Dedicated to clever and innovative trends of art and design in activism.

Illegal Beauty is a participatory and inclusive “cultural network of individuals with social ambitions.” Its mission is strategic: to change the terms of debate around issues of citizenship (particularly immigration and illegality) and create “ongoing collaboration among individuals, communities and organizations dealing with people without papers.” Designers, artists, and activists are invited to contribute their visions.

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The very forward-thinking organizers of the UK Camp for Climate Action are hosting a weekend-long planning event for artists interested in the issues surrounding climate change. This strategic inclusion of art and design in activism is a first that deserves much applause.

On the matter of whether art can catalyze change, the organizers supplant the question of efficacy with one of efficiency. They want activist artists who aren’t interested in just representing issues of climate change, or impotently propagandizing, but who wish to directly confront and transform the issue itself.

The workshop will take place over three days, from Friday 13th July to late Sunday afternoon, 15th July, and while the exact location has yet to be announced. However, the proposal to host it in a village threatened by the expansion of Heathrow airport is in keeping with the Camp’s focus: challenging the root causes of climate change, especially the aviation industry and airport expansion.

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I was browsing Osocio last night for some design inspiration and found the video below. In it, a choir takes to an altered rendition of the famous tune of American nationalism “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” in protest of increasingly stringent FCC regulations. Absolutely hilarious and brilliant!

Source: Osocio

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Dan Tague’s Cash Rules Everything Around Me is on display at the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery (New Orleans, LA) for only two more days. Tague reconceptualizes common objects for use as artifacts in his “own complex altered narratives.” In this case, he’s folded American money to create phrases using the text on the bill.

In the dollar, he’s managed to find such politically charged phrases as “We Trust Liars, He is a liar. State of Fear. The American Idol. I Hate War. Hunt For Oil. The Heat is On. In God We Trust, Serve The State.”

Above: In God We Trust, Serve The State

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Luba Lukova’s Social Justice 2008 brings us twelve distinctive and thought-provoking posters on the following subjects:

Brainwashing, Peace, Social Security, Immigrant, Sudan, Privacy, Corporate Corruption, Dialogue, Censorship, Health Coverage, Income Gap, and Ecology

Lukova is joined in this unbound hardcover by writer and social activist Margaret Scarsdale, who provides the accompanying essay.

More than just social commentary, these posters are a call to action.

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