Anarchist action figure


Very detailed anarchist action figure and box art placed in a local Target store (also called "shop dropping") from artist Packard Jennings - [via] Link & more @ the NY Times.
Related:

A day at the mall - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Dec 24, 2007 02:00 AM
Arts |
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Comments
Oldest comments listed first.
| Posted by: Howie Felterbush on December 24, 2007 at 12:00 PM |
Hmmm.... that's what they're calling art these days? I'll pass, thanks.
| Posted by: Nate MC on December 24, 2007 at 12:15 PM |
I think they forgot to add the trust fund paperwork
| Posted by: pt on December 24, 2007 at 12:25 PM |
@gnomic - i watched the video, it appears that they did have a UPC code - it just didn't scan in as expected.
| Posted by: Jerb on December 24, 2007 at 9:37 PM |
I like the idea that he made his own action figure, in fact its quite cool.
His "art" is .... inappropriate at best. this piece damages the store and gives (minimum wage workers who already deal with a lot come holiday season) one more thing to deal with. I cant say I like what he did there, very juvenile
| Posted by: Can I Get a Blackwater Merc Doll Too? on December 25, 2007 at 10:55 AM |
Kids need proper toys that teach proper attitudes and respect for authority.
A plastic doll for boys should obviously be wearing a uniform (teaches unity/conformity), and carrying weapons such as assault rifles, grenades, and missile launchers instead of molotov cocktails and bolt cutters.
It's so immature to advocate destruction of infrastructure by ourselves with primitive methods; better to gather in large groups and destroy what we're told to destroy with state-of-the-art technology, eh?
| Posted by: Jeff R. on December 25, 2007 at 7:27 PM |
Yes, Can I Get, because there's absolutely nothing between fascism and being an immature ass who thinks the best way to improve the world is by wearing black and destroying other people's things.
Beautify the Earth - set an anarchist on fire.
| Posted by: Howie Felterbush on December 26, 2007 at 9:28 AM |
Yeah, ask the shop owner who has to extinguish the molotov cocktail that got tossed through his window how funny it is.
| Posted by: Max on December 26, 2007 at 2:28 PM |
Dear lysol, Go drink Lysol.
Anarchists DEMANDING attention are anal as a two year old.
| Posted by: Fear No Art on December 26, 2007 at 2:33 PM |
Hopefully it was the plastic molotov cocktail that came with the doll that was tossed through the window! It's like most of you can't tell the difference between a real rioter and a plastic doll (I say 'rioter' because people doing what the doll represents are nihilists rather than anarchists, in the sense that Lenin was a dictator rather than a communist). And nevermind the "legitimate" dolls with police, military, and fantasy themes complete with "appropriate" weapons for kids to play with like rifles, missiles, swords, and battle axes.
I'm guessing that thought-provoking irony was the purpose of this little stunt, and it succeeded at that very well since here we are talking about it!
| Posted by: Fear some makers... on December 26, 2007 at 2:48 PM |
Fear no art: No doubt.
I thought it was hilarious, and frankly I'm more disturbed by the violent nature of some of these comments than by a doll, which makes me think the doll is a kind of Rorschach Ink Blot that tells us more about the person commenting than anything about the issues it tries to raise. "Set an anarchist on fire" and "go drink lysol" are reactionary, sociopathic statements, I'd say.
| Posted by: cyenobite on December 28, 2007 at 9:36 AM |
One of the purposes of art is to make us think about the world around us. Kudo's to Packard for doing that. Also, watch the video clip on the website... kudos to the store manager, who recognized what it was, offered an intelligent response to the "prank" as well. IF only he gave the "toy" to him without calling in his boss, but I guess that's understandable too.
Read the description of the project before throwing out a comment...
http://centennialsociety.com/anarchist/anaprojectdescrip.html
| Posted by: Zhorik on December 30, 2007 at 10:51 AM |
"Kids need proper toys that teach proper attitudes and respect for authority."
NO. Kids need proper parenting, not toys.
Most people who commented here have absolutely no sense of humor. None. Stop being serious and laugh at something unusual with out the pretentious anal attitude.
| Posted by: yarvin on January 6, 2008 at 1:18 AM |
*Sigh.* Sadly, this only serves to reinforce a wrongheaded view of what Anarchism is really about. While I'm not an Anarchist, myself, I respect the real ones.
| Posted by: Radical Centrist on January 7, 2008 at 11:56 AM |
Zhorik: That quote you responded to was clearly an ironic reply to the stick-in-the-mud criticisms above it.
And though it was a sad misrepresentation of a political philosophy, it's precisely as misrepresented as all the other political philosophies embodied in the "legitimate" dolls, seems to me.
Best to steer clear of all toys that prompt kids too much and leave nothing to the imagination, IMO. Kids need to exercise their minds, not play with turn-key BS scenarios, and they naturally do that anyway. Just watch and see how attractive to kids the big empty cardboard boxes the plastic crap came in; the plastic toy is forgotten while the empty box can become anything at all, over and over.
| Posted by: Dave Barak on April 1, 2008 at 12:42 PM |
Since when did Elvis become an anarchist doll?
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