Shepard Fairey is a "Phenomenal" Load of POOP.

You've seen Shepard Fairey's garbage. You probably have some of it stuck to your forehead. It's that infantile OBEY campaign that's everywhere you look.

I have always hated it. You all know how I feel about vandalism, which is the main focus of his "work". I met him once here at one of his shows in SF and we have many mutual associates. One evening I spent an hour or so on his website which, no surprise, turned out to be nothing more than a completely childish boatload of crap. This attempt to rationalize his theft of public and private property is a prime example of said crap:

<>The Obey campaign can be explained as an experiment in Phenomenology. The first aim of Phenomenology is to reawaken a sense of wonder about one's environment. The Obey campaign attempts to stimulate curiosity and bring people to question both the campaign and their relationship with their surroundings. Because people are not used to seeing advertisements or propaganda for which the motive is not obvious, frequent and novel encounters with Obey propaganda provoke thought and possible frustration, nevertheless revitalizing the viewer's perception and attention to detail. The medium is the message.For more info, please visit obeygiant.com

So I decided to confront him directly --- such is the beauty of the internet.

From: merkley@xxx.com
Subject: You're Full of Shit
Date: January 4, 2004 4:49:02 PM PST
To: shepard@obeygiant.com

Blech -- nice try. You are doing nothing for society. You're lining your own pockets by stealing resources. You are as bad as anyone you condemn. You're a fucking hypocrite, a common thief.

"Ooohh look at me --- I'm Shepard -- I try to give deep meaning to simple vandalism and shameless self promotion". You only fool retarded teens. "Question your surroundings and relationships with objects?" What a load of crap. You sound like a shitty art professor at some shitty art school talking to a bunch of shitty art students who miss the point of everything. Your fans are all suckers. What a scam.

Shepard and Nike --- appealing to teens everywhere on a t-shirt or billboard near you.

merkley???




He responded more promptly than I expected. -- a couple of hours later.

From: Shepard Fairey
Subject:
Date: January 4, 2004 6:35:04 PM PST
To: merkley@xxx.com

I'm glad you are not one of those retards. What kind of shoes do you wear? I prefer Adidas to Nike personally. If you don't like what I do, maybe you could do something better to benefit the world. Let me know when that's underway so I can check it out.
-Shepard





At which point it appears that he spent all of 6 minutes on my site before writing another note. I was in the middle of writing my response when this came in.

From: Shepard Fairey
Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2004 18:40:55 -0800
To: merkley@xxx.com

So I checked out your site and the photos are well done but I'm not sure how portraits of vain hipsters is so antithetical to what I'm doing. I think you're gonna have to shift gears if you want to stand on the soap box with any cred.
-Shepard




I wrote back;

From: merkley@xxx.com
Subject: Soapboxes
Date: January 4, 2004 7:29:30 PM PST
To: Shepard Fairey xxx@xxx.com


Focus. We're talking about you usurping public and private resources to further your own capitalistic endeavors while feigning some bullshit about your quest to become rich and notable being instead some artistic public service worthy of merit and contemplation. It's like me kicking you in the balls so you'll contemplate pain --- it's a service --- I'd be doing you a favor --- right?.

When these corporate institutions that "bombard us with their sales pitches" place billboards, they pay for them, or in language you might find more suitable, they re-distribute wealth. They pay printers, billboard pasters, property owners (big and small) and business owners (big and small) etc..... real people with real jobs that pay real money and taxes for things that you decide to steal and use as your own personal venue for your own personal statements. Not to mention the fact that these big corporations employ many many people.

You on the other hand give nothing in exchange for your own self promotion -- except maybe headaches and such to the nice men and women who have to clean up after your incredibly childish, self-centered ass. You certainly are in line with those terrible nutballs like Stalin, Che, and the rest whose images you appropriate to sell your goods. They too promoted "communism for everybody but me".

When I start pasting my photo's of my friends or errr ummm -- "vain hipsters" or stickers of my paintings on your front door, toilet seat, sidewalk, etc.. --- then I'll climb down off my soap box. And who are you to call anyone vain? The pride you seem to take while stealing resources from the general public is so arrogant and self obsessed it's loathsome.

I do art for a living too --- but I do it on my own fucking dime. My soap box is quite sturdy --- and unlike your stolen soapbox -- it's mine.

Teenagers dood --- that's who falls for your crap. You're swindling teenagers.

Take some fucking responsibility. Quit stealing resources from hardworking people. It's disgusting and wrong.

merkley???
http://www.threequestionmarks.com






Half an hour later -- this response:

From: Shepard Fairey xxx@xxx.com
Subject: Re: soapboxes
Date: January 4, 2004 8:04:23 PM PST
To: merkley@xxx.com

I'm a taxpayer and I make every effort to integrate my work in a way that is tasteful and will cause little trouble. Most of my work goes on buildings which are abandoned or boarded up, or on the backs of street signs where there is no interference with their intended communication. Is there anything that you could point out as particularly disrespectful? Stalin etc.. are not being promoted, only presented. If you bothered to read anything you would know that the idea behind my stuff is to encourage people to question everything they are inundated with including my stuff...it is cautionary. As far as my scheme to get rich goes, I did not even make products until a couple years ago but the project has been going since 89. The resources I usurp are a drop in the ocean compared to what our govt does. Get some perspective.
-Shepard






The next day I followed up with:

From: merkley@xxx.com
Subject: Re: soapboxes
Date: January 5, 2004 5:46:16 PM PST
To: Shepard Fairey xxx@xxx.com

I've got perspective --- but more importantly, I've got some of your lame ass stickers on my building. Perhaps you'd like to come clean them off.

I have read all your stuff. My arguments still apply. The Absolut ad campaign thing you wrote was especially wrongly assessed. Dood -- they used the campaign because all the kids like you and I that liked the sex pistols are now all grown up --- most have respectable jobs ---- ummm such as --- say --- ad executives and PR reps for Absolut. --- Time -- age --- that's the perspective to apply here.

Luckily, not all artists consider themselves to be so enlightened and above the law as you ---

You really could save more face by just fessing up. It's all about you. It always has been. If we speak of hypocrisy, you have zero credibility. I don't care how many art school students (so credible) and skater dudes swallow your bull. When you stuck that first sticker on that stop sign, it was all about Shepard, everything since then has been a surprisingly successful attempt to rationalize Shepard looking out for Shepard.

Phenomenology? The only phenomenon here is that people so willingly further the private capitalistic endeavors of yours and your cronies at every other company in the world, but it's not really a phenomenon when you are encouraging it. It's one of millions of campaigns. It is no more a phenomenon than any other aspect of mortality and human behavior. It's no more a phenomenon than you convincing yourself that you are doing a public service as you kick the public in the nuts and take their stuff. You're a common thief -- that's all. --- Don't get me wrong. I am an unapologetic capitalist. I would be the first one to congratulate you for any financial success if you weren't lying and stealing in the process. Double standards are double standards. If you don't have to pay for the resources to advance *your* agenda then why should Texaco or Coca Cola?

It is this arrogance and self-centered smugness that really pisses me off. Especially because you
have managed to convince a large number of people to go along with it. If McDonalds promoted a sticker campaign and was giving out stencils and spray paint with instructions on subverting public policy to advance their image -- you'd scream bloody murder.

And this ain't about your art. It seems well executed enough to me. As a somewhat accomplished artist and painter myself, your prints are well made and are somewhat aesthetically pleasing to my particular tastes. But that's not the argument. Michelangelo would feel my same wrath if he was sticking stickers on the ceilings of public transportation.

Society functions when society negotiates. Come on dude --- do the right thing and admonish your sticker armies to lay off --- it's a phenomenon that you are not ashamed of yourself.

I have made my point. Yours is clear from your website. I hope you will change your mind and modify your philosophy. I wish you great success in any honest venture you pursue. As for me, I will continue to admonish those who rape the taxpayer, be them huge corporations or individual dudes on skateboards. NO DOUBLE STANDARDS.


merkley???


That was the end of that. I won.


Since I decided to post this little exchange, I thought it'd be a good idea to re-visit his crappy site to see if he has changed any of his stupid views -- and lo and behold, I found this little nugget. I'd take credit for it, but I think it's more like he is shitting his pants about finding himself in the poorhouse or the slammer.

I still think he is a load of poop.