Author: Gaia

Gaia is a Brooklyn and Baltimore based street artist with a background in Printmaking and Sculpture. Marrying the animal and the human form, Gaia conjures mysterious figures that carry a heavy sense of mythology and recall a past when man and nature were once united. These romantic creatures stand in relief to the urban environment as they lurk and beckon in the city’s forgotten and neglected spaces. The conveyance of their story relies on the chance coincidence with a passerby, and even in that intimate moment, their narrative is precarious and delicate.
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Dimz in Seoul

So while I was back in Seoul in July, I made an effort to scour the city for spots, cutty neighorhoods, and of course other people getting up in the streets. I was only really able to find two of the three of my criteria. While upon real investigation Seoul had some amazing locations, the entire city is apparently entirely affluent, so unlike American cities, there were no classic “ghettos.” Furthermore, it seemed that the city was almost devoid of anyone actively bombing. Besides MintOne, the only other person that I really saw that was up was Dimz. I figured, since these two writers were essentially carrying the weight for South Korea, it would be worth noting their presence in a post. So check out the flickr for more shots.

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The text/sign


EDIT:Houston Street & Broadway: Joseph Kosuth, Text / Context, New York City, May 26–June 16, 1979. Courtesy Leo Castelli Gallery

Here we have a floating image. An amazing project but unfortunately do not know the party responsible. Can anyone help me(jordan seiler this is your cue)?

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Toronto Street Advertising Takeover Project

Jordan Seiler, organizer of the infamous NYSAT and bane to the advertising world, has just released the site to TOSAT, the Toronto Street Advertising Takeover Project. Attacking both street level back lit sites and elevated billboards, the project included more than 60 international artists whose work replaced over 90 ads. As always, these projects that Jordan has conducted are an important marriage between formal aspects of street art and activism. To learn more check out the website: http://www.publicadcampaign.com/tosat/

The Project description is as follows “With over half the worlds population now living in cities, our public spaces are playing an ever important role in the construction of our collective social identity. Outdoor advertising, with an interest in widely disseminating commercial ideals is finding its way deeper and deeper into these environments. While it is understood that commercial messages do not share our collective interests, we still do not question its use of our shared environments. In an effort to invigorate debate about how commercial interests are using public space and raise questions about how our communities desire to use those same spaces, non-violent civil disobedience projects like TOSAT engage the public in a dialogue of participation.”
“The TOSAT project is the most recent street advertising takeover project executed by PublicAdCampaign in Toronto. With over 60 artists and an international roster of contributors, this project provides a model for continued takeovers around the world. With each new city, a new set of on the ground collaborators will be necessary and many thanks must go out to PosterChild, Sean Martindale, and the DuSpa collective in Toronto for their unwavering support. As well these projects could not take place without the continued support of all the artists involved and we extend our deepest gratitude to all of those participants.”

Photos courtesy of TOSAT

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Living Walls Wrap Up

Living Walls Wrapup from Gaia Uroboros on Vimeo.

So Now that everything has settled down and I am back in New York, it’s time to sit down and adequately give an overview of the street, gallery and legal works produced for the Living Walls Conference. The focus of these works was a hybridization of the Cherokee and Suburbia, both entities that occupy the American imagination but are seemingly different. The photo references employed within these portraits are women of the Cherokee nation, which was one of the first Native American tribes to embrace the encroaching Western frontier. These photographs capture a people in transition who retain their traditional values while simultaneously assimilating to a new, oppressive lifestyle. In the largest of the four street pieces, the Cherokee weaving pattern transitions into the homogeneity of suburban sprawl, an issue that has defined Atlanta’s contemporary development. The romance of establishing autonomy closer to nature, away from the turmoil of the city, is joined with the domesticity of the Cherokee portraits, the romantically free people tamed by invasion. A more comprehensive overview of the other projects will be coming soon! More photos and details after the jump

Continue reading “Living Walls Wrap Up”

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The Buff

And so it is, the only piece that has been buffed in DC since my recent visit in July has in fact been a permission wall. Due to complaints from local neighbors, the manager of Whole Foods circumvented the building owner and had the piece painted over. The result of which is a perfect reflection of the former Rooster figure and two hands in negative space. For the full description on the whole ordeal visit Worn Magazine http://www.wornmagazine.com/2010/08/gaia-painted-over/

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Stop the Hate

“July 28, 2010:
Protesters in Phoenix, Arizona scaled a downtown crane to display their message, “Stop hate, no 287g, no 1070,” linking the local racial profiling law with the federal policy of criminalization. The banner was unfurled at approximately 6:00pm and remained on display for over an hour. The climbers released a statement that read, “Stopping the hate means not just stopping SB 1070 and Sheriff Arpaio in Arizona but stopping all the Arpaios that the President’s ice access program is creating all across the country.””
Via anitasarkeesian

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New Monuments by Specter

Specter continues with his street sculpture monuments with these two new pieces. These works are an intriguing consideration of street culture and street objects. Taking these readymades produced by happenstance and isolating them into considerate abstractions. Inevitably such pieces bring the awareness back to the simple moments that exist in our everyday surroundings.
via LunaPark

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Final Gaia Pieces in Seoul

The premise of this illegal street project was to extend my investigation of traditional folklore and religion in the United States to the city of Seoul. Utilizing Korea’s rich history and extensive mythology, a piece exploring the various conflicts that have defined this contentious nation was installed in each quadrant of the city. The application of each piece is structured according to the principles of Ohaeng, the five directions of the universe, thus the implementation is therein physically defined by the direction of Korean Mysticism. To see the whole project check out this set on flickr.

Sunrise Neighbor from Gaia Uroboros on Vimeo.

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Praying Monk by Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul

Gaia in Korea: the second of five pieces for each quadrant of the city. With the wave of evangelicalism that has arrived with the western wash that has suffused korea for the last half century, I thought it would be pertinent to hybridize/subvert the old tradition with the new influence. Shamanism and Buddhism were expelled from the city of seoul when the Joseon dynasty adopted Confucianism and now the country is undergoing a new religious transition to Christianity. But the Image of Buddhism has returned to the the walls of the palace right near the ancient gate of Gyeongbokgung, this time by the hands of a westerner. The contrast of the Buddhist monk with praying hands inscribed with the symbols of the disciple St Andrew is a portrait of passing times and transmission of culture.

This piece was literally put up a block away from the main gate in the thick of the national security of one of the most geopolitcally tenuous nations in Asia. Yet somehow a foreigner is always invisible.

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First Piece in Korea

Tiger Rabbit in Hongdae, Seoul from Gaia Uroboros on Vimeo.

Gaia in Korea: the first of five pieces for each quadrant of the city. The hybrid of the Tiger and Rabbit signifies the annual transition in the Korean calendar. Furthermore, these archetypal symbols of aggression and submission address the hierarchy of japanese colonization and contemporary korean identity. Situated in Hongdae, the center of Seoul’s fashion and nightlife, the neighborhood is the confluence of traditional korean culture and American influence.

To stay abreast of future pieces check in on this map for updates.