Be Good Do Good

My new political poster, Be Good do Good, was commissioned by Anne Brown of The Arts Company. She asked me to do an American flag piece and said with a smirk, “But do a positive one.” So this is what I came up with – a limited edition of only 7 screen printed posters of an American flag made in the shape of an eagle with the text, “Be Good Do Good.”

For the philosophical among you – Of course I understand that what is considered good for some is sometimes not good for others. Fortunately, this poster assumes some basic truths or common sense.
Robert M. Pirsig wrote,
“And what is good, Phaedrus,
And what is not good—
Need we ask anyone to tell us these things?”

On Thursday, July 2nd come by the Arts Company during Art After Hours between 5:00 – 8:00 pm. I will be there and so will the artwork of Brother Mel, Myles Maillie, Norris Hall, and Bob McGill.

Tiananmen Square 1989 Massacre

Today is the 20th anniversary of man against the machine. Free human spirit instead of government control. Reason and peace rather than ignorance and violence. Unfortunately, all that remains of most of that revolutionary spirit is shrouded by government domination and the desire for more and more products for sale and consumption.

These days most Chinese students have never even heard of what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Do a search in Google at google.cn and you will find no results relating to the massacre – thanks Google for your censorship – money is more important than human rights and the truth for Google. One thing is certain, the government is doing an excellent job of covering up the events while rewriting history and most people are too captivated by bread and circuses.

The anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests says much about the current affairs of China, but one might also want to relect upon what it reveals regarding ones own government and the scarcity of the revolitionary spirit in our own people.

Political Peace Poster is available here.

Smile: Big Brother is Watching You

Now how does that make you feel? What is your interpretation of my Barack Obama Big Brother poster? Are you excited that you are now being watched over by a new kind of Big Brother? Or, are you thinking that the masks have changed, but the system remains the same – with slight differences of course. Perhaps, you are not thinking. You have nothing to worry about.

Please come by on Tuesday and let me know your thoughts! The information is below and from the Arts Company.

“The Arts Company is presenting a special “Obama Inauguration Art Party and Exhibit” on inauguration day, January 20, 2009, from 11-2pm in the gallery in downtown Nashville at 215 Fifth Avenue of the Arts, North.

The special event will feature big screen live coverage of inauguration activities and present an exhibit of commemorative portraits of Obama by four artists—Jorge Arrieta, Bob Grossman, Brother Mel, and Jeff Hand. The original artwork by these artists will be accompanied by limited-edition prints of each portrait, signed and numbered by each artist to commemorate this historic occasion.

The Obama bust by Robert Grossman, a NY-based illustrator, has been featured on the cover of the New York Observer.  Jorge Arrieta has had one of his current political poster series selected to be included in the Manifest Hope: DC Gallery, an exhibit curated by Shepard Fairy and others, scheduled in Washington, D.C. as a special inaugural art event.  Brother Mel created a painted metal portrait of Obama “after 4 years in the White House,” and Jeff Hand has created one of his signature portraits in felt.” – The Arts Company

Hope to see you there.

Barack Obama – Meet the new Boss – Same as the old Boss

Barack Obama is bringing much change to the White House – changing it back to the way it was when Bill Clinton was President. If Obama was serious about a real change then he would not be surrounding himself with former Clinton staff members and appointing them as his advisers. A great report by Paul Craig Roberts titled, Conned Again lists several Obama advisers and their political history. History tells us that political corruption, aggressive wars and economic hell are some of the “changes” that will continue in this country and around the world with a Republican or a Democrat President.

Countless artists have attempted to canonize Barack Obama in support of his presidential campaign, but none more successfully as Shepard Fairey and Ron English. Fairey’s incredible poster of Obama is, to be sure, a thing of beauty. While Ron English’s Obama Lincoln is also a beautifully powerful image to say the very least of these two works of art. Hopefully, Fairey and English have not been fooled by the very establishment they are supposed to be against, but more likely, they like most Americans hope this time there will be a true change.

Regardless, Kurt Nimmo’s article Progressives need to dump Obama and the Corporatist Democrat Party puts it like this, “They invariably buy into all the manufactured hype around elections. They are hard pressed to realize the obvious fact — elections are dog and pony shows designed to trick the public into thinking they are participating in the so-called democratic process when in fact they are simply signing off on corporate and banker vetted candidates, who are little more than PR front men and script readers.  Obama is no different than Bush, except he is more intelligent and more palatable to the masses. Democrats have the same agenda as the Republicans, albeit with differences on a few social issues, which are played up in the corporate media. But when it comes to financial and foreign policy — and the two are intertwined — there is no difference. It happens every election cycle.”

So for any truth seeker, I have created this poster in an attempt not to glorify or scorn Obama, but to reveal that which only truth reveals. How’s this for a CHANGE!

We Won’t get Fooled Again!

The poster is a tribute to Pete Townshend and his understanding of the power of music and how it can be the vibration to start a revolution. The lyrics of, Won’t Get Fooled Again, reflect the cycle of man who support revolutions for change only to realize that nothing has changed.

Sooner than later, the people of this country will recognize that they have been fooled again, but will it be too late? What price shall we pay this time? Which of our liberties will be seized upon in the name of protecting us from phantom terrorists. What fear and terror will our own government unleash on the public so that we will wholeheartedly submit to their will. Should our blind faith lead us down a road where even the facade of change is obsolete?

We’ll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgement of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song

I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again

The change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the foe, that’s all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain’t changed
‘Cause the banners, they are flown in the next war

I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again
No, no!

I’ll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I’ll get all my papers and smile at the sky
For I know that the hypnotized never lie

Do ya?

There’s nothing in the street
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now the parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again
Don’t get fooled again
No, no!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

-by Pete Townshend, The Who

Matters of Substance

Helvetica is the obvious choice for this poster’s typography! If you have not seen it yet, please watch Helvetica: A Documentary Film by Gary Hustwit. Helvetica is an independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture.

The poster lists no matters of substance discussed by the major media and politicians because there are no matters of importance discussed by them. Sure, fundamental questions are raised on occasion, but no real or honest solutions are ever met due to the fact that questions of substance are not allowed to be asked. The media even go so far as to proclaim some of these debates, negotiations or bills as a victory for the American citizen, but nothing is accomplished that has any long lasting or far reaching effect for the Average American.

Not true you say? If problems are solved due to government involvement, then answer just one of the following questions. Why is it that we always have higher taxes? Why is the gap between the rich and poor widening. Why does the national debt continue to rise? Why do we still start trillion dollar wars? Why does our government send the military to bomb and kill innocent men, women, children and babies? Why is the average American struggling under the yoke of a carefree Uncle and a deceptive banking system? Why do the politicians disregard the people they are suppose to represent? If greed and power were American family values then perhaps our politicians would embody us as a people. One cannot represent whom one does not understand. And one will represent but himself if one cares but for himself.

Oh, Forgive me. I have forgotten that there has been an election! This time it is different, you say, because THIS multi-millionaire, lifetime politician really understands the American people.

Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils?

Wow! How important is the 2004 testimony video with Clinton Curtis about election hacking! Obviously, not important enough to politicians, who have done nothing to correct the problems with these voting machines. Today, on election day, will the facade of democracy continue to fool Americans into believing that everyone in America has a voice? One thing is certain, people are turning out in record numbers indicating that the media has once again waged a successful campaign to control your mind.

There is a great poster titled “Neither One” (of these men will bring real ‘change’) on pjchiel’s flicker page. Read the comments and scroll down to see some important links to articles that discuss the political fundamentals of these two men (especially Obama) on sites like this one by Carl Finamore and Mark T. Harris titled, “What Will an Obama Presidency Bring?”

Vote for the lesser of two evils if you want to confirm your support for evil and submit to the will of the Republicans and Democrats. Let us not forget how we arrived here on this ship of political turmoil – by voting for more of the same. We all want to believe in great change or peace and hope for a better world, but when one deafly follows political rhetoric that is all one gets – more talk and more war and more taxes and more government and less freedom. This poster symbolizes the hypnotic affect that results from the constant media coverage of the Republicans and Democrats where emotion and fear reign over logic and reason.

So every year people go to the voting booth and blindly vote for someone just because they are a Democrat or a Republican. Most people actual believe that there is a difference between the two Republicrat system. These politicians are ALL extremely wealthy and have strong ties to the largest corporations who actually control American policy. Perhaps, there was a time when these parties had important distinctions and unique differences, but those days are fading along with our civil liberties.

So I ask you, will you choose reason and wisdom or selfish emotion and fear? Either way, will your vote even count?

I am Rich – You are Not

So is anyone even upset anymore about the $700,000,000,000 bailout? I am sure some of you are, but if you are like most Americans you have gone back to your routine thinking, “What am I going to do about it? I can’t do anything.”

Well, what you don’t know about the bailout might ignite some anger that could possible turn into action. Did you know that, “This program has already pumped trillions of dollars into Wall Street (compared to the mere $700 billion proposed in the legislation that the media is focusing on) to help prop up the faltering investment banks and promises to pump in even more, every dime of it to the detriment of the taxpayer though the public will have no stake in its success. Why, then, is this program not being talked about in the media?” (James Corbett – Distracted by the Bailout)

In the days leading up to the bailout the Federal Reserve had pumped an unbelievable $188 billion per day into the system in the form of emergency credit.
Link to reuters I had to watch the video above to vaguely remember that the Pentagon had $2,300,000,000,000 that went “missing” and none did anything about it.

After you watch the video and become angry – think about what can be done to bring about CHANGE in this country. Change that is not a political slogan. Change that is genuine. Change that will not die after the election. Change that brings with it justice. Change that is not twisted with lies and fear. Change that sings of equality. Change that is not strangled by hypocrisy. Change that bears with it the fruit of the knowledge of right and wrong. Change that breathes life into your heart! Change that begins with only one. Change that you know can exist. Change! Ignite the whole world – You must Change to be that Change!

North American Dictator

The North American Dictator Poster goes beyond President George W. Bush and his numerous crimes and represents any President who considers themselves to have absolute power and control. One simply has to glance at Dennis J. Kucinich’s articles of impeachment against President Bush to see a glimpse of the dictator spirit or just have a look at the Patriot Act’s assault on civil liberties. In particular, the authorization of indefinite detentions of immigrants; allowing searches of homes or businesses without the owner’s or the occupant’s permission or knowledge; enabling the FBI to search telephone, email and financial records without a court order; and the expanded access of law enforcement agencies to business, library and financial records.

Well, some of you might be thinking, “Thankfully, all that is almost over.” Think again. All these laws are still in place and so are almost all of the politicians that voted for them. Not to mention, that both John McCain and Barack Obama both voted FOR the renewal of the Patriot Act, repeated funding of the Iraq War and the recent Bail Out.

Our goals, as American’s, should not be to accept where we have been led and hope for the best in the future, but to eliminate these unconstitutional laws and bring to justice these traitorous individuals to prove that once again that ours is a goverment for the people, by the people and of the people.

Vote For Obama or McCain – But Just Vote!

Vote. I will do anything and everything. Come on, you know it isn’t true, but you will vote for me anyway. You are scared to wonder what would happen if “He” got elected. You know you want me. Do the right thing and give in to your weaknesses. Forget about your pride and your sound reason or judgment. Vote. I am less disgusting than he is! Who cares about the issues. Look at my make-up. No, don’t waste time looking at my voting record, my accomplishments or lack thereof. You do not have time for that. You are stupid. I do not mean that as an insult. It is true. Vote. I will do a-n-y-thing. Vote. You know you want me. Vote.

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