After publishing Urban Décor part 1 on M…
After publishing Urban Décor part 1 on Monday I was interested to see the reaction from the Redbubble community on the subject of urban art. To be honest I was expecting a mixed reaction because this form of art has many guises, some of which have a habit of pissing people off… tagging being one of them. This side of graffiti is the hardest to justify, something even I would struggle to do… not that I would want to anyway! Personally I am not even going to get involved in the debate because I can see both sides of the story and both are as valid as each other… in reality your opinions will probably be individual and varied and will be based on your personal experiences, good or bad. My own experiences have been both negative and positive and I’m pretty open minded on the subject, so I can understand the mixed reactions that some of the images I produce may cause. Some people will say tagging causes distress and is just blatant vandalism created by bored jobless youths with no respect for the property of others. Others will say it has been around for as long as the human race has been able to express itself through painting and (in some cases) can even brighten up the ugliest of human creations. Whatever your opinion in a free society such as the UK’s it is not going to disappear anytime soon. This is because to truly stop it we would need to take drastic measures that would not sit comfortably in our so called ‘free society’. However, as a photographer I like to document a street scene that I’ve found and I see beauty in. As I primarily photograph natural street scenes in urban areas urban art/vandalism is often a major feature of my work. This is because to me it is such and intriguing and powerful form of artist expression completely without censure that can reach and effect anybody or any age. I am intrigued as to the thought processes that go into designing tags and what they tell you about the artist/criminal that has created it. My intention with these is not to express my personal opinion, instead just to document a scene I think is beautiful and to show it in context with its surroundings. The fact these scenes are dynamic and constantly changing as more graffiti/urban art/tags gives me confidence that recording them is an important thing to do. In fact many of the scenes I have shot in my portfolio have been whitewash or replaced, something that makes me feel justified in spending the many days trawling the streets looking for them. Peace Ben AKA Redtempa
HOw do I remove an item from sale and still have item view, Like the reverse of not offering something for sale and then adding it for s…
HOw do I remove an item from sale and still have item view, Like the reverse of not offering something for sale and then adding it for sale. The latter is easy but I cant seem to be able to do the reverse. Do I have to remove it altogether and then reload? / As it has been suggested to me that my Tee shirts based on the familiar Superman Shield could be a violation of copyright I want to remove them from sale untiI clarify the matter. / /
Early part of September, 1968 Republic of Vietnam(from my diary, or journal) A TEARFUL EVENT…
Early part of September, 1968 Republic of Vietnam(from my diary, or journal) A TEARFUL EVENT IN WAR Today brought many tears to my eyes after our mission was over. It’s September and the helicopters really took us far out into the boonies. I noticed something wasn’t right because the coppers flew so far and they have to calculate how far is too far, because fuel must remain in their tanks in order to get back to the base. The pilots kept radio contact with their commanders and I could hear the tremble in their voices over concern of having gone too close to no return. / They quickly set us down in a hot zone because there was no time to find a safe one. It was a sign that we had no men out there to provide us with a safe landing zone. It was too weird because they didn’t want us to know too much about the mission. Only men of interest (those in charge of leading, and the pilots) knew where we were headed. The look on the pilots faces as he took his headphones off and said, “Wish you luck men, we will be back for you when the time is right! / Bullets penetrated the tin made copters as the bullets ripped right into belly of some. It was a term we used because there wasn’t much that didn’t keep the helicopter safe from bullets and rockets and such. The one I was riding in was taking too many hits and the gunner on the side had already taken a round of bullets and we had less cover if any. The helicopter tried to take off but it was smoking from the engines and we were swaying left to right, left to right. One of the pilots turned to me and said, “Take your men off, jump, I can’t control this and I can’t gain altitude, hurry, we are sitting ducks. Do it now soldier!” / I had my legs hanging from the side because I loved to watch the countryside. Earlier I had envisioned spotting the enemy from the air and letting go off some rounds. It was a game I placed in my head when I saw the water buffaloes working in the rice patties and the Vietnamese working along side of them. I pretended to take pot shots at them and wiping them off because some of them were the enemy. They would work the land by day and at night they would turn into Vietcong soldiers and go out and fight us. By day they treated us as alias, after dark, we were their enemy, such is this war. / I took my sixty-pound backpack off my back and dropped it first right before I jumped. I had learned to do that so that if there were a (booby trap) mine, maybe it would blow up first before I landed. Besides, landing from such an altitude because of the helicopter not being able to land was dangerous. I encouraged the others to do the same, but some rookies never learn. / Soon as I landed I opened up with my bloop (grenade launcher) hoping to provide a little cover for the ones jumping after me. A rookie that did not take his backpack off landed on a rock and I cook see his knee bone sticking out from his pants and the blood all over. The force of jumping and the weight generates a lot of G’s and his shattered knee was bringing him pain of greater proportions. I had to continue firing away as I took his m-16 in the fully automatic power and emptied the ammo magazine and took more from his belt and loaded, and reloaded again and again until most of my men had jumped. / I quickly looked back to see if anymore were still in the copter, but I saw it plunged to the ground and then I heard an explosion flowed by a cloud of smoke coming from that same general direction. My attention quickly turned to saving the lives of my men and finding cover and finding a way to protect the rest of the helicopters that had not yet landed. / We expected some air support but none came. I knew from my experience that there was a reason as to was it did not come. We were in a restricted area, (just another hell of a way to say we were not to be there). My senses told me that air support would be detected from the border town of the place we were not suppose to be in. My gut feeling also alerted to the clothing they were wearing. A little different than what we had seen on many of other missions. That plus the number of hours to reach this place, I knew this was another hell we had been assigned to. / Once the casualties were accounted for and air lifted out safely, we secured the area and set out on our true mission. A line of villages laid in our wake, and we were to find the enemy that was living amongst the villagers. It was a dangerous job because the Vietcong had the people as slaves. They would rob their babies and turn them into fighting young boys with no fear of the enemy (the Americans). They walked amongst them, dressed like them, hid their weapons somewhere within striking distances and often tried to befriend us. / Our soldiers walked through the paths that led to the first village as the people cheered us on. The first unit had already inspected some of straw huts and it would be our turn to inspect the second owes in the next village once we got there. I could see the children outside the huts waving and sticking out their little hand for handouts. Most of the time we would give them our sweets, candy from our c-rations. It was not unusual for the little children to run up to the soldiers and take what they could. / I had learned many things about these situations and that it was not safe to do so. I would much rather throw the food at them instead of them coming towards us. The men that had been with me had learned a thing or two from my stern stance on the issue, but there was always a new kid on the block. We all had a good heart for the poor, but that in itself could kill you. In a land far away from home, with love ones back home, with lives always in danger, shooting, killing, whan better way to ease the pain by getting a hug from a child after you give them a treat, right. / I kept watch as I notice a child come out of one of the huts. Most of the village people were out greeting the American GIs, but why not this one. Inside the hut I noticed movement like if there was somebody inside there with that child. I didn’t feel good at the situation as I monitored everything around us. I signaled to the men in my squad to keep alert, as I pointed at me eyes. They had been made aware that I suspected something. / Our eyes and weapons were fixed at the hut that I had pointed to. The child kept coming towards us, waving, smiling, baby talking Vietnamese, and he looked harmless in his little pants. It was the pants that caught my eyes because little children hardly wore anymore than a rag as underclothing. One of the rookies was over joyed that the child was coming to get his candy. Just above the belt line on the back of the pants I could see a bulge. / I ran towards the rookie and I screamed, “ No, let him go, he’s fixed!” It was a grenade and the elastic on the waste was just buying time until the handle would come loose. I knew that he had been instructed not to run so that handle would remind on because the pin had been removed. As soon as the soldier touched him the handle fell off and there were seconds left before it would go off and kill somebody. There was only one way to minimize the horror that was taking place. / The child was picked up and herald toward the hut from where he had been sent. There was no time to pick up the grenade if it fell on the ground, there was no time to take it off his clothes, there was no time to tell the others to get away, there was no time to fall on it to save many lives, this was the only means of saving many soldiers. That child was dead since that ass hole Vietcong put the grenade on him. He didn’t care, it wasn’t his child, just another slave of theirs that they were willing to sacrifice. / They were ruthless, uncaring, unGodly, and whatever you want to call them. We on the other had up to this day to question ourselves if what was done is right. Well, it happened, did it come out on the newspaper, did anybody else ever tell you such a story. I believe not, and when I write these mementos it tears my heart apart, but I had to get them out. This war had many unpleasant moments and some people were made to forget, other were put away and still others are left to live the nightmares again and again. These are stories that have to be brought out in the open, and with tears in my eyes, I do not regret to. I stand alone, I stand amongst others maybe, I stand beside you too, or maybe what I say should not stand, you be the judge of that. / If you want to hear more, drop me a line, there is a lot left to say, but if no one is there to read, then all will be lost. Copywrite 2008(Oscarelizondo)
Just reading that should make one say, “What the hell??? There’s no murder depicted here! There’s no mutilation shown! No images of po…
Just reading that should make one say, “What the hell??? There’s no murder depicted here! There’s no mutilation shown! No images of porn or nude babies are allowed! What the hell is your problem, Lenny, and why are you even talking about censorship as a positive thing in an artist’s community?” Here is a copy of the comments I just wrote after viewing an image of illegal street art/graffiti: If not for the nasty fact that my white van has just been sprayed by huge black gang signs – for the third time – I might be able to find the interest in asswipes defacing property. But it’s just a bit too difficult after getting up to face the drive to work with more of their advertising being displayed on my commute. And what can I do? Well, I can paint over it and give them a fresh white surface. Or paint it black and give them an alternative look. I can forget about it and just wait for them to cover it all for me, perhaps making it look more artistic than destructive. Or I can sleep in the van with a gun and wait. Of course, I can’t actually use the gun: even my brandishing it unloaded is a greater crime than their ruining my property repeatedly. I can’t hold them for police because I can’t make a citizen’s arrest for vandalism. But I can jump out, photograph them (hopefully scare them off before they smash the camera, my head, or both), and report the latest incident to the police answering machine. Then I could pretend to show the cops when the cops pretend to respond. Should we as artists elevate scum to our level by displaying their meanness? I know I have in several pieces on mine. I know I’ll never do it again and will edit out both any future graffiti and the crime displayed here in my Red Bubble gallery to date. I’m sorry but I think it’s time to make a stand for the people who create using their own pallets, not destroying someone’s property to do so. Looks like when something hits home enough, it eventually leaves enough emotional and personal damage to make one want to stop it. I’ve reached that point. I am not angry. I’m not even frustrated with the way things are here in Red Bubble with the depiction of crime. What bothers me is that I’m doing what the criminals want most desperately to do: promoting their crimes. Are there people who are in Red Bubble as legitimate artists wasting their time trashing my property? I don’t know but I doubt it. Are there idiot people who just happen along and see illegal crap? Undoubtedly. Does having it here cause crime? No way to tell. We can’t even agree if ANY depictions of actions cause people to do things. But we as a society don’t allow child porn because we don’t want it to have even the slightest ability to influence. We don’t allow graphic sex – even consensual contact between legally permitted partners – in Red Bubble, and the line is a lot blurrier when it comes to “influence” in this regard. How many illegal acts are legally depicted in Red Bubble? I don’t think there are any and I feel confident that The Powers That Be in this wonderful site wouldn’t allow them if found. Yet public display of female nudity is illegal in some societies so is Red Bubble picking and choosing which crimes to allow and which to ban? I don’t know the answers and I don’t pretend to. I’m not looking for anything here but public acknowledgment of my changed viewpoint regarding defacto promotion of vandalism. Vandalism is a crime. Showing it online spreads the ability for it to be seen on a much wider scale. Calling it art is to demean ourselves. I propose the voluntary removal of artwork showing the criminal activity of graffiti and I propose strong editing of graffiti in pieces that are art but have this crime as an element in them. This isn’t a Red Bubble issue; this is a united artists’ issue and one we, as artists, need to consider to raise the bar above the human trash with the simple want and ability to do something criminal while having us call it otherwise. We, as artists, do not need to validate criminal vandalism by calling it art. We, as artists, don’t need to change criminal thought or make laws regarding it. But we, as artists, can take a stand refusing to promote a crime by elevating it to the equality of fine art we create and enjoy inside Red Bubble.
Following on from my previous journals on this subject, / Does this not make alarm bells go off for any thinking human being? Excerpt…
Following on from my previous journals on this subject, / Does this not make alarm bells go off for any thinking human being? Excerpt from this site Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius has not only given immunity to the makers of Tamiflu and Relenza for injuries stemming from their use against swine flu, she has granted immunity to future swine flu vaccines and “any associated adjuvants”. The last time the government embarked on a major vaccine campaign against a new swine flu, thousands filed claims contending they suffered side effects from the shots. This time around, they will have no recourse. The 2006 Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (the PREP Act) allows the DHHS Secretary to invoke almost complete immunity from liability for manufacturers of vaccines and drugs used to combat a declared public health emergency. The PREP Act removes the right to a trial jury unless a plaintiff can provide clear evidence of willful misconduct that resulted in death or serious physical injury—and gets permission to sue from the DHHS Secretary. But once the PREP Act is invoked to shield manufacturers from liability, the pharmaceutical firms have no financial incentive to make the safest product, and have a negative incentive to test it for safety. As long as they do not deliberately harm consumers of the product, they will not be liable for damages. Meanwhile, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hoping to have 120 million doses of H1N1 swine flu virus vaccine ready before flu season this fall, some are raising concerns over what they see as an effort to rush the drug through safety trials. The source of many of these concerns is the probability that the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal will be an ingredient in some of the doses of the new vaccine. Groups opposed to current vaccination practices condemn thimerosal as a toxin responsible for the development of autism and related ailments in children. Additionally, the possibility that the swine flu vaccine could also contain an adjuvant, an ingredient that would allow more doses to be created from existing supplies of the vaccine, has also worried these groups. see link to read more… What is hidden in vaccines? more here
You might like to read The Six Degrees of Separation – A story of sadness...
You might like to read The Six Degrees of Separation – A story of sadness before reading this because this will essentially be a plot-spoiler otherwise. In presenting this journal I am not pushing this story forward as being very good or a piece of literary delight. It is not even entertainment I think. I am hoping to show firstly how it was written and then, also, to emphasize its pertinence to us all even if we feel that ‘it couldn’t happen to me’. The story, then, is about a man who starts off at point A and then, in six artificially delimited transitions ends up at point Z – a person almost totally alien to the original. It is a warning tale because such things can and do occur every day and if you look carefully, you can see them occurring in and about your own life. It’s well, imho, to bear that in mind. The story as it took place in reality was far less terrible and harmless. Yet it provided me with a catalyst to apply a little imagination, do a little research and a lot of thinking to realize that the ultimately written story is just as feasible for some people out there (though probably not you the reader). So the original story is thus: —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-- / I had to order my next lease car. So I looked at the cheapest option which would give me lots of cash in the pocket. A basic vehicle, manual, no extras. It was very enticing because of the savings I’d get – in the lease and in the petrol. But for just one dollar more per week, I could get air conditioning. I’d like that. I really appreciate that. So I decided to go with that tiny change. Then I realized that auto would be very useful for my wife and would only cost another three dollars per week…. hmmmm….. yes, why not. Of course, if I upgraded to the bigger model then I’d get all that AND a cd player which would be nice. And the upgrade would be only two dollars on top – with the added advantage of a bigger boot for the shopping. And so it went on until I realized I was looking at the top-of-the-range vehicle which was five times the price of the cheapest one. Yes, it contained lots of wonderful comfort, convenience and safety features and was roomy as a bus – but I couldn’t help wondering. How did I get here? I’d started from one point and increment by increment ended up at the totally other end of the scale. / —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-- Essentially, I wondered what would happen if I transposed this cumulative incremental attitude change to something else – something darker, something more evil. And so The Six Degrees of Separation – A story of sadness was born. Or hatched. Or expelled from the womb of the dark mind…..
Following on from my previous stories, I’ve had a hunt around for the latest information regarding Photographers Rights. Thought I wou…
Following on from my previous stories, I’ve had a hunt around for the latest information regarding Photographers Rights. Thought I would share some information that I have found. / Its mainly UK bound but some info for our American and Australian cousins too. Please bear in mind that this is only to be used as a guide and you should always consult a lawyer as rules and laws change from county to county, state to state, country to county. Enjoy Photographers Rights v2 Metropolitan Police Service
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