Shepard Fairey: The Philosophy Of Obey (Obey Giant) Book

[sdloc9]

by wearing the OBEY clothing you are obeying, following and conforming because as more people see the art work they think its cool and dont know the psychological meaning behind shepards propaganda, dont et me wrong his art work is sick, but ill never buy a piece of OBEY clothing

[smre1234]

@sdloc9 i agree with you 100%. i am truly a fan of his art work but i prefer clothing with no logos.

[lordtrollington1]

i hate obey shirts, so many kids at my school wear them and those kids are the ones that dont even know the definition of anarchism! the only reason they pay for these overpriced piece of shit t-shirts is because they have a picture of a gun or of a girl on it

Obey giant brand =/= anarchist revolution

[weatherkop]

If you are honest and uncompromising then you will never sellout

[mrurkham]

@DragonIdol14

Have you not heard him talk about his commercial side ? He makes a point that every artist has to take a movement into ''selling out '' in order to make money to pour into their own personal art, Fairey continuously tags the same companies that he has/ is working for... he's not a sell out, he's smart. He recognizes the need to survive as an artist by adapting by recognizing the difference

[NYCOwen]

what is that song???????????

[ANameToBeProudOf]

@NYCOwen I think it's bodysnachers by radiohead.

[Rippy03]

Obey Propaganda is spreading! See the latest contributor! Copy paste this into search: Shepard Fairey in Orange County.

[IcyAJmusic]

what is obey about? what does is stand for? is it good? is it a cult? tell me

[chcheckcheckonetwo]

@IcyAJmusic OBEY started as a joke, Fairey made stickers with the face of Andre The Giant and put them around town (at this point the word OBEY wasn't even on there). Eventually the local newspaper ran an article asking the same questions you are asking. So he kept going to see what would happen, and added OBEY underneath the face, giving it a double meaning: a kind of "false command" meant to spark people's thoughts about ads and social customs to which they are mindlessly obedient.

[paulmacmanusa]

aaaaaaaahahaha "skater betties(chicks)will never be as dope as surfer betties"! tell me this is a joke,who could be dumb enough to think that is a 'philosophical insight'!

[hrdlxs]

whats the song called PLEASE

[coffunism]

@hrdlxs The song is called "Bodysnatchers" by the band Radiohead.

[emiliyo2010]

@hrdlxs radio head

[avalanchesoul]

more than "fuck obey," i want to say "fuck you" to all the non-thinking automatons that constantly chirp stupid shit like dude up top who says "don't criticize." if somebody is shitty (which obey is) it's our job to criticize him. if left up to all you fawning celebrity obsessed idiots, there would be no such thing as activism, and all legit non-commercial artists wouldn't have a fucking place in society, cuz all you dummies like is bullshit like this guy. plus this bitch ass bitched out to mear

[xpez]

@avalanchesoul RIGHT THE FUCK ON!!! the other day I was at a sneaker shop

and found a sofa pillow on a shelf in the store, it had the Andre the Giant logo

and pattern all over it. I held it up and asked the store owner, "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS???

from that point on I was like fuck this "ART" its just shit garbage. it might as well be flowers

on the kitchen wall or circles on a rug. its totally meaningless garbage HOUSEWARES!!!

this junk for NAIVE LITTLE TWATS WITH 10 dollars to waste

[avalanchesoul]

@xpez yeah, i've met this fucker before and after he was known. on top of the fact of his misappropriation of minority counter culture icons (a form or artistic colonialism), he's also a straight up douche bag. another rich guy making money off prints of angela davis, subcommandante marcos, malcolm x; basically anybody who mattered in the fight against "the man," he steals their image, turns it into one of his bullshit pieces and makes loot. artistically, it's boring; he's a one trick pony.

[atthespeckofdawn]

He's a great artist.

people bitch too much.

[xpez]

@atthespeckofdawn GReat artist...BAH, maybe a GREAT TRACER!!!! HAHAHA

[REGEKoneMFE]

This fucker Is just an artist not a fucking graffiti artist, fuck this guy I bet any member from MSK can beat this fucktard and his fake chase stories at bombing

[elevenmatrixeleven]

@REGEKoneMFE Hahaha, dude, chill out. Maybe he's not a graff artist anymore ? does that make his stuff any less worthy of attention ? you can cling to your underground graff scene where people can hardly afford cans. If Fairey had the talent to market his graff skills (which he did once have) why can't you just be cool with that ? people in the scene that you embrace could do the same and still be artists, but they choose to lead shitty lives (for the most part) whos the idiot ?

[REGEKoneMFE]

@elevenmatrixeleven Hahahahahaha where people can hardly afford cans, seriously all you little followers of this tag don't know what true writing is, you don't buy cans you little fucking toy, you tack as in you take cause that's how you get respect and that's how you get known also

[elevenmatrixeleven]

@REGEKoneMFE hahaha dude shut the fuck up, im not a toy because i dont do graffiti or tag or whatever the hell lingo term you have for it. let me assert again that the guys having to steal cans have no future of being succesful anyways lol... this dude isnt even involved in the same scene as you, so why dont you get off his jock ?

[REGEKoneMFE]

@elevenmatrixeleven Well it's a good thing you don't write cause you probably sick ass you faggot, and I'm on his jock really? Your the one backing up thus fucking faggot who claims to be in the graffiti scene when he's a fucking faggot like his little bitch followers

[elevenmatrixeleven]

Hahaha, so yeah i'm here to complain. I like the clothing brand, and i dont mind that the guy's clothes got popular. what pisses me off is walking around my high school and looking at all of these kids wearing obey shirts that just randomly picked them off the rack at pacsun or buckle or some other store. the brand represents awareness, it has meaning behind it. im willing to bet that 80-90% of the kids gettting these shirts dont even know the story behind andre. whatevs i guess....

[xpez]

@elevenmatrixeleven what you are describing is an artist who has succumb to the very aspects of society that were, earlier in his career something to rebel against.

I would never ever buy any OBEY shit. Just because its too mainstream and a fucking brand like Mountain Dew!

[elevenmatrixeleven]

@xpez I dont think that's what i described at all. you may personally beleive the shirts are too mainstream, but that doesnt take away meaning from them? if a million people see a piece of street art is it less contreversial or meaningful due to exposure? Nah. If anything i kinda view all of these douchebags wearing obey stuff as a joke. The shirts have meaning, and only few people pick up on it. If anything we should promote the popularity because the message still exists no matter who wears it

[xpez]

@elevenmatrixeleven whats the meaning of them? If you ever watched any interviews he got the obey idea from a crappy b-movie where, in the plot, aliens supplanted themselves in society and were communicating on all of the mass media channels, billboards commercials etc... All of his work is rooted in plagiarism. Riffing off a screenwriters idea in a movie, silkscreening redrawn photos of political and music celebrities and making social commentary on subjects we already agrees with=dull art.

[elevenmatrixeleven]

@xpez theyre supposed to inspire thought. who cares where he got it from? he marketed it well, and there is deffinitely plenty of individualism in his work. before obey im not farmiliar with any other brands doing stuff like this, and if they were they werent doing it to such a succesful degree. Nothing is completly original anymore. Guys who do the street graff stuff arent original, they pick a few letters then paint them in styles and colors theyve seen before, and will see again for years.

[xpez]

@elevenmatrixeleven I can understand that you can interpret that. But if you could extend your

point of view just a little bit further and let me in on one of those thoughts it inspired.

just tell me one good thought you had that was the inspiration.

I am curious.. some people dont realize they are inspired by the success of something

and maybe didnt really pay attention to what was actually there.

its called jumping on a bandwagon...

[avalanchesoul]

@elevenmatrixeleven "the shirts have meaning?" dude, do you even hear yourself?

[avalanchesoul]

@elevenmatrixeleven the clothing has no meaning. there is no "story behind andre." you'd like to believe that, but it's simply not true. i've met the dude numerous times. my friends did work with him. he's a douche. the faster you learn that, the more tuned in you'll be compared to all these people wearing his crap thinking they're on some sort of level. they're not.

[madmayor256]

to end it all.people who dont like things but continue to follow their hate through the study of videos such as these and with a subject as seemingly hypocritical as the obey giant campaign and shepard fairey are just getting to know their enemy.

[1mrhazza]

nice work keep it up

[AsainBoy24]

is obey a religion?a band???please help!!

[thecastman97]

@AsainBoy24 its... street art

[SalinasDoes1t]

@AsainBoy24

graffiti artist

[TheMadDrip]

I don't know y people hate on any artist that speaks the truth about what's really going on in society and make people think through his craft.

[97kamikaze]

OBEY are the best

[irepelay]

I personally like Indecline and Banksy more they touch real issues in this world.

[retzlaffdavid]

can we trade

[LAwrx03]

Shep is a hypocritical loser selling mass produced garbage disguised as hip and rebellious. It's so sad that he still gets fame and recognition when other artists that are much more talented than he could ever hope to become are starving and making nothing.

[masteroftables]

i couldnt agree more

[amaasbier]

Most artists loose their initial spirit over time. From my perspective it was the same with Andy Warhol (sorry for this example) and others, who couldn't escape the spotlight.

Fairey, taking repetition as a programme and later on trying to escape it with variations, breaks the idea of repetition itself in my opinion. I think you're right at some point, but on the other hand did he do some nice works.

[amaasbier]

Youtube is too dumb to make clear, that this is an answer to LAwrx03, so I'm doing it myself now.

[checkmyfills]

somebody's jealous... lol. dude if you don't like him or his stuff then what are you doing on this video? if your on here just to hate you have too much spare time. I do agree that there are better artists out there but that doesn't mean you have to criticize him

[SmokedTwinkie]

couldnt agree with you more... Shepard is a fake and doesnt deserve the recognition he gets. People like "Banksy" are true artists with loads of talent.

[OrangUtanMileynum]

@SmokedTwinkie

Even banksy bit off from blek le rat.

[maxx88]

i all ways thought his stuff was overrated any way iv seen way more creative stuff than his lefti hipster shit.

[bozealien]

well the thing is that its all in the eye of the beholder,go to the obey website and took up some faqs

[marget1017]

i knew it! he is andre, can u give us a toutorial? plz!!!!!

[wetmanispwnt]

the fuck

[XxMDAxX]

OBEY

[mEgaponies]

ok umm

what does this picture stand for?

is it like supporting some cause?

or is it just to see if you can get it all over the place and nobody can figure out what it is?

or is it something totally different?

[00dreadyboy]

the girl who made this is retarded!!

[slamjam93]

his work is photoshoped SHIT

[suicide19915]

fuck you buddy your moms work is photoshoped shit

[slamjam93]

what the fuck bro that was a shit call, if your going to say something atleast have a desent call,oooooooo your mums work is photoshoped shit. funny, NOT

[suicide19915]

well your taking down on a legen when your shit is scibbles compared to his

[slamjam93]

and how would you know this?

[hastaeltope78]

its obivious you know very little about art, You cant label some ones elses work as your own, did you google OBEY PLAGIARIST SHEPARD FAIREY? then talk shit! he is a fake thats the word on the street just a ripp off!

[unionfallen]

(cont.) that's what art is...Banksy reworks classic art pieces into parodies or ironic images...that is still purely artistic through the individual's intuition and personal modification...ESPECIALLY in the world of iconic images...its not like he's the face on the image...that's not the point of OBEY...if you really can't understand that...than I'm done here

[psyfertech]

ive been making my obey stickers for a long time now

its fun slap tagging stuff with them and to see it where you put it every day

[CristobalDeLicia]

Last April, Fairey mobilized his legal team to send Baxter Orr a cease and desist order threatening legal action against him for a parody of Fairey's Andre the Giant design, adorning it with a SARS mask and the title "Protect Yourself." Read Shepard Fairey: OBEY my lawyers by Dan Wasserman February 6, 2009

[hastaeltope78]

Shepard is a plagiarist even he's has accepted it he calls it "referencing" but its what it is

strait out tracing some one else's work this guy is a fake not an artist but a rip off! help get the truth out .

(Obey Plagiarist Shepard Fairey)

Google it!

[BROKENBONEKIDS]

Lay off bitch dont watch it if you dont like it,and art has no limits and no rules so for u to say somthin like that,is stupid

[unionfallen]

Google it...(chuckles to himself) so recreating what is it...10 or..8? images that that site talks about? no more than 10 images makes all of his works plagiaristic? With all the screaming about this crap you guys do...you'd think some of thing ignorance would get cleaned out of your system...and your the same ones that would shut down a guitar tab website for plagiarising artists work...when every musician in the world would appreciate the mass availability for people to learn their music...

[kingslyZISSOU053]

I think that bombing store fronts should be avoided. Anything to hurt a person or their business should be avoided when trying to promote a positive message; It totally defeats the purpose

[1Dancingfan]

This video is misleading....sorta like a movie where stuff doesn't add up...Like a guy getting on a train in the middle of the night...then when he got off the train just a few stops later it daylight. Things that make you go hmmmmm....

[dandydias]

idealistic? No!

Sell out? f**k yeah!

[1Dancingfan]

Yeah we get the point of the video....People are followers.

[drummaross1015]

hey I'm new to Shepards work and i really like his stuff. I know most of his posters and art are only limited release but is there a site with some of his posters/art for sale? it would really help me out.

Please reply and thank you.

[DragonIdol14]

Unfourtunately, he has a website, where you buy mass-produced, overpriced shells. It makes Shepard a huge sellout. And he is hipocritical for criticizing the media culture, and portraying counterculture, then turning around and selling his work. Call me old fashioned, but that makes him a disappointment.

[unionfallen]

have you heard of making a living? umm...mass produced? ...do you know who mass produces them? and...do you understand the term "sell out"? If you don't want to be disappointed, stop looking for idealism in others and worry about yourself

[fromcottenwood]

@DragonIdol14 it makes u a prick its his craft its how he makes money to survive so that he can make more art for assholes like you who are envious and just cant seem to grasp the fact that street artists just dont care what average joes like you have to say

[LookEast123]

@DragonIdol14 your just mad because hes got hella dough and does what he wants, while you try and bite off of his style and you get nothing out of it!

[dothisdothat321]

@DragonIdol14 he is trying to believe he is still "real street artists" the real street artists arnt making a bunch of cash advertising there work, there starving on the streets doing art!

[FamBam10000000000000]

and itz back on WTF lol

[Dizzyegg05]

seriously! :D

[theobeychannel]

Wahooo!

[prikolovs]

good...b washing

[stonescourt3]

uh, i'm completely stumped...what IS this??? i agree with prikolovs...looks like brain washing to me...

[Spectermonkey]

It's an ad.

If you know anything about the obey-philosophy, and all the ideas surrounding it, you'd realize they're not trying to brainwash you. They're satirizing and exaggerating the ways they think the goverment tries to.

[FamBam10000000000000]

yup and thatz y tha vid iz no longer..AVAILABLE!!

[Spectermonkey]

There's more to the "obey" phenomenon than a simple Youtube video, Fambam1000000000.

Google it, or even take a peek in certain magazines and you'll find a wealth of information on it.

Don't expect to be spoon-fed everything you ought to know, man.