Art – Page 3 – An Echo That's Reversing

Photos of tags by what I call “the Rooster gang” around Midtown

Coronavirus — 18 Aug 2021 — Uncertainty

Why Vaccinated People Are Not Taking Delta Seriously Enough w/ Dr. Eric Topol (The New Abnormal, 13 Aug 2021)

Dr. Eric Topol (good reporting on his Twitter feed) reports that current vaccines provide protection from delta at around 40-60% effectiveness and a booster would bring that to 90%. The data from a CNN report expands/clarifies those numbers but provides no data on boosters (see images below). On 13 Aug 2021, the CDC advised that immunocompromised people start getting boosters and there are reports that the federal government will recommend all others to get one eight months after their previous shot (our 2nd dose of the Pfizer was 11 Apr 2021, so hello Dec 2021).

Banksy and a tweet and pseudonyms

@molotovbouquet tweeted an image of Fauci and Trump in response to a new Lincoln Project ad about their respective histories:

from @molotovbouquet, 7:32 AM, 15 Jul 2020

The molotov account’s name is “Not Banksy” and states that they’re “not on Twitter, not @BryanSGaakman”. The image at the top of his bio looks like a Banksy, and his avatar is a man in a hoodie (the uniform of street artists):

The name “molotov bouquet” is likely a reference to a Banksy titled “Love Is In The Air (Flower Thrower)”. According to MyArtBroker, it first appeared in 2003 “in Jerusalem shortly after the construction of the West Bank Wall”:

@BryanSGaakman is an anagram (no, I did not figure this out) of “Banksy anagram”. His bio has an image of a possible Banksy (note the balloon for further reference below):

Back on 10 Jun 2018, someone stole a Banksy titled Trolley Hunters from a Toronto art gallery. The thief was recorded on security camera, wearing a hoodie. He shuffles around inconspicuously and alone, grabs the painting, then hurries out.

*Trolley Hunters*, image from Unidentified Thief Caught On Camera Stealing $45,000 Banksy Print From Exhibit (NPR, 15 Jun 2018)

The suspicion is that Banksy was the thief who stole the Banksy because, well, it’s so on brand for him. In fact, just the day after the theft, Banksy posted a story of some hijinks he had just perpetrated on the Royal Academy of Arts. Under that anagram pseudonym, he sent them a work of art for a gallery show but it was rejected. (We all see where this is going.) He then turned around and re-sent it as himself. To quote Banksy: “It’s now hanging in gallery 3.”

Here’s the art, note the balloon:

Authenticity is either dead or never existed.

Coronavirus – 9 Jul 2020 – Square zero

Updated 11 Jul 2020

I read a short thread that gave me a feeling I haven’t had since the very beginning in mid-March when we were all combing through those graphs and data tables at least twice a day. It feels again like we’re realizing there’s a catastrophe starting and the shock is as if we’ve never felt it before. I think re-reading my old posts refreshed those memories of that odd time back in March (four months ago?!) when everything started hitting. There was a nervous apprehension of the unknown; everything was new. The recent unbelievable spike is magnitudes greater than what we first experienced so, yes, the is as if we’re starting anew.

The Barb Wire canon

Updated the next day

Continuing my Great Literature series begun with Red Sonja and Conan, I’ve started reading the Barb Wire saga.

She’s a part of the Dark Horse Universe. We forget (or even don’t know) about it because of the supremacy of the DC and Marvel mythologies; like Greek and Roman, in no particular order, since so many of the super strength, super fast, invisible, other-dimension-origined, et al. are merely different manifestations of the same gods. Dark Horse fits into this framework but on a smaller scale and with some indie differences. For example: there is the odd character Concrete who is a man with his body replaced–for some reason–with a minimal-featured stone body, and who has to learn to live in his new circumstances. It’s more middle-aged Bildungsroman than superhero. Dark Horse’s polished indieness is appealing in a different manner than the experimentation of less established indie publishers. Solid yet daring.