Renaming the David Koch Theater in NYC

Huffpost Arts Interview

I was recently interviewed by Art Info while at the Chicago Art Fair. I have not been doing as many interviews lately so that I can spend more time working on art. I think this is a fairly informative and thorough piece for anyone who cares what I have to say. Thanks to the interviewer/writer Karen Archey for being thoughtful about issues and topics.
-Shepard Fairey

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Death Cab For Cutie’s “Home is a Fire” Video

I have been a fan of Death Cab for years so I was excited to hear from bassist Nick Harmer about his idea to collaborate on a video piece for their song Home Is A Fire. I love the democracy of music and I’m always excited to bundle visual art with great music. Nick sent me the lyrics to Home Is A Fire and they evoked the duality of “home” both as a place you inhabit, and also as a place that inhabits or traps you. One’s relationship with home might be complicated, but ultimately it can be a two-way dialogue, of which we can at least affect one-way. The city can be an impersonal place, imposing, simultaneously anonymous and claustrophobic. However, there are opportunities for us to affect the city(and life) experience rather than accepting things as passive voyeurs. We all have fears and insecurities about ourselves and our circumstances, but if we have the courage to take risks and participate we can adapt and embrace the flux, rather than fear it. This video is about illustrating these ideas and the multiple dimensions of the city experience by taking the viewer on a journey to encounter the Home Is A Fire  lyrics as street art.  Street art appeals  because it makes the landscape a little less dreary for the viewer, and it is a bureaucracy free creative outlet for the participants. I would say that a street art call to action is “if you don’t like your home… reshape it”. The power of street art is in its intrigue and authenticity , so it was crucial to actually put all the lyrics and images up on the streets. We wanted the viewer to experience the urban environment in a very real and intimate way that celebrates that one person’s wart is another’s beauty mark. Some of the art was put up prior to the video shoot in places that seemed appropriate to the lyrical themes, while other pieces were put up during the shoot. We filmed the preparation of materials as well to demonstrate the energy and process involved in becoming pro-active. Some of the street art was cleaned within a day. Street art, like everything, is ephemeral but I hope that in watching this video and listening to the song, people see a little magic and potential in the unappreciated details of the landscape of their lives, no matter how fleeting they may be.
Thank you to all the people who helped make this video happen.
-Shepard Fairey

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Justice cannot be confused with vengeance

I’ve had a little time to reflect on the news that Osama Bin Laden was killed by U.S. special forces. My first reaction when I heard the news was to think “GOOD, Bin Laden was a murderer, now Obama won’t make bad foreign policy decisions because he’s been accused of being soft on terror, and now the U.S. can withdraw from Afghanistan”. I texted a friend in anticipation of the media’s ridiculous hoopla saying “here we go, Bin Laden has joined the wicked witch… ding dong”. Then I started to hear both the news commentary and U.S. public reaction and it was not funny… it saddened me. Hearing crowds chant “U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A” and newscasters say that “this will be looked upon as the biggest achievement of Obama’s first term” really brought into focus how twisted and surreal our values can be. Welcome to munchkin land. Really?… killing Bin Laden is more significant than healthcare reform? How could killing Bin Laden, when it can’t bring back the people who died on 9/11, be more of a triumph than healthcare reform, which is supposed to save many lives in the future? I want the U.S. to practice the justice it preaches. I wish we had taken Bin Laden alive, put him through the justice system, and administered whatever fate that system deemed him to deserve. It’s not that I mind that the guy is dead, maybe he wouldn’t be taken alive, but killing him in a raid makes him more of a martyr than capturing him alive. Also, violence perpetuates violence. Whether it’s the Sharks and the Jets, the Crips and the Bloods, or the Israelis and the Palestinians, we all know that a cycle of violence and retaliation must be broken by the person capable of rising above the impulse for revenge. The thing that made me sad about the reaction to Bin Laden’s killing is how perfectly normal it seemed to gleefully celebrate killing. It reminded me of the news footage right after 9/11 of people in the Arab world cheering the twin towers falling. We need to be better than people who use extreme hate and violence as tools. Justice cannot be confused with vengeance. I’m not trying to be contrary, or a downer, I just feel that I am witnessing a general nationalistic, vindictive atmosphere that I can’t abide with a clear conscience. Bin Laden didn’t deserve to live, but I’d still prefer to see Americans celebrating (and valuing) life more than death.
-Shepard Fairey