As you no doubt remember, I was recently in New York, invited along with fellow writers to read our literature to the good people of New York. We had a great time there, and everything was perfect. Of course, after we left, the Romanian Cultural Institute continued its programs, and organized a Romanian street art exhibition titled “Freedom for lazy people”. You can read a review by the reputable NY Mag right here.
The exhibition was a huge success, attracting the praise of the NY specialised magazines. So, far from being a boring event, it has proved to be a very vivid one, one that didn’t leave passers-by indifferent. Unfortunately, there’s a huge scandal in Romania, concerning one of the exhibited art objects, a vandalized “My little pony” toy.
Ex communists are shouting that the exhibition was “a disgrace” and that the “image” of Romania was “tarnished” by it. Part of the press here, the part controlled by comrades, if you know what I mean, has made a big fuss of the thing, and it all became a national scandal, fueled by political vendetta and other shit like that. Some people here are rather dumb, unfortunately.
However, the Institute is now targeted by a governmental committee, and there might be severe sanctions imposed to the people that work at the Cultural Institute in New York, they might even get fired. So, as a sign of solidarity with Cristian Neagoe (attacked at a personal level by the tabloids) and the rest of the great people that work there, me and my art director friend, Vlad, have taken the pony icon that was exhibited and turned it into a blog widget and a t shirt.
You can download the .eps file and then make your own t-shirt, or you can put the widget on your blog, with a link to the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York. You can distribute it as you wish, as long as you tell people what’s it about and what it means. I know this is a pretty big post, but it’s for a good cause 
Here are the files:
t-shirt simulation & solo graphic
Blog widget (download and put on your blog as a side widget linking to http://www.icrny.org/):
August 12, 2008 at 10:20 am |
a really nice initiative. I claimed mine.
August 12, 2008 at 12:37 pm |
Cool. I’m going to get myself a t-shirt these days
August 12, 2008 at 12:41 pm |
Great! I’ll get mine too.
August 12, 2008 at 2:04 pm |
[...] de toate vreau sa va spun ca deja faimosul ponei roz traieste! Vi-l puteti pune pe bloguri/pe tricouri/pe ce vreti voi Mai jos urmeaza un post mai lung, mai [...]
August 14, 2008 at 12:58 pm |
‘The exhibition was a huge success, attracting the praise of the NY specialised magazines.’ Really? i m glad to hear it. Where did you read it? What magazines or newspapers? can you give me some links, please?
August 14, 2008 at 2:53 pm |
and everywhere in the world, the anticonsumist medium nazi symbols are for the art galleries, not for the streets / t shirts. i ve never seen t shirts with small jokes (’glumitze’) about nazi symbols. did you occur to you to ask the israel embassy what they think about your initiative? metaphorically speaking, nazy symbols are under their copyright:).
August 14, 2008 at 5:15 pm |
I’m not selling anything. Everybody is free, my friend
I gave you links. Google creative review too, they had something on their blog a while ago. Other references are on printed magazines, and I can’t provide you with those.
An Adi, puh-lease, don’t turn this into another of your “down with the urban hipsters” wars, I swear, those are so passe.
August 14, 2008 at 9:20 pm |
engleza mea e oribila, n o mai fortez. nu-mi plac hipsterii, recunosc – insa cristi imi place, e un om bun:D, la 30 sunt convins ca o sa fie un tip valabil. si acuma e, partial – e un tip straight, in felul lui. vreau doar sa zic ca genul asta de initiative cum e asta cu tricoul o sa i faca un deserviciu. personal nu mi-ar placea sa ma trezesc eroul unei batalii de Principii despre postmodernism si libertate ludica de exprimare. n-ar strica sa l intrebati mai intai pe el, daca vrea ca tricourile cu nazi pony medium art sa iasa pe strada. nu sunt cel mai in masura sa dau lectii de responsabilitate, numarul asta nu-mi iese. repet, nicaieri in lume nu se iese la plimbare pe strada cu tricouri cu simboluri nazi facute la misto postmodern; deocamdata chestia aia e abordata prudent in galerii, intarcuita ‘in rama Actului Artistic Pur’; ma indoiesc ca Romania va putea forta benignizarea simbolurilor naziste, scotandu-le pentru prima oara la plimbare pe strada si toata lumea civilizata va cadea pe spate, ‘ce dreptate au romanii astia cu postmodernismul lor relaxat, cum de nu ne-a trecut si noua prin cap’. suntem un cur de stat de lumea a treia ar fi cazul sa ne vedem lungul nasului, sa cadem de acord ca astfel de actiuni pe Principii, oricat de indreptatite ar fi, venite dintr-o tara cu o democratie recenta par doar faze de papagali (sau bloggeri, daca preferi); putzoisme. hipsterii sa se gandeasca la cristi si apoi la principii si schimbari tectonice de mentalitati.
August 15, 2008 at 12:16 pm |
buna ideea cu tricourile. iata si replica mea:)
personal, cred ca stampila aia ar trebui pusa pe “crupele” multor personalitati ale acestei tari.aia chiar ar merita-o.enjoy the poney:)
August 15, 2008 at 4:55 pm |
Adi, your English is good enough. You’re doing the mistake everyone did when it came to the pony. This stand is not about the svastica, it’s about freedom of speech, something this country never heard of, unfortunately. As Patapievici said, imagine how fast Gestapo, the Nazi Secret Police, would have arrested you if you did the pink pony then. This is in no way related to nazi ideology, it’s a work of art and should be seen like one.
Buburuze, I agree with you.
August 16, 2008 at 12:11 am |
the danish Mohammed cartoons were also included under the label “freedom of speech”..question: how far can we go? p.s. i`ve just read your article on feeder..pretty good,but i don`t think that “cocalarii” have smth to do with the pink pony story..they`re far too busy showing off (especially during this month when they come home for holiday) – i found this part of the article rather unnecessary..it`s between “intelectuals” formed during ceausescu`s era and unconventional artists..yet,how far can we go?
August 16, 2008 at 11:10 am |
There are no limits to where art can go.
The article on feeder was more on what kind of Romanians you’d expect to find anywhere, with just a little part on the poney scandal.
Again, art has no limits.
August 18, 2008 at 5:12 am |
[...] roz s-a stricat. L-au înfăşurat într-o pungă REBU şi l-au aruncat la gunoi. Au păstrat zvastika imprimată pe un tricou. Imaginaţie. Ne-au demonstrat că David şi Moise erau…David şi Moise. [...]
August 18, 2008 at 2:07 pm |
mi se pare o tampenie poneyul asta cu zvastica lui cu tot… daca asta e arta … atunci operele lui Brancusi , van gogh , da vinci etc ce’s?…le ridicatzi la acelsi nivel ? trezitzi’va ! ! ! … iar atitudinea “artistilor ” romani care sar in apararea acestei expozitzii mi se pare asemanatoare cu efectul de turma al taximetristilor… jenibil.
August 19, 2008 at 3:03 am |
@undoo: iti sugerez sa te mai documentezi si sa mai vizitezi din cand in cand o expozitie de arta moderna or contemporana. http://www.mnac.ro/ strongly recommended. cat despre brancusi, parca imi aduca aminte de procesul pe care l-a intentat vamesilor americani pentru contestarea statutului de opera de arta pentru una dintre lucrarile sale, pe care au taxato ca o “bucata de bronz” la intrarea in america. te felicit pentru incercarea ta de a ajusta poneiul la propriul sistem de referinta, dar cred ca acest sistem are inca destul de multe lipsuri si nu ma mir ca nu incape si poneiul acolo. pe de alta parte, sa spui ca tie nu-ti place poneiul, e absolut ok. (nota bene: inteleg prin ponei si toata expozitia de la care a pornit scandalul, ba mai mult, poneiul e vocea tinerei generatii, zic eu)
February 19, 2009 at 9:00 am |
I think it’s understandable why Romania would feel ‘tarnished’ by that ‘artwork.’ Most people in the US don’t relate swastika signs with anticommunist principles–instead they associate it with the horrific events of the Holocaust.
February 19, 2009 at 9:25 am |
Not if it’s in an artistic context. Not if it’s in an exhibition. Not if it’s auto-ironic.
February 20, 2009 at 2:03 am |
See, that’s the point. People see the icon and don’t see it in context. Instead they think ‘wtf is up with that hateful Nazi pony? People who wear/represent that pony must be antisemitic.’
I understand what you’re trying to say. Nevertheless art isn’t just what you want people to perceive— but what is taken away from it. It’s another form of communication– and like any mass communication if it’s not clear, it’s taken the wrong way and is ineffective. I’m all for free speech, but not if it’s seen as hate-speech. Perhaps if their was more than just an image of a pony with a swastika people would be less angry and more curious.
February 20, 2009 at 12:28 pm |
well of course there was. mass media just took the pony out of context, and so it became a symbol of their own limitations when it comes to art. there was an exhibition, the pony was a doll pony, part of an installation.
February 21, 2009 at 12:56 am |
I was referring to you promoting it’s ’symbol’ when people see it out of context–not of the actual show. I still would hardly call that pony art. It seems juvenile and clichéd.
February 22, 2009 at 4:27 pm |
You see, for you it’s juvenile and cliched, and that’s fine, that’s your opinion. But you don’t see it as a nazi propaganda vehicle, you don’t believe Romania is a nazi country and you don’t lobby for the Cultural Institute to be closed, now do you? That’s exactly what people from this country have said and done. And that’s the sad part.
March 9, 2009 at 10:43 pm |
any kind of art is hard to understand if you don’t have a little knowledge about it. now people will probably say theat you don’t need an trained eye. ask the artist who has done the paint work what did she/he meant to say by drawing a swastika on a pony. I know I will.
March 10, 2009 at 10:01 am |
It wasn’t a painting, it was an installation. An artist shouldn’t be forced to justify his or her art.