[CIMC-work] Re: MARK VALLEN - 'no human being is illegal'?

[ChrisGeovanis at aol.com]

Hi, Mark. Thanks for getting back to me so quick, and thanks bejillions for 
your support. The center panel block is up; check it out a 
chicago.indymedia.org. I built a link on the center panel to your site -- can't figure out how to 
link it directly to the graphic. drat.

I'm sort of astonished that LA Indymedia doesn't know your work. We found you 
at least a year ago via the usual webcrawl chasing down progressive graphics. 
Indymedia has a pretty strict policy about 1) not running advertising, and 2) 
sticking to non-commercial sites for original content, although obviously we 
run a lot of reposts from the commercial wires, et al. Perhaps LA Indymedia 
volunteers saw the copyright notices on your site (we're pretty strictly 
copyleft) and just didn't follow up for permission to use. I think this is the second 
time we've queried you for permission,  but waiting for same can be a hassle 
for a lot of indymedia collectives when they're trying to tar up 
time-sensitive stuff.

Maybe you might want to try posting a few of your political thumbnails on 
their newswire, to raise awareness about your work? Can't hurt. Anyway, keep up 
the great work. We're huge fans -- actually, we've got a gifted photographer 
named Garth Liebhaber who was out at the rally yesterday and at Congress 
shooting (he'll post links to his photos later today on the storyblock), and he 
agreed we should run with your graphic rather than a thumbnail of his. 

We could use a LOT of your thumbnails for center panel stuff. Do you want us 
to query you each time for use, or if we follow the formula we used today can 
we just go ahead and grab the thumbnails? Let me know, and we'll defer to your 
preference. Again, thanks so very much.

Christine Geovanis
Chicago Indymedia volunteer

In a message dated 8/10/03 11:49:24 AM Central Daylight Time, 
vallen at art-for-a-change.com writes:


> Subj:MARK VALLEN - 'no human being is illegal'? 
> Date:8/10/03 11:49:24 AM Central Daylight Time
> From:<A HREF="mailto:vallen at art-for-a-change.com">vallen at art-for-a-change.com</A>
> To:<A HREF="mailto:ChrisGeovanis at aol.com">ChrisGeovanis at aol.com</A>
> Sent from the Internet 
> 
> 
> 
> On Sunday, August 10, 2003, you wrote:
> 
> >> Subject: Can we use 'no human being is illegal'?
> 
> Hi, Mark. I'm a volunteer for Chicago Indymedia, and we'd like to use a
> thumbnail of your pencil drawing 'no human being is illegal' for a center
> panel piece we're doing on a Chicago rally on August 10 to support
> September's upcoming Freedom Rides and the striking Congress Hotel workers,
> who have been out for almost two months now.
> 
> The story link is here:
> http://chicago.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=29446&group=webcast
> 
> We've also posted your graphic (thrown into a sepia wash -- we try to use at
> least some color on the center panel) to our website, but have hidden it
> until we have permission to use it in our center panel. We'll include a link
> to the graphic that gives you credit and directs folks to your website. The
> link to your graphic on our website is here:
> http://chicago.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=29449&group=webcast <<
> 
> 
> Dear Christine
> 
> Thanks so much for writing and extending your support to what I do. You of
> course have my full permission to use my "No Human Being is Illegal" artwork
> in the context you propose. Your giving me credit and linking to my site is
> all that I require... no payment necessary. However, I noticed an error in
> your proposed text....
> 
> 
> "Refugees were fleeing the ravages of war in their homelands and coming to
> the United States... only to be arrested, and deported. In the years that
> followed it's original release, Mark's poster has come to represent the
> plight of all Latino Immigrants who enter the U.S. My bilingual Poster has
> been heavily distributed throughout California, the South West, and
> beyond... and it's still being distributed."
> 
> While the text is written in the "third person"... the last line reads "My
> bilingual Poster..."
> 
> 
> Your message continued:
> 
> >> Your stuff is really, really powerful, and we would feel really honored
> if we could use this image. Actually, there are about a dozen images of
> yours we'd like to use, but we're just querying for permission to use this
> one, right now. We wish we had the dough to pay you, but we're a volunteer
> project, so that's just not possible. Anyway, regardless of your response
> (we understand that workers are understandably concerned about how their
> work is used, and that compensation may, of course, be an issue), please
> know that we wish you all the best. To check out our website frontpage, go
> to chicago.indymedia.org <<
> 
> I have great respect for the Indymedia project, and I first had direct
> contact with it here in my hometown of Los Angeles during the Democratic
> National Convention. Today, I continue to post information on the network
> related to cultural work/political art. I've never forgotten what an Artist
> friend of mine living in New York once told me... "Mark, your work will be
> known... but L.A. will be the LAST place to recognize you." While there is a
> circle of people here in L.A. who know and appreciate my work, my friend's
> statement is generally true. I find it terribly ironic that Chicago
> Indymedia seeks collaboration with me, yet L.A.'s own Indymedia collective
> has never said a single word to me despite their full knowledge of my
> activities.
> 
> Christine.... again, thanks for your kind words AND the generous support.
> Contact me whenever there are other artworks of mine you may wish to use.
> All that will be required for usage is credit and a link.
> 
> Forward Ever, Backwards Never
> Mark Vallen
> www.art-for-a-change.com
> 
> 
> 
> 

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