Prize of Pittsburgh

Post Traumatic G-20 Summit Syndrome

Pittsburg PA is a lovely town reminiscent of other post industrial cities that are actually shrinking in size and, though not immune to the economic melt-down, seemingly less affected than places like Miami, Las Vegas and others. While NYC is in a state of shock and contraction, the birthplace of Andy Warhol is relatively sound and celebrity free.




Hall of Hispanic Fama

Roberto Walker Clemente. With a name like that and a bat swing like king kong, he is the prize of pittsburgh. Here is a photo of an enormous bronze adorning the baseball field downtown, a giant among men and a Hispanic for all seasons.




Hammertime Willy

But not all art in public places is quite so epic and commanding. Just a few steps from the magnificent Clemente is this weird marble thing with what appears to be naked workmen having head-aches. It hurts just to look.



Corporate Hip

As with most things of money today, it is the corporate sponsors that hold the OPM to get things done. Andy Warhol understood this years ago and single-handedly re-educated the corporate Joe mentality to accommodate new ways of thinking about art, it's people... and branding. This giant painting is a collaboration of Warhol and Basquait, two giants who energized chemistry of the art world.





BrilloBox Branding

Ans so it is that we celebrate 100 years of Synthetic Rubber with the collaboration of The Andy Warhol Museum, Lanxess Rubber Corporation and artist team Ryan Alexiev and Hank Willis Thomas. Ryan and Hanks are the winners of a competition to create a work of art for the occasion of 100 year history of Unnatural Rubber. Laxess claims to be 'energizing chemistry' and indeed their sponsorship has been energizing to this artist memory of Andy Warhol, my Art Father.




Will Work for Play

The Warhol Museum is an impressive institution and a fitting tribute to Andy's legacy.
There is a bounty of artworks to enjoy and many displays of memorabilia. The caption for this photo reads "we started the magazine so we would get invites to the premiers". Kinda like opening a gallery so we can get free grolsh beer.




Data Illuminatta

The winning artwork is a graphical representation of the data turned 3-D showing the exponential growth of synthetic rubber from 1909 through 2009. I wonder how things are going in Manaus, Brazil home of natural rubber.



For Whom the Bell Tolls

Their dreams are a fabricators reality. Here is the bell in production at my studio. American marble aka styrofoam is the closest thing to conceptual clay available. It's mostly air and very forgiving.




Black is the New Green

Here is the artwork after buckets of MicroRubber coating made from your recycled tires.




Rim with Bling

Here is the center-piece of the sculpture in nowheresville North Miami getting pimped with Mirra-Krome. People like shiny round things...




Wheel of Fortune

Here is a snapshot of the "Wheel of Fortune" on display at the Warhol till January 2010. It is scheduled to travel around the world to remind folks of the power of chemicals.




Propaganda Promulgated

The Warhol also provides the public with exhibitions of other artists work. Currently they have a show by uber-controversial Shepard Fairey the "street artist" from RISD and Obama Poster Fame. More on him later.



AndyMouse

I met Warhol in the mid 80's when he befriended my pals Keith Haring, Jean Michel Baquait and Kenny Scharf. These fellas are the three musketeers of the East Village Art Explosion that Andy had built a foundation for. Their collective cautionary contribution to the art mindset is immeasurable in a world gone celebrity crazy.




Even republican twitty Cindy McCain understands the power of Celebrity that Warhol espoused perfectly so each of us would feel entitled to 15 minutes of fame.

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Gee 20 - can you hear me now.

Very Good Lady

When Amy Goodman attended the 2008 Republican Presidential Convention in St. Paul Minnesota, she was one of the countless protesters that were beaten and arrested by the crazed and violent riot police. Ms. Goodman, a credentialed peace correspondent, was understandably upset, yet her calm and reasoned voice can be heard daily on Democracy Now (if you get it).

For this freedom loving American, it is heartbreaking to see and hear accounts of the heavy handed tactics and abuses of a militarized civilian police on ordinary folk.



Roll Out the Robocops

So it is that we should not be surprised of the conditions on the ground at the recent G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, PA. Once again, our beloved city was subjected to a show of force that continues to escalate the disparity among the have-nots and the have-this.



Closed Circle

While world leaders met in a big circle-jerk of pomp and prosperity, the people of Pittsburgh were treated like the grunts under the thumb of the Grunch of Giants. Why cant they just go meet on some remote island. leave the struggling cities be.





Turn Left on Global Boulevard

This is what Globalization looks like. Obama said it's here to stay. The world is officially crazy.




That's Not Funny

This is the face of police in Europe.




More Than Just a Job

This is the faceless face of riot police in the USA. When there are no terrorist to be had, civilians will do just fine.



Mega-Deaf White-Noise

This is their new secret weapon. Go see the vid on the LRAD sound cannon. It's like a really bad rock concert. It was used on US soil forthe first time against civilians at the G-20.




Soapbox Serenade

It's tough to be heard over the mega-non-lethal sound cannon, rubber bullets, tear gas, water canon, trained dogs, billy clubs and the arsenal for the assault on civilians with legitimate grievances and a deep concern for the planet.



Not Your Grandmas Protest

This is what protesters used to look like.




Weekend Overtime

This is your neighbor practicing to bash your head if you get out of line.




Time to Make the Donuts

This is everybody at work, making an honest killing.




Dressed for Success

This is the new face of peace protesters. Gotta keep up with the Officer Jones.
Did you know that every Israeli civilian gets a free gas mask from their government?




Go Big and Go Green

This is what gets seen by mainstream teevee.



This is a wonderful pic of Woody Guthrie. Sign reads "this machine kills fascists"



Here is an email from our pal Michael Moore.

For Those of You on Your Way to Church This Morning ...a note from Michael Moore

Sunday, October 4th, 2009

Friends,

I'd like to have a word with those of you who call yourselves Christians (Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Bill Maherists, etc. can read along, too, as much of what I have to say, I'm sure, can be applied to your own spiritual/ethical values).

In my new film I speak for the first time in one of my movies about my own spiritual beliefs. I have always believed that one's religious leanings are deeply personal and should be kept private. After all, we've heard enough yammerin' in the past three decades about how one should "behave," and I have to say I'm pretty burned out on pieties and platitudes considering we are a violent nation who invades other countries and punishes our own for having the audacity to fall on hard times.

I'm also against any proselytizing; I certainly don't want you to join anything I belong to. Also, as a Catholic, I have much to say about the Church as an institution, but I'll leave that for another day (or movie).

Amidst all the Wall Street bad guys and corrupt members of Congress exposed in "Capitalism: A Love Story," I pose a simple question in the movie: "Is capitalism a sin?" I go on to ask, "Would Jesus be a capitalist?" Would he belong to a hedge fund? Would he sell short? Would he approve of a system that has allowed the richest 1% to have more financial wealth than the 95% under them combined?

I have come to believe that there is no getting around the fact that capitalism is opposite everything that Jesus (and Moses and Mohammed and Buddha) taught. All the great religions are clear about one thing: It is evil to take the majority of the pie and leave what's left for everyone to fight over. Jesus said that the rich man would have a very hard time getting into heaven. He told us that we had to be our brother's and sister's keepers and that the riches that did exist were to be divided fairly. He said that if you failed to house the homeless and feed the hungry, you'd have a hard time finding the pin code to the pearly gates.

I guess that's bad news for us Americans. Here's how we define "Blessed Are the Poor": We now have the highest unemployment rate since 1983. There's a foreclosure filing once every 7.5 seconds. 14,000 people every day lose their health insurance.

At the same time, Wall Street bankers ("Blessed Are the Wealthy"?) are amassing more and more loot -- and they do their best to pay little or no income tax (last year Goldman Sachs' tax rate was a mere 1%!). Would Jesus approve of this? If not, why do we let such an evil system continue? It doesn't seem you can call yourself a Capitalist AND a Christian -- because you cannot love your money AND love your neighbor when you are denying your neighbor the ability to see a doctor just so you can have a better bottom line. That's called "immoral" -- and you are committing a sin when you benefit at the expense of others.

When you are in church this morning, please think about this. I am asking you to allow your "better angels" to come forward. And if you are among the millions of Americans who are struggling to make it from week to week, please know that I promise to do what I can to stop this evil -- and I hope you'll join me in not giving up until everyone has a seat at the table.

Thanks for listening. I'm off to Mass in a few hours. I'll be sure to ask the priest if he thinks J.C. deals in derivatives or credit default swaps. I mean, after all, he must've been good at math. How else did he divide up two loaves of bread and five pieces of fish equally amongst 5,000 people? Either he was the first socialist or his disciples were really bad at packing lunch. Or both.

Yours,
Michael Moore


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