This Saturday, in Brooklyn, PEEL Zine (authors of PEEL The Art of the Sticker) and Shepard Fairy will unveil an exclusive poster collaboration as part of the MBP Urban Arts Fest.

On the heels of PSFK’s attendance at “Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy,” hosted by the New York Public Library, we see the “fair use” debate moving further into the online space to tackle the sticky issue of “primary source excerpting.” The question at the center of the discussion being -when a site like ours republishes original content, regardless of whether or not credit is given, is the law being broken? 
In theory, the fluid nature of information exchange on the internet through links and credits is supposed to be beneficial for all parties. Of course, not [...]

Thursday night, we were treated to an insightful and inspiring production at the New York Public Library as part of their Live from the NYPL series and sponsored by Wired. Titled “Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy”, the event featured Lawrence Lessig, founder of Creative Commons among other things, and Shepard Fairey, whom you may have heard of recently. Moderated by cultural historian Steven Johnson, it intended to focus on the future of art and ideas in an age when practically anything can be copied, pasted, downloaded, sampled, and re-imagined. Less about commerce and more about [...]

The now iconic image of Barack Obama created by artist Shepard Fairey and based on a photograph taken by AP photographer Mannie Garcia sits at the center of a lawsuit over what constitutes “fair use.” Both men will weigh in on the topic during today’s broadcast of Fresh Air. Although Fairey and Garcia will be appearing in separate segments, we’ll be interested to hear their thoughts on the fine line that exists between “infringement and inspiration.” We feel this discussion is particularly relevant to the online space given the free flowing way that information is appropriated and exchanged.  
[via mediabistro]
[image [...]

Amidst all that has happened recently with public figures and their wrongdoings, there might be something to take away from it all.
A-Rod has admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs, Michael Phelps has been photographed taking a bong hit, and the Associated Press is being sued by Shepard Fairey in a dispute over their Obama images.
There are clear “rights” and “wrongs”. These are the legal issues. Taking steroids is against MLB rules; smoking marijuana is against the law; whether the AP or Fairey is in the right will be determined in a court of law.
Then there’s public opinion of what’s right [...]

In the run up to the new US president’s inauguration, there’s been a lot of attention given to the artist Shepard Fairey and the iconic image he created to support Obama’s campaign. At the PSFK Conference Los Angeles we were proud to have the artist speak about the history of his work, his process and his commercial work. Watching the video is a great way to understand how Fairey has come to such prominence.

Some of the points he made:

Known for his experiment in phenomenology, and more recently for his Obama poster, artist Shepard Fairey recently partnered with Saks Fifth Avenue to apply his iconic style to their Spring marketing campaign.
Inspired by the graphic designs and propaganda spirit of Constructivist art, the new catalog covers and shopping bags from the department store will feature the slogan “Want It!” in Fairey’s typical color scheme: red, white and black.  The lettering is also quite reminiscent of graphic designs by Rodchenko, the Russian graphic designer who was one of the founders of Constructivism.
It’s been interesting to watch how Fairey’s work and philosophy [...]