Dragoncon Episode IV :A New Hope

               

               Labor Day has always been a time to take a Monday off and relax, but for thousands of steampunkers, storm troopers and trekkies Labor day is like second Christmas.  Since 1987 Dragon Con has transformed a slice of Atlanta into a hub for science fiction and fantasy fans. Cosplayers spend hours crafting their costumes in the image of their favorite characters and drive from across the US to congregate with likeminded comic readers and basement dwellers.

                This year marks my first trip to the con and the excitement has been bubbling inside for weeks. Dragon Con has so much to offer for the countless nerd niches that exist, so being a Doctor who fan that loves League of Legends and Magic the Gathering means that I will be right at home. Sadly my plans to cosplay as the engineer from Team Fortress Two fell apart, but I refuse to be defeated. I will proudly march through the convention halls donning my Finn hat and Captain America shield as an outward display of my chimeric fandom. My roommate Lawson will be dressed as Han Solo,  Mal Reynolds, and maybe even a little bit of Angel.

                This year and hopefully every subsequent trip to dragon con, I want to chronicle my adventures in their entirety. I will be tweeting literally everything that happens this weekend (@GrizzlyIngrams) and hopefully blogging at the end of each night. The blogs may come late depending on when we leave the con’s notoriously crazy parties. Now some of you may say, “A bunch of socially inept, possibly overweight nerds could never have a crazy party!” but think, when you dressed up as your favorite super hero as a kid didn’t you feel indestructible? Didn’t you feel the confidence and power of Batman or the Red Ranger coursing through you? Now imagine if you could fill a room with people who were surging with not only that confidence, but also hormones and alcohol. The results, although sometimes gross, can be magical. That my friends is the glory of the con, a glory I am super excited to be a part of!

                So if you’re going, I’ll see you there. If not, I’ll do my best to paint the picture for you. I must now mentally prepare myself to see Levar Burton, you can’t disappoint a picture!

5 Netflix Gems You Should Be Watching

If you aren't already one of the millions devouring hours of streaming TV and movies through Netflix, then you my friend are a sad lonely idiot. There are countless things to watch that far outweigh the services recent price jump. Below is a list of five amazing gems that should encourage you to work that groove in the couch for your behind and forget the definition of "relationships" These aren't the top shows or movies to watch but that list is impossible to compile so suck it up and watch!

Black Dynamite

Name any great black actor....they're in Black Dynamite

Ah Black Dynamite, this amazing movie is a parody of the Blacksploitation movies of the 70s. Written by and starring the amazing Michael Jai White, Black Dynamite is one of those amazing movies you watch 90 times because you have to show all of your friends.

Cera before people thought
he was Jesse Eisenberg

Arrested Development


While I know this is kind of irrelevant, (you're reading a blog you have watched the crap out of this show already) some lonely little rock dwellers still need to see this amazing show, for some of the most clever writing in television. Plus, the show is easy to watch in its entirety due to the fact that it only lasted three beautiful seasons. Oh and lil baby Michael Cera!



Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog


Written by nerd god Joss Whedon of Buffy fame and starring other nerd gods including Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day, this musical follows the plight of Doctor Horrible as he struggles for love and the triumph of evil. With whimsical songs and hilarious moments, Mr. Whedon gives nerds yet another reason to worship him.

The hammer is my...
I'll just let you watch.

Dr. Who

Matt Smith, the 11th Doctor,
 my hero

While the seasons on Netflix start in 2005, Dr. Who has been running on th BBC since 1963. This amazing sci fi has enjoyed a growing cult following as the modern episodes are fed to an American audience. Personally to get into this show it's best to start at season 5, as that's where Matt Smith, the eleventh Doctor takes over.





Gurren Lagann

That's a lot of faces!

Despite some potential grumbling, I have to list this amazing anime. No other anime I've seen has such a sense of scale, as episodes start with humans afraid underground and end with giant robots firing off blasts with energy comparable to the creation of the universe. While a little campy, Gurren Lagann isn't afraid to make fun of itself.






These are just a few of the bajillion things you should watch on Netflix, all you have to do is either sign up or logon thanks for reading!

Graffiti from Tags to Ads: Post Directory

Hey everyone! You can find all the links to my three part series on graffiti and street art here.

Part One: A Brief History

Part Two: The Rise of Street Art

Part Three: The Mainstream Adopts a Bouncing Baby Art Form

Works Cited

Graffiti from Tags to Ads: Works Cited

Works Cited

Part:1

Bowman, Joseph. "Graffiti History." Graffiti History. Culturally Situated Design Tools , n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. <http://csdt.rpi.edu/subcult/grafitti/curriculum/index.html>.

Gastman, Roger, and Caleb Neelon. The History of American Graffiti. N.p.: Harper Collins, 2010. Print.

Iveson, Kurt. "The wars on graffiti and the new military urbanism." City 14.1/2 (2010): 115- 134.Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 22 Mar. 2011.

New York Times Article. 1971. Taki 183. Taki 183, 2009. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. <http://taki183.net/ 

                    #biography>.

NWA. N.d. Thug Radio. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. <http://thugradio.net/nwa-main.html>.

Part: 2

BBC News. British Broadcasting Company. BBC, n.p., 3 May 2008. You Tube. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. 

             <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZK7D6WqzR0 

 D'Cruz, Jaime, and Banksy. Exit Through the Gift Shop. Paranoid Pictures, 2010. Electronic.           Hulu.

Fujiwara, Akemi. Obey Sticker on Light Pole. 12 May 2009. globalgraphica.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 

            Apr. 2011. <http://www.globalgraphica.com/category/artist-shepard-fairey/>.

Keita. "Graffiti." Graffiti Blog. Flickr, 29 Dec. 2010. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. <http://www.flickr.com/   groups/49503134345@N01/discuss/72157625573182373/>.

Part: 3

 D'Cruz, Jaime, and Banksy. Exit Through the Gift Shop. Paranoid Pictures, 2010. Electronic. Hulu
 
D'Cruz, Jaime. Exit Through the Gift Shop Official Trailer. Paranoid Pictures, 2010. You Tube. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHJBdDSTbLw>.
Fairey, Shepard. Hope. 2008. artofobama.com. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. <http://www.artofobama.com/2008/ 
        07/18/hope/>.
 
 
Mission corner store shows defaced Sony Graffiti ad. N.d. wired.com. Wired, 5 Dec. 2005. Web. 27 
        Apr. 2011. 
 
Officer removing Aqua Teen sign. N.d. dimmykaras.com. N.p., 31 Jan. 2007. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. 
        <http://dimmykarras.wordpress.com/category/news/>.
 
Richard Lachmann The American Journal
of Sociology  Vol. 94, No. 2 (Sep.,
1988), pp. 229-250. 

Singel, Ryan. "Slideshow: Sony Draws Ire
With PSP Graffiti." Wired.com. Wired, 5 Dec. 2005. Web. 27 Apr.
2011.  <http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/multimedia/2005/12/6974
 
SuperJail Graffiti. N.d. fighting amphibians.com. N.p., 5 Apr. 2011. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. 
       <http://boards.fightingamphibians.org/ani/res/287.html>.

Graffiti from Tags to Ads Part Three: The Mainstream Adopts a Bouncing Baby Art Form

Mainstream forms of media and marketing bank on finding out what is cool and adopting it into how they sell their product. While accessible, the angry, often violent attiude of graffiti and the gangs that surrounded it made the art less appealing to advertise with. Street art has done what Graffiti could not, become legitimate in the eyes of the art world, and be exploited as an advertising tool.

The appeal of street art is undeniable. Today’s youth is attracted to the doctrines of street art, going out into a harsh world and making your mark. Street art disavows some of the traits of its predecessor, but maintains on the art’s major appeals, illegality. While for some the illegality of street art can be a turn off, for most of the rebellious youth, it adds to the concept of fighting the man while not hurting anyone. The illegality also creates arguments in the community about the line between art and tagging. While many street art murals are beautiful, almost all are illegally made. Certain groups in communities like Atlanta have had trouble when deciding whether or not to remove popular murals on the sides of buildings and tunnels. Some say that the art benefits the culture of the community while others argue that the art is illegal and a blemish. The most important thing to remember when considering whether or not a piece of street art should be allowed to exist is permission. If the owner of the property did not give consent for the work to be done or wants the art to be removed then removing the art is their prerogative.

Fairey's Hope poster
became a symbol for the  Obama
 campaign in the last presidential election

One major change brought on by the mainstream adoption of street art is the attention the work receives from art collectors. Artists like Banksy have sold some of their work for upwards of fifty thousand dollars. One collector in “Exit through the Gift Shop,” Banksy’s documentary, notes that her art done by Banksy is displayed in her home next to work of iconic pop artist Andy Warhol. Mr. Brainwash’s famous show in 2009 net millions of dollars and was extended long past its initial scheduled open time (D’Cruz). The young hip culture that came out of the early 2000s seems to have a general appreciation for this once obscure form of art. Shepard Fairey’s art has even gained more the monetary and artistic recognition. Fairey’s “Obey” work has stemmed off into its own clothing line, but it is his “Hope” posters of Barrack Obama that even garnered popularity as the face of a presidential campaign. The attention of the art community grows as advertising gurus latch on to what is hip and cool generating marketing possibilities and money making potential.

Trailer for the street art documentary,

 "Exit Through the Gift Shop." 

Tagging like this for Adult Swim's
programming has been found
across the country

Using street art to advertise has and its successes and failures. Adult Swim, the sector of programming for Cartoon Network aimed at the ever important 18-24 demographic, has had a wildly successful marketing campaign through the use of street art. Murals featuring characters from popular shows like “Superjail” and “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” colorfully adorn the walls of cities all around the country. Atlanta, being the heart of Turner Broadcasting the parent company of Adult Swim, has seen its fair share of art. Bt an incident in Boston raised the most eyebrows. Leading up to the release of the Aqua Teen movie, a guerilla marketing campaign had blown up the streets and the internet and the streets. As part of the campaign flashing LED signs of one of the show’s characters waving his middle finger were placed in ten American cities. In Boston the sign caused a scare that required the bomb squad and the arrest of two of the men involved.(Citation) While publicly the perpetrators were seen as reckless, the internet community exploded with praise for the clever artists and hilarity over the ensuing hysteria. The whole debacle only aided Adult Swim in promoting the movie, minus the heavy penalties and fines paid by Turner Broadcasting.

Bomb squad removing the Aqua Teen sign that caused such a fuss

One problem involved in advertising using street art to advertise is backlash. Purists in any culture don’t like the marketing big wigs dipping their toes in the water. Sony experienced this first hand with their PSP campaign. The 2007 campaign featured caricatures of children using the portable gaming device as a other toys. Taggers and street artists alike attacked the ads adding words, crossing the ads out with images of their own and writing harsh criticisms. Wired, a popular tech and pop culture magazine even went as far as to call the ads, “an attempt to buy the credibility of street art,” (citation). Sony had paid a mere one hundred dollars for two weeks’ use of the wall, but the real cost came in the form of consumer backlash and mistrust.

Example of Sony's failed
street art campaign

As street art’s popularity increases and people find more and more ways to make money as artists, the world will become cluttered with commissioned murals encouraging young people to buy or watch something. As consumers of art and products it is our responsibility to be able to distinguish between self expression and clever marketing. The same discretion comes into play when the art in question isn’t legally done. While the work is to be appreciated removal of illegal work is just and completely necessary, however through tools like the internet the art can be preserved and appreciated for all time. Street art has the potential to grow even greater. Street art’s humble beginnings in chalk hobo drawings on the sides of train cars have to be remembered and appreciated. In the future we may see even more companies adopt street art into their advertising campaigns and art museums featuring more and more graffiti exhibits. These would both create and interesting and dangerous environment for fans of the art form, but only time will tell.

Once again thanks for reading and thanks to Dr. Guglielmo for giving me the opportunity to explore this issue!

Find a full list of sources HERE

Graffiti from Tags to Ads Part two: The Rise of Street Art

While the history of graffiti is anything but glamorous, its rapid growth in popularity and adaptability has been astounding. The changes in graffiti came to spawn a new form of art that would encompass all of the artistic characteristics of graffiti and forego many of its self indulgent tendencies. Dubbed Street Art, the movement would sweep the world with the help of television and especially the internet.

Street art is the next wave in modern pop art. Street artists have moved beyond spray paint and have found new forms of media to express themselves. Street art comes in all shapes in sizes such as mosaics, posters, sculptures and stencil paintings. Cities that used to have an adverse opinion on tagging now find themselves torn when the art on the wall is something they can really appreciate. Street artists still combat local authorities just like the taggers of yesteryear. Police forces around the world have adapted and grown as new more advanced military technology is adopted into everyday police work. Street artists face new tricky surveillance technology that can have the police on their tail without raising an alarm. These new forms of art and style as well as coping with a more formidable enemy in the police have created an interesting kind of nimble and creative artist.

Stickers like Shepard Fairey's
"Obey" seen here are just one of
the many media exploited by
street artists

In stark contrast to the common image of a graffiti tagger, street artists have cast off the rough gang mentality in exchange for a sense of individuality and personal style. The focus lies less on the pride of tagging a wall or claiming territory, and more on the art itself and the message it conveys. Street art has become graffiti’s docile more artsy younger brother, but this does not mean artists are any less outspoken. Most street artists use their art as a form of political commentary. No artists exemplify this more than Shepard Fairey and the infamous Banksy. Shepard Fairey is most known for his large “Obey, “and “Obama Hope” posters.  Brandishing the stalwart face of wrestler Andre the Giant and the red white and blue image of the would be president, Shepard’s work with posters have rocketed him to fame but more of that in part three(D’Cruz). Banksy is the champion of the street art movement. He has attracted crowds and terrorized the authorities of Britain with his highly political and undoubtedly artistic murals and sculptures. The most interesting part of Banksy’s persona is his constant air of mystery. No one outside of Banksy’s inner circle has ever seen his face which is normally hidden by his iconic monkey mask. This clever trick allows Banksy to easily work incognito, often in broad daylight as seen below.

BBC report on Banksy's work at the West Bank in Palestine

The rapid growth in popularity can be attributed to many factors, but none more than the internet. While the murals and posters hung on city walls will eventually be removed or covered up, the internet has preserved this once temporary art form in blogs and large data bases. One particular picture collection on the popular photo site Flikr boasts over 250 thousand pictures of street art emblazoned on walls and subway cars (Keita). The site also features a graffiti blog and message board, so that like minded taggers and artists can congregate to discuss new styles mediums and methods. The internet has become a new age curator, gathering and displaying art that although illegal is worth the attention given to pop art, surrealism and the other modern styles.

The shift from graffiti to street art led to an explosion of popularity and recognition. Now artists and their work have become wildly famous and appreciated. This fame however comes at a cost as mainstream culture begins to catch wind of this new sector of cool. The coming wave of marketing, commercialization and widespread recognition will change the lives of the world’s popular street artist and begin to seriously legitimize street art as both a respected movement in the art community and a viable marketing tool.

Stay tuned for Part Three in the Grizzly Ingrams Graffiti series and again thanks for reading! 


Find a full list of sources HERE

Graffiti from Tags to Ads Part one: A Brief History

Through the history of time, art styles come from unlikely places. The art of graffiti is no different. It is from these unlikely places that the art that we come to know and love receives its character and appeal. The backdrop of the Italian renaissance increases the romanticism of Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, and the harsh concrete jungles where we find graffiti and the artist’s themselves add a layer to the gritty realism that is palpable in their work. Graffiti is still in the middle of its climb and may one day be equal among classic styles like pop art surrealism and impressionism.

the famous Taki 183
at work on a tag 

Graffiti has what could be the humblest of beginnings. Following the Civil War, countless of newly freed slaves and defeated confederates found themselves riding the rails as hobos up and down America. As these men traveled they would leave signatures or messages known as monikers. These monikers would be simple symbols or drawings next to a nickname (Gastman 34). As the nation grew this form of tagging was inevitably adopted in large urban areas. In New York in the late 1960’s young taggers like Taki 183 began writing their monikers all around the city in spray paint. Local transit buses and subway cars became moving canvases as taggers grew to new media.

In the large cities where graffiti flourished, ethnic and territorial gangs had large followings and a strong foothold on their turf. These gangs adopted monikers and signs of their own as a sign of marking territory. Each of these gangs painted in a style synonymous with their ethnic background. Hispanic gangs in Los Angeles sported bright colors and large loud letters in their tags, while Chicago gangs used old English and gothic letters to mark their turf. The individual gang tags were immediately distinguishable and constantly crossed out or covered by rival gangs in order to take turf or simply show bravado. Intergang violence ran rampant throughout the late 60s 70s and 80s as cities became crowded with kids armed with spray paint cans and a whole lot of pride.

NWA was a source of rebellion and
inspiration for taggers in the early 90s

In the 80s and 90s Hip Hop grew wildly in popularity. The strong anti authority sensibilities and the ease of self expression went hand in hand with young graffiti taggers. The message of graffiti and hip hop was the same, you can’t control me and this is mine. Popular rappers like Dr. Dre and Easy E rapped violent anti authority and police lyrics. The kids in poverty stricken areas like the Bronx clung to this sentiment as the effects of police brutality were relevant in their everyday lives. Rap music, like graffiti provided a way of self expression and an outlet for anger. Graffiti and rap established a sense of belonging and pride as like minded taggers laid claim to territory all around the city. The relationship between hip hop and graffiti only fed the general publics concept of taggers as lawless punks. Graffiti at its core is an illegal act, but in some ways that’s part of the appeal. Taggers feel a sense of power taking something back from a cold life in the city. As cops and the government seem to have no interest in the young and poor, the only way to be seen is to make yourself seen (Bowman).

Graffiti has had an interesting climb to where it is now. Not many art forms have origins in hobo signs. The great heritage that comes with graffiti is part of what makes it so appealing. The change from self serving tagging to art is slow coming, but one day the majority of great graffiti artists will be recognized for their legitimate work and not just their tags. Part of this shift came with the rise of street art, look for the story of street art in part 2 of the Grizzly Ingrams Graffiti series.

Thanks For Reading!


Find a full list of sources HERE