The Mural and the Mint: Monday Exposure

The Mural and the Mint – Virgin Mouth (MP3)
The Mural and the Mint – I’m on Fire (MP3) via their website.

The Mural and the Mint are named after, their hometown, Philadelpia’s association with public art and the production of money. There’s an interesting comment

Philadelphia does have more public art than any other American city as a result of our (first in the nation) Percent for Art Program that requires developers to spend 1% of their project budget on public art. This can be spent on sculptures that sit in the lobby or outside the building or on special architectural details for the building itself. We also have a RDA Percent for Art program that requires that 1% be spent on art on any project that is located in an area overseen by the Redevelopment Authority.

It’s an interesting idea – particularly since it encourages businesses to get rid of the money and not care about the outcome. I hope the business men just grab a kid off the street, give them a pile of money and say, “Go do art.” That’s bound to have much more interesting results than carefully selected works.

When I’m made Grand High Commander of Earth, I’m going to institute a law that 1% of all advertising budgets must be used to create jingles. The jingle is a moribund art-form. I can’t remember one since IKEA’s shlomp. It’s all licensed pop songs or arty background music. Where’s the fun in that?

The Mural and the Mint are dedicated to their own public arts project by releasing all their recordings free because they, “believe that this is the only way for them to be heard as music, and not as products in Today’s culture.”

Download their stuff free on their website. If you like it you can donate here.