Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The picture of a fly in the urinals at Schiphol Airport has been touted as a simple, inexpensive way to reduce cleaning costs. Where does it come from, and how effective is it really?
There’s something of a surprise waiting at the bottom of the urinals in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport: an etched image of a fly. At first glance, one might be forgiven for thinking it real. Then one notices that all the urinals have one, and the fly is always in the same position, just above the urinal drain and off to the left. It turns out that men, in their urinal behaviour, cannot resist peeing on things, especially if they look as though they might wash away…
(read the whole article here)
Moscow, Russia
“Created between 1958-1963—when the U.S.S.R. was well ahead of the U.S. in the space race—these posters are wonderful examples of mid-century Soviet art.”
Rendered unflinchingly in the style that came to be known as Socialist Realism, the posters sport headlines such as, “We were born to make the fairy tale come true!,” “Socialism is our launching pad,” and “Glory to the workers of Soviet science and technology!” See more examples, including translations, here.
(Thanks to Chris Pointon for the link.)
Mexico City, Mexico
The iconic Jorge Alderete, aka Dr. Alderete, is a Patagonian-born artist, pop illustrator, designer, animator, record-label owner, entrepreneur, and publisher who “uses trash culture, 1950s science fiction films, wrestling, and surf music imagery in his psychotronic illustrations, animations, and comics.”
Jorge is a frequent judge at international award shows, a prolific lecturer in the Spanish-speaking world, and his work has been exhibited around the globe. View more of his “in your face” work at www.jorgealderete.com or www.vertigogaleria.com
Jorge wrote me last week to inform me that he hates my blog… apparently it distracts him from doing his work. This post is my reply. (-:
London, UK
Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. It has now been confirmed that the Central Intelligence Agency used American modern art — including the works of such artists as Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko — as a weapon in the Cold War, beginning in 1947.
“In the manner of a Renaissance prince (except that it acted secretly) the CIA fostered and promoted American Abstract Expressionism around the world for more than 20 years.”
Why did the CIA support these artists? “Because in the propaganda war with the Soviet Union, this new artistic movement could be held up as proof of the creativity, the intellectual freedom, and the cultural power of the US. Russian art, strapped into the communist ideological straitjacket, could not compete.”
Read the full article, entitled “Modern art was CIA ‘weapon,'” from The Independent, here.
I designed this poster in 2005, as one of 24 individuals invited to contribute to Lest We Forget: Canadian Designers on War, an exhibit at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, Alberta. I first saw the ironic message on a photograph (shown below) of two women participating in a San Francisco peace rally in 2003 on the eve of the U.S.-led war on Iraq.
Today, in the lead-up to what appears likely to be another U.S.-led bombing campaign (on Syrians this time), I thought it appropriate to “unroll the poster” once again. The above poster (click on the image for a larger version) is “copyfree” so please use, share, or disseminate it however you wish…
Good illustrations makes it look so easy… such as these concise instructions from The Art & Craft of Hairdressing (N E B Wolters, 1958 edition).
Paris, France
The art group Maentis is known for its satirical and sometimes corporate-based visual gags. Their latest project involves a culture-jamming redesign of some familiar logos to make a statement about the brands behind them… see more here.
(source)
A sampling of lovely posters by Dutch artist Koen van Os (1910-1983)…
see more here.
