Arrest made for graffiti written in acid

Eddie D. Garcia told officers he began his graffiti career with a spray-paint can.
But he apparently wanted to leave a more permanent mark.

So Garcia etched his tag, "SOAR," on windows across the Southwest Side -- using acid, according to Chicago Police.

Garcia, 23, was arrested earlier this week and charged with felony damage to property.

"Some artists move from paint to sculpture," said Cmdr. John Kupczyk of the Chicago Lawn District. "But he said he started out in paint and moved to acid."

Garcia, a full-time student at Richard J. Daley College, was caught in an early morning stakeout in the 3700 block of West 63rd with a sponge-tipped marker filled with hydrofluoric acid and a cell phone containing photos of his handiwork, Kupczyk said.

Police searched his home in the 5800 block of South Rockwell and found spray-paint cans, a bottle of acid and sketch books of his graffiti, according to court records.

Garcia gave a statement implicating himself in the crimes, authorities say.

from the Sun-Times

Taggers nail multimillion dollar Gold Coast home

Graffiti artists, for those inclined to call spray-painters something other than vandals, turned a 50-foot brick wall of a Gold Coast house into their canvas.

The taggers, who left at least three monikers, are believed to have scaled a fence at a construction site in the wee hours Monday, said the builder and neighbors. The street artists defaced the coach house in the 900 block of North Clark Street behind the protective cover of a tarp and then tore it off when they left to unveil their work.

Builders have been working on the multimillion-dollar, Architectural Digest-worthy site for two years. The original structure was built in the early 1900s as a ComEd substation. Two stories were added later to repurpose it as a home, along with the coach house that abuts the street.

from the Tribune

Blow Up Mathias

Blow Up Mathias is the first issue in Chicago's new Insurrectionary Anarchist periodical. We strive to create theory for actions and actions from theory

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from ZineLibrary.info

To begin again from a slightly different position

Marx’s concept of ‘species being’ is for some a way of re-connecting with fertile currents in the communist left. Howard Slater explores Frére Dupont’s recent book Species Being and Other Stories as a vehicle of exodus from left orthodoxies.

from Mute

New Pilsen-area newspaper released at May Day

We will be distributing copies of a new pilsen-area radical newspaper "Paloma Negra" at this year's May Day actions.

Paloma Negra is a radical, independent, anti-profit community newspaper in Pilsen that connects local issues to the global resistance against oppression.

Paloma Negra es un periódico independiente, radical, sin ánimo de lucro y comunitario en Pilsen que conecta temas locales con la resistencia global contra la opresión.

The topic of this special May Day edition is immigrant and labor rights.

Pick up a copy at Lichen Lending Library 1921 S. Blue Island OR you can download a printable PDF copy of the newspaper at www.palomanegra.info/palomanegra-1-mayday.pdf

If you want to help distribute copies, participate in the next issue, or have general comments or questions contact us at info (at) palomanegra.info

from http://www.palomanegra.info

Independent social space shutdown

In yet another blow to Chicago’s arts community, local performance space and nonprofit resource center AV-aerie has gone on “indefinite hiatus” following a visit from a dozen city officials this past Friday (which unfortunately put an early end to a benefit show for local upstart Dill Pickle Food Co-op).

As anyone who’s followed its trials and tribulations is well aware, this isn’t the first time the space—formerly Open-End gallery, Ideotech and the home of DEPART-ment—has run into problems with the zoning board. Last May, AV-aerie chief Marshall Preheim was slapped with a citation for not having a Public Place of Amusement license, and ever since he’s been ensnared in a lengthy and expensive tug of war with the city.

from Time Out

Bean sculpture defaced by vandal

Authorities are investigating after police discovered damage Monday on the steel sculpture known as the Bean in Millennium Park in the Loop.

Police discovered the defacement -- someone’s name scratched onto the Bean -- during the day on the north side of the sculpture, according to a Central District police captain.

There was no description of the person who defaced the piece, which is located near Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street, and the captain did not know whether any cameras might have captured what happened.

Cloud Gate, or the Bean as it has become affectionately known, is British artist Anish Kapoor's first public outdoor work installed in the United States, according to Millennium Park’s Web Site. The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect the city's famous skyline and the clouds above, the site said.

A 12-foot-high arch provides a "gate" to the concave chamber beneath the sculpture, inviting visitors to touch its mirror-like surface and see their image reflected back from a variety of perspectives, according to the site.

A spokesperson for Millennium Park was not immediately available Tuesday morning.

from the Sun-Times