Kathe Kollwitz says:

“The more people realize how corrupt the system is, the better. The 1% have a stranglehold on museums. Wealthy collectors fund them and influence what gets shown and collected. We’ve been ranting about this for over 25 years!”

“…Witness an era of luxurious art fairs while millions are losing home and jobs. So much about museums today reflects a top-down society where the rest of us are supposed to be mesmerized by the glamour at the top. We Occupy the big museums as both real ties to Wall Street fraud money and as symbols of a culture thats been stolen from the 99% by the elites. When we Occupy Museums, we’ll be announcing and demonstrating a new era of culture that is for everyone.”

That said, I’m still skeptical of Occupy Museums since private galleries, art fairs and auctions filled with millionaires are better targets than museums that have free days and cultural programs and are more accessible and beneficial to the public — i.e. “everyone” — than fairs and auctions. Go there!

Also, we’re glad to see that Occupy Wall Street protestors have joined the locked out art handlers to protest Sotheby’s. (Photo: ANIMALNewYork)

Who are these girls fighting with cops, tits out, screeching in the street for freedom of the press and brandishing blowtorches to ward off sex tourists? “We’re the crazy girls representing the people, by any means necessary.” Though we may not see eye to eye on everything — specifically, the girls’ uncompromising stance on pornography and sex work — after a long chat, I have a better notion of where they’re coming from, with teeth, with heart… and via their janky-ass video cam. (Sorry.) Meet the sweet, fierce “Bitches of Democracy.”

Inna Shevchenko (pictured above), translated from Russian:

Do you support the Occupy Wall Street protests? You know, we’ve had some topless protestors too…

We’ve just learned about the protests, watched the videos of the Brooklyn Bridge arrests and read up. We sympathize! It’s the same in Ukraine: 99% of the people are taken hostage by the 1% of the oligarch class living here, running the country, calling the shots and robbing the nation. But Wall Street is a global issue. This is close to our hearts and we’re excited to see women protesting topless!

Public nudity is actually legal in NYC. Meanwhile, you’re constantly being arrested. Is it because of the boobs? Why are the cops so hard on you?

They try to arrest us for appearing topless in public, but it’s not explicitly outlawed by the Ukrainian criminal code. So they call it “criminal hooliganism,” Code 73. I say, they’re arresting us for inconveniencing the government, for being the only movement in Ukraine that functions without the financial support of a political group and for doing something quite simple and primitive — speaking the truth. Cops here are government lackeys. We’re the crazy girls representing the people, by any means necessary.

How did you get into running around topless with FEMEN?

There was no sudden conversion for me. We all have different stories. Jenya has been there from the beginning, from before the beginning. When we all moved to Kiev, it was time to do something more global, more adult. It all began with a need for a women’s issues forum. It was gradual. I met Anna, Sasha, the girls, Jenya. For awhile, I didn’t take part in the actions; I had moral apprehensions. I once thought there was a better way. That changed. Then, I was fired from my job as a journalist for the city archival administration for participating in the actions. So, I decided to devote myself to FEMEN full time. I’m activist and an organizer. FEMEN is my work. FEMEN is my life. I don’t think about how it all happened.

I understand that your main agenda is the “Anti-Prostitution”/anti-sex tourism platform. Are you opposed to sex work in general or are you against the exploitative element of Ukrainian sex industry in particular?

First of all, women are the victims of the sex industry. In Ukraine, this is an epidemic. Prostitution is an enormous business, a vast vortex that sucks women in. Sex bosses hire propagandists to daily snag them off the streets, from bars, cafes, night clubs, peddling this myth that a successful Ukrainian woman is one that makes substantial money selling her body: “You’re so pretty and sexy. Instead of earning $30 a month as a schoolteacher, wouldn’t you rather earn $1000 a month enjoying yourself?” This is a poor country and women are suffering. We’ve talked to many prostitutes. They all have the same story. They’re economically disadvantaged. Some have a kid to feed and can’t even feed themselves with their waitressing jobs… Never mind self-realization!

What about female-owned porn studios or unoppressed sex workers? As a feminist, don’t you think that a woman can make a conscious choice, taking the pressures of poverty out of the equation?

If a woman makes this choice, it’s in distress due to factors outside her control. Even in other countries, I don’t think any woman – Ukrainian, Italian, American – ever thinks that she wants to sell her body, that she wants to be a good, an object. I don’t believe this.

How’s your love life?

There’s this myth in Ukraine that FEMEN girls have problems with men, that men are scared of them, that they don’t want any men, that we’re all lesbians. We even have a few married girls! Their husbands come out for the actions and help beat the cops away! No, it’s all good. Lots of the girls have boyfriends.

We enjoyed your topless niqāb drive-by the Saudi Arabian Embassy in support of Saudi Arabian women’s right to drive. You support many international feminist causes, yet, in your homeland where there’s virtually no rights and no social or legal recognition for LGBT, you’ve never supported any of your persecuted lesbian sisters. What gives? You oppose that too?

As feminists, we support all women. Homosexuality is normal and there’s nothing shameful about it. But you have to understand — in Ukraine, there is no notion of a sexual minority. It is not allowed. Our rigid Ukrainian men dismiss this with confusion and aversion. What can we say? There’s no notion of what a feminist is either; Ukrainians all image feminists as these male-like creatures who are angry at life. We haven’t brought up gay rights yet because Ukraine hasn’t brought it up. It is not in the public forum. When a porn actress approached us for help with leaving the industry, we took up her cause. We have a few gay male and female friends, but they don’t want to go public.

So, if a lesbian who was being discriminated against, harassed or abused approached you, you would stand up for the cause?

Without question. No discussion. The answer is simply “Yes.”

So where do you get money?

We live off donations from DJ Hell and an American expat journalist who lives in Ukraine. Neither are politically motivated — they just like our crazy ways and righteous ideas. We make a few grivnas selling FEMEN mugs, t-shirts and “Boobs-Prints.” It’s our small merchandizing effort so the girls who devote 24 hours a day to FEMEN can at least rent a room in Kiev. We don’t have enough money to take our actions to Europe or the States, but we dream about it.

Do you have any political aspirations beyond FEMEN?

There’s no “beyond FEMEN.” We’ve wreaked so much havoc, there’s no going back. We do want to enter politics, as the radical FEMEN Party. We just don’t have the funds to register the party, which is expensive. The corrupt administration is keeping us down. Right now, our dream is to go to all the capitals of Europe and to the US to start FEMEN factions and spread our ideals, to defend the free woman, free of sexual, financial and political exploitation. Let ‘em know we are ready for anything! We are the voice of our nation, our generation. That’s why we go to the city square, rip off our clothes and shout until someone hears us.

All FEMEN actions here.

Find FEMEN on Facebook here.

Late last year, ANIMAL exclusively reported on the Travel Channel filming a bike messenger TV series and we can now give you a first look at Triple Rush, which premiers April 14th at 10PM.

As expected, it has some of the familiar trappings of a reality show, but unlike others in the genre, doesn’t need as much manufactured drama, there’s enough of that on the streets, giving it an air of authenticity.

It’s also likely to set back any progress Transportation Alternatives has made by at least five years and give the anti-bike crowd even more fuel for the fire, but at least it’s entertaining. For those of you who are interested, check out their Facebook page for all the latest updates, pictures, etc…

Tarssa Yazdani forwarded us these photos, including one of Chris Brown’s tattoo of Ron English’s art and said:

We did meet with Chris, who’s a very sweet guy. He’s very interested in art and doing something with Ron.

Why do this now and not when Brown’s album dropped? How will Ron English turn Chris Brown’s questionable cartoons and bad rep into art? Well, Ron English is the ultimate popagandist…

After long negotiations with Taxi TV programming companies, Transient is coming to 6,300 taxis next week.

Amir stressed to us that this is not a political piece but a contemplation of space. When the press exaggerated how cabbies rip off their passengers, riders began to treat cabbies with [bigger] distrust. The paranoia hinged on the perceived “otherness” of the drivers grew, he explains.

It’s not just the attitudes. It is the “architecture of a cab” itself, the distance inside. There is “a space of work and a space of leisure” and a partition between as both stare into different directions. The video project bridges the gap with direct glances of the drivers edited into arty vignettes, screened at the riders. Amir says,

I didn’t want to create something where the viewer walks away satisfied by their brief moment of empathy with a driver.

Take a cab between September 5th and 15th for some purposely disorienting video contact.

This is the Deitch Wall this morning. Before Shepard Fairey left around 3am last night, he was good enough to answer a few questions on video about the new mural, Obama and Exit Through the Gift Shop.

Highlights: Fairey thinks the Democrats are being pussies, why you should get off your ass and do something about it, Marc Schiller’s non-involvement in Exit Through the Gift Shop (though Schiller admitted to curating the intro) and Fairey acting out the “enigma” of Mr. BrainWash with a scene from the Princess Bride (it’s kind of adorable).

Unless blogging negativity is on his mind, Fairey is very affable and is quite earnest in explaining the current political zeitgeist to the observers.

Checking in with the mural this morning, a Deitch Gallery representative was on site to protect it from being bombed before it’s completed (the Os Gemeos mural was tagged and took 12 hours to fix). Fairey’s “These Parties Disgust Me” will stay up for a while as an ongoing project and others will be invited to collaborate.

Photo/video: Marina Galperina/ANIMALNewYork

Ashley Dupre. Playboy photos. Banging. Enjoy (NSFW). **UPDATE**: If you came here looking for the naked photos of Ashley Dupre, sorry, but Playboy emailed and said they want all of them back, ASAP, or they will crush us:

Dear Sir or Madam:

It has been brought to our attention that web pages at animalnewyork.com (174.143.45.129) display, without authorization, reproductions of images owned by Playboy Enterprises International, Inc. (“Playboy”). All right, title and interest in and to these images belongs to Playboy.

I believe in good faith that the disputed images displayed on animalnewyork.com (174.143.45.129) are not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law.

Accordingly, please remove the unauthorized reproductions of Playboy copyrighted images on animalnewyork.com (174.143.45.129) and on all web pages under your control.

I, Mark Lee, under penalty of perjury, am authorized to act on behalf of Playboy Enterprises International, Inc. in regard to the above-mentioned unauthorized reproduction of the Playboy copyrighted images. My contact information is as follows: Playboy Enterprises International, Inc., 680 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60611, Fax 312-266-2042, phone 312-751-8000, E-mail address is mylee@playboy.com.

We look forward to hearing from you and resolving this matter immediately.

This letter is not intended to and shall not waive or prejudice any rights and remedies that Playboy may have at law, in equity or otherwise. Any and all such rights and remedies are hereby expressly reserved.

PLAYBOY ENTERPRISES INTERNATIONAL, INC.

Mark Lee
IP Enforcement Assistant

cc: Ana Cashman, Esq.
cc: Rebecca Blabolil

Mark Lee
IP Enforcement Assistant
Playboy Enterprises International, Inc.
680 North Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60611

Photo: Stephen Wayda/Playboy

ANIMAL prison penpal and internet sensation Kari Ferrell wrote us recently, and said she was being sentenced on October 9th. And this time she wasn’t even lying. We contacted the Salt Lake City Correctional Facility and an official told us that she did appear before the judge and a warrant for the forgery charge has been released, but another forgery and issuing bad checks charge was still pending, so it’s likely that she’ll still have to serve a few months. Cake! Update: Make that 9 months, a $1,000 fine and $4,194 in restitution.

Photo by Will Sherman/ANIMALnewyork

Another strange beast, similar to the famed Montauk Monster, washed up on a Long Island beach. This latest slimy, horny nosed creature was discovered by a Southold couple the night of May 6th in Founders Landing Park according to blogger Nicky Papers. ANIMAL is on the story with the hopes of dispelling the myth, but for now an exclusive dead monster gallery below.

Photos by Nicky Papers/Montauk-Monster.com

Location where creature was found is approximately 17 miles to the southwest of the clandestine animal research center at Plum Island.

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