PUBLIC MARKS from sbrothier with tags Activism & art

Malkit Shoshan is an Israeli architect. She is the founder and director of the Amsterdam based architectural think tank FAST whose research explores the relations between architecture, planning, politics and activism in Israel/Palestine, Georgia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, and the Netherlands.

We're a bunch of anonymous females who take the names of dead women artists as pseudonyms and appear in public wearing gorilla masks. We have produced posters, stickers, books, printed projects, and actions that expose sexism and racism in politics, the art world, film and the culture at large. We use humor to convey information, provoke discussion, and show that feminists can be funny. We wear gorilla masks to focus on the issues rather than our personalities. Dubbing ourselves the conscience of culture, we declare ourselves feminist counterparts to the mostly male tradition of anonymous do-gooders like Robin Hood, Batman, and the Lone Ranger. Our work has been passed around the world by kindred spirits who we are proud to have as supporters. It has also appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, Bitch and Bust; on TV and radio, including NPR,, the BBC and CBC; and in countless art and feminist texts. The mystery surrounding our identities has attracted attention. We could be anyone; we are everywhere.

“Hundreds of Paris Hilton albums have been tampered with in the latest stunt by “guerrilla artist” Banksy who has replaced Hilton’s CD with his own remixes and given them titles such as Why am I Famous?, What Have I Done? and What Am I For? He has also changed pictures of her on the CD sleeve to show the US socialite topless and with a dog’s head.

Free Soil is an international collective of artists that seeks to make projects that reveal social, political, cultural and environmental relationships. We believe art can be a catalyst for social awareness and change.