So the last time I featured a heart sticker it was an anatomically correct version by the artist Jeremy Raymer. Or at least I've come around to thinking that it's one of his since it's featured in his Instagram feed multiple times, but I digress. Since I wasn't sure who created it at the time I featured it, I ended up looking at how the more traditional heart symbol developed and what an anatomically correct one represented. Tonight's sticker is clearly an example of the more socially acceptable symbol, well at least the base of this image is. Like any piece of art though, it is certainly a bit more complex once you start looking at it. The heart is generally used a symbol for love and affection. What makes this particular heart interesting is that it's bleeding, which as a phrase is typically used to disparage someone who is showing excessive sympathy for people of alleged persecution. Often this just means that you are liberal and are being called a bleeding heart because you again seem to be throwing a fit over some new "outrage." And while this may be a bleeding heart, it is also silenced. With the x over that spot you would normally associate with a mouth, it's an easy jump to the idea that this sticker is keeping it's mouth shut. Now it becomes a question of whether this silence is self-induced, out of a sense of fear of those around them not understanding, or if it is imposed on it by the society around them. Being a bleeding heart tends to be a dangerous thing nowadays.
I fully admit that I am probably reading way too much into this sticker. Looking through the creator's work I can't say that I really found an in depth discussion of why he made this particular image. But then again I have to put that English degree I'm still paying for to some use right. The man behind this sticker is known by the tag Grizzye. Browsing through his Instagram it looks like he started off as a street photographer and has gradually worked his way into more illustrative work. A lot of his doodling tends to be done over photos, making fairly original mixed media pieces. I tried to watch his artist statement that he made on Vimeo, to get a better idea of who he is, but my computer decided it was time to be uncooperative. One site that I found featuring Grizzye and his work mentioned that he is currently located in New York City and only about 18. It's little tidbits like this that keep me fascinated with these stickers. Seeing the wide variety of people who create these little pieces of daily art and how they manage to migrate around the country will always keep me enthralled. I have to say it'll be interesting to see where Grizzye goes in the future, he's certainly off to an intriguing start.
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Maggie Ondrey
An amateur photographer and writer capturing a small portion of the city. Archives
August 2017
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