While that might seem like a fair chunk of change, the league itself has been going since 1984. Your’s truly has been tasked with generating a logo worthy of commemorating this event. What does this say about the visual arts talent in the league?? Anyway, here‘s what I’ve been up to all morning.

At turns silly and beautiful and poetic, it’s a delight to read. I hoovered up everything in the space of a few moments this morning. It now sits in my collection of RSS feeds. Simply fantastic.

They came at the mainstream from a revolutionary angle. When the mainstream co-opted their position (as the mainstream always will when an angle attracts a following) they appeared to fold. I hate to use Iraq as an analogy, but it is apt here. Hussien’s power structure meekly folded in the face of obviously overwhelming force. The dispersal wasn’t a show of weakness however. It was a paradigm shift. The conflict moved to an asymetrical, insurgent / gorilla phase.

I think Devo pulled a similar maneuver whether consciously or not. By fading into the fabric of pop culture they are able to comment on and manipulate it in ways that are unavailable to someone on the outside. Mothersbaugh, in particular, seemed visionary in his creation of Mutata Muzika. De-evolutionary influence pervades all aspects of media these days. By ‘selling out’ Devo actually went all in. And it looks like they’re way ahead in this game.

Don’t believe me, read this article in the LA Weekly. The in-depth look at Mothersbaugh post-Devo and what that group of people have accomplished belies the treatment the band gets as a one-hit wonder.

Oh, and if you’re suitably impressed, there’s an appropriately de-evolutionary fan club that offers fun and gifts and the opportunity to ironically commercialize art through mass consumption of crafted oddities. I’m proud member 1221.