by Art Chantry ( art@artchantry.com)
WELL, you may remember back in the 2008 election, things got a tiny bit, well… “contentious”. not like the “easy going” times of today, but back then people were getting piiiiisssssed-off, ya know? so, my image for today is a photo that my partner, maire masco, took of the famous shepard fairey “hope” image that we taped inside our front window back during the election. we lived in a gentrifying neighborhood, mixed rather well with all types: retired, renters, rich, poor, students, blue collar, white collar, weirdos, the whole gamut. our statement was minor (a little 8 1/2 x 11 computer print) inausupiciously taped in the huge picture window.
AC:think there is an entire book out (or coming out) of other people's variations (pro and con) of that fairey poster. it's become so iconic that it's become part of our popular dialog. the ultimate goal of any graphic designer.
One morning, as i left for work, i notice it had been SHOT! now, tacoma is a tough town (when i moved away in ’74/’75, i counted 23 people i knew who had been murdered!), so, i wasn’t surprised or disappointed or even shocked at first. but, after a while it began to sink in and i got kinda numbed by the event. i was deeply affected by having my window blasted because we hung a picture of a black democrat presidential candidate in our window.
We called the po-lice, and the voice on the phone said, “yeah, that’s happening quite a lot in town. we’ll ad it to our statistics. thanks for calling.” no biggie, ya know? our neighbor had a big obama yard sign, but it was totally left alone. why our window? i mean, it cost hundreds to replace, ya know?
Upon closer inspection, i noticed that the projectile only penetrated the first layer of the double pane glass. the interior panel was unharmed. i looked down in the garden bed and found a white glass marble. it was a slingshot, a wrist rocket. the attack was the actions of a kid (wrist rockets are a weapon of choice among kids in town because the laws aren’t as nasty as for a gun. and they can buy them easy.)
So, the window shot was an act of ‘vandalism’, not ‘hate’. the difference? age. we don’t hold a kids thoughts in as high esteem as an adults (i guess.) all i know that the kid was a dead shot and , even though he probably shot as a bored thrill, he didn’t hesitate to select an image of barack obama as a target.
I imagine this kid will make a great teabagger some day. that sort of easy pent up nastiness will boil over into full blown rage if he doesn’t find some direction away from it. but, still, the seed had already been planted in that kid’s head that it was sorta cool to nail the perceived “underdog” or “outsider.” sorta disturbing to think about. what sort of adult will he/she make?
Which brings me to the right wing eruption (not revolt – yet) we’re experiencing in this country. why all the hatred? why do they HATE so intensely to the point of irrationality? anger is one thing, targeted hatred is waaaay another.
Every time i hear some teabagger dry out “we want our country back!”, i have to ask, “from whom?” the black guy?
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