After a few years working as an ad man for Big Tobacco and Big Soda, Mike Bancroft had the big-picture realization that he could continue his marketing career at a comfortable but complacent speed for the rest of his life. “I took the left turn,” he says, and now Mike runs Co-op Image, which introduces extracurricular arts programs to students with limited resources. The projects are an endeavor in “community art,” a term that could doubly mean bringing people together via art, or using the bonds of community as a sculptural material. A recent project drew attention to the city of Chicago’s eviction of the homeless from freeway underpasses right at the start of our subzero winter. Called “Piñata Factory,” Mike engaged his students to make more than 200 piñatas and stuffed them into the chain-link enclosures, creating absurd cages. Mike enjoys the tongue-in-cheek aspect as long as it helps us see we’re a part of something bigger than ourselves.
Chicago is often called the city of neighborhoods, which, to Mike, means that they’re isolated from one another. Even Humboldt Park, where he lives and works, is heavily divided by gang turf wars. Many people dislike crossing Division Street for fear of mistakenly trespassing an invisible line of violence. In an act of reclamation, Mike and his students installed small radio transmitters in abandoned newspaper boxes to broadcast live or recorded messages on both sides of the boulevard. This was an act of infiltration, through an accessible and friendly means.
Mike shrugs, “I’m an artist, or whatever you want to call it,” and although using visuals in every project has been important to him from the start, he believes that Chicago isn’t a place to become famous as an artist. Rather, and ideally, it’s a place to get things done. He does, occasionally, take his show on the road. Mike believes that the recent fight over copyright and fair use, as embodied by the Shepherd Fairey versus the Associated Press legal battle, is important, but misunderstood by Fairey himself. As an artist who appropriates images, Fairey has gone on to sue other artists who borrow his own trademarks, notably Obey. As a parody, Mike will set up a lemonade stand outside Fairey’s museum retrospective in Boston, and sell touristy photographs of himself posing with Fairey’s art, as a way to sell Fairey’s art itself. Mike expects that police will get involved, but for him, it’s just a way to uphold his view that we’ve got to open ourselves up to get things done. http://www.mikebancroft.com/
[…] an article in Chicago’s NewCity this week called Breakout Artists 2009: Chicago’s next generation of image makers. And who is one of these breakout artists? Moi. Does it matter that I’m not much of an image […]
in_disbelief
12 years ago
I’m curious… what part of the boystown parade is licentious? Having attended the Boystown Halloween parade for years now I can only safely assume that it is “licentious” in the eyes of both the writer and the artist because it takes place in a location historically known as being populated by homosexuals, queers, bi-sexuals and trans-gendered people. And as such, this parade must be a breeding ground for the sort of behavior commonly associated with deviants, perverts, sex-crazed trash and their ilk. Occasionally I dream of a day when white straight male artists of a certain class (and those who… Read more »
Dear James, Thank you for your response. It’s clear that you care about this topic very much so I’m going to answer you with due seriousness. The word “licentious” means “Disregarding commonly accepted rules” (Oxford English Dictionary). In my article, I describe parades as celebrating “a legal or moral order by poking holes in it.” The Halloween parade is not the Pride parade, mind you. Halloween is a chance to engage the spooky and dark side as a way to celebrate life, and liveliness. (Note in many of the artist’s photographs from that night, the audience is smiling). The gay… Read more »
in_disbelief
12 years ago
Hey Jason Thanks for letting me know you responded… Having emerged out of queer theory and out of a radical activist background that is disinterested and against normativity in homosexuality/the queer/and the faggot it’s hard for me to swallow your response. I don’t support the current gay agenda, their interest in gay marriage, in equality or in the “rainbow flag” that coyly masks conservative rhetoric and an agenda of normalization. I don’t need to be informed of what is and is not “queer 101″…. and to be perfectly honest, the project that Ben presents here is not one that even… Read more »
I think it’s fine that we disagree. You say that you’re not the rainbow flag waving type, and I know in some gay sub-sub-cultures being morally disreputable is a point of strength. But that may all even be beside the point because the rat city parade is not just about gay culture (as it’s not just gays who attend the parade). Licentious was used here not as a judgmental word but as an adjective to describe a parade. And clearly it’s provocative. If Ben had simply painted a picture of rats and hung it in a gallery in Boystown it… Read more »
in_disbelief
12 years ago
You’re right, as a painting, this idea of the “rat” within us would be an idea that falls flat/short of the mark and as a performance it is certainly a far stronger work/concept. I merely wanted some clarity Jason on your position and relationship to this work. While not being one to wave the rainbow flag, I’m also not one who works towards being “morally disreputable”…. Not being in support of “flag-waving” doesn’t automatically equate to having an agenda of being, “morally disreputable” let’s be honest…. I think this isn’t so hard to comprehend. For examples of contemporary scholars who… Read more »
Again, it’s fine that we disagree, but as a point of clarification, I don’t believe that gays are only either rainbow-waving or self-loathing. I meant only to say that there’s a wide range of perspectives. Also, I do think Ben/performers are implicated in the question of rat-hood; they were wearing the costumes.
secretgeeksociety
12 years ago
I am a Boston based artiste named Shana East. Recently on an excursion with a Mr. Michael Bancroft to the Boston ICA retrospective on Shepard Fairey, I took several so-called “touristy” photos of him alongside Mr. Fairey’s art, while Mr. Bancroft in fact, took none. While the idea of us “selling” these images was that of Mr. Bancroft’s, the idea for the “lemonade stand” was mine. I would like Mr. Bancroft (the artist) to know that if he appropriates even a pixel of my photographs without my permission, or if he sells ANYTHING at any sort of stand in the… Read more »
benfain
12 years ago
I have to say I am surprised by your reaction (in_disbelief) and I am really sorry you feel this way. I do want clarify a couple things. Below is a list of some parade themes from recent North Halsted Halloween Parades, courtesy of Tom Laporte (one of the parade organizers since 2002) 2003 Theme: Evil Clowns. 2005 Theme: Alien Space Invasion. 2006 Theme: Seventies Disco Zombies. 2007 Theme: Dragons. 2008 Theme: Rats. In this context, to me, rats don’t really feel all that out of place. Also, for the record, the following texts are taken from the 12th Annual North… Read more »
Mike Bancroft
Mike shrugs, “I’m an artist, or whatever you want to call it,” and although using visuals in every project has been important to him from the start, he believes that Chicago isn’t a place to become famous as an artist. Rather, and ideally, it’s a place to get things done. He does, occasionally, take his show on the road. Mike believes that the recent fight over copyright and fair use, as embodied by the Shepherd Fairey versus the Associated Press legal battle, is important, but misunderstood by Fairey himself. As an artist who appropriates images, Fairey has gone on to sue other artists who borrow his own trademarks, notably Obey. As a parody, Mike will set up a lemonade stand outside Fairey’s museum retrospective in Boston, and sell touristy photographs of himself posing with Fairey’s art, as a way to sell Fairey’s art itself. Mike expects that police will get involved, but for him, it’s just a way to uphold his view that we’ve got to open ourselves up to get things done. http://www.mikebancroft.com/
[…] an article in Chicago’s NewCity this week called Breakout Artists 2009: Chicago’s next generation of image makers. And who is one of these breakout artists? Moi. Does it matter that I’m not much of an image […]
I’m curious… what part of the boystown parade is licentious? Having attended the Boystown Halloween parade for years now I can only safely assume that it is “licentious” in the eyes of both the writer and the artist because it takes place in a location historically known as being populated by homosexuals, queers, bi-sexuals and trans-gendered people. And as such, this parade must be a breeding ground for the sort of behavior commonly associated with deviants, perverts, sex-crazed trash and their ilk. Occasionally I dream of a day when white straight male artists of a certain class (and those who… Read more »
Dear James, Thank you for your response. It’s clear that you care about this topic very much so I’m going to answer you with due seriousness. The word “licentious” means “Disregarding commonly accepted rules” (Oxford English Dictionary). In my article, I describe parades as celebrating “a legal or moral order by poking holes in it.” The Halloween parade is not the Pride parade, mind you. Halloween is a chance to engage the spooky and dark side as a way to celebrate life, and liveliness. (Note in many of the artist’s photographs from that night, the audience is smiling). The gay… Read more »
Hey Jason Thanks for letting me know you responded… Having emerged out of queer theory and out of a radical activist background that is disinterested and against normativity in homosexuality/the queer/and the faggot it’s hard for me to swallow your response. I don’t support the current gay agenda, their interest in gay marriage, in equality or in the “rainbow flag” that coyly masks conservative rhetoric and an agenda of normalization. I don’t need to be informed of what is and is not “queer 101″…. and to be perfectly honest, the project that Ben presents here is not one that even… Read more »
I think it’s fine that we disagree. You say that you’re not the rainbow flag waving type, and I know in some gay sub-sub-cultures being morally disreputable is a point of strength. But that may all even be beside the point because the rat city parade is not just about gay culture (as it’s not just gays who attend the parade). Licentious was used here not as a judgmental word but as an adjective to describe a parade. And clearly it’s provocative. If Ben had simply painted a picture of rats and hung it in a gallery in Boystown it… Read more »
You’re right, as a painting, this idea of the “rat” within us would be an idea that falls flat/short of the mark and as a performance it is certainly a far stronger work/concept. I merely wanted some clarity Jason on your position and relationship to this work. While not being one to wave the rainbow flag, I’m also not one who works towards being “morally disreputable”…. Not being in support of “flag-waving” doesn’t automatically equate to having an agenda of being, “morally disreputable” let’s be honest…. I think this isn’t so hard to comprehend. For examples of contemporary scholars who… Read more »
Again, it’s fine that we disagree, but as a point of clarification, I don’t believe that gays are only either rainbow-waving or self-loathing. I meant only to say that there’s a wide range of perspectives. Also, I do think Ben/performers are implicated in the question of rat-hood; they were wearing the costumes.
I am a Boston based artiste named Shana East. Recently on an excursion with a Mr. Michael Bancroft to the Boston ICA retrospective on Shepard Fairey, I took several so-called “touristy” photos of him alongside Mr. Fairey’s art, while Mr. Bancroft in fact, took none. While the idea of us “selling” these images was that of Mr. Bancroft’s, the idea for the “lemonade stand” was mine. I would like Mr. Bancroft (the artist) to know that if he appropriates even a pixel of my photographs without my permission, or if he sells ANYTHING at any sort of stand in the… Read more »
I have to say I am surprised by your reaction (in_disbelief) and I am really sorry you feel this way. I do want clarify a couple things. Below is a list of some parade themes from recent North Halsted Halloween Parades, courtesy of Tom Laporte (one of the parade organizers since 2002) 2003 Theme: Evil Clowns. 2005 Theme: Alien Space Invasion. 2006 Theme: Seventies Disco Zombies. 2007 Theme: Dragons. 2008 Theme: Rats. In this context, to me, rats don’t really feel all that out of place. Also, for the record, the following texts are taken from the 12th Annual North… Read more »