Wednesday, June 08, 2005

I'm sticking my neck out against blogosphere public opinion. I predict that the MARC poster is subversive art, not Homeland Security

There’s an incredible thing in the blogosphere today – we are willing to believe that our Homeland Security folk (or even the Maryland Transportation Administration) would put a Watch, Ride, and Report poster on the Maryland Trains. I believe that people are stupid, but not stupid, ya know? Agencies under Geo. Bush using Soviet looking posters? I can't see it happening.My penchant for accuracy go the best of me... and my declaration, at 2:06 pm is that it's public art as social intervention.

The site that the photo is on is of Railroad photography, not the MARC railroad itself. Responses on blogs that are discussing this today have included people seeing this poster in various places, and one guy says he called, and the Maryland Transportation folks say it's not theirs.

I can find no web presence of an entity called the "MARC Marshals" as the poster reads. The security/police for MARC is the Maryland Transit Administration Police (MTA).
The use of the word "Marshals" suggests Air Marshals, so it would seem to make sense on quick glance, but I think not.

Resources:

The Billboard Liberation Front's discussion of "Questions for Redressing the Imposition on Public Space"

Looks like the Propaganda Remix Project

http://www.obeygiant.com/main.php OBEY -= Manufacturing Quality Dissent since Engineering Propaganda

or The Praxis Group, "a Minneapolis-based unit which stages site-specific, unsanctioned and unsolicited projects within the confines of public spaces which are privately owned."

or Propaganda Billboards that can be found here

Other satire and subvertizing posters like this can be found at About.com here

And a nifty film of made by robbie conal “guerilla etiquette and postering guide” is at http://www.robbieconal.com/guerrilla.html (needs quicktime) The rest of the website's cool too.
Clearly, this site is doing wheatpaste, not getting posters inside "official" displays...


My opinion, and I'm sticking with it until someone proves me wrong.

4 comments:

Cindy said...

Now some other guy on another blog is claiming to have phoned the Transit people and talked to someone who thinks it's real...

hmmm... I'm no longer comfortable going by what some other guy says...

Cindy said...

Since I was no longer willing to rely on what anonymous people said about what other anonymous people said, I talked on the phone to an MTA police officer who say there's no such entity as the MARC Marshals, or MARC anything. She checked her directory, as well as everyone else in the office "Hey, anybody ever year of the MARC Marshals?"

The very helpful police officer then game me the name of a man to call for information. I'll keep you posted.

Of course, I could just be another anonymous person citing an anonymous police officer...

oh wait, I'm not anonymous. My actual real identity is posted here. Plus, that's what the Bush Administration does and I don't do anything they do.

And I've got to get rid of this head.

Anonymous said...

You really do need your head (and I need your head)!!!

If some nasty person comes to lop it off, they'll have to go through me first!

Cindy said...

thanks... it was the smiling Cindy-face that had been appearing whenever I posted anything anywhere in blogosphere. It was haunting me, and didn't go with my crankyness. But I bet you got that.