Health Care Propaganda: Public Option Please

Friday, October 30th, 2009 | Pop Culture Notions, Power & Politics, Tonky Graphic Design, Tonky Limited Editions | No Comments

Just wrapped up some health care advocacy propaganda for PublicOptionPlease.com. I designed these in the spirit of those great WPA posters advocating everything from worker safety to supporting the war effort.

The contest winner gets a cold $1000 and national distribution. The contest is being judged by Arianna Huffington, Margaret Cho, Aaron Rose, Jesse Dylan, Robbie Conal, Marshall Ganz, and Arlene Holt Baker

Hopefully they like the work!

I am selling an extremely limited edition of each design.
20″ by 30″ – Archival Ink Jet Prints
$50 ea. ( framed – $105 )
<CLICK HERE>

Every penny of profit gets donated to PublicOptionPlease.com. So feel comfortable voting with your wallets.

Click the thumbnails to see larger images:

-Tonky

WTC Fence – Design Competition Submission

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 | Contemporary Art, Pop Culture Notions, Power & Politics, Tonky Graphic Design | No Comments

This is a rendering from my submission to the design competition being hosted by The NYC Department of Transportation in collaboration with the Port Authority of NY & NJ to transform the currently drab construction fence that lines the WTC perimeter to something a little more amicable to tourists and local gentry.

Gound Zero is the more colloquial name for the World Trade Center construction site, no doubt the most politically charged patch of land in the country.

Project Statement:
The organic super graphic meanders through an underlying colorful grid along usable sections of fence. The viewer identifies with the flourish and in it sees their own navigation of the city. In this way, the composition reflects the vitality of the bourgeoning downtown commercial and residential neighborhood.

The rebuilding has proven slow due to infighting between powers that be: Larry Silverstein (leaser of the site) NY & NJ Port Authority (owner of the site), and victim’s families, to name a few.

The challenge it seems is to find a development solution that properly honors the lives of the victims and that also utilizes that highly valuable downtown real estate in a way that is best for the city’s future. Is the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower really the best we can come up with? ( USA founded in 1776, get it? )

Proposals due Oct. 5 – Get yours done now! $7500 design fee.
Submit Here

“Blank” Insurance Card

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 | Pop Culture Notions, Power & Politics | No Comments

Teeheehee,

After receiving my new health insurance cards from Freelancer’s Union, this unintentionally delightful card accompanied the perforated set. They must have bought the blank templates and needed to print only 3 cards not 4.

I would love to have heard the copy editor argue that leaving a card unprinted may have alarmed their customers and led to unnecessary customer service costs to explain the situation.

-Tonky

[UPDATE]: Apparently I’m not the only one – click below to see a similar insurance card that my DC based artist/designer friend Ben carries.

Chinese Storm Troopers vs. Terracotta Soldiers of Xian

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 | Pop Culture Notions, Power & Politics | No Comments

The New York Times published this picture of Chinese Storm Troopers accompanying their coverage of the government crackdown of Uighur ethinic minority group. Their armor reminded me of the Terracotta Army at emperor Qin Shi Huang’s burial site.

Read the NYtimes full coverage here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/world/asia/09hu.html?hp

The Bush II administration detained 13 Uighur men near the border of Afghanistan and they are only now being released from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. They were innocent men, but some feared that if released and returned to China the communist regime would imprison, torture, or kill them.

Nytimes covered the release of a handful of the detainees to sunny Bermuda: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/world/americas/15uighur.html

-Tonky

VASAMUSEET – 17th Century Warship Raised From the Deep

Monday, June 22nd, 2009 | Pop Culture Notions, Power & Politics | No Comments

The Vasamuseet is one of the top 20 museums I’ve ever visited .

The Vasa, once Sweden’s largest warship, was built in the 17th century and sunk outside Stockholm moments after it set sail ( the engineer made a mistake calculating ballast so the vessel tipped over with a sudden gust and sunk ) Many survived, but some of the ocean goers tragically drowned.

There the Vasa sat upright in the muddy depths, preserved in the cold brackish (mostly fresh, part salt) waters of the Swedish archipelago for nearly 300 years when in the 1960’s and 1970’s Sweden raised the boat like Lazarus – whole. After years of careful restoration and research, they built the Vasamuseet around the wreck.

Be sure to flip through these pics showing the wooden vessel, diagrams of trees containing specific ship parts, and reconstructions of victim’s faces based on their remains.

-Tonky

Iranian Expats Protest Election Fraud | Stockholm, Sweden

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 | Power & Politics | No Comments

A few pics of Iranian expatriates protesting last week’s apparently fraudulent re-election of President Aahmadinejad in Iran.

While the size of the modest gathering in downtown Stockholm pales in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of marchers in Tehran, the show of solidarity with their moderates brothers and sisters back home is heartening.

-Tonky

Historiska Museet: Mary the Dream of the Woman

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 | Contemporary Art, Power & Politics | No Comments

Ok I realized I was wrong to claim Sweden is totally godless after yesterday’s trip to Historiska Museet in Stockholm to see “Mary, the Dream of the Woman.”

Essentially they take a look at modern femininity through the lens of ancient religious icons and the work of contemporary artists, musicians, and dancers like Anne Hamilton, Eva Dahlgren, and Virpi Pahkinen respectively.

The sound environment is sublime and their thoughtful combination of old art with new art engages the effect the historical/mythology Mary has on our world and our notion of the female ideal. This show is important to see whether or not you believe in God.

Check out their website and translated press release HERE