Few signs (or symbols) have inherent meaning.
Off the top of my head, I can think of only the most basic shapes, and probably a star.
+ can be understood as a crossroads, or intersection point, because two lines literally cross.
o, if we view it as a circle, references continuity, or a complete whole.
Stars twinkle, but that’s about it.
Swastikas once represented the four directions, in multiple indigenous cultures, but were appropriated to mean something very different.
For the most part, signs and symbols acquire meaning through human endeavor.
An elongated cross comes to represent The Crucifixion, and then Christianity itself.
$ would be meaningless, without the value of the US currency to make it important, and the list goes on.
But why am I on about this today?
Fair question.
This morning, I read a WaPo article about how screwed Adidas is, b/c they’re still sitting on $500 million worth of “worthless” Kanye West shoes.
I’m a fan of Adidas, as we wear a lot of 3 stripes in this house, but I’m also vaguely aware that maybe the company was once home to Nazis?
I totally understand how the Germans need to distance themselves, as much as possible, from the living spout of antisemitism that is the corporeal body once known as Kanye West.
Damn, man, we can’t even enjoy “Golddigger” anymore.
How about you keep my people’s name out of your motherf-cking mouth, and we call it a day?
What do you say, Kanye?
As to Adidas, any world in which those shoes don’t end up on the feet of shoeless people is not a world we’re going to live in.
Trust me.
They won’t burn them.
The good PR value of helping those who need it, or the quiet secondary market sale to TJ Maxx, will be too enticing.
But why am I on about Adidas today, beyond the fact that they make Arsenal’s kit?
Again, fair question.
We did some massive cleaning and decluttering, in the new year.
I’ve come to accept we must clear out the old, before anything new arrives, and boy, did burning old bills, and shredding old bank statements, feel good. It also helped me find a thing or two that had been lost. Including a photo book submission that arrived in 2017.
2017!
It slipped into a box in which it didn’t belong, and disappeared.
But that’s why Sunshine and Olly was created. (At first.) So I could honor the photo book submissions, after I left APE.
Obviously, I could rectify the situation, and emailed the photographer immediately.
Liam Ricketts seemed amused I’d reach out six years later, (via the internets,) but I was amused his newsletter was vacuum-sealed, included a sticker that says “TRUST ME DADDY,” and was addressed to Jonathan “Bossman” Blaustein.
My attention is yours now, sir!
Liam seems to have moved from England, when he sent this, to Amsterdam, and then on Los Angeles.
Anyway, this little yellow offering is cool, sleek, fun, and self-aware.
But it’s also kind of spon-con.
Or is it?
Liam is a commercial photographer, working with huge sportswear brands and music labels.
It opens with some funny commentary about shooting Emre Can, (who was then at Liverpool,) and Leroy Sane, (then at Manchester City,) while they’re repping Nike.
Cool hair indeed, Emre and Leroy!
We’ve got Nike, Adidas and New Balance here, the biggest brands there are.
But I didn’t feel like I was looking at ads, because they’ve been decontextualized.
Rather, (and I know photographers send out promos all the time,) the symbols could be read as corporate logos, when I looked through one eye, and just adornments to portraits and action shots, if I looked through the other.
Same with the Yankee hat the skater kid wears at the end.
I hate the Yankees.
(Or at least I used to, growing up.)
But I also met Reggie Jackson at Yankee Spring Training, when I was about 4, and got his autograph.
He was my favorite player, until my Dad told me our family would be Mets fans.
So then I hated the Yankees.
These signs and symbols are of our own making.
Which is why art is such a powerful profession, even if the pay is shit.
If you’d like to follow me further, you can subscribe to the blog below, as well as my email newsletter and Instagram account.
Sunshine and Olly 
Leave a comment