Shepard Fairey

On November 4, I got the opportunity to watch Shepard Fairey's lecture at Annenberg. I had not known much about Fairey other than his work at Obey so I learned a lot from this lecture. I especially liked the story about how he started in art and how he got attention from the media by manupulating the public. I think the most intriguing part of the lectures was the questions that the students asked, particularly the one about his case with the Associated Press concerning the Obama posters he made. I thought it was interesting to hear his side of the story and his views on protection of intellectual property and the freedom of speech. I thought he has a point when he said that other than the fact his work was based on a photo taken by someone at one particular time, the posters were in no way alike. Also, his defense that the posters were his form of freedom of speech and therefore undeserving of the lawsuit. I do not feel that the AP should get a cut of his work because all art is in one shape or another based on someone else's work, thus Fairey should not have to give the AP any compensation. I do, however, feel that the AP should get credit for the photo. All in all, I thought the lecture was entertaining and enjoyable, and best of all, in the end, I got him to sign my Shepard Fairey flyer.