VOTED!

As usual, I got goosebumps when I entered through the curtains, was joyfully weepy as I turned the little selection levers, and then I gave the crazy VOTE crank a final pull!

When I walked out, I caught up with one of the volunteers outside who was kind enough to chat with me. I asked how the day was and his response was beautiful. A warm smile spread across his face and he said that it's been an amazing day. He was at Centre Street early in the morning, where it was packed, before heading over to LaGuardia Place where it was not as crowded, but definitely hectic. By four o'clock our location, in Greenwich Village, the voter signature book was nearly filled, meaning everyone who registered not only voted, but they made sure to come in nice and early!

I've got about ten minutes until the babysitter is to be relieved, then it's dinner with the children (at my favorite local spot Jane!) to celebrate voting, humanity, and The Common Good.

"So because Obama gets in or McCain gets in, it's not going to be repaired overnight. The economy is not going to be repaired, the schools -- the disaster in our schools -- will not be repaired overnight. Nor will the social conversation be repaired overnight.

However, I would encourage every voter to say to his or her candidate, go in and do it, and you will not do it alone. I will help. You have to get up off that sofa or off that couch and give something to the country -- even if it's one hour every other week to an old people's home -- I will read, go into the children's ward and read, or give to your church or your synagogue or your mosque. ... Offer something to the country. So you don't just sit there.

... You need to know that you can go somewhere. You're not just like grass growing on the street. You're like trees, you have roots, and they've done wonderful things, and you need to know that, and by knowing that, you see how outfitted you are for these times. And that you really owe it to those who went before so that you can add to them for those who are yet to come. You need to know that you are in a continuum, and if you understand that, you realize that you are worthwhile. This continuum would be broken without me."

-- Maya Angelou on CNN

Chris Abani: Telling stories of our shared humanity
TED Ideas Worth Spreading

Flickr's Artists for Obama

Need a little pick me up, besides Scotch, in order to deal with the last couple days recent run of news insanity? Check out the Flickr's pool of photos for Artists for Obama!

Steal Back Your Vote

My friend, and extremely talented writer and artist, Brian Wood has been sounding out the call for folks to get involved with Steal Back Your Vote.

There are so many crucial jobs in an election, from what I hope have been inspiring posts to register and get to the election office here at spookoo.com to Wood's efforts to dig in even further to make sure every single ballot counts. Here's what he has to say about the extremely important movement to secure your voice at the polls and in our election:

The Election 12:53 pm October 20th, 2008 They call it the election of a generation, or even of our lifetime. That's likely true, considering what's at stake, so voter repression and list-scrubbing should be something that carries an equal amount of weight and significance, well beyond just Florida in '00 and Ohio in '04. Greg Palast and Bobby Kennedy Jr. have been fighting a pre-emptive fight on this front, and you've probably heard of the comic book you can download about it: http://www.stealbackyourvote.org/ Suffice to say, I support their efforts, and signed on as a sponsor of the project. These guys are the real deal, and deserve a couple bucks of donation in exchange for the comic. At the very least, some reading on Palast's previous efforts, especially the book The Best Democracy Money Can Buy is essential for anyone interested or concerned. thanks, b [Also, taken from http://www.brianwood.com/ BLOG:] The book has art by Ted Rall, Lloyd Dangle, and Lukas Ketner, and I am encouraging everyone to go to www.stealbackyourvote.com and donate something (as little as $1, but I hope more than that) and get the book. I just got done writing a 130-page DMZ story about an American election rife with fraud and suppression and violence, but that’s nothing compared to what goes on in real life, seemingly every time I open a newspaper. This is a CRUCIAL issue, one that Palast has been doggedly fighting for nearly a decade, and your donations can do a bit of good. Samples from the book here. History of Greg Palast’s work here. “The most important investigative reporter of our time” [Tribune Magazine] “The top investigative journalist in the United States is persona non grata in his own country’s media.” [Asia Times.] “Doggedly independent, undaunted by power. His stories bite, they’re so relevant they threaten to alter history” -Chicago Tribune Twisted and maniacal” -Katherine Harris “We hate that sonuvabitch.” -The White House

After you download and read Steal Back Your Vote, go pick up Wood's NORTHLANDERS comic book series, beautifully illustrated by Davide Gianfelice, it's fantastic. Action, romance, and vikings!

HOPE, North Carolina!

The lovely and talented Hope Larson, author/illustrator of the amazing Chiggers, was one of many magnificent early voters who got out to the voting booth to cast their ballots in North Carolina yesterday!

Election 2008: Close race fuels massive early voting in North Carolina

The North Carolina State Board of Elections is reporting that over 100,000 voters cast ballots yesterday, the first day of early voting in the state.

In that one day, Democrats had the clear advantage:

State Board of Elections data showed that 64 percent of voters who went to the polls Thursday were registered Democrats, while 21 percent of voters were registered Republicans. Another 15 percent were unaffiliated.

The record turnout, especially among Democrats, is being fueled by the sense that, for the first time in decades, North Carolina is in play. Both presidential campaigns are investing heavily in NC, although Obama is outspending McCain 2-1 in advertising.

Sarah Palin made two campaigns stops in NC this week, and Obama will lead a rally in Fayetteville -- the heart of NC military country -- this weekend.

Another boost for early voting turnout: North Carolina is the only state in the South with same-day voter registration, which boosts the ability of candidates to bring new voters to the polls.

--The Institute for Southern Studies

VOTE for CHANGE, North Carolina!

And after you vote, do a little dance because you are wonderful, and it's DANCE POLITICAL PARTY FRIDAY!

We Are The Ones

30 graphic designers present 30 REASONS to vote for Barack Obama.

REASON 2 10/6/08

This election gives us a rare opportunity to make a choice and commit to one of two drastically different sets of ideals. We can cower in the shadows of our problems, divide and fall, or we can band together, get to work and make a difference. This election is about one thing: Fear versus Empowerment. Please choose wisely.

Found via my ever fav site SUPERFOREST!

Alphabet for Change

Patrick over at PKPR has sent a note about an amazing site launching this week:

SpellingChange.com (http://www.spellingchange.com), features an Obama-inspired alphabet created by dozens of the country’s top artists, designers, and photographers.

Contributors include Stefan Sagmeister, Karen Collins, R.O. Blechman, Larry Fink, Jake Chessum, MC Paul Barman, and a housewife in Texas who created an embroidered “S”. Each of the participants reinterpreted one letter of the alphabet in a way that represents what Obama’s candidacy means to them. In all, more than 100 letters were created.

The project was spearheaded by Michael Ian Kaye, head of Mother Design, and the site was created by POKE New York.

“I’ve never been politically active before, but this election is far too important to remain on the sidelines,” said Michael Ian Kaye, head of Mother Design, who spearheaded the project. “We wanted to give Obama fans a fun, creative way to show their support and voice their own messages of change.”

For those who think they don't know Michael's work, you surely do! He's created/designed such iconic book covers as Chuck Pahlaniuk's Fight Club and David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day.

Using spellingchange.com, I made the words CREATE, ART, and DESIGN (myself!) which I've used to outline the three very basic, easy, and amazing features of the site:

To create banners to post online (using embed code), bumper stickers, posters, postcards, and t-shirts, simply type in a word and the site generates an original design using letters from the alphabet. To create a word, go to: http://www.spellingchange.com/make-a-word.php.


Users can browse the alphabet and click on individual letters to learn more about the artist and the inspiration behind the design. To view the alphabet, go to http://www.spellingchange.com/browse-alphabet.php.


You can also design and upload your own letters at http://www.spellingchange.com/create-a-letter.php.

Thank you so much for emailing, Patrick! I love what you guys do and cannot wait to see Earth From Above when it opens.

xo, christine

The Morning Line

Matthew Ritchie, the British artist who was tagged by Time Magazine as one of "100 Innovators of the Next Millennium," informed the listeners that, "If Obama becomes president, I will become a US citizen." He used the "p" word that I had been hearing so frequently from Obama advocates.

"It's very personal," he said. "Something more is at stake. People tell me, 'He's not the pragmatic choice. You're a dreamer.' But I think Obama can beat McCain. The whole world is waiting for the United States to come back."

-- The New York Art World Votes

Congratulations to Matthew Ritchie who unveiled his incredible sculpture/future/device, THE MORNING LINE at the 3rd International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Seville in Spain.

THE MORNING LINE

“Not light, but darkness visible.”

If sound is a kind of light, then perhaps light is a kind of sound. A fourteen billion year old tune played backwards to a clock made of stars, ticking at the speed of light until the end of time. Snake eyes rolled for eternity.

This project proposes a ruin from the future, a new type of structure whose function can only be inferred not just by using it but by reading it. Combining science, art, architecture, music and film into the first semasiographic building, an architectural language that directly expresses its content through its structure. A structure that is simultaneously generating itself and falling apart.

An anti-pavilion, not an enclosure, but an opening of space, a conversion of place into language.

Paradise Lost begins with the question, what happened after the beginning of time? It ends with the answer in a description of a future past, the world flooded under a great deluge.

Truth, Justice, and the American-Artist Way

"ART can't just be a rear-view mirror,
it should have a headlight out there...
to point where we need to go."

-- Barack Obama

Marion Vitus, illustrator extraordinaire, took this photograph and very graciously emailed it to us. She wrote, "Not exactly comic art... But, I like the crossover nonetheless."

My love, my darling, my duck! We are not exclusively about the comics art, though it is obviously our main passion. ARTISTS FOR OBAMA , I say, all mediums and craft! Painting, photography, music, sculpture, robot-making, what-have-you! JUST DO!

(Fantastic job taking this photo, Marion! And thank you very much for taking the time and emailing me.)

Artists for Change

This week has been an amazingly productive time for the Obama movement. In the last twenty-four hours, I've created this Artists for Obama graphic, been informed of a social network called "Comics Industry for Obama", organized by the incredible Sarah Grace McCandless, and received an email from Charette Communication Design's Pete Friedrich on a graphic he was inspired to make against the McCain/Palin campaign titled 'McCain't'.

Here's information on all three projects should you like to participate in any of them:

COMICS INDUSTRY FOR OBAMA

Whether you’re an artist, a writer, a publisher, an editor, a retailer, a fan, or all of the above, this is the place to show your support. In the words of Senator Barack Obama, let’s bring about the change we need by helping to elect him as President of the United States this November!


Bid on one of our upcoming auctions featuring one-of-a-kind Obama sketches from top comics artists such as Mike Mignola and Eric Powell (who also designed our awesome logo). 100% of the final winning bids will be donated to the Obama campaign!

MCCAIN'T

Hi, I woke up in a cold sweat, and the only way to make it go away was to get this graphic out of my head. So here it is. Use it however you like. Please.


And if you want to get a legit piece of merch, I uploaded it: http://www.zazzle.com/paved_planet All proceeds from orders I will funnel into the Obama Campaign!

ARTISTS FOR OBAMA

There are many peoples representing and being represented for Obama. Women, Latinos, Environmentalists, People of Faith, even Sportsmen. Perhaps it is obvious that The Arts community would be behind the Democratic ticket, but how can we know unless we show our support?

I've created the above graphic, displaying the basic tools of 'the artist', which I invite you to use as you please. Print it out, use it on your own blog or website, whatever you feel will send the message that we need a change and have the audacity of hope! Though, if you feel this logo does not best represent YOUR art, there is a blank logo which I encourage you to use as your canvas to show your support: http://www.spookoo.com/artists_for_obama.html

(Thanks to Beckerman for the art direction and Jackson for the encouragement.)