This new video by Sweza, Selbstbetrachtung, plays with a CCTV camera. Sweza says, “I try to give the surveillance camera a whole new view on the world, open new perspectives by giving it a vice versa view.”
Check it out:
And if you’re not quite sure how Sweza managed to get the footage from that event for his own use, this video should explain things a bit more clearly…
Happy almost Halloween. It’s been a week of wasted energy, or so it seems. A potential legal wall that I was organizing has fallen through for the time being, but hopefully things are just delayed rather than cancelled. Here’s some of what I should have posted about this week:
Photo by Bust
Here’s something new from Mobstr in London. Let’s be honest: I have a feeling that his trick to not getting arrested might have to do with doing street art rather than graffiti.
Photo by AdversMedia
As mentioned the other day, Ema and Kid Acne were recently in France to work on a gallery installation. While there, both of them also had the chance to put up some work outdoors. These are a few of my favorite pieces, but the full set of images and spots can be found here.
Photos courtesy of Kid Acne
Escif has been painting in France recently. This wall in in Besançon, the hometown of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon who was the first person to call himself an anarchist. Escif also painted at The 4th Wall festival in Niort, France.
Photos by Escif
K-Guy put out the above “carpet bomb” last week at Occupy London, which is taking near the London Stock Exchange. While Nolionsinengland has some nice things to say about K-Guy and the piece over on Graffoto, I’ve got a major problem with it. Is the “carpet bombing” idea a bit funny upon first hearing it? Yeah, I guess. Is K-Guy’s pun worthy of being on a protest sign? Sure. I like it. But there’s a funny story about how I hear about this piece… The above image was emailed to me by the woman doing PR for K-Guy’s upcoming solo show at London West Bank Gallery in the hopes that I would post about this piece and, in the process, also mention that K-Guy just happens to have a show coming up next month where he will be trying to sell a lot of artwork in a short amount of time.
In the past, I’ve defended the practice of street artists getting up in order to build hype for a show, so long as the work isn’t overtly advertising a show (such as putting the gallery name and date of the opening on a poster). Particularly when an artist isn’t from the city where the show is being held, it’s a way to get their artwork out on the street when it otherwise wouldn’t be there, regardless of any advertising angle. That’s not what happened here.
It seems like K-Guy has gone too far here. He has made what is (likely) a very temporary piece, put it right next to a legitimate protest about putting people over profits, and then used photographs of the protest and his artwork in order to immediately turn around and try to sell something. He is blatantly trying to make a buck off of these protestors, which seems to me to be quite disrespectful the Occupy movement, even if the spread of K-Guy’s image may potentially raise some awareness for Occupy London. For me, his PR campaign delegitimizes this piece by K-Guy, and it will likely make me think twice about any of his politically-charged work in the future. The whole incident reminds me a bit of this Levi’s ad.
Oh crud, I guess the PR machine worked anyway. Didn’t Warhol say something about not reading your press, but weighing it?
Photo courtesy of K-Guy
Ema and Kid Acne worked together on an installation that is running right now in Niort, France. Unclear ground/ Terrain vague is put on by Winterlong Galerie is open at the Pilori Museum now through October 29th. Here are some photos, but you can find even more here and here. The installation also includes this video by JiPÉ Corre.
Photos courtesy of Kid Acne
The UK’s Paul Insect has a show, Triptease Revue, opening next month at Post No Bills in LA. While he might be best known in some circles for reportedly selling a boatload of art to Damien Hirst, Paul Insect has had a presence on the street on and off for years, even collaborating with Sweet Toof on a number of occasions recently. Paul Insect is one of those artists that I’m constantly going back and forth about. I’ll see one piece and love it, and then see another and thing it’s way too obvious, but at least that means he is constantly changing his style up and not getting stuck into one thing. I’m curious to see just what he’s come up with for Triptease Revue. Here are a few teaser shots:
Triptease Revue opens on November 2nd and runs through December 1st.
Photos courtesy of Post No Bills
Very Nearly Almost issue 16 has been out for about a month and a half now, so I’m a bit late on this one. Issue 16 has Invader on the cover, a must-read interview with Kid Zoom, photos from the streets of London, Paris and Melbourne and much more. The stand-out of this issue is definitely that interview with Kid Zoom, and if you’re a fan of his, I’d pick up VNA16 just for that piece alone. It’s one of the most honest and mature interviews I’ve read from any young artist. That dude is going places.
You can buy Very Nearly Almost in their online shop.
Photos courtesy of Very Nearly Almost
