Yesterday I wrote this post about Shepard Fairey's Pussy Riot Ukraine print.
spinbackwards
After posting I went into Shepard's Discord. I posted a link to the Ralph Nader podcast. I simply suggested that Shepard and others take another look at this, I proffered that "incendiary and combative prints" only benefit the Military Industrial Complex, as Ralph and his guest Lawrence Wilkerson a retired U.S. Army colonel and former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell so eloquently state in Ralph's podcast.
My post was immediately deleted. Then, I was met by one seanbronner, who is the admin. This person was downright rude. They made no attempt whatsoever to be kind, never mind that I own a couple of Shepard's NFTs. I took screenshots of the conversation. Here's where it begins.
As you can see, the admin told me that Shepard had nothing to do with this and I should take my disagreement to the Pussy Riot Discord. But when I pointed out that the print was for sale on Shepard's site, that Shepard designed it, and therefor how could Shepard not have anything to do with this, the admin just got pissed off. Going so far as to insult me - "Can you read".
So much for friendly customer service.
Shepard's art is free speech. He's made a living from creating controversial images and dissent. But when I post something that's controversial, that's dissent, it gets deleted. Not only that, it's met with scorn.
The admin goes on and on that Shephard had nothing to do with this, that I should take my comments to Pussy Riot. But Shepard made the print. It's for sale on his site. He signed the print. How on earth could the admin claim that Shepard has nothing to do with this?
The conversation continues...
I asked the admin to review my post, send me anything that wasn't accurate. Finally, I suggested to him to watch the podcast. That plenty of bright minds with experience in the field are also calling for diplomacy instead of tanks. His response? "Not interested".
Today I went back in, I wanted to ask another question. Note that I had to ask if I could ask a question.
I pointed out that on Shepard's Instagram there are plenty of posts who feel the same as I do about this.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CnpXtnkPhBh/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
He called the comments garbage. Nevermind that some of those comments could be coming from Shepard's customers, or experts in the field. And nevermind the fact that their Discord encourages people to post on Twitter, to promote Shepard's work.
Shepard Fairey is an artist who's made a living from free speech. His work is highly controversial. He puts out NFTs, which are about decentralization and free speech. But when a customer of his wants to respectfully discuss their views about a piece of his, he'll have nothing of it.
I've heard this about Shepard before, that he consistently says one thing and does another. That he's an extreme hypocrite. Going through this experience, I agree with his detractors. I won't buy anything else from him so long as this continues. And I think I'm due an apology for how his admin treated me.
tty next time,
