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MBP Gift Guide, Part 5: The Politics & Culture Geek
December 16, 2009
We all have that one friend who always knows what’s going on in the world of politics and current events – and MBP has the perfects gifts for that savvy lad or lady in your life. From anti-consumerist art, propaganda and the culture of Iran and Mexico, our books run the gamut.
Under $20
Talk Back: The Bubble Project
by Ji Lee
$14.99
No one is free from advertising. Whether on television or radio, plastered along streets and highways, or screaming off trains and buses, ads for everything from films to hair gels vie for the attention of consumers. Of course, ads have long been a cultural presence, though in our shrinking world of mega-corporations, they have infiltrated every nook and cranny of our lives, turning both private and public spaces into unadulterated selling zones.
Designer Ji Lee has devised a way to reclaim our public spaces. It’s called Bubbling. Blank Bubble Stickers are put up on ads, in wait of passersby to fill them in with their own messages, some as funny as they are profound, instantly transforming the corporate monologue into a true public dialogue.
Paper War
$16.95
Propaganda is a weapon. It is graphic design’s most sinister manifestation, made to change perceptions, destroy morale and help dominate culture. Paper War offers a rare opportunity to understand the dynamics of propaganda in the timeless tale of the flexible and immediate use of information in one battle, on a single day – Cassino, Italy, May 11, 1944.
Illustrations from the Inside: The Beat Within
by Louis E.V. Nevaer
$19.95
The Beat Within is a decade-old, nationwide writing program for incarcerated youth. “Words not Weapons” is the organization’s credo, inspiring these young adults – males and females of all ethnicities – to learn that words and images are more effective than violence. Illustrations from the Inside features the pencil drawings created by these youth as intimate perspectives on these artists and the system they must struggle through, in some cases for the rest of their lives.
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Over $25
Urban Iran
by Charlotte Noruzi & Salar Abdoh
$27.95
Urban Iran is a depiction of everyday life apart from international and diplomatic policies, giving voice to people living and working in Iran today while probing the complexities of contemporary Iran. Described and revealed by photographers, writers and visual artists, from street art to heavy metal bands and book publishing, Urban Iran documents how the Western media gaze influences how much of the world views Iran, but also how this gaze impacts how Iranians see themselves, especially in the realm of the creative arts.
Protest Graffiti Mexico: Oaxaca
by Louis E. V. Nevaer & Elaine Sendyk
$27.95
On October 27, 2006, when Mexican police opened fire on a crowd of protesters in the city of Oaxaca, killing three people, including American journalist Brad Roland Will, the world became aware of a social conflict that at its core was about the right to an education. Since 1981, teachers in the Mexican state have held annual strikes, but 2006 was the first time that violence erupted. Within hours of these shootings, graffiti calling the region’s governor a murderer was sprayed throughout the city. The graffiti that has since overwhelmed the historic city center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, constitutes the protest art of a community rising up to defend teachers, and our collective fundamental right as human beings to have access to education.
Urban Guerilla Protest
by Ake Rudolf
$27.95
Urban Guerrilla Protest showcases the ways and means of individual, subversive protest actions. Featuring over 90 artists and initiatives from around the world, the book provides insights into the resources that are being used to place activist messages in the heart of the everyday, documenting the rise of the media-guerrilla during the decade spanning 1995-2005. All over the world, activists have disseminated their messages using an array of methods targeted to grab the attention of the public, as well as the perpetrators of the actions that have instigated the protestors.
