Artist Post: Shepard Fairey

Shepard Fairey is a digital/street artist born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1970. Fairey became fascinated with art as a young child and went to the Idyllwild School of music and the Arts where he graduated in 1988, before attending the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design. Most notably known for his street art and propaganda-style works, his roots started in the punk music/skateboarding "underground" scene.

Fairey's "Obey" campaign began in 1992 and started out as a joke between himself and a friend when Fairey was asked how to stencil a T-shirt. What started out as a random example would grow into one of the biggest experiments in Phenomenology, or "the process of letting things manifest themselves". I found this very interesting, especially in a world where one's worth is equal to the amount of work and notoriety that one makes for himself. Fairey lets the public do his marketing for him. The simple act of ordering someone to "Obey" naturally makes them curious as to what they are supposed to be obeying- which ends up getting the viewer interested in this product or brand that they know nothing about.

Now an established artist, Fairey is trying to grow the street art movement. He has appeared in many films on the subject such as Bomb It, Popaganda: The art and Crimes of Ron English, and is notorious for his role in Exit Through the Gift Shop. I find it very interesting that by playing on the mind of the general public via many psychological ploys can result in such a "giant" success.

Sources: 

http://www.obeygiant.com/about

http://arthistory.about.com/od/namesff/p/fairey.htm

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1735854/

Mashup

Fixed images

Technology Log

7:30 - Turned off phone alarm
8:20 - Used OneCard to get into Mac Lab
8:30 - Began using computer/scanner
9:20 - Learning in class via projector/computer/computer programs

Digital scans

I got sick last week and have fallen a bit behind... I'm sure more is supposed to be written here, but for the time being- here are my 10 scans:

SMCM Lacrosse Hat

iPad

All of my "Pens"

Headphones

The Ceiling!

Some nice tacks

Shoes

Da $$$$

Scotch Tape (I think its pretty neat)

Calculator

Flannel 

digital artist: Charles Cohen

Charles Cohen used his skill with a camera to make a statement showing nothing at all. Through the artistic process of "erasure" he digitally removes the subjects of his pieces, people, to create voids of white space. This requires the viewer to fill the void with their mind and create a reality all of their own. In Cohen's "Buff" series, he takes the figures out of pornographic images, essentially making a dirty picture "clean", if you will. Despite this, it is still fairly easy for a viewer to determine what the original picture was- addressing the idea that just because something isn't right there, doesn't necessarily mean its gone.
(http://www.promulgator.com/buff.html)

The "Buff" series makes a strong statement on the 'presence of absence'. It's honestly shocking how some things that are taken for granted, such as a person's existence, create such a huge void when they're finally gone. My generation is obsessed with recording every waking moment of their lives via camera or picture-phone. It may seem annoying and tedious, but what if that person just disappeared? How would it affect your life? It's amazing how a picture can mean nothing once it's main focus is gone.

By going down the route of pornography in the "Buff" series, Cohen has really grabbed his viewers' attention. It really makes someone stare and figure out what their looking at- the absence of a visual makes someone dive deeper into the picture and experience all the other details around it.

Sources:
http://www.saatchionline.com/profiles/portfolio/id/7294
http://plane-shift.blogspot.com/2012/08/presence-through-absence-charles-cohen.html
http://www.promulgator.com/buff.html
https://blackboard.smcm.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-94085-dt-content-rid-444332_1/courses/13FA-ART214.01/13FA-ART214.01_ImportedContent_20130826114536/ChristianePaul.pdf