So Tuesday was Dreweatts’ October Urban Art auction. In the spirit of not doing schoolwork, I made a little spreadsheet of the results along with noting how each lot did compared with Dreweatts’ estimate.
Enjoy.
Click to Download Results Spreadsheet
Graf Wall Vandalized Before It Opened
This article in The Sun caught my eye today.
A BLANK wall built for teenage graffiti artists has been vandalised by an angry resident writing – ”I paid my tax and all I got was this lousy wall”.
The £3,000 6ft high by 30ft long wall was installed so youths could practice their graffiti artwork without using local property.
But ahead of its opening on October 31 the fed-up resident sneaked behind a security fence and daubed a protest about the use of taxpayer’s money.
Personally, I find the whole story hilarious.
First, because the council now thinks they need to repaint the wall. Now, I don’t know the exact details of this wall, and maybe the plan is to repaint it every few months, but it seems like it would be easy enough to just wait until the wall opens and let the kids paint over it.
Second, because they automatically assume that some disgruntled taxpayer did this. Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was an ironic teenager. If I lived in Wadebridge and was clever enough, I might have sprayed that even though I like the idea of the wall.
Thirdly, the idea of the wall itself. Yes, I just said i like the idea of the wall, and I do because it gives artists a place to paint where they don’t have to worry about being arrested (or maybe not). I just don’t think this is going to limit the amount of graf in the area. Part of street art and graffiti is the illicit nature of the work.
Hopefully we can see some photos when the wall is opened officially.
Shepard Fairey Obama Video
Current.tv has done a video about Shepard Fairey’s Obama images which includes a pretty cool interview with Shepard Fairey himself talking about the project.
I think this series of images has become a lot of people have realized. Today I saw a friend of mine, who would never normally wear something by the OBEY brand, wearing a t-shirt with the Progress image on it.
Do you Know Hope?
This is the first in a series of two or three interviews just this week on Vandalog.com. To kick it all off, we put a few questions to American/Israeli artist Know Hope. Know Hope is originally from California, but now he lives in Tel Aviv. His work can be seen at thisislimbo.com. Most of Know Hope’s recent work includes his distinctive characters with a spindly figure and striped hoodie. Recently, Know Hope has exhibited at Urban Angel’s Corked show in London, and when this interview took place, his first solo show recently opened at Gallery Anno Domini in San Jose.
In a lot of your work, especially with the lanterns, it seems that its ephemeral nature is part of what makes it so special. What attracted you to making work for the street, and in particular, art that is so temporary?
The idea that everything is temporary fascinates me because of its presence and the thought of how something so timely can be timeless. With my work I often try to make that aspect almost physical, making the installations be active or complete only for a specific time frame. I think it creates an interesting dialogue in the sense that it makes for a more personal encounter or interaction. Time’s a funny thing, we’ll try to run from it on one hand and try to gather it on the other. And once were all bundled up in what we supposedly have, the moment has passed and it’s no longer relevant. But time does wait for no man, and we’re always so comforted by nostalgia without realizing that we’re creating our future memories, that same nostalgia in real time.
How would you describe the characters you paint?
I kind of see them as a visual manifestation of some certain struggle, some common denominator that ties us all together. Some sort of puppet or “personal icon” that is a culmination of things I’ve yet to get my head wrapped around. Awkward and stumbling, trying to do the best with what they’ve got.
Who are your favorite artists?
So it’ll be a mixture of all-timers and things that I’m really into at the moment: Raymond Pettibon was one of the first artists that I really liked, Chris Johanson, Swoon, Steve Powers (ESPO), The Polaroid Kidd, Thais Beltrame, William Schaff, Dr. Dog, Sam Cooke, Constantines, and everybody I’ve ever had a good conversation with.
How do you develop an image or series of images?
It usually starts with these “thinking sessions” I have before starting a project or just a new time in my head. They consist of listening to music and mainly writing almost associatively and slowly things take shape, same as for images, sketches become scenes and so on. A lot of times I will get ideas when I’m looking at something happen while adding my own soundtrack to it (i.e. watching people on the bus with headphones). A lot happens right when I’m about to completely fall asleep as well.
Do you usually put a lot of thought into where you are placing a piece before you do it? Is the location meant to serve as a blank canvas, or accentuate the painting?
It would be both. Some pieces are made specifically for a spot and some I have to look for a place that seems interesting. It depends what kind of a piece. The texture of the wall or the backdrop of the scene are things I tend to look at more and more recently. I believe that it is important for the piece to look good as part of the surroundings in which it is placed or made rather than focusing on the piece as a piece that stands as itself, because in the street, that is not the case. It’s about the whole.
You were one of the 15 artists featured at Nuart this year and worked with students at an art university there. What was that like?
I had a great time at Nuart and in Stavanger, Norway as a whole, as well. Working at the school basically was interesting for me as I’d never taught before, let alone actually been through proper art-school training. I didn’t start the 10 day session with any predetermined agenda, and it kind of just took an organic route, talking about random things:music, disappointment and habits etc…etc… And they all ended up coming up with some great projects in the end. The Nuart part was amazing, to be able to meet and hang out with so many people, and make art. It was kind of like a summer camp in a way. Good times.
And of course, are you featuring your work in any upcoming shows?
As I’m typing this I’m the morning after my first solo show at Gallery Anno Domini in San Jose, CA. I have a few shows lined up in the US next year, in New York in January at Ad Hoc Art, and June at The Carmichael Gallery in LA. There might be a few more things that will be taking shape in Europe, but some things still have to fall into place.
Vandalog Launches
Tonight I’m finally turning on vandalog.com. Vandalog is (yet another) website about street art. It has a few components to it.
I’ve been posting photos to flickr and streetartlocator.com, and while I don’t have WK’s camera, I walk around a lot, so I have a good deal of street pieces photographed.
Though not through vandalog.com, the thing I am most excited about working on is a wiki about street art that I am trying to start on Wikia called (no surprise here) Wiki Street Art. Right now, I have done absolutely nothing on it because I am in extremely busy applying for university, so I guess that’s more a long-term thing. Once I am slightly less busy though, my goal on Wiki Street Art is to fill the gaps in Wikipedia’s coverage of street art that they really don’t need to fill. For example, Wikipedia should and does have a great article on Banksy, but they don’t have anything at on K Guy. As much as I love K Guy’s work, he probably isn’t notable enough yet for his own article on Wikipedia. Wiki Street Art, on the other hand, will have a K Guy article.
Vandalog also has a blog about street art (where you are now if you are reading this), and it is the reason I’m launching vandalog.com now instead of waiting for my schedule to calm down a bit. I’m sitting on a few interviews with artists that I just really want to post for the benefit of all their fans. I’ve posted an interview with Know Hope, and there will be at least one more artist interview posted in the next week, possibly two.
In addition to interviews with artists, the blog is going to have interviews with gallery directors, info on print releases and gallery shows, photos of pieces on the street, and various other features.
Hope you enjoy the site, and please, feel free to email me any suggestions if you think Vandalog could be improved.
Coming Soon…
We haven’t launched yet, but it shouldn’t be long now. Check back soon, or subscribe to the RSS feed.