SALON

Saturday, Feb 9, 2013 2:00 PM UTC

Brooklyn muralist immortalizes Internet martyrs

Roller artist BAMN's latest subjects include Bradley Manning and Aaron Swartz

By

Topics: Hyperallergic, Bradley Manning, Aaron Swartz, street art, WikiLeaks, Law enforcement, Suicide, , , ,

Brooklyn muralist immortalizes Internet martyrs (Credit: Via Hyperallergic)
This article originally appeared on Hyperallergic.

A little corner of 21st century heroes has sprung up in the form of street art just north of McCarren Park, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Roller works by BAMN (aka By Any Means Necessary) the artist explained to Hyperallergic why he chose Internet activist Aaron Swartz as the subject of his latest mural:
Hyperallergic

Swartz was an amazing human being who fought tirelessly for our right to a free and open Internet. He was much more than just the “Reddit guy.” I encourage people to read about his legacy to understand how important he was towards the movement of hacktivists and whistleblowers.

The Swartz mural follows the more controversial Bradley Manning (of WikiLeaks fame) work that first appeared on the street in late 2011. At the time, BAMN explained that he considered himself more of a weekend warrior when it comes to street art, and he said, his “first interaction with street art was through Poster Boy. I liked the idea of a loose collective participating in political art.”

Like Swartz, he sees Manning as a type of hero. “He’s a traitor to US imperialism, I can agree with that,” he answered when I asked him what he thought of those who call Manning a traitor. “I wonder whose interests those critics are protecting? Those profiting from US imperialism are the real traitors. They have betrayed humanity.”

He said at the time he created the Manning work as a way to “bring awareness to Bradley Manning’s cause. He sacrificed freedom for truth.” It seems fitting that Swartz and Manning are united on the streets in this ad hoc street museum of whistle-blowers.

Why did BAMN choose this location? “The media savviness of this neighborhood along with the popularity of street art allows for the full potential of this piece,” he said back in 2011. “The perfect reaction is any reaction at all. Taking a photo of it, blogging it, talking about it, looking at it … even if you disagree with it. Just liking the way it was painted is cool too.”

More Hrag Vartanian.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

Salon is proud to feature content from Hyperallergic, a forum for serious, playful and radical thinking about art in the world today.

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations