Archive for January, 2009
Supply & Demand
Shephard Fairey is coming to Boston to launch his new exhibit: Supply & Demand. Fairey is a street artist, most notable for the Obama Hope poster [above] and has been involved in guerrilla art campaigns around the world.
I’m excited to catch this exhibit that will showcase over 80 of his works, as well as a new mural commissioned for the ICA. “Obey Female Muslim” is one of his edgier series, and the few I’ve seen in reviews so far are powerful and exquisite. I can’t wait to see them!
Fairey will also be creating public art works at sites around Boston. To see some of the ‘marks’ he’s left around Beantown so far, click here. Pretty funky stuff.
Catch this unmissable exhibit at the ICA from Feb. 6 to Aug. 16, 2009. Exhibit information.
an original insult
Please don’t call me a terrorist just because I’m Arab.
You didn’t think I heard you, but your words stung. Here I am, living in one of the most liberal, open-minded societies in the world… and still I get judged by ignorance.
I don’t feel anger towards you. Rather I feel pity. It’s people like you that voted for the Bush administration and it’s people like you that start hate crimes. You don’t know any better.
I’m the one getting searched EVERY single time I get on a plane while you fly past. My personal belongings are opened and searched meticulously. Even my tiny compact is touched and fiddled with. You haven’t the slightest clue how embarrassing it is to have to go through this and how patient I’ve had to be at times.
I’m the one having to prove myself to the world because of the crimes of others. You should know better. Your society created Mussolini, but no one is holding that up against you.
I’m proud to be Arab and if only you knew more about my culture, you’d understand why. Hek – you might even be jealous. And next time, maybe you’ll find a more original insult.
farewell
Three years to farewell
And finally
C L O S U R E.
As we both cried,
I looked into your eyes
gazing into mine
and felt your hug
enveloping me.
A gesture so familiar,
so warm.
Three years to farewell
But this time
I pulled away.
Vowing to look forward
and stop looking back.
Whistle-Stop Weekend
150 years ago, Abraham Lincoln embarked on a day-long rail journey from Philadelphia, weaving through Delaware and Maryland, to assume his presidency in Washington DC. And last Saturday, President Barack Obama re-made history by taking the same whistle stop train tour on a vintage rail car with First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden and his wife.
![[UPI Photo/Kevin Dietsch]](http://lorenasephiphany.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/whistlestoptour.jpg?w=455 "whistlestoptour")
UPI Photo/Kevin Dietsch
I won’t go into details about the conference here – but we were able to sneak in some sight-seeing and cheese-steak eating in between. After dinner and dancing on Saturday (at a hookah lounge by the way – my fave), we got a night-tour of Liberty Bell and other historical sites in the downtown region. The conference ended early on Sunday, so we all rushed to grab a Philly-Cheesesteak at Pat’s King of Steaks. That and Gino’s are the most well-known places in Philly. They were really good sandwiches, but the yellow Cheez-Whiz topping threw me off. Guess we’re all used to Swiss cheese with a Philly.
The major highlight of the weekend was an impromptu invitation to DC to catch Obama’s inauguration. Somehow I had to find a way to get down there from Philly – so I hopped on the train on Sunday night. By pure coincidence, I ended up taking the same whistle-stop trail as Lincoln and Obama. Ok, it wasn’t the same all-day, vintage train journey they’d both taken – but it was the same route at least, so does that technically count? 
It was nice to think that Obama had been on the same tracks only a day earlier.
Entering DC was exhilarating. I had been there as a child, but my memories of it were very vague. And nothing truly compares to being there that weekend. You could just feel the energy and excitement, and see the hope on everyone’s face. People were so friendly too. I don’t know if it was just because of the events happening, or if they are just warmer than the folks I’m used to in Boston. I’m starting to believe that weather plays a humongous role in people’s sociability.
Right off the train, I had to be a tourist and buy some souvenir pins. My friends were on the verge of killing me by the end of the trip because of this souvenir-buying habit I have! Everywhere you looked there were vendors selling Obama T-Shirts, pins, keychains, belts, watches, lip balm (Obalma – get it?), posters… etc. If you can put Obama’s face or name on it, you could find it. The city had become a shrine to our new President. Almost all the store displays in Georgetown had either an Obama figurine or posters of him scattered about. Not to mention the night clubs and restaurants, all hosting inauguration festivities from two nights prior to the big day.
I’m sure you got to see the inauguration ceremony on Tuesday, some way or another. It was truly history in the making and I’ll remember that feeling for the rest of my life. [I'll post pics of that day soon]
Congratulations Barack! Make us proud!
Hand Art in Ads
This is perhaps one of the most artistic campaigns I’ve come across. They’re done so well, it took me a second to see the finger outlines in some. The ads display the specialties of the countries AT&T is working in, in case you’re wondering… There’s an Egyptian motif, Japanese motif, Jamaican motif, an Indian elephant, and a cheetah in Zimbabwean jungle – all depicted through hand art.
I have yet to see them around Boston, but here are photos of some taken at San Francisco Airport:
[all photos taken by ExpoCreative]
I love the fish and coral piece and the one with the British guards the most – Which one’s your favorite?
There are plenty more of these ads and they’re all gorgeous pieces. Looks to me like the majority of the hand models here are men, except for the last ad that has softer and smaller hands. I wonder how long it took to get the perfect shot. Can you imagine holding your hand in a pose like any of the above for more than like two seconds? I know I couldn’t!
Oh, that reminds me, I need a manicure.
