Now, if you don’t think it’s cool to Occupy the Internet like this because it perhaps could be considered hijacking the cause, AFC has retaliated to make an Occupy Nothing widget to block said gifs. F.A.T.’s Greg Gleuch says it’s “the equivalent of NYPD’s orange nets for kettling” protestors. Hmm. Let’s just say that the conversation here is stimulating, sparks and all. F.A.T. is known for timely-themed web art, which reminds me — thank you for that Kim Kardashian blocker, just in time. Do we really think that the Occupy movement is so fragile that it must not be touched nor tarnished with any tangential meta? We think that if “it” can handle heavy-handed cops, tear gas bombs, right wing propaganda attacks, the cold, the fringe ditzes, the internal unrest, and the hefty web of corporate corruption it’s challenging, “it” surely can handle a tongue-in-cheek, internet-only art show that ends Friday. It’s mighty.

“Occupy the Internet,” Nov 1 – Nov 4, on the internet…

It’s like Pee Wee’s Playhouse for brilliant geniuses at MoMA’s special exhibit Talk To Me, rounding up a whopping 194 communication-themed works, interfaces, devices and visualizations. There’s a finger implant that reads aloud into an ear implant, a plastic wide-open-mouth prosthesis for awkward mumblers, a Muslim prayer robo-rug that lights up neon when facing Mecca and so much more, oooaghgh…

Check out “projects that establish an emotional, sensual, or intellectual connection with their users,” from the ’60s to the present with neat stuff from Post Secret and ANIMAL favorites Eric Fischer’s maps, Aram Bartholl’s Dead Drops and Evan Roth’s Graffiti Taxonomy. “Talk to Me: Design and the Communication between People and Objects,” Jul 24 – Nov 7, MoMA, NYC

(Images: Evan Roth)

After the success of last year’s Kanye Webst Week, the minds over at Free Art and Technology are dedicating this one to Graffiti Markup Language. Already the standard for digital graffiti projects like Graffiti Analysis, Laser Tag and EyeWriter, the tag archiving file format is also the basis of another new release, a Graffiti Analysis iPhone app.

Reminiscent of Fat Tag but with fewer drips, the $1.99 DustTag application records one’s finger style, using time to render the tag in three dimensions. These motion data visualizations can then be replayed, rotated, or uploaded to 000000book.com, a repository for digital graffiti admirers and inventors. |Free Art and Technology|

Continuing his exploration of tags as a high art form, G.R.L. founder and hacktivist Evan Roth just unveiled an online manifestation of his ongoing Graffiti Taxonomy project. The website represents the artist’s contribution to “Born in the Streets,” a new graffiti exhibit at the Fondation Cartier in Paris. For those that need some brushing up on the project, here’s the gist of it:

“Graffiti Taxonomy presents isolated letters from various graffiti tags, reproduced in similar scales and at close proximity. The intent of these studies is to show the diversity of styles as expressed in a single character.”

For this incarnation, he assembled “180 letters as written by 180 different graffiti writers.” All the tags were photographed in Paris over a four day period. Adding to the fun, you can not only zoom in and examine the handstyles, but also see images of the actual product on the streets, giving newly sentenced vandals something to reminisce about—at least until their probation ends.

Earlier this week, Paris’ Fondation Cartier opened “Born in the Streets,” an exhibition of graffiti styles diverging from its inception to the present. The main gallery space and garden have been filled with pieces and other graffiti-inspired works by artists including SEEN, JONONE, Barry McGee, Evan Roth, QUICK, and PHASE2. Approximating what the museum could look like following an uninvited tag attack, parts of the building’s façade and interior have been bombed with graffiti, including Pixacao tags from Brazilian artists. The show is on view through the end of November, but if you can’t see it in person, a selection of photos is below.

Top photo via ruedione

In one corner: Shepard Fairey, an artist who has built his empire on appropriated art but files cease and desist letters to artists who co-opt his work even for parody purposes. In the other corner: The Associated Press, the world’s biggest news service sometimes less accurate than MTV that claims “fair use” only applies to them, not others. These two challengers will vie to win a new competition organized by Evan Roth, the Graffiti Research Lab co-founder and Hova textualizer, who writes:

Who is the bigger intellectual property asshole? … I have created hand painted canvases of Shepard Fairy’s Obama Hope poster, and Mannie Garcia’s Associated Press photograph and put them for sale on my website here and here.

The first person to send me a cease and desist notice wins!

Place your bets, folks. The two artworks are included below.