IntangibleArts' ASBPE 2006 winners

IntangibleArts' ASBPE 2006 winners

Image by IntangibleArts
Two of my babies were recognized this year at the national ASBPE awards in NYC. A bittersweet honor, since the company was sold in the meantime, and I didn't make the final cut with the new company. So I got to hear about the winners from some loyal ex-coworkers. Publishing is a brutal gig sometimes.

But the DHS cover was a kick because, as it turns out, hatchling vultures look more like bald eagles than bald eagles. So, my patriotic metaphor for the newly reorganized Homeland Security Department is......a baby buzzard. Read into that what you will.

And somehow it worked. The cover won a national Gold (front cover, news tabloid 80,000+ circ).

The Vista cover was not one of my favorites, so I'm not sure why the hell it won. All the tech magazines were doing cover-stories on Vista, and they all looked the same. Desperate for a different angle, I decided the windows logo looked like a piece of stale sushi. The rest is history. That one won the national bronze for Front Cover, Computer Generated. A mega pun on the words "vista" (as in the OS as well as scenic views, in the other plates) and "served" (as in, food and file-servers) ... bah! Too many puns on one cover. It should not have won.

But hell, it's a couple of nuggets for the resume. I was happy with the vulture DHS cover, though.

merry x-mas...nyc style.

Image by eyewashdesign: A. Golden
photographer: A. Golden, eyewash design, NYC: December, - c. 2008.

This is part of "LOT 67", by Tattfoo Tan - a self-described "community based intervention artist", with funding by his local government art council, better known as Council of Arts Staten Island (COASI). See video here: tattfoo.com/blog/ (Lot 67)

Tattfoo Tan, an emigrant artist from Malaysia living in Staten Island, NYC has sold this wanton destruction of a majestic, 60 year-old tree in the name of "art". That is, art in the name of benefitting Tattfoo and Tattfoo only. Well, perhaps also his wife, Ensze, their dog Brian and their collective wallet.

It seems Mr. Tan - a former graphic designer within corporate America has now been laid off from his well-paying gig and in complete panic mode, has orchestrated a scheme to save grocery money by living off land he doesn't own - chopping down a tree he doesn't own - all the while getting paid for his efforts with taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars. Good for him - bad for the tree ... and the birds...and the neighborhood...and the property owner on whose land Tattfoo unlawfully entered / whose property he destroyed…and his landlord owning the property he destroyed by chopping down this majestic beauty.

Yes, you read that right! Mr. Tan's environmental destruction was made possible with assistance from a government grant. With it, he has justified starting a year-long, alleged “interactive, community-based" project, in the name of art - in order to grow a “depression” garden. As an artist myself, I respect varying mediums. However, I also know what breaking the law, destruction of private property and gardening for survival, sold as art is when I see it. Anyone can dress sh*t up, put it in a shiny package and sell it as beautiful, but in the end, it’s still sh*t.

Don't get me wrong, I "get it". I'm from South Carolina. Duh. My Granny - an American growing up during the Great Depression - raised me and did it "right". She grew up in abject poverty. Her family life consisted of sharing a one-room cabin in the middle of the woods - with ten siblings (in addition to her parents). If they didn't kill it, they didn't eat. Her toilet paper involved corncobs - no joke. In fact, just yesterday, I blogged about surviving in this disastrous economic crises – including growing a garden and composting. (see here: www.counterspinyc.blogspot.com/)

Therefore, I know a scheme to live off the land and dually save money one doesn't have when I see it, because I also grew up poor. The difference being, even in poverty, our family always respected the environment. Sure, we had a garden, but we didn't chop down four-story trees to grow one. In fact, we planted trees – not only on our land, but throughout our neighborhood. Trees are, after all, are Our lungs and without them, We die. Just ask Al Gore.

If someone had merely showed me this image without explaining the circumstances, I'd be horrified. However, this photograph was taken from my own 3rd floor apartment of the communal side lot in a building housing only myself and Mr. Tan. And as such, let me say that I'm one sickened puppy. This tree not only acted as a natural barrier to our building, but was home to hundreds of migrating birds. Indeed, if you look carefully at my eyewash design logo, you’ll see an image of this tree - birds happily perched upon its beautiful branches. I loved this tree so much I incorporated it into my own company logo.

So, you can understand the abject horror. From the video, you can see Mr. Tan proudly mounting his conquest like an English hunter standing over his kill. Wilfull destruction of a perfectly healthy, near century old, living, breathing thing because it “blocks sunlight” - in a lot sandwiched between one four, and one three-story building, is in no way rational, nor can it be justified. I don’t give a flip what someone’s calling it. It’s destruction for selfish purposes.

It's also illegal. The tree lies in a special Hillside Protected Zone & therefore, can only be pruned. In order for a tree in a protected Hillside Zone to be chopped, a request for the Department of City Planning to send a tree expert to access merit on a claim of "diseased or a threat to the community". This is called an Arborist Report. Without one, chopping down any manner of tree in these areas is ILLEGAL. A tree must also be planted to replace the felled tree.

What a wonderful Christmas present! I encourage anyone as inflamed as I to go onto Mr. Tan’s blog & leave a comment. He is asking for your thoughts! Just thought you should know the story behind the “art”.

Lot 67: Enviromental Art or Environmental Criminal?

Image by eyewashdesign: A. Golden
photographer: A. Golden, eyewash design, NYC: December, - c. 2008.

This is "LOT 67", by Tattfoo Tan - a self-described "community based intervention artist", with funding by his local government art council, better known as Council of Arts Staten Island (COASI). See video here: tattfoo.com/blog/ (Lot 67)

Tattfoo Tan, an emigrant artist from Malaysia living in Staten Island, NYC has sold this wanton destruction of a majestic, 60 year-old tree in the name of "art". That is, art in the name of benefitting Tattfoo and Tattfoo only. Well, perhaps also his wife, Ensze, their dog Brian and their collective wallet.

It seems Mr. Tan - a former graphic designer within corporate America has now been laid off from his well-paying gig and in complete panic mode, has orchestrated a scheme to save grocery money by living off land he doesn't own - chopping down a tree he doesn't own - all the while getting paid for his efforts with taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars. Good for him - bad for the tree ... and the birds...and the neighborhood...and the property owner on whose land Tattfoo unlawfully entered / whose property he destroyed…and his landlord owning the property he destroyed by chopping down this majestic beauty.

Yes, you read that right! Mr. Tan's environmental destruction was made possible with assistance from a government grant. With it, he has justified starting a year-long, alleged “interactive, community-based" project, in the name of art - in order to grow a “depression” garden. As an artist myself, I respect varying mediums. However, I also know what breaking the law, destruction of private property and gardening for survival, sold as art is when I see it. Anyone can dress sh*t up, put it in a shiny package and sell it as beautiful, but in the end, it’s still sh*t.

Don't get me wrong, I "get it". I'm from South Carolina. Duh. My Granny - an American growing up during the Great Depression - raised me and did it "right". She grew up in abject poverty. Her family life consisted of sharing a one-room cabin in the middle of the woods - with ten siblings (in addition to her parents). If they didn't kill it, they didn't eat. Her toilet paper involved corncobs - no joke. In fact, just yesterday, I blogged about surviving in this disastrous economic crises – including growing a garden and composting. (see here: www.counterspinyc.blogspot.com/)

Therefore, I know a scheme to live off the land and dually save money one doesn't have when I see it, because I also grew up poor. The difference being, even in poverty, our family always respected the environment. Sure, we had a garden, but we didn't chop down four-story trees to grow one. In fact, we planted trees – not only on our land, but throughout our neighborhood. Trees are, after all, are Our lungs and without them, We die. Just ask Al Gore.

If someone had merely showed me this image without explaining the circumstances, I'd be horrified. However, this photograph was taken from my own 3rd floor apartment of the communal side lot in a building housing only myself and Mr. Tan. And as such, let me say that I'm one sickened puppy. This tree not only acted as a natural barrier to our building, but was home to hundreds of migrating birds. Indeed, if you look carefully at my eyewash design logo, you’ll see an image of this tree - birds happily perched upon its beautiful branches. I loved this tree so much I incorporated it into my own company logo.

So, you can understand the abject horror. From the video, you can see Mr. Tan proudly mounting his conquest like an English hunter standing over his kill. Willfull destruction of a perfectly healthy, near century old, living, breathing thing because it “blocks sunlight” - in a lot sandwiched between one four, and one three-story building, is in no way rational, nor can it be justified. I don’t give a flip what someone’s calling it. It’s destruction for selfish purposes.

It's also illegal. The tree lies in a special Hillside Protected Zone & therefore, can only be pruned. In order for a tree in a protected Hillside Zone to be chopped, a request for the Department of City Planning to send a tree expert to access merit on a claim of "diseased or a threat to the community". This is called an Arborist Report. Without one, chopping down any manner of tree in these areas is ILLEGAL. A tree must also be planted to replace the felled tree.

What a wonderful Christmas present! I encourage anyone as inflamed as I to go onto Mr. Tan’s blog & leave a comment. He is asking for your thoughts! Just thought you should know the story behind the “art”.

back-to-front.

Image by eyewashdesign: A. Golden
photographer: A. Golden, eyewash design, NYC: December, - c. 2008.

This is "LOT 67", by Tattfoo Tan - a self-described "community based intervention artist", with funding by his local government art council, better known as Council of Arts Staten Island (COASI). See video here: tattfoo.com/blog/ (Lot 67)

Tattfoo Tan, an emigrant artist from Malaysia living in Staten Island, NYC has sold this wanton destruction of a majestic, 60 year-old tree in the name of "art". That is, art in the name of benefitting Tattfoo and Tattfoo only. Well, perhaps also his wife, Ensze, their dog Brian and their collective wallet.

It seems Mr. Tan - a former graphic designer within corporate America has now been laid off from his well-paying gig and in complete panic mode, has orchestrated a scheme to save grocery money by living off land he doesn't own - chopping down a tree he doesn't own - all the while getting paid for his efforts with taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars. Good for him - bad for the tree ... and the birds...and the neighborhood...and the property owner on whose land Tattfoo unlawfully entered / whose property he destroyed…and his landlord owning the property he destroyed by chopping down this majestic beauty.

Yes, you read that right! Mr. Tan's environmental destruction was made possible with assistance from a government grant. With it, he has justified starting a year-long, alleged “interactive, community-based" project, in the name of art - in order to grow a “depression” garden. As an artist myself, I respect varying mediums. However, I also know what breaking the law, destruction of private property and gardening for survival, sold as art is when I see it. Anyone can dress sh*t up, put it in a shiny package and sell it as beautiful, but in the end, it’s still sh*t.

Don't get me wrong, I "get it". I'm from South Carolina. Duh. My Granny - an American growing up during the Great Depression - raised me and did it "right". She grew up in abject poverty. Her family life consisted of sharing a one-room cabin in the middle of the woods - with ten siblings (in addition to her parents). If they didn't kill it, they didn't eat. Her toilet paper involved corncobs - no joke. In fact, just yesterday, I blogged about surviving in this disastrous economic crises – including growing a garden and composting. (see here: www.counterspinyc.blogspot.com/)

Therefore, I know a scheme to live off the land and dually save money one doesn't have when I see it, because I also grew up poor. The difference being, even in poverty, our family always respected the environment. Sure, we had a garden, but we didn't chop down four-story trees to grow one. In fact, we planted trees – not only on our land, but throughout our neighborhood. Trees are, after all, are Our lungs and without them, We die. Just ask Al Gore.

If someone had merely showed me this image without explaining the circumstances, I'd be horrified. However, this photograph was taken from my own 3rd floor apartment of the communal side lot in a building housing only myself and Mr. Tan. And as such, let me say that I'm one sickened puppy. This tree not only acted as a natural barrier to our building, but was home to hundreds of migrating birds. Indeed, if you look carefully at my eyewash design logo, you’ll see an image of this tree - birds happily perched upon its beautiful branches. I loved this tree so much I incorporated it into my own company logo.

So, you can understand the abject horror. From the video, you can see Mr. Tan proudly mounting his conquest like an English hunter standing over his kill. Willfull destruction of a perfectly healthy, near century old, living, breathing thing because it “blocks sunlight” - in a lot sandwiched between one four, and one three-story building, is in no way rational, nor can it be justified. I don’t give a flip what someone’s calling it. It’s destruction for selfish purposes.

It's also illegal. The tree lies in a special Hillside Protected Zone & therefore, can only be pruned. In order for a tree in a protected Hillside Zone to be chopped, a request for the Department of City Planning to send a tree expert to access merit on a claim of "diseased or a threat to the community". This is called an Arborist Report. Without one, chopping down any manner of tree in these areas is ILLEGAL. A tree must also be planted to replace the felled tree.

What a wonderful Christmas present! I encourage anyone as inflamed as I to go onto Mr. Tan’s blog & leave a comment. He is asking for your thoughts! Just thought you should know the story behind the “art”.