Who the hell is… Frida Kahlo?

Hey! It’s International Women’s Day! So let’s talk about artist Frida Kahlo, and why feminists like her. Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist, notable mostly for her graphic depictions of the painful aspects of her life, and for surrealist and colourful self-portraits. Throughout her life she experienced numerous physical and psychological traumas which she documented [...]

We've nuked ourselves 2053 times.

Check out this video by Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto –  it’s a beautiful, time-lapse map of the 2053 confirmed nuclear explosions which have taken place between 1945 and 1998, beginning with the very first test and concluding with Pakistan’s nuclear tests in May of 1998.

That's Limerick City kid.

At long long last, SSY’s favourite comedy hip hop outfit The Rubberbandits are getting the recognition beyond their Limerick empire that they deserve. Their single Horse Outside looks set to beat boring X Factor winner Lazy Decorator to the Irish Christmas number 1 spot.  They’ve earned the support of Fianna Fail politician and erstwhile hash dealer Willie [...]

War and Pisstake

Three years ago, a group of Muscovite students formed a guerilla art movement with very clear goals – provocation, cultural ridicule and humour. The group, Voina (Russian for War) were inspired by the Soviet dissident artist, Dmitry Prigov. Not dissimilar to the internationally renowned street artist Banksy, (if he kept getting sent polonium sandwiches) these [...]

Banksy's funny/grim 'Simpsons' intro

Last night in the US the latest episode of ‘The Simpsons’ was on telly, featuring an intro storyboarded by the famous graffiti artist Banksy. Personally I have mixed feelings about Banksy. If you’ve never heard of him he’s an artist who conceals his true identity to allow him to continue painting on walls illegally around [...]

Would you rather be: haggard and old, soaked in semen or a sexy revolutionary artist?

The Guardian has today highlighted a collection of postcards designed to be auctioned of to raise money for the Feminism in London conference which takes place in a few weeks. The conference is organised by the fairly radical London Feminist Network, and is sounding like it could be quite good, featuring workshops on feminist self [...]

The minimum wage machine

Check this out: artist Blake Fall-Conroy has designed a machine to help people understand the reality of exploitation in a mimimum wage job. The box is full of (American) pennies, and you have to crank the handle hard in order to get out a penny every 5.04 seconds, which adds up to $7.15 (about £4.50) [...]