RJ Rushmore – Page 13 – Vandalog

January 31, 2015

Replacing ads with your own messages just got a lot easier

Ever wanted to place your own messages into bus shelter advertising kiosks? Well, now it’s easier than ever with PublicAccess from PublicAdCampaign, a new service that will provide you with just the proper art object for opening up ad kiosks in your city.

Since November 2013, Jordan Seiler and a handful of other artists and street art photographers have been using the somewhat curious hashtag #yeahwegotkeysforthat on Instagram. While it was never quite a secret what was going on, perhaps PublicAdCampaign’s most ambitious project to date remained in semi-stealth mode until today. The results of the project were never secret, but it was never fully explained either.

If you were paying close attention, you would discover that Seiler was manufacturing and distributing sculptures to artists around the world. These sculptures double as “keys,” to bus shelter advertising kiosks around the world. Slowly, Seiler has been buliding up an inventory of various key designs (the locks are standarized across a given public transit system, but can vary from city to city) and mapping out where each design works. New York? Yeah, he’s got keys for that. London? Yeah, he’s got keys for that. San Fransisco? Yeah, he’s got keys for that. Hence the hashtag.

Until today, Seiler was just distributing the keys to friends and word of mouth connections, but now he’s opening up the project to the general public. At PublicAccess, you’ll find a map telling you which keys work in which cities, as well as links to download each design for free as a 3D printable file or buy a premade key for $35. Now, everyone’s got keys for that.

The open source project is still in the process of expanding, with keys for more cities coming soon. In the mean time, even with just a few key designs, PublicAccess has greatly expanded the general public’s access to bus shelter advertisements.

Of course, the site carries the disclaimer, “THE TOOLS OFFERED THRU THIS SITE ARE HANDMADE ART OBJECTS AND NOT INTENDED FOR USE…” so keep that in mind while you’re using your key.

Photos by Jordan Seiler

January 10, 2015

Enter our stikman calendar giveaway

stikman, one of the most elusive and fascinating street artists active today, has given us 10 of his 2015 stikman calendars to give away. These things are great to put on the fridge.

We’re making the rules for this giveaway pretty simply. To enter, just make sure you’re following @vandalog on Instagram, and like this photo. On Monday evening, I’ll randomly select 10 winners out of that pool. Each winner will be mailed one calendar.

Good luck!

Photo by RJ Rushmore

January 10, 2015January 18, 2015

Debunking some “leaked” “Banksy photos”

Part of an installation from "Banksy vs the Bristol Museum." Photo by fingertrouble. — Part of an installation from “Banksy vs the Bristol Museum”

Ugh… Another day, another ridiculous article about Banksy about to go viral. On Friday evening, Whitehot Magazine sent out an email with the subject line “Banksy Unmasked: Real Photos of Banksy WORLD EXCLUSIVE.”

Basically, I suggest that you ignore Whitehot Magazine’s post and photos. They’re essentially nonsense. If you’re content to leave it at that, feel free to ignore the rest of this post. If you want to know why Whitehot Magazine’s post is verifiably hooey, read on…

Continue reading “Debunking some “leaked” “Banksy photos””

January 8, 2015January 8, 2015

Banksy has NOT (yet) responded to the Charlie Hebdo shooting

Photo that was posted to the @banksy instagram account

Yesterday’s terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris has led to an outpouring of tributes from visual artists worldwide. One artist who has not (yet) responded is Banksy, but that hasn’t stopped sites like Mashable and the Huffington Post from reporting that Banksy’s response might be the illustration above, since the image was posted to the @banksy Instagram account.

Here’s the problem though: That’s not Banksy’s account, or Banksy’s illustration. Jo Brooks, Banksy’s pr person, has confirmed to Vandalog that the only official Banksy Instagram account is @banksy.co.uk, and that the illustration posted by the @banksy account is not by Banksy.

The illustration that the media is calling Banksy’s is actually by Lucille Clerc. She tweeted a (much less filtered and low-resolution) version of the illustration shortly before it was reposted by the fake @banksy account. Also, the post by @banksy now credits Clerc as the artist behind the powerful illustration, although the credit might not have been there when the post first went up.

For future reference, the rule of thumb is that a Banksy is a Banksy if it’s been posted on his official website.

Photo from @banksy, an illustration by Lucille Clerc

January 7, 2015January 7, 2015

A second look at Hanksy’s “Surplus Candy” webseries

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This past fall, moderately anonymous street artist and pun extraordinaire Hanksy did something pretty surprising by launching a sort of online travel show on YouTube, sponsored for some reason by The Hundreds and Squarespace. The show’s original name was Trivial Pursuits, but even its final title of Surplus Candy (a nod to his last surprising project) is a nod to the equal parts awesome and patronizing theme of the show: Exploring the “trivial” cities of North America (read: Everything except New York City or Los Angeles) in search of what makes their art scenes amazing and unique.

With every episode, Hanksy gets to know a new city by meeting with local artists and art-supporters. By the end of each episode, Hanksy is so pumped on each city that it almost sounds like he’s going to move there. But alas, Hanksy remains a transplant in New York City, chasing his dreams in the Big Apple. And that’s my main frustration with Surplus Candy, an otherwise great series. It’s just a bit difficult to believe that any of the cities in Surplus Candy are quite as great as Hanksy says they are, or that it’s true that great art can thrive in a “surplus city,” when the show is hosted by a man who moved from Chicago to New York City. But okay, the host isn’t perfect, but damn he’s a lot better than you might expect…

I’m not ashamed to say that I’m a Hanksy fan, and Hanksy’s not ashamed to say that his art isn’t the most serious or sublime thing in the world. As the theme song to Surplus Candy goes, “From east to west he’s got the smarts, when jokes are dicks and laughs are farts.” So how can Hanksy host a travel show? Actually, quite well. Yes, there are silly puns and probably a few fart jokes, but Surplus Candy is no Borat. In each city, Hanksy talks to all the right people and gives them a real chance to celebrate their city, plus he slips in some serious commentary about issues like gentrification and the commodification of street art along the way. As someone who used a host a web series about street art (yes, really) and considered hosting a street art-centric travel show, I’m confident that Hanksy has done a better job than I did.

There’s one point that comes up again and again in Surplus Candy that I particularly loved. As you watch each episode, you’ll begin to notice how Hanksy embraces the notion that every city has a unique kind of street art because of its unique architecture and design or regulations governing art outdoors. As much as people complain that graffiti and street art styles have become globalized, and they have to a large extent, Hanksy shows how every city has a unique environment, lending itself to different kinds of interventions. That’s something that a lot of people don’t realize, and it comes across beautifully in Surplus Candy as Hanksy celebrates the unique opportunities and pitfalls of each city he visits.

Plus, in a few episodes, Hanksy touches on points that relate to my recent post about “open walls.” Yes, Montreal has a street art festival, Chicago has Pawn Works organizing murals, and in Portland there is an official process permitting murals, but Montreal criminalizes the work of the same artists being celebrated at its festival, it’s illegal to purchase spraypaint in Chicago, and the mural permitting process in Portland seems ineffective and slow. So I enjoyed that.

I’ll say it again: Surplus Candy is not Borat. It’s a genuine guy trying to highlight other genuine people in North American cities that don’t always get enough shine, and he happens to be doing it through a character known for dick jokes.

The final episode of Surplus Candy‘s first season was posted in early December, so I’m a bit late at getting around to these, but tonight I rewatched each episode, and now I want to take a road trip… Check them out for yourself below… Continue reading “A second look at Hanksy’s “Surplus Candy” webseries”

January 7, 2015January 8, 2015

Making history from coast to coast this week

Curiot’s piece for *La Familia* at Thinkspace Gallery. Photo courtesy of Thinkspace Gallery.

This week folks in LA and NYC have reason to celebrate with two historic shows opening in those cities.

On the West Coast, Thinkspace Gallery has their La Familia 10th anniversary group show, which will be historic in the sense of looking back over the first decade of a great gallery. Thinkspace is one of my favorite West Coast galleries, so it’s exciting to see them celebrating 10 years. For La Familia, Thinkspace are reuniting with the myriad of artists they’ve shown and supported over the last decade for a group exhibition of over 120 small wood panels from as many artists (panels provided by Trekell). I’m not usually one for overloaded group shows, but this is one that I can get excited about. La Familia opens on Saturday, January 10th. Learn more here.

Painting from KATSU's Android Selfies series. Photo courtesy of The Hole. — *Selfie: Feng-shui 1* by KATSU. Photo courtesy of The Hole.

And on the East Coast, NYC’s The Hole is holding Remember the Future, a KATSU solo show. Of course, this show has the potential to be historic for being KATSU’s first solo show. It’s no secret that I’m not usually fan of The Hole’s program, but this is an important exception. KATSU is one of the most mysterious, groundbreaking, and potentially influential graffiti writers to come to prominence in the 21st century. He’s a member of BTM and F.A.T. Lab, and he’s produced innovations in traditional graffiti as well as net art/digital pranksterism. The few pieces of KATSU’s gallery work that I’ve seen have ranged from absolutely awesome (see above) to hokey. Although the press release offers some ideas, I’m still not totally sure what to expect from KATSU’s first solo show, but I’m optimistic that it will be pretty damn impressive and I’m sure it will be something to remember. Remember the Future opens at The Hole on Thursday, January 8th.

Photos courtesy of Thinkspace Gallery and The Hole

December 24, 2014August 18, 2017

What and where are open walls?

Partial buffed Barry McGee mural at Bowery and Houston (the buff marks cover more red tags). Photo by Andrew Russeth. — Partially buffed Barry McGee mural at Bowery and Houston (the buff marks cover more red tags). Photo by Andrew Russeth.

UPDATE: Xavi Ballaz (known for Difusor and the Open Walls Conference in Barcelona) has responded to this post with some of the more positive advancements towards open walls, and suggests that the open walls movement does indeed need a manifesto.

A friend of mine recently used an interesting phrase: “the open walls movement.” I thought he was using the term as a synonym for “the street art festival circuit,” which upset me, because street art festivals do not have what I would call “open walls.” But really, my friend was commenting on a larger movement perceived to be spreading around the world to use public space differently (insomuch as walls on private property are public space). On the surface, he’s right. Street art festivals, grassroots muralism programs, free walls, curated alleyways and everything in between now exist in cities and small towns around the world.

Does that make a movement? I don’t know. Nobody is getting together to write a manifesto and participants’ aims and methods are diverse, but there is a disparate group of what I’ll call “open walls people” who share a new way of looking at walls and public space: Public walls are for the artists, murals enliven streets and communities, and there should be limited or no government regulation of murals, but advertising in public space should be heavily regulated or eliminated entirely. Simply put, “open walls people” believe in unrestricted art in (often odd) public spaces.

But how open are our walls today? Surfing the web, it sometimes feels like globe-trotting muralists can hop off a plane in any city, find a wall, and begin painting the next day, or that every small European city is covered in murals. That’s simply not true. Despite valiant and well-intentioned efforts, there’s a long way to go before we have anything approaching “open walls.”

Continue reading “What and where are open walls?”

December 23, 2014

Help fund Escif’s new book on Indiegogo

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Conceptual street artist Escif is in the midst of an already very successful crowdfunding campaign to produce his first book, titled ELSEWHERE. Escif is one of the more interesting and groundbreaking street artists to have emerged in recent years, and it’s great to see his book already seeing so much success. You can support the project and pick up a copy on Indiegogo.

Photo courtesy of Escif

December 21, 2014

Camping in Crimea

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I’d just like to share a statement and a few images that I got from Brad Downey a few days ago:

This year, a speech delivered by Putin declared, with lips split by a smile, the purpose of Crimea’s annexation as, “protecting the interests of the Russian-speaking population in Crimea.” This absurd oversimplification undermines the reality of the actions that took place. The annexation resulted in disorder and chaos, and deep mistrust between countries. In yet one more simplification of this complex situation, governments in both the East and the West, have executed orders motivated by greed that resulted in tragic loss.

The artists, Brad Downey, an American, and Igor Ponosov, a Russian, developed an altruistic friendship, despite odds being against them. Physical distance and language barriers stood as challenges, but over the course of four years, the artists came to know one another as brothers. They realized projects together many times and travelled to meet each other in different countries. They hoped to do a project in Ukraine one day, since Igor had especially come to love spending time there. When they heard about the conflict in Ukraine, they decided that now would be the best time to finally realize the project they wanted to do there.

It would be a chance to symbolically subvert the greed displayed by government. They prepared for the trip to Ukraine by stealing advertisement banners, a representation of consumerism, hence purchases obtained by money and influenced by greed. Brad and Igor converted the appropriated advertisement banners into a mobile artist workspace. The tent could be deconstructed easily and stored in a small backpack.

By the time Brad and Igor were ready to go to Ukraine the peninsula had been annexed. Instead, they went to the Russian territory of Crimea. They asked no one to help fund this trip, for they wanted to accomplish it without external influences, during a time and in a location where outside influence ruled. For three days, they hiked to reach the Crimea’s highest plateau. Throughout this period of living inside the creation, they cherished the beautiful countryside and mourned the actions, or lack of action, from both the East and the West.

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Photos courtesy of Brad Downey

December 17, 2014December 18, 2014

Blu goes black, buffing his own work in Berlin

Photo by Dario-Jacopo Lagana. — Photo by Dario-Jacopo Lagana

Last week, Blu shocked Berlin by orchestrating the removal of two of his own iconic murals, including a mural that was at one point a collaboration with JR. The murals were located in the city’s famous Kreuzberg neighborhood, which was once home to squatters and artists, but is now undergoing significant and swift gentrification.

The squatters in the buildings Blu had painted were recently evicted, and a real estate developer is about to build on the empty lot in front of the murals. Apparently, the new condos would have had a great view of the murals. So, one night last week, a team with two lifts painted the walls black, and they did it with Blu’s support.

Blu commented, “After witnessing the changes happening in the surrounding area during the last years, we felt it was time to erase both walls.”

Here’s a gif of the buff job from Blu:

Even though I’m not sure I entirely agree with his actions, I definitely say bravo to Blu for sticking to his principles. I’m sad to see these murals go, but their removal is one of the greatest statements made about street art this year. Blu’s street art is highly political, as was this act. Blu decided what to do with his murals before that right could be taken away from him or the murals could be co-opted by a property developer. He took control of a space, just as he did when he first painted the murals in 2007 and 2008. These pieces were painted for old Kreuzberg, not yuppie Kreuzberg, and the yuppies can’t have them.

Finally, of course, here’s what the murals used to look like (after JR’s wheatpastes had decayed and Blu painted goggles in their place):

Photos by Dario-Jacopo Lagana and Frank M. Rafik and courtesy of Blu