MEDIA ROOTS – In Egypt, street art is quickly painted over and removed from public view. To combat this, photographers have recently teamed up with artists to compile collections for print publication.

Since the resignation of President Mubarak last year, artists’ dissent appears to have grown even more angry and primarily focuses frustrations toward newly elected President Morsi.

 “You are a regime that is frightened by paint brushes and pens,” read one verse recently displayed. “If you were doing the right thing, you would not be afraid of what’s painted.” The Muslim Brotherhood is also a target of the denunciation.

Wall Talk is the newly released collection of graffiti displayed in Egypt over much of the past two years and is now available for free download on Scribd.

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Ottawa Citizen – Wall Talk publisher Sherif Boraie says graffiti was the vehicle that delivered clear, strong and angry messages during the anti-Mubarak uprising and afterward. Now it reflects the depth of frustration over the perceived failure of the revolution to realize its main goals, he said.

“We are in a difficult period, and the youth are very angry, while avenues for expression for the mare limited. Will the anger continue to simmer indefinitely without boiling over? I don’t think so.”

To read more about how graffiti artists are creatively spreading information in Egypt, read the full article in today’s Ottawa Citizen.

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Image provided by Flickr user Gigi Ibrahim.

MEDIA ROOTS — Graffiti Philosophy is a video collage illustrating sociopolitical commentary in the renegade art form of graffiti.  It traverses class warfare, suffering, consumerism and mass media indoctrination, industrial civilization’s oil addiction, exploitation by Empire, environmental consequences of fossil fuels, and the fate of humanity.

“An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” – Singer, poet and civil rights activist Nina Simone

MR

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Graffiti Philosophy

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I love how much art can illustrate about society and the world around us. Graffiti art is especially interesting to me because of the clarity it conveys in such a succinct fashion.  Also, political graffiti holds a lot of power to move people to action.  It was reported that graffiti helped spark and encourage the revolution in Syria, as well as Egypt and countries in South Asia.

“Graffiti Philosophy” is my attempt at illustrating the state of the world in which we currently live: one where an oligarchic-corporate empire has corrupted and usurped governments, destroyed worker’s rights and wages, subverted the Fourth Estate, indoctrinated the population into a mindless and superficial consumer culture, built and instituted a police/surveillance state side-by-side with the military industrial complex, and hastened the environmental destruction of the planet. 

People across the world are suffering immensely, with their livelihoods in constant jeopardy.  The well-being of communities and families is in perpetual danger and under constant threat, and the officials we continue to elect from the same corrupt two-party system, beholden to Wall Street interests, only pay lip service to their campaign promises.

From the moment in which we wake until we fall asleep, we are inundated with corporate media spin and propaganda.  It’s near impossible for the average citizen on the street to discern the truth without taking a proactive approach in searching for independent, impartial news sources.  

However, the facade seems to be breaking as more people come to the realization that their so-called democracy is only an illusion, especially in North America. They call it virtual politics in Eastern Europe.  The truth has become a fungible commodity – replaceable and changeable for whatever purpose suits the moneyed elite.  

How can civilization survive when the truth is buried and the decisions for society are based upon the delusional, self-serving beliefs of the American ruling-class?  With the continued advancement of modern technology and man’s ability to destroy humanity multiple times over, this question becomes ever more pressing. 

Written by Mike Longenecker for Media Roots

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MEDIA ROOTS- Carly Ivan Garcia is a San Francisco based art curator and painter whose thriving, neo-abstract style is expressed through bold strokes and colorful palettes. Garcia’s work has been shown all over the country in both solo and group shows, and many of his paintings are featured in an upcoming film called Touching Home, starring Ed Harris. Media Roots recently caught up with Garcia to get the low down on his artistic perspective and creative process.

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MR: Hey Carly, thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts with Media Roots. Your style caught me right away– it is an alive expression of self. Your imagery encompasses provocative themes that can be both childlike and dark. Have you been developing this style for a long time? How did you get into it?

CIG: Well, first of all I would like to take a moment to thank everyone at Media Roots who helps to promote creative artists, like myself, and who helps to reclaim journalism through positive truth telling. So thank you, Media Roots.

I believe part of my creative endeavors grew out of a passion I had for BMX biking. At 13, I was a national champion in flatland freestlye. My experience with bike riding fueled my kinetic energy and desire to express art. In high school, I took a liking to painting and ended up spending most of my time in art class. I always felt like I had the ability to create and have always felt confident that art was a discipline I could excel in.

MR: That’s awesome that your artistic expression stemmed from BMX enthusiasm! What mediums do you generally work with during the creative process?

CIG: I mostly work with oil and acrylics and find myself going back to them more often than not. With oils, I prefer the saturation of color they give. The acrylic efficiency in drying lets me paint layers on top of layers quickly. This eventually presents a unique history from within the painting that can be tracked visually. If I had to pick, I would say that oil is my top pick, but I also incorporate spray paint and watercolors in some of my work too. I like to keep my neo- modern style limitless by constantly pushing mediums and changing their conventional use. All of these mediums and ideas together creates my body of work.

Daydream Free, 58″x60″, oil and mixed media, 2010

CIG: I created this large scale painting for solo exhibit presented by TincaArt at the Miami Art Fair Foundation in 2010. This painting is from my latest series that captures a neo- modern abstraction of an industrialized world.

No Evil Triptych, 30″x12″, acrylic and wash, 2010

CIG: This is a painting out of a series of paintings I did on censorship for the NYCLU Just Art benefit.

 

See Clear, 58″x60″, oil and mixed media, 2010

CIG: As the title suggests, I bring attention to society’s assumption in appearance. This painting was also part of a series called Neo Modern Abstractions of an industrialized world.

 

MR: It’s impressive that you are able to switch back and forth, I tend to get stuck on one and shut myself out from exploring other mediums. What is your favorite kind of art to create?

CIG: My favorite kind of art to make is the kind of work that includes a ton of color that attracts the eye- first out of instinct, but then the imagery takes you deeper into feeling or significance that may not have been felt at first glance. The beauty in my favorite kind of art work is all subjective. All art work that I like or collect must have an innate attraction- the more clever, the better.

MR: Mo’ clever, mo’ better fo sho. Why do you think it is so important to have independent media outlets working together to highlight community art and activism?

CIG: Independent media outlets are essential in bringing attention to artists’ social and political statements that either challenge the establishment or empower communities.

MR: Do you think artists and musicians have a responsibility to reflect societal and political climates? 

CIG: I strongly believe that the ultimate responsibility of contemporary artists today is to reflect societal and political climates. The most powerful artwork portrays a voice that creatively expresses basic human rights. When given a space, art manifests positive interventions. Independent media outlets are crucial in bringing attention to artists’ social and political statements that either challenge or empower communities through art and activism.

MR: I agree. So how can people find you and your art in the bay area?

CIG: I’m really excited at this moment because I just had my first solo show in Hollywood CA at The FilmPunks Gallery. I also have large scale paintings that reside at The Uptown which is Oakland CA’s first apartment community to be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council as ecologically-friendly.  In Marin, my work can be seen at Room Interior Gallery on Fourth street in San Rafael.

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To learn more about Carly Ivan Garcia, or to check out his work go to www.carlyivangarcia.com or go to http://fountainexhibit.com/2010/index.php/media/tinca-art.

Main photo Starry Night, art by Carly Ivan Garcia

Written by Abby Martin

MEDIA ROOTS- As the world of art becomes increasingly homogenized, it is growing harder to come across original art that has societal and political significance. With the exception of Banksy and a few others, rarely do you see a prominent artist putting themselves out there to make a bold statement or provoke controversial thought. Like every other commodity in this corporatist system, popular modern art has become an over-produced, unoriginal, profit driven industry.

In times of perpetual wars and endless threats, dissenting propaganda artists have always been a crucial element of communication, organization and reflection. For our generation- there is Nathan Janes (AKA Red Baron), a propaganda artist and political activist who refuses to sell out to the system.

Janes is the mind behind PUPAGANDA, a pop art website countering the societal saturation of ‘meaningless advertising art’ by providing more inspiring, thought provoking work.  According to Janes, “It’s time people quit living a life of constant entertainment and start engaging in critical thought while questioning the barrage of commercial images and propaganda that they are faced with each day.”

His motivation is to open minds by depicting the machinery the global elite use to advance their own agenda.  And he does it with a man’s best friend – Janes uses the comforting imagery of dogs because they serve as an artistic tool for individuals to explore contentious topics.

Janes’s art has been featured in multiple prominent publications and he has been commissioned to do paintings by celebrities like Caprice Bourret and Pete Wentz of the band Fall Out Boy. Media Roots recently sat down with Nathan Janes for an exclusive interview about his artistic and political endeavors.

MR: What was your political awakening? Why did you start making political art?

NJ: My political awakening happened about three years ago. My journey began when my musician friend Photon Man gave me a copy of Terrorstorm by Alex Jones. It wasn’t long before I transformed my art from “Pop ARF” to “PUPAGANDA.” My previous “Pop ARF” artwork focused on the heartwarming appeal of dogs; I promoted the message of the prevention of cruelty towards animals but many of my paintings were just aesthetically pleasing without any particular message. While I still have compassion for dogs, my focus today is to awaken the general public to the ways in which we have been trained to follow our masters much like dogs. 

Since I have begun to create more powerful and thought provoking paintings, interest from art publications and other media that once promoted my work has ceased. Today’s artists found in the mainstream media and major galleries, create work lacking careful analysis of society. Artists that make strong statements about the Establishment and the ways in which we are being controlled and managed may never be promoted widely because we are a threat to the status quo.

MR: Why do you paint dogs and how does that fit into the messages you relay?

NJ: Dogs are the perfect subject to communicate my message because people still have empathy and compassion for dogs. We have been exposed to dehumanization through a constant flow of images on television, in movies, and in print depicting so much violence against our own kind that people no longer have compassion for one another. When something tragic happens to another human being, we are unable to react but if a dog is abused in anyway there is a sudden swell of compassion. There are also many parallels between the ways that dogs are trained and how we are conditioned by culture, which make for powerful paintings.

MR: What mediums do you usually work with?

NJ: I work in acrylics and usually paint on stretched canvas.

MR: Did you have any art school training or does painting come naturally for you?

NJ: I am a graduate of the Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio. My work today is a representation of my hard work and incredibly intensive practice.  I began training to be an artist as a freshman in High School. I am not talented or gifted; I have just applied myself and developed my skills and technique over many years.

MR: You just launched an international campaign that sparked attention worldwide, including a plug from Adbusters. What is Unplug the Signal, and why should people get involved?

NJ: Unplug the Signal is a campaign to turn off televisions.  I designed the campaign to create awareness of the gross manipulation of reality that is broadcast by the six major corporations controlling the content of television. With the average American adult watching more than 4 hours of television each day, the television plays a major role in continually creating the perceived reality in which we live.  The television has been used as a weapon of mass deception for the last half a century; it manages society and culture through such techniques as perception management, behavior placement, predictive programming and crisis creation.

People should get involved with this campaign because the television remains our greatest threat to individual sovereignty and the largest obstacle to becoming a truly informed individual. In order for individuals to see the real locus of control and look beyond such things as the false left/right paradigm, they will first need to be able to get beyond the paradigm conditioned by the television. In order for people to wake up, this information needs to be shared between families, friends, and neighbors. The campaign has just begun and already the message is spreading. I am very happy with the feedback it has been receiving.

MR: What are your three favorite pieces and what do they represent?

NJ: My three favorite pieces would be those that focus on the engineering and control of society through television:

Total Indoctrination, Acrylic on Canvas, 48” x 48”, 2009

This painting represents how totally absorbed someone who regularly watches television can become, where they see everything within their lives relating somehow to television. It depicts a life where anything outside TV is rejected and all thoughts and discussions are just recycled conversations from TV and slogans from those sold to us as authorities and experts.

TV Mind Control, Acrylic on Canvas, 36” x 48”, 2009

This piece depicts the hypnotic affect of television as those who watch become a subject of mind-control. Too often the brain is switched to standby and all information is collected and accepted as truth without any questioning.  When viewing television, we do not consciously rationalize the information resonating within our unconscious depths; the hypnotic affect makes us highly suggestible.

Unplug the Signal, Acrylic and Masonite, 20″ x 16″, 2010

“Unplug the Signal” represents the constant flow of information that is transmitted by the television 24 hours a day. It is this signal which places the viewers all on the same page and makes them highly predictable. Plato’s Cave serves as an allegory for this phenomenon. In Plato’s cave, people view the shadows on the wall and interpret these shadows as reality. When one of them finds a way out of the cave and returns to tell the others what is outside, he and his message are rejected. When individuals are so thoroughly engrossed by the message of television, they will reject any information outside of the paradigm it presents while attacking and ridiculing the messenger.

MR: What is in store for Nathan Janes?

NJ: I am currently working on a painting of the President’s dog. This painting is a critical assessment I created in response to the threats to our liberties as sovereign citizens of this Republic. As for what’s in store, I will be working on a painting on Tiananmen Square, Chemtrails, implantable microchips and other projects that will spread the message of the Unplug the Signal Campaign including poetry, song writing, and the development of an literary allegory.

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Find out more about Nathan “Red Baron” Janes at PUPAGANDA, or follow his work on Facebook and YouTube. Get involved in his Unplug the Signal campaign at UnplugtheSignal.com

Abby

Cyclone

36″ x 36″ Acrylic and oil on canvas

“Through the expression of self I accept the different realities that exist through the masks people wear, the thoughts people think, the perspectives people see. Art opens pathways from inspiring emotions to watering the seed of evolution, it cannot be kept contained its roots are too far planted into the sediments of humanity.” -Robert Harris

San Francisco based artist Robert Harris’s artistic expressions are threaded into the blanket of human existence and are intended to inspire those who are willing to look within themselves and participate in the evolution of life. Media Roots recently conducted an exclusive interview with Robert about his style and artistic endeavors.

MR: How did you get started in art and how did you develop your style of painting?

RH: Art has always been a way of life. Throughout the years I have felt a necessity to create art. It began with drawing and discovering that I had the ability to make something out of nothing. I have made it a personal goal to dive deeper into my creative potential and continuously refine my the technical execution of my art making. A vital moment for defining my style was during a two year period where I sheltered myself from distractions and made art without the influence of other art around me. The common thread within my artwork is to inspire new perspectives and stimulate growth and change. As and artist I take responsibility as a social explorer, visionary and leader. 

MR: What mediums do you work with?

RH: I see an endless potential around art and all the materials that may be used in the creation process. I am not bound by any one materials or medium. I open to all materials as long as I can use them to shape and mold my vision.

MR: What is your favorite kind of art to work with and how do you interpret some of your favorite pieces?

RH: Visual art is like music. My favorite art depend on my mood or what is currently happening in my life. Generally speaking I enjoy art that is emotive and also technically sound. 

MR: Where do you DJ and how can people find you and your art in the bay area?

RH: Recently I have been focused on commissioned artwork. Additionally, I serve as a visual DJ though live art performances at special events including, but not limited to: wine tasting parties, celebrity concerts, art store openings, non-profit fundraisers, night club promotions, and business gatherings.

Art video promo by Robert D Harris from Robert harris on Vimeo.

This art video features the work of Robert D. Harris. The artwork creates beauty with color and intends to inspire peoples consciousness. Look for the artist showing work in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, New York, Miami, ect.

To learn more about Robert Harris and to check out more of his art visit www.robertdharris.com