ReX DINGLER: Death Imitating Art

20 July 2010

Death Imitating Art - Sophie D

"It's another average humdrum day in a crumbling civilization," were the first words that Sophie D ever said to me. I was enjoying my solitude drawing in my favorite neighborhood spot...the t-shirt I had on gave me away as someone to talk to.

It sparked a conversation that delved into what was wrong with the city as we compared how many mutual people we knew who had been killed through senseless murder or who had OD'd or killed themselves since Katrina. It's a tale you wouldn't ordinarily share but it was one of those conversations.

"Wouldn't it be nice if you could shock people into cleaning up this city?" she asked me. It would be since people don't seem prepared to listen nicely anymore. Sophie D set about to wake people the hell up. Here are some samples of her work and then a couple of news stories where Somewhere in the City, the Blood was Real:

Mobile, AL

Everywhere in New Orleans this blood is real

New Orleans, LA

New York, NY

New York, NY

Baton Rouge, LA

And here are the two recent news stories...

In New Orleans at Nola.com

In Mobile at Modmobilian.com

No comments:

What People Say...

Chris Rose (nola): "It's all got a very Don Quixote feel to it, a lone wolf braying into the wilderness... It's art for art's sake. And for sanity's sake as well." & "NoLA Rising, a ragtag band of insurgent art missionaries who post artwork in public places as far and wide across the region as possible."

Kalen Wright (nola): "Rex's street art pieces are a public service..."

Mark Folse (nola): "a great Artist and Agitator"

Adam Falik: "Dingler’s work is a form of activism that astutely addresses the city’s cultural and civic climate. He is both interested in the man-on-the-street and the streets itself, its cityscape, architecture and geography..."

"There is a school of thought bordering on mysticism that divines relationship between the shape of buildings and the mental and spiritual health of those who reside within them. Dingler, likewise, seeks the balance between a city’s denizens and their capacity to accept, and interact, with art."

Lisa Heindel (nola): "What a charming, articulate, passionate person…a wonderful representative of all that is right in the world."

Lady Robin (nola): "Rex Dingler is becoming a household name. From the heartfelt creativity he is sharing with the city to his battle with the evil Fred Radtke, Rex has made his way into our hearts and homes."

ANGELA PATE (nola): "New Orleans still needs so much help, but the people of NOLA are bringing back the bohemian, artistic atmosphere that makes me love it so much. Rex has become almost a cult leader, bringing NOLA back beyond just the infrastructure, but, more importantly, maybe, to its heart and soul."

Idiot the Wise a.k.a. INSPIRE (Tel Aviv): "If NOLA rises again, then its from the organized efforts of this guy...a true public art hero..."

A.J. (nola): "One day while traversing the muck of damage, alone in my car, I looked over and suddenly glimpsed a ray of color. A perfectly small square of color that simply stated Joy and then a short block away, another that read simply Hope. My car grinded to a slow halt in the street and I wept those post Katrina tears we've all shed following this time by a smile. Not a tiny grin but, a large and powerful giant size smile. "

Killian Doherty (Ireland): "ReX, a local artist, read the chasm between people’s physical disenfranchisement from their city and the unbridled appropriation of it by state as intolerable. ReX attempted to stitch this chasm closed with a humanist and practical intervention back into public space. 3,000 street signs were arduously hand- drawn, painted and affixed, to intersections throughout the city. ReX tried to weaved a sense of order back into the neglected fabric of New Orleans; his humanistic treatment gave people hope, allowing them to re orientate themselves again, empowering them to reclaim New Orleans, their home, amidst the neglect and oppression. It became a cultural movement for social justice.

SOLIDSTATE (new zealand): "If Dingler didn't exist as the patron saint of the arts that he is, if he wasn't already there as the first of a new breed of red-hots. If there wasn't already a living breathing skin-suit called Michael Dingler, underground artist, cardboard pep-rally, riverboat captain and the yeast that makes NOLA rise...then someone else would definitely have to make him up. Luckily, he's already making himself up. Raise your glasses: ladies and germs, to Tyrannosaurus Dingler."

KELLEY (detroit-ish): "This is great work!!!"

SINA (tucson): "Sunshine and art and happiness, the city, the soul will win...look how much more contagious NoLA Rising's efforts have become..."

"...Rex had the unassuming belief that if he offered public words of encouragement to those souls striving to eke out a life in post-Katrina New Orleans, that perhaps he could buoy his community and help everyone work towards a happier, and decidedly healthier future."

"...because of Rex's efforts to preserve that uniqueness that all Americans hold dear, regardless of where our legal addresses keep us anchored. Rex is nothing less than an ambassador and he has the global support to back up this notion."

MAGS (nola native): "Projects like NOLA Rising are only trying to spread a little love and joy via art to a depressed, beat-down population..."

VIRTUAL SHOCK (nola): "...it’s always heartwarming to see one of these signs."

FLEURETTE DeLIS (nola expat): "Rex's art, and what ReX is doing for NOLA, is courageous and one could say avant garde even. ReX's commitment to art is astonishing and yet not "artsy" in the "snob" sense that one often finds in the arts community. The art is often bohemian, refreshingly so; it is the art of the people and for the people, not necessarily "just for those" who have degrees in the fine arts. Often abstract or whimsical, but then, I follow the white rabbit also down the rabbit hole, and the adventure, to those who chose to travel with us, is worth the distance."

DR. D. Lee(mobile): "...a rare and unique commodity."

George "Loki" Williams (nola): "Michael Dingler is a sure cure for those gray moods!"

...the world over...

Havana, Cuba
Capetown, South Africa
Cincinnati, Ohio
Brooklyn, New York
Queens, New York
Uruguey
Aretxabaleta, Spain
Houma, LA
Selkirk, MB, Canada
Portland, OR
FALLUJAH, IRAQ
Boston, Massachusetts
Vienna, Austria
San Marcos, TX
New Jersey
Baton Rouge, LA
Haleiwa, Hawaii
San Pedro, California
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Los Angeles, California
Wurzberg, Germany
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Spain
Germany
New Zealand
Israel
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Covington, LA
Edinburgh, Scotland
Dublin, Ireland
Maquoketa, Iowa
Bexley, England
Louisville, Kentucky
Calgary, Alberta
London, England
Metairie, LA
Littleton, Colorado
Burnaby, British Columbia
Milano, Italy
Simsbury, Connecticut
Stockholm, Sweden
Lennoxville, Quebec
Steinbach, Manitoba
Yonkers, New York
Boca Raton, FL
Kailua, Hawaii
Petaling, Malaysia
Palo Alto, New York
Delhi, India
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Syracuse, New York
Birmingham, Alabama
Phoenix, Arizona
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Taipei, Taiwan
St. Louis, Missouri
Gonzales, LA
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Buford, Georgia
Preston, England
Medan, Indonesia
Pasadena, California
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Redondo Beach, California
Boulder, Colorado
Modesto, California
Suwanee, Georgia
Chapel Hill, North Caorlina
Charlottesville, Virginia
Singapore, Singapore
Nice, France
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Jakarta, Indonesia
Tyler, Texas
Columbia, South Caolina
Marrero, LA
Peoria, Arizona
Harvey, LA
Muleshoe, Texas
Everett, Washington
Miama, Florida
Sterling Heights, Michigan
Toronto, Ontario
Regina, Saskatchewan
Greenville, Michigan
Manchester, England
Woodburn, Oregon
Skokie, Illinois
Berkeley, California
Eatontown, New Jersey
San Antonio, Texas
Herndon, Virgina
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Albany, New York
Plano, Texas
New York, New York
Odessa, Texas
Vancouver, British Columbia
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Denver, Colorado
Washington, DC
Troy, Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Luling, Louisiana
Ft. Bragg, North Carolina
Seattle, Washington
Sarasota, FL
Dusseldorf, Germany
Quito, Ecuador
Santafe DeBogota, Columbia
Chicago, Illinois
Tartu, Estonia
Atlanta, GA
Anchorage, Alaska
Mesa, Arizona
Pennsylvania
Austin, Texas
Houston, Texas
Czech Republic
Poland
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Mobile, Alabama
San Diego, California
New Orleans

20 July 2010

Death Imitating Art - Sophie D

No comments:

Post a Comment