A pole, a wall and a metal box have recently been used as a stage to express strong and passionate ideas within the streets of Carlsbad. Iconic faces stare through empty eyes as passing motorists chat on cell phones and curse. A fist punches skyward in steadfast determination and the Statue of Liberty raises a cross.
Subversive Mag, a self published mag based on an alternative version of reality that is below the radar of dominate power, reaches out to Carlsbad with its cleverly designed wheatpastes, stencils and ideas.
Carlsbadcrawl sat down with Subversive Mag for an interview probing their methods and techniques…
–>>Click HERE for the interview!<<–
How do you feel about Subversive Mag using the streets of Carlsbad to transfer ideas and beliefs?
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I love their response to the matter of public space/private spaces, and wanting to reject that dichotomy all together. Well said. I’ll look for this next time I’m home.
Garbage. Quit vandalizing my town. If you feel the need to contrubute an alternate vision for a better world, write a book, start a blog, start a cable access show, run for city council, hand out food to homeless or volunteer at the united way. If you want to expose injustice, get specific and start a group that will come up with intelligent practical and viable solutions.
Art for the public good – put your posters up straight like Sheperd Fairy prides himself on. Get some colors and if you are promoting a message of love, why would you show a creepy old man which will scare children and is an eyesore. If the old man was a prophet or someone who already stood out for injustice and was put in jail for it. No wonder they take it down. Maybe if you used a nice photo of John Lennon or Ghandi (or the Apostle Paul) to communcate love and placed the artwork straight rather than crooked, they might leave it, even appreciate it. Use bigger text and some colors. As of right now, if someone doesnt go up to it and read it, it looks like some skater rave or movie poster.
And what is so repressive about Carlsbad? All the police? Who stop drunk drivers and the fire department who wont let too many people in a bar at once. I thank them. I hate crowded bars and thats how people get trampled when things go wrong. You want to see repression, go to North Korea.
We blame the evil systemic power that manifests itself throughout all history and all peoples. We learn about this power through the apostle Paul. He states, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”
See thats a problem with todays youth They automatically associate and blame the authorities with evil. Rather than civily suggesting solutions and writing editorials.
Maybe not an eyesore to you but to those who want Carlsbad to be a fairytale. I know I like living in thsi fairytale called Carlsbad with bike lanes everywhere and nature sancuarries. Oh, and did you know that you are allowed to drink in public in Carlsbad? Hows that for freedom?! What does Carlsbad have to do to make you happy? The beaches and parks have free bags so you can clean up after your dog.
Noone can claim ownership of anything. So do you own that electrical box that you put your poster on? No, everyone owns it. We SHARE it! So a civil community has a Public Art entity who are usually happy to let you beutify the city in a way in which all the people who SHARE that electrical box can appreciate. Your assuming that noone in 2008 questions assumptions? Maybe in 1950 Id agree but cmon now. We’ve all read 1984 by now. Oh and I love the closed fist right where you say you hope to embody the politics of JC. Yeah he was all about violence. Hint: Fists symbolize violence. The only thing you got right is that you are subversive.
Carlsbad Crawl, thanks for supporting us!
Thanks to everyone who reads our interview!
We welcome any critique…We value all of your thoughts…
Thanks for all of your thoughts!
Be Subversive: LOVE!
What is so repressive about Carlsbad?
Carlsbad is a manicured garden… it’s “perfect”. So perfect that it lacks a good amount of artistic culture in the city. There is art but it is usually what the city approves of. It’s like the Salon in Paris restricting Romanticism or Impressionism. It’s bias. That is repressive.
The Canon art gallery just had a show of original prints from National Geographic including the famous girl with green eyes in Afganistan. Its usually what the city approves of because the city has the tough job of trying to please everyone. its not romantism or impressionism they are rejecting, its that scary old mans face. People have kids. I don’t but if I had a four year old girl and I was taking her to the beach to and to get ice cream, I’d be pissed that she has to walk past this scary Orwellian face. Have these guys actually been rejected yet? Who has rejected them? Has anybody here attempted to go through the right channels and get permission to paint a box. They are usually pretty cooperative and you can stimulate thought with pretty images also. I bet none of you have been to this site http://www.carlsbadca.gov/arts/ Check out the mission staement and oh, also check out how much money is available in grants. Any of you applied for one yet? Sculpture Garden, Jazz in the Park (in which you can also drink alcohol at!), Art Camps, Photo contests. Why don’t one of you guys join the Arts commission http://www.carlsbadca.gov/chall/charts.html Be the change you want to see in the world. or call them at (760) 434-2920 and ask how you get to paint an electrical box.
I don’t want you guys to get me wrong. A subversive mag and images like that meant to scare people have a place. I am a HUGE fan of Sheperd Fairey and Dave Kinsey! They just put their stickers on straight and his stencils aren’t cut out with their left hand. Guerilla art has its place. In a place where people are opressed. Don’t even tell me we are repressed here when we can drink in the streets! Go do it in Oceanside and subvert the gansters who probably have child sex slaves in their basement! In Mira Mesa, I’ve seen guerilla art on electical boxes that are just big hearts spray painted in black. That communicates love better doesnt it? Carlsbad is one of the best run cities Ive ever seen. Dont hate on it. Just join the arts council and make it better. they may not implemet your input at first and you will feel rejected by the salon – but stick it out and cooperate and in a few years youll be in charge and you can approve whatever art you want.
Classic comments… Dan Scholberg, the all powerful teller of truth and critic of art. This is “his” city as he claims in line one. You have a lot of spare time on your hands friend, too continue posting your well thought out comments. I love how you slam the Subversive posters and the poster movement in general, while praising Fairey, who’s plastered government property w/ millions of his beautiful Andre the Giant poster. He’s not a vandal I guess, because he puts his stuff on straight. Oh yeah, he invented poster art as well, anything after him is clearly a knock off.
I agree w/ you that the face is scary. That’s the point Dan. Some people don’t feel as happy w/ Carlsbad as you do. I’ve grown up in this bubble my entire life. I had a great child hood and love the clean beaches, etc. Subversive is not attempting to de-beautify or vandalize the landscape. Its paper bro, get over it.
Not repressive. I chuckle at this comment. Some will argue that Carlsbad is the epitome of repression. Just because you can get hammered in public and make out in a garden doesn’t mean your shit doesn’t stink. This city is run by corporate greed. Just drive up the beautiful road called Palomar Airport. Notice to your left, a small city of corporations, and too your right, awe…more buildings being built. Oh wow, what’s this, please look to your left children, that’s a 90 million dollar golf course, built w/ your parents tax dollar for people who probably found convenient corporate loop holes out of paying taxes. A 90 million dollar public golf course, the biggest public course ever built, in which most of the public cant afford. Fuck that, and fuck Carlsbad, excuse my French.
The city cuts the Carlsbad HS art dept (blame it on State cuts Dan), but has the audacity to build a fucking golf course for a bunch of lily white saps. And in response to your city art council, are these the same donkey’s that built the Bars (State Beach) so many years ago. I don’t see too much artistic expression in C-bad directed by these dinosaurs, just a lot of palm trees, shops and offices. Maybe a cheap ass fountain in front of the train station. Where are the public installations? Where are the statues? Where are these illustrious electrical boxes painted so beautifully? I’ve seen a few fire hydrants painted farm animal prints. Wow, that’s brilliant. Your art council is really doing a lot Dan.
Maybe you like living in the bubble Dan. Why wouldn’t you? For God sake, you can get plastered in the streets, now that’s freedom. While our HS students learn about the triumphs of Christopher Columbus (a man that killed about 5 million Arawak) in their convenient modulars, the true powers that be are playing golf and having their minions install video cameras on every single light in your beautiful city (take a look Dan). 1984 was not some far off science fiction novel, it was a warning for future generations, and the future has arrived. We should not fear the government, the government should fear us.
Well you got me on the golf and corporate greed. I do hate golf and golf course’s extreme waste of water to play some game poor people can’t afford (UN says amount of water it takes to water all the golf courses in the US is equal to the amount of water needed for the world’s faimines). I’ll concede on that…and I guess I was pretty rude in making my point, so I had that coming. But regarding this; “Just because you can get hammered in public and make out in a garden doesn’t mean your shit doesn’t stink”. I never said that but it sure does mean we are free and not repressed. Rebellion and conformity both have their place, but neither blindly. My only message is be sure your right, beacause nothing is “just a magazine” as Mein Kampf was not “just a book”.
Dan,
Please forgive my frankness, but the ignorance you indulge is a confirmation of two things:
1) the ramp stupidity plaguing the masses
2) the sinister nature of systemic power
Your appeal to drinking in public as a sign of freedom is telling. Such reasoning is dangerous. It congers up memories of the Roman Empire. Have you ever heard of “bread and circus”? Bread and circus was utilized to distract and control the masses. When the masses became unruly, the powers that were hosted FREE public circuses. The Hungry masses received FREE bread also. Entertaining them in order to be controlled, bread and circus served its purpose: to distract the masses from the reality of repression.
It seems drinking in public is our form of bread and circus…The idiocy of the masses to be controlled is sad, but likewise chilling. I fear for the world when people can be so easily controlled like you…Your addiction to bread and circus disgusts me…
…a circus is not just a circus…
I like this. So we are repressed because the several golf equipment manufacturers that have their offices in Carlsbad lobbied to get a new golf course built and this money came right out of the high schools art department? I hated that thing from the start but democracy is democracy and golfers exist in Carlsbad, so until things change. I hate it but I wasn’t at any City Council meetings speaking up either. Palm trees, shops, a fountain and offices, these are healthy things for a town. If you ever lived outside of a bubble, you’d be crying repression because you don’t have those things and the town next to you does. Hey, but I’ll concede on the cameras and the columbus thing, fair enough. But as for public art, you guys have more than a fair opportunity to contribute. Since fire hydrants with animal prints arent enough. That should be your cue. Every generation wants a revolution and each revolution costs society lots in money and happiness. Be part of the solution and make your revolution civil.
I love how people who live in nearly absolute freedom whine about being oppressed. Right, because Carlsbad’s openly elected city council decided to sell dry grassland to people who legally turned it into housing and businesses, you’re being oppressed. Give me a break. You probably feel oppressed because mom makes you do your own laundry. Go live in Baja for a few weeks, or Myanmar, or Cuba, or any place where people are literally oppressed. The fact that you can do the things Dan mentioned, about 1000 things he didn’t, or even post on this board, kind of kills your own argument of oppression. Don’t like golf courses? Vote for new representation. Don’t like art being cut from school? Donate your time and money to help the kids out. Truth is, people don’t like vandalism. And that is what we’re talking about here… vandalism to push their own marketing.
How are we oppressed in Carlsbad, San Diego County, and the United States?
READ Michel Foucault’s book “Discipline and Punishment”,
…otherwise we decieve our selves and live in ignorance…
but like they say…it is a bliss…
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