Blek Le Rat Box Set
Fri >> May 8, 2009
Over the years, one thing we learned about street art is that the motivation of the artist is not vandalism or destruction of private property. Rather it's to beautify and bring creativity to "ugly" things and ugly places.
When we received the photo above in our email today, it struck us that Rene Gagnon is putting up his art on ugly rusting crappy dumpsters, not beautiful marble walls. The act of putting up his art is definitely illegal. And our opinion is that it shouldn't be "legal". It is indeed an "illegal" act.
But when you look at this photo above- Is Rene's act of putting up his art on a crappy dumpster "vandalism" or beautification?
Vandalism is defined in the dictionary as:
"an action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property."
So the question we ask ourselves is:
Is adding his artwork to an urban blight "destruction of or damage" of public or private property? Yes, the dumpster is private property. But how is the act of adding art to rusting tin "destruction" or "damage"?
We don't expect everyone to agree with us. It's just how we feel.
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If you've ever heard Sara and I talk, then you know how much we love projects like EPOS 257's paintball splattered billboards in Prague.
We love a short phrase in his artist statement in which he calls his work - "a gesture expressing an opinion".
Because Street Art is ephemeral. And because the artist is always risking arrest. Every piece of street art is to us - "a gesture expressing an opinion"
From EPOS 257:
"Shooting into the white surface of vacant billboards with a paintball gun – blank canvasses in an urban environment, a gesture expressing an opinion and at the same time abstract painting in a urban environmemt."
Masterpiece 2.0, a social media art project by Baschz and Selfcontrolfreak.
Masterpiece 2.0 is the latest project from and Selfcontrolfreak and Baschz (who if you've been following the Wooster site for a while, was formerly known as Betamaxxx)
While we'd love to explain the project to you ourselves, but it's so complex (and in our minds, brilliant) that perhaps we should just share the artist's statement:
"It’s the first ever canvas being made with a Web 2.0 approach. The canvas interacts with its visitors who can affect the process and final outcome of this masterpiece.
Through actions like Introduce Object, Shirt 'Em and Cameo Appearance you can interact with Selfcontrolfreak, right on the canvas! This will add new animation to the time-lapse movie and get you a one-off hi-res image of one of your animation's frames, created and signed by Baschz.
You can follow the whole process LIVE through the webcam and Twitter feeds.
The final multilayered canvas and documentation of the project are being auctioned, so you can become the owner of this unique painting!"
Confused? Don't worry. Click here and to check out the site.
Posted by marc at 8:23 AM in Diggin | Recommend this! |
Thu >> May 7, 2009
Chris Johansen
ESPO
Our friends over at Paper Magazine recently invited an amazing group of "visual communicators" to create original advertising concepts that would redefine America's image. The full set can be found in the latest issue of the magazine as well as online here. They're terrific.
More from Prefab77 here.
Wed >> May 6, 2009
If you've never seen the Wooster Collective talk that Sara and I give, the full video of our PSFK talk is now online:
Posted by marc at 6:05 PM in Site Announcements | Recommend this! (22) |
Tue >> May 5, 2009
"In our over-juried, overexposed, over-hyped land of art and design it's refreshing to see an art event that not only has no jury, but also gives away the pieces in an "unprejudiced" way to anyone near the bike path. Born out of a reaction to recent changes regarding Berlin's vandalism laws, Papergirl rallies artists and cyclists to distribute rolls of paper art (posters, prints, etc.) to unsuspecting Berliners."... Sezio.
We absolutely love Berlin's Papergirl project founded by the original Papergirl, Aisha Ronniger. It's these types of actions that make cities "livable". Our hope is that Papergirls and Paperboys will be in cities all over the world this Summer. You can read a terrific overview here on Sezio. And be sure to check out the Papergirl website here.
Papergirl #3 from Papergirl on Vimeo.
Posted by marc at 8:28 AM in Art | Recommend this! (39) |
We love it when artists take on new challenges. Recently a group of amazing artists, includng our friends bo130, Microbo, and Jeremy Fish, teamed up with Superego Editions to produce a series of wonderful ceramic sculptures to coincide with the 48° Fuori Salone di Milano. The ceramics were produced and made by the old ceramic masters of Nove.
We love them. Click here for more information.
Posted by marc at 8:09 AM in Art | Recommend this! (23) |
Last week we mentioned that the Kings of the City Graffiti Film Festival would be taking place all this month at the Maysles Institute in Harlem.
Check out this terrific video which highlights what went down over the weekend. We agree that this an event that should not to be missed.
Last week we highlighted Jordan Seiler's NYSAT event in which a team of activists and artists whitewashed 120 Illegal outdoor billboards in New York City and replaced them with art.
This morning Carolyn Tripp posted a wonderful interview with Jordan on the Canadian site, illegalsigns.ca. It gives a terrific overview of the project for those interested in learning more. You can read it here.
http://illegalsigns.ca/2009/05/04/illegal-npa-outdoor-billboards-replaced-with-art-in-new-york-city/
Best,
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http://www.trippcar.com
http://www.hoofinthemouth.blogspot.com
*new projects - Contact 2009 on the TTC
(http://www.trippcar.com/02_html%20docs%20-%20all/gtc001.html)
Mon >> May 4, 2009
If your not yet familiar with the work of EVOL, be sure to check out a series of photographs taken by Just, which documents EVOL's first solo exhibition at the Wilde Gallery in Berlin.
Here's a description of the show:
"For his first solo show with the gallery, EVOL presents a Four by Three meter installation titled “Flamingo Beach – Later” consisting of a meticulously stencilled environment that oscillates between a real transitory space and an imaginary faux location that plays on the idea of the cinematic prop as well as collective suspension of disbelief."
There´s a free catalogue to download here.
Posted by marc at 7:46 AM in Berlin | Recommend this! (28) |
Sara Watson, a design student studying drawing at the University of Central Lancashire, spent three weeks taking a battered old Skoda and making it "disappear" by painting it so that it blends in with the surrounding area.
The BBC reports that the car is now being used as advertising for the local recycling firm that donated the vehicle.
Posted by marc at 7:33 AM in Art | Recommend this! (127) |
"These hearts were painted by my girlfriend and I in Coimbra, Portugal a couple of years back. She is from Coimbra and I am from Chicago and we've been able to maintain a long distance relationship for the past 2.5 years. Since then, we continue to paint some of these hearts every time we are together in Coimbra. What is interesting about Portugal's Calçada (sidewalk), is that you can take a combination of a minimum of three stones and find the shape of an abstract heart form. The heart can grow by adding more stones to the original three."
Posted by marc at 7:16 AM in Environmental | Recommend this! (28) |
Sat >> May 2, 2009
If you're in New York, and haven't made your plans for the evening, check out theGREAToutDOORS. a show that celebrates "the door as canvas" at the Artbreak Gallery. Curated by luna park and billi kid the show features work by Blanco, Broken Crow, Buildmore, Cake, C-Damage, Celso, Cern, Chris (RWK), Deeker, Destroy&Rebuild;, Dude Company, Feral, Goldenstash, Imminent Disaster, Infinity, Kngee, LA 2, Matt Siren, Morgan Thomas, Peru Ana Ana Peru, Plasma Slugs, Veng (RWK), Royce Bannon, Skullphone, Stickman, Windowzoo and Yassie Goldie.
Artbreak Gallery is located at 195 Grand Street, 2nd Floor, between Bedford and Driggs
Avenues in Williamsburg. Hours are Thursday through Sunday, 1-7pm.