Icon Me!

From HERE.
Go make your own!

By now, everyone has seen the multitude of iconic Hope, Progress, and Change images of Barack Obama leading up to the election, so you can probably guess that the icon generator is 'inspired' Shephard Fairey's posters.

In a recent article on NPR,
"Fairey says he made the image to spur voters' belief in Obama as a leader. The image was never officially adopted by the campaign, however, because of legal issues related to the original photograph he used."

More info about Shephard Fairey HERE, and check out the multitude of his images at his site OBEY GIANT.

But you may or may not know that he got his start as a street artist, putting up sticker graffiti around Charleston, SC. One of his earliest images is of Andre the Giant:

From a May, 2001 article in the Observer Eccentric newspaper:

"Fairey created the first version of this image and made sticker copies of it at a local Kinko’s. He declared to his skateboard buddies what would lead to a worldwide phenomenon “obey giant has a Posse.” What started out as a joke among friends about the 7-foot-4, 520 pound pro wrestler manifested into something beyond his imagination. “He was so ugly, but so fascinating looking,” said Fairey, a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. “He was the first freak of nature who was able to turn that into a lucrative career.”

Fairey began putting stickers around town wherever he went. There was no hidden meaning, no attempt to promote or sell something. Andre simply became his pet public art project. The mystery captured attention. “People wanted to know what it was about,” he said."

Eventually, the Andre imaged morphed into this:

Later images became both more sophisticated, and often more politically jagged.

This one almost made me wreck my car when I saw it on a light pole a few years ago; first I was trying to read it, then I had to work to stop laughing. It really hit my cynical funny bone:

It was worth the long wait!!

Starting at 7:15 am this morning, it took nearly three hours in line at my neighborhood fire station to get to the voting booth, but I came prepared with a book (of course!), a snack, and a happy outlook.

Our polling station is tiny, so the line of voters snaked out the door and down the block. I'm delighted to say that I have never seen anywhere near this kind of turnout at the precinct in the 11 years I've lived in the neighborhood. It could easily have been five times the usual turnout, maybe more. Literally everyone and their grandmother showed up today!

Luckily we've had gorgeous weather: low 70's and sunny, so no excuses for anyone. The poll workers did their best to keep things moving, and generally did a great job.

Since I had so much time on my hands while in line, I had a chance to catch up with neighbors, and meet new people. I even got invited to a neighbor's party on Friday night! For the most part, people in line with me were at the least pleasant, some even joyful. It meant alot to me to feel like such a part of my local community. All in all it was great to be taking place in a national event that felt so momentous, and I've been grinning all day.

Change is on the way!