Spotted in Boston: Street Art?

I enjoy reading a few blogs about street art so I'm always on the look out for good examples wherever I travel. In Boston the other week I spotted this billboard that I had to give a good long look at to figure out if it was just falling apart or if someone had done this intentionally. In the end I figured it was just something that happened, but I love the idea that the rough/dirty reality is being revealed behind the pristine image reminding you that you "can't buy happiness".

Underworld II

One last find under the house. It seems almost inevitable it would be a skull...


No other exciting forensic news to report, the excavation is complete and housework has resumed.

Underworld

I'm having some work done to my house, which was built in 1929, and in the process a small bricked off space under a bathroom has been opened up and this is what's been found in there so far...










A disturbingly intriguing visual narrative no? Perhaps the space was just a catchall for random stuff and there's no relationship between the items, but I can't help making the connections.

P.S. After finding the mummified cat remains the contractor has called city forensics people to come and check the site out since we don't know what we'll find next. I'll keep you posted.

WWF : Act Now For The Planet

The Ogilvy agency created three humorous visuals for the WWF called Emergency; with some great photographs from the Romanian studio Carioca. The three themes are "Ambulance, Firemen & Boat".
The message is ’ÄúYou can’Äôt afford to be slow in an emergency’Äù



















































via.

Linkage: From Social Trading Cards to Social Stock Exchanges

I'm heading to Austin for a week, so hopefully this'll tide you over while I'm away...


The social reality trading card alternative to Pokemon.

Investing in a Social Stock Exchange.

Taxicab curator. Thanks Carlos!

Fallen Princesses (image shown) via

A classic anti-billboard screed from 1960. via

Eco-friendly alternative to motivational office posters (image shown). Thanks Marc!

Duchamp Reloaded (image shown) via

Clever Condoms

The ocean of plastic is on the East Coast as well.

Mini-Golf meets Art in Brooklyn. Thanks Mica!

Bacardi using misogyny to sell alcohol...to women?! via

And for those of you following the story from last week...
busted Barrel Monster artist gets a commision...from the company he stole from. Thanks Carlos!

Mass consumption visualized.

Artist Chris Jordan talks about his large scale photographs documenting and visualizing our mass consumer culture...

Chris Jordan at Gel 2007 from Gel Conference on Vimeo.

Creative Commons Stock Photos

Compfight is a free online tool which makes the massively overwhelming Flickr pool of images into a source of possible stock photography (or as they say for "comps, inspiration, or research"). By allowing you to search for images by tags or descriptions, that are Creative Commons licensed, you can easily find photos that may be available for use free of charge (with proper credit, check the license first). A great option for small/non-profit clients with low budgets.

Climate Changed Spain

Greenpeace Spain has released a new book aimed at encouraging action on climate change. Photoclima by Pedro Armestre and Mario Gˆ„mez shows images of Spanish locations as they might look affected by extreme weather changes.

via The Guardian
Thanks Phil!

Purple Hearts

Purple Hearts: Back from Iraq, a new book from photographer Nina Berman, features intimate images of soldiers who were injured in the line of duty while serving in the current Iraq war. More information and images here.

(image copyright 2004 Nina Berman)

I "heart" NY Photos

Picture New York is urging folks to sign a petition against the newly proposed rules from the Mayor's Office of Film, Theater, and Broadcasting which would require permits for 2 or more people at a single site for more than 30 minutes and groups of 5 or more people using a tripod for more than 10 minutes. The rules were proposed with little publicity and the public comment period ends this Friday. If you're concerned about retaining your first amendment rights in the Big Apple you can read more here and sign the petition here.

Thanks Christine!

Eyes of a Stranger

’ÄúUpwards of 90% of the images of the majority world that are seen in the western media are produced by white photographers from the USA or Europe. This results in a one dimensional view often driven by a negative news agenda or the need to raise money.’Äù -Dave Clark, Senior Lecturer in Photography, Bolton Institute, UK

With that in mind Kijiji Vision was formed to help indigenous photographers share their own vision of the world they live in. The organization, which offers its support services free of charge, also runs the commercial stock photography library MajorityWorld.com as a means of distribution.

via Boing Boing, thanks Meagan!