Daft Punk - Faces Revealed!

The music duo Daft Punk is one of the top electronic acts in the world, and they have risen to fame by always wearing helmets.  In fact, Daft Punk had never been seen without helmets on, which added to the mystique surrounding this pair.

Well, Daft Punk without helmets had never been seen . . . until now. . .

A fellow electronic music group, The Knocks, recently released a photo of un-helmeted Daft Punk playing champagne pool pong at the Sony headquarters (click below to see the pic).

So what does this have to do with street art?  Well, just like street artsits who maintain an anonymous profile, the artwork takes on a life bigger than that person or creator.  Daft Punk was awesome and confusing and they played the guise so well that some people even accused them of not being human, but robots.  A huge part of their appeal was based on the mystery of the helmets, and no matter what people imagined was behind those masks, it is much less exciting to actually see that Daft Punk is really some regular looking middle aged dudes playing drinking games.  The raw truth is never as cool as an awesome fiction.  The same goes for street art.  When a street artist steps out of the shadows and comes out as a real person, there might be some alternative benefits to that, but at the same time, that street artist is sacrificing cool points and the power of mystique.

Furthermore, just like on the streets, news outlets are calling The Knocks snitches for outing Daft Punk.

The moral of this story is that it is more powerful to remain anonymous, and anonymity constitutes the street code of conduct to live by.

Stay powerful.  Stay anonymous.  Never snitch.  And stay up!~

Blinky is a Snitch Bitch

Fuck the Snitch Bitches.

Do Not Snitch is the Cardinal Rule of street art.  Street art is illicit by nature, yet there is still honor among vandals.  The basic idea is that even if street art is illegal, everyone who is getting up is fighting the good battle trying to express themselves. But when someone from the street art community snitches someone else's name out there with the sole purpose of outing that person, there is literally nothing worse. Snitching is the for the lowest of the low.  It is the ugliest shit stain.  Snitching is only for true scumbags.

Sure, say someone took a dump on your front door, pissed in your Cheerios, and fucked your mom.  Does this warrant snitching?  No.  There is never a good reason for snitching.  If someone does something you don't like, or if there is beef, it can, and should, be handled in the streets.  Snitching is a bullshit cheap shot, like starting a fight with a punch to the balls.  When you snitch, it doesn't matter what the person who you feel wronged you has done--once you snitch it makes you worse.

Perhaps it would make more sense if there were a good reason why Blinky started snitching on members of the community.  But there was no valid reason, and no one pissed in Blinky's Cheerios.  Blinky's snitching was inspired by jealousy and hating on successful members of the community.  Sorry about your small dick, Blinky, but get over it.  There really is no excuse for your behavior.

Just to be clear, M&F was a big fan of supporter of Blinky's pieces up until the point that we heard Blinky is a snitch, and at that point M&F, and every other reputable LA street art source has put Blinky on the Blacklist.  After all, once someone snitches, they are showing that they are an enemy to the community.  Snitching defines who that person is.  The snitch will snitch again, and if you are close to the person--or even if you are not, the next time the snitch might be snitching on you.

Because of his snitching, Blinky has essentially been driven off the streets.  The rare times that Blinky does get up, the community seems to remember, and soon after every time a Blinky piece goes up, a 'Snitch Bitch' paster goes up on top of it, right over the face.   The idea seems to be that LA's street art community is reminding Blinky "You are not a street artist.  You are a snitch."  And forever, for anyone who has spent time on the streets, the association will stick--Blinky is a Snitch Bitch.

Street art is like a garden.  And M&F tries to do the best we can to give LA's street art garden what it needs to nourish, grow and flourish.  If stickers, tags, bombs and pastes are like petals, M&F loves all the little different, special and unique individual plants and flowers, each in its own right.  But sometimes, a weed will enter the garden and start causing problems.  Simply put, in order to protect the good of the entire garden, those weeds must be weeded out.

Stay Up, Los Angeles.

And Keep Fuck'n the Snitch Bitches~