their recalcitrant tantrums and bullshit posturing?
Really, get a grip. Hold your frickin' nose? What a sorry excuse. Your vote isn't worth two cents and you don't have a leg to stand on with your weak complaints.
You're disappointed? Big deal. So are kids that don't get candy. Grow up and get real about what is happening in this country and NEVER put President Obama in the same sentence with the vermin that is the current GOP. You are an embarrassment.
Hmm, I don't know if other people are seeing them. Here, I get ads with photos of President Obama with titling: Over for Obama? Clicking on the ad goes to a Newsmax site (I assume right wing).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I find their ad here to this Farley image intriguing, yet I can see it being exploited by the right wing for more of their own 1% gains.
Or the anarchists.
I look at it as art. Yet perhaps not the best symbol for OWS.
Maybe it's just me, yet I think Occupy venues in the USA, have enough momentum now. Even before, yet especially since the police actions pepper spray pregnant woman, an 84 year old woman, a priest, and students and many others: I don't think they need the Farley image to have other people than politicians get the message.
Here Fran, this should pretty much address your bitching:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJLvtVIk3R8
Really anon @ 8:56 - President Obama is on the side of the OWS protesters: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-occupy-wall-street-we-are-their-side_598251.html.
ReplyDeleteYou really should google before making comments about our President.
I think the new poster is just sad. Anon @6:36 expresses my feelings about it quite well. Does Mr. Fairey have no more original ideato render artistically--or is this yet another attempt to scapegoat Pres. Obama?
ReplyDelete-Anne in CO
I agree with those who said this image is creepy. Every time I see that mask on either on TV or online, I have to look away because I find it so disturbing.
ReplyDeleteI think that if the OWS movement has any symbol, it should be one that's more positive rather than something that makes my skin crawl.
Is President Obama fighting for us? He is out there doing it for us every fucking day.
ReplyDeleteI find his poster disrespectful, childish, and weird.
I will no longer use the original poster. He made millions from it thanks to President Obama's endorsement. I guess once a crook always a crook.
9:54 AM
ReplyDeleteTell it!
As usual, Fairey has to plagiarize somebody else's work. Hence the copyright issues he cites.
ReplyDeleteSorry, but I don't like the picture.
ReplyDeleteCount me out on it.
-Ardiva
I think it's great for "Anonymous" to use this as their image, but not OWS. OWS is about peace, wealth parity, the future, and social injustice, there's nothing violent nor vigilate about their cause.
ReplyDeleteMany politicians use enticing words as part of their campaign, not to mention many, Obama is one of them. Their full of promises, which are gone with the wind.
ReplyDelete