Look what showed up at Downtown Crossing's best known negative space today. Who's the wise guy?
Copyright BostonUrbEx. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!
Ad:
Comments
Kinda cute.
By Chris Dowd
Wed, 09/07/2011 - 8:35pm
N/T.
His name is on everything else, so why not this?
By anon
Wed, 09/07/2011 - 8:48pm
Just sayin'
Sign Maker vs. Sign Placer
By issacg
Wed, 09/07/2011 - 9:42pm
Well, we don't know who actually put this sign there, but I believe we all know who the designer of said sign is! Nicely done.
Seriously need a "like" button
By Denise
Wed, 09/07/2011 - 9:54pm
for this :)
Hmmm, reading the comments in
By Teddy Kokoros
Wed, 09/07/2011 - 9:55pm
Hmmm, reading the comments in that thread I would place my bet that BostonUrbEx was the one who put it up. Whoever it was, kudos to Kaz for making the sign and whoever put it up.
Teehee
By Kaz
Wed, 09/07/2011 - 11:10pm
BostonUrbanEx shared with me the good news this evening.
That is just spectacular...
Kudos Kaz
By Stevil
Wed, 09/07/2011 - 11:15pm
An excellent design. Accompanied by a most stellar non-virtual "post".
Gave me quite the chuckle after upchucking on what the sox did a few minutes before I saw that.
I like the sign but I'd be
By anon
Wed, 09/07/2011 - 11:57pm
I like the sign but I'd be careful about promoting printing and distributing it.
Shepard Fairey got rolled up for something similar.
Scary isn't it?
By Kaz
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 9:21am
Because satire is protected free speech. In fact, the Koch Bros. just lost a case where even their own logo was used against them on a website that purported to be a major shift from their normal policies on climate change.
Also, unlike Shepard Fairey, I didn't work from someone's copyrighted photo nor did I intend to make any money from this effort. So, this isn't even a fair use situation unless the city wants to claim that blue ovals with bolded Times New Roman (couldn't even tell you if that's the exact same font as the original signs or not...the serif just appeared to be pretty close) done in Powerpoint are now somehow off-limits.
to clarify
By Dignan
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 11:04am
When Fairey got pinched in Boston it was for vandalism, nothing to do with the Obama pic but mostly the Obey/Andre image, which is an original. Second, the vast majority of street artists don't intend to make money on work they put up for free. Lastly, fair use cases aren't limited to commercial uses, in some states using someone else's name or likeness can be considered invasion of privacy through misappropriation. Not that I think you have or should have anything to worry about.
Maybe littering
By anon²
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 11:36am
But even that's a stretch. Can you "vandalize" when attaching the image does no physical harm?
My guess is it depends which judge you get.
who said it was vandalism?
By Dignan
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 1:22pm
I was just cleaning up the Fairey comparison. It's street art. Zip ties and wheatpaste are about as equally harmless.
I made the Fairey
By anon
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 4:25pm
I made the Fairey comparison.
An earlier post encouraged printing and using the logo.
Wouldn't want someone printing a bunch of stickers and see old Kaz get left holding the bag, if that's possible.
Updates on the Status of the Filene's Hole Sign?
By issacg
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 1:00pm
C'mon those of you in DTX - inquiring minds want to know.
I also would like to point out that I sought to protect the guilty, err, innocent, by making sure that I made the distinction between "placing" the sign and "making" the sign.
Didnt see a union bug on the
By Local103guy
Wed, 09/07/2011 - 11:36pm
Didnt see a union bug on the sign. Must have been Mike Flaherty.
Awesome..
By Brian Riccio
Wed, 09/07/2011 - 9:58pm
totally awesome. In your face, Mumbles!
:D
By CaT
Wed, 09/07/2011 - 10:16pm
:D
What's the over/under on how long the sign lasts?
By O-FISH-L
Wed, 09/07/2011 - 10:21pm
With NFL season here, what's the over/under on how long the sign lasts before Menino dispatches a minion to remove it? I bet it will be a quicker response than most unwanted pieces of paper around the city and will be removed by an employee in a pay grade higher than those who usually pick up paper.
It is the 8thfloorcityhall
By Chris Roche
Wed, 09/07/2011 - 11:15pm
It is the 8thfloorcityhall angry guy...
Ya whom ever did isnt too
By Keypuchguy
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 12:05am
Ya whom ever did isnt too steady with the key punch. Probably a bit nervous TMM would find out or Baby Flats would get caught (note key punches on bottom of sign).
Sometimes
By anon²
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 11:38am
Being discrete and quick, and being tidy at work is not possible.
Is it still there?
By jmeltzer
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 8:51am
I need to see the real thing. Please tell me the trip won't be wasted.
Rumor has it, if it is
By BostonUrbEx
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 8:58am
Rumor has it, if it is removed, 2 more will take it's place. Something a little birdy told me. ;P
Two larger ones, of course
By jmeltzer
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 9:22am
Two larger ones, of course ...
Seems a little unfair to
By Omri
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 10:20am
Seems a little unfair to blame Mumbles for the hole instead of the developer.
seems fair to me, his name
By pierce
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 11:13am
seems fair to me, his name would be the largest on the credits if it had indeed been built
Yes and no
By Kaz
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 11:46am
I did think about that. Honest. But I decided to skewer two political ducks with the same stone and still felt it was appropriate given recent statements by Menino.
It's not his fault it's this way, but he has given up on turning the screws on the developer. If he's not going to apply pressure and they can afford the property tax loss each year it goes undeveloped (hell, it's not like they're paying based on an assessment that includes any kind of building...so it can't be THAT expensive), then they can afford to let it sit as a blighted corner of our downtown. So, by tacitly coming to accept that "it is what it is" (paraphrasing), he's tacitly agreeing to leave it a hole in perpetuum...which, to me, does sorta make him partly to blame now. Is there really absolutely nothing a mayor of a city can do if a company wants to leave a gaping hole and walk away? Maybe so...this isn't his only hole (see entries: HARVARD, ALLSTON).
Secondly, we should all be familiar with the ubiquitous blue signs. Why? Because the city has seen fit to put them on every street corner you can think of where neighborhoods abut and every single one has Menino's name on it. It's basically just a simple gag to turn that around at something unflattering instead.
So, it was a way to skewer the fact that years later now the hole is still the hole and also skewer the blue sign phenomena of pimping the mayor all over the city.
How can this city not get things done
By anon
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 12:32pm
with all the political corruption?
Clearly no Vornado principal is worried about getting a tune-up and losing a kneecap over this.
If we're gonna be corrupt, at least let's be effective about it.
The Irish are such softies. We need Sicilians for this job.
Rename the area Downtown
By anon
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 6:20pm
Rename the area Downtown Village?
They did it for every other Square and Corner.
Love! It!
By Lecil
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 10:33am
Thanks guys, I needed the giggle. Let the Great Sign Watch begin! :)
everywhere signs
By anon
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 3:53pm
They should post these signs on every empty lot and foreclosed crack-house in the City.
If we're not nice
By chicken
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 4:22pm
Menino will designate the Hole as a Historic Site and we'll be stuck with it forever.
Then there'll be boatloads of duck tourists gawking at it. Come to Boston! See the sites of the Revolution! And the famous Filene's Hole!
I don't understand why we don't just do what Boston does best
By fibrowitch
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 5:39pm
Fill the hole with what ever we can find, be it dirt, trash or building debris. Add some driven on snow, the dregs of Allston Christmas and what ever else not nailed down. Toss down some grass seed lay out a few roads and bang we have a new neighborhood.
Welcome to FILENE'S HOLE ripped down, then replaced.
By BostonUrbEx
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 9:32pm
I found the sign was missing tonight. But you may be amused to learn there is another around the corner, at Franklin & Arch.
Same source
By Lecil
Fri, 09/09/2011 - 3:53pm
Did you -- ah-hem, did the person who put the first one up -- put the second one up, or is there someone else running around slapping these little gems up?
Hey, now just what are you
By BostonUrbEx
Fri, 09/09/2011 - 11:47pm
Hey, now just what are you implying! :]
Correction to previous statement: Franklin & *Hawley*, not Arch.
Also; sign from last night was clipped off and the original location was back but ripped off by lunch.
Downtown Ambassors Job to Rip Sign Off
By anon
Sun, 09/11/2011 - 12:15am
I personally saw an Ambassador rip the sign down. I asked why he did it and he said he was told to. Keep them coming. Maybe Menino and The Boston BID hacks will grow a sense of humor.
But I doubt it.
Hilarious
By BostonUrbEx
Sun, 09/11/2011 - 8:37am
That's hilarious, thanks for the info! Wonder where these orders are coming down from, ehehe. :]
Ambassador?
By Lecil
Tue, 09/13/2011 - 12:57pm
What is a "Downtown Ambassador"?
These guys who welcome you to DTX
By adamg
Tue, 09/13/2011 - 1:03pm
Really, they're like Wal-Mart greeters, except they also do spot cleaning. I think DTX merchants pay for them.
Huh!
By Lecil
Tue, 09/13/2011 - 2:23pm
I guess I work so hard avoiding most other human beings down there that I've never encountered one. Read and learn.
Cause and effect at the hole?
By Stevil
Tue, 09/13/2011 - 12:17pm
Apparently the city has re-engaged with Vornado according to the headline on the Herald site. Maybe it was the sign?
I'm always going to remember it that way
By Kaz
Tue, 09/13/2011 - 3:41pm
:D