2013

"The Wheels on the Bus Go 'round and 'round ..."

See evil, Hear evil, Speak evil

According to CNN, prominent artist Mats Stromberg completed this 12-foot-tall, 15-foot-wide, ant-infested "Giant Selfie" Clarion Alley mural in 2013. His mural portrays a man’s huge turquoise head – resembling himself – laying on the ground, "with two factions of ants battling it out in front of his very eyes, representing the sort of narcissism associated with all the latest social media gadgets, as well as the individual’s helplessness in the face of conflicts either nearby or globally," he said in an interview.

Demoncracy: Perpetual government by an evil ruling elite though with a facade of apparent democracy (Urban Dictionary)

Malcolm X (May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. He was an African-American Muslim minister and a human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of blacks, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its crimes against black Americans; detractors accused him of preaching racism and violence. He has been called one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history. Fred Hampton (August 30, 1948 – December 4, 1969) was an African-American activist, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP), and deputy chairman of the national BPP. He was murdered while sleeping at his apartment during a raid by a tactical unit of the Cook County, Illinois State’s Attorney’s Office (SAO), in conjunction with the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Hampton’s murder was chronicled in the documentary film The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971) as well as an episode of the critically acclaimed documentary series Eyes on the Prize. The mural includes a misquotation. The actual words are: "I believe I'm going to die doing the things I was born to do. I believe I'm going to die high off the people. I believe I'm going to die a revolutionary in the international revolutionary proletarian struggle." (Fred Hampton)

Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (8 May 1938-10 March 2012) was a French comics artist who earned worldwide fame, predominantly under the pseudonym Mœbius, and to a lesser extent Gir (used for the Blueberry series). He has been described as the most influential bandes dessinées artist after Hergé. (Hergé is known to most in the U.S. as the author of TinTin). Moebius created a wide range of science fiction and fantasy comics in a highly imaginative and surreal – almost abstract – style. This mural recreates the iconic "Starwatcher" illustration. The mural was painted by artists Mark Bode, Stan 153, and CUBA. Mark Bode, son of Vaughn Bode comes by his comic style of art honestly, this tribute is heartfelt. CUBA is the name of one of the city’s earliest known graffiti artists, still operating today. The 46-year-old Baltimore transplant moved to the Mission in 1985, when he was 21 years old. STAN153 started in 1970 in Harlem on 153rd street and 8th Avenue. He was one of the original 3 Yard Boys and one of the founding members of Master Works Productions. He has collaborated with almost every top aerosol artist in New York City. From the seventies to the nineties he has been involved in the graff movement and has done 40 shows in the U.S. and Europe. He has been documented in the first graff book ever, The Faith of Graffiti by Norman Mailer, back in 1974 as well as in Getting Up 1984 by Craig Castleman. His clothing has been featured in Fresh the book of Hip Hop by Susan Finkler.