I was wondering what they’d get up to for the Clogged Caps Festival – well, here it is! Read more about the event here.
Interview with RJ on Inspire Collective
Thanks to Inspire at Inspire Collective for interviewing me about street art. Here’s a snippet:
“RJ, tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into appreciate graffiti, street, and public art in general?”
My dad actually got me into the whole scene. He came home from work one day almost two years ago and asked me if I knew about some guys called Faile. He’d bought a print by them. Neither of us had been seriously interested in art before that, but we both fell in love with the world of street art and haven’t looked back since. Right now I’m taking a gap year before heading off to university next fall, and street art is the overarching theme for my year.
“Its always good to see another public art site out there appreciating independent artists, how did Vandalog begin?”
I started Vandalog about 1 year ago as a way to keep up to date on street art news and increase my involvement with the street art community. Because I post something every day, I always have to be on the look out for news or something interesting to write about, and when I go to gallery openings or visit another city, I can reach out to artists or blog readers and immediately I have some connections in that city who can tell me all the cool things to do. And of course, it’s a great way to help promote my friends’ projects.
Read the rest of the interview on Inspire Collective
Hrag talks to Public Ad Campaign
Hrag Vartanian has a really interesting interview on Hyperallergic with Jordan Seiler of Public Ad Campaign, the organizer of the New York Street Advertising Takeover (NYSAT) (as mentioned previously). Here’s a snippet:
Hrag Vartanian: Is the NYSAT campaign an art or activist project or both?
Jordan Seiler: Activism informed by art and the artistic process. Sometimes it takes a few hundred artists to move the law forward
HV: If it’s art, what would you consider the aesthetics of the project?
JS: Aesthetics? I don’t think this is visual as much as about mental clarity.
HV: Were you surprised that the advertisers were able to react as fast as they did this time to the street project? Most of the ads didn’t last through the day, did they?
JS: No. Many location saw ads go up a mere hour afterward.
HV: That’s incredible. How are these illegal ad companies able to avoid arrests for their illegal activities, while activists who are covering the same space with non-corporate ads aren’t?
JS: I am not sure. But I did call the cops while they were posting ads on Sunday and they did not listen to my complaint about them not having permits. I think it speaks to the fact that the city is ready to defend the private over the public.
Read the rest on Hyperallergic
The Thousands
Here’s a little update on The Thousands, the art exhibition that I’m curating and organizing in London next month. Just a few weeks to go before it opens, and I’m working my ass off. There is really an amazing line up of artists. Subject to slight changes here and there, here’s the full line up:
Adam Neate
Aiko
Anthony Lister
Armsrock
Banksy
Barry McGee
Bast
Blek le Rat
Burning Candy
Chris Stain
David Ellis
Elbow-toe
Faile
Futura 2000
Gaia
Herakut
Jenny Holzer
José Parlá
Judith Supine
Kaws
Know Hope
Nick Walker
Os Gêmeos
Roa
Sam3
Shepard Fairey
Skewville
Swoon
WK Interact
So the artwork is amazing, but The Thousands is also the book launch for my book, The Thousands: Painting Outside, Breaking In. Hope to see everybody there on the 18th.
Sneaking in to see Burning Candy and others
The latest in my series of videos for Babelgum Metropolis is online. Essentially, I’ve figured out how to best enjoy the latest large mural from Burning Candy as well as new pieces by Blek le Rat and Pure Evil which have popped up in East London.
Also, yesterday I meant to post a video of me at MuTate Britain, but accidentally posted another video of the show. Well here is the video I meant to post:
Blue Print for Space at Basil Miami
Primary Flight is the art organization which has put on an amazing show of street art at Basil Miami for the past few years. This year, in addition to their outdoor murals, Primary Flight have organized an indoor show as well. Blue Print for Space has an impressive and diverse line-up ranging from Augor and Revok to Know Hope and Stormie Mills. Very excited to see how this goes.
Conor Harrington at Lazarides
I don’t know how I’ve neglected to mention this before now. Tomorrow night is the opening of Conor Harrington’s solo show, Headless Heroes, at Lazarides Rathbone. I’ve seen some images from the show and there are a few pieces that have caught my eye, but I’m curious what I’ll think after seeing everything in person.
Headless Heroes runs from October 30th until November 26th. Expect some photos posted after the opening.
The Juxtapoz Auction
Juxtapoz have put together a stunning line up for their online charity art auction. Over 100 artists including Swoon, Ron English, Josh Keyes, Anthony Lister and Mudwig. The bidding starts today and runs until November 20th on Charitybuzz.com.
And the whole thing is of course a charity auction:
Proceeds from “The Big Payback” auction will support the goal of purchasing five homes and employing local Detroit contractors, electricians, plumbers, and carpenters to perform the renovations. Selected artists will also be invited to participate in the remodeling. The event aims to raise the consciousness of both the problems of people disenfranchised by the nation’s economic crisis, as well as encourage a sense of community in the art world and inspire people to effect positive social change in their own communities.
MuTate: One Foot in the Grove
Here’s my take on this year’s MuTate Britain: Correction: I’ve got a video about MuTate coming up on Babelgum soon, and when I saw this on the Babelgum site, I thought this was it. I only saw the title, because the computer I was blogging from wasn’t working well and wouldn’t show me the video. 20 hours later, I’ve gone back to check out the video, and turns out this isn’t the one I made. Still a very cool video though.
NYSAT2
NYSAT2 struck the streets of New York yesterday morning, whitewashing over 100 illegal street level billboard advertisements and adorning them with work from various artists. Despite intense NPA harassment and a major police crackdown that resulted in a few arrests, it seems that every artist had the chance to at least get their work up for a few hours. Unfortunately, NPA made a tremendous effort to reclaim all of their space so I think it is safe to say that nothing has lasted into this morning. But fear not, the whole process was documented so incredibly well that it was staggering. Here is the flickr account from last year! http://www.flickr.com/photos/37774782@N05
For a more detailed account of the activities yesterday, check out the New York Times article that ran in the paper today in the New York Region section written by reporter COLIN MOYNIHAN who I had the pleasure of rolling with most of the day. And of course http://www.publicadcampaign.com/ will be releasing more in depth coverage and documentation.
Here are the pieces that I hit up yesterday with ClownSoldier. We ended up taking two billboards and concluded the route with a revisit to a classic spot in Chelsea that I haven’t put work up at in a minute. Was super nice to be back in New York for a couple days but now back to school
