Free Willy by DPMT

So, here’s an email I got on Tuesday afternoon:

Hello Vandalog writers,

I recently attached a dildo to a shoebox with wheels and then hooked it onto one of the SF cable cars. I like to think that this counts as art.

Here’s a link to the full youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjH3OhJKKcI

Here’s a link to a short .gif: http://imgur.com/Jy9v9LV

I hope you like it! Let me know if you decide to publish it or if you have any questions

Thanks!

DPMT

Here’s the video:

No comment.

Evan Roth’s intervention in Google Images

Ted Talk

Earlier this year at FAT Lab‘s show at Eyebeam in New York, bad ass motherfucker Evan Roth had an installation called Ideas Worth Spreading. Basically, the installation is a mock stage setup for a TED conference, the popular conference with the tagline “Ideas worth spreading.” Getting to give a TED talk is considered a pretty high honor in some circles, but naturally not very many people get to give them. Roth’s Ideas Worth Spreading gave anyone who stopped by Eyebeam the opportunity to at least appear like they had given a TED talk. Naturally, lots of people pretended to give TED talks, took photos, and shared them on social networks, getting plenty of kudos from their friends in the process.

Roth recently posted an update about Ideas Worth Spreading on his blog. As it turns out, a few of the photos were reposted and shared enough that a Google Images search for “ted talk” brings up some of the Ideas Worth Spreading photos in the results. As you can see below, there’s even one Ideas Worth Spreading pic within the first 10 images of the “ted talk” search (it’s the one at the top of this post).

Ted Talk

You may be asking, “Isn’t this Vandalog? What the hell does this project and some Google Image search results have to do with street art?” Hear me out. This is what my upcoming ebook Viral Art is largely about. In Viral Art, I argue that this project falls into a category that I call active viral art, and that street art is also active viral art. Basically, active viral art is art that is imposed upon an unsuspecting audience. That’s what street art is on the street, right? Artist decides to put up work in a public space for an unsuspecting audience, bypassing any art-world gatekeepers in the process. Well, now that we spend so much time in front of screens and online, the internet is a kind of new public space. What Roth has done here is put up his work in this new public space for an unsuspecting audience. In this particular case, I guess the street art equivalent would be a subtle ad disruption.

Am I crazy or am I on to something? Let me know what you think in the comments. I can’t wait to more of my thoughts on active (and passive) viral art later this year when the Viral Art ebook is released (for free of course).

Photo and screenshot courtesy of Evan Roth

Tim Hans Shoots… DALeast

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With his trademark style of painting creatures and other things as though they are made up of hundreds of twisted metal shards, DALeast has launched himself onto the international street art like one of his animals launching at its prey. In our continuing series of photo-portraits of artists by Tim Hans, Tim met up with DALeast on the streets of London, where he has painted about half a dozen murals recently. I had a few questions for the artist…

RJ: Why do you think so many popular muralists right now are painting animals?

DALeast: If we’re look into human history, we can really see how much we love ourselves as we have already done so many artworks that describe human beings. I think it is the time to give more attention to the other beings before they disappear. Animals are really close to us, but we never see them. I wondering how many people have see a real pig even though they are eating pork everyday. Muralists found the chance to turn the city into a ‘jungle’, As we work in the public space – where the humans are.

RJ: What has been your favorite thing about London?

DALeast: I found out that I haven’t been changed by that city after I left.

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RJ: Do you feel like you’re at the point where you can paint things the way you want to paint them, or are you still to reach that point with your technique?

DALeast: To reach a point of technique has never been a part of my game.

RJ: What makes you want to paint a particular wall or not?

DALeast: Fate.

RJ: Where else will you be painting soon?

DALeast: Excitement for the unknown.

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Photos by Tim Hans

Comedian uses CitiBikes to teach SoulCycle class

If you’re in New York City it’s hard to miss the sudden mass presence of CitiBikes. For a city that is known for its careful drivers and self-aware pedestrians, I can only imagine the positive impacts that will come from these bikes. When docked, the bike wheels are still able to spin, so the comedian The Fat Jew decided to utilize them to teach free SoulCycle spin classes for the homeless.

Via The Crosby Press

Weekend link-o-rama

ASVP for The L.I.S.A. Project
ASVP for The L.I.S.A. Project

It’s that time again. Enjoy the rest of the interwebs…

Photo by Wayne Rada

MURAL Festival – Montreal, Canada (part 2 )

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Labrona

Montreal really matured during the MURAL Festival. The high level of quality of all the murals gives an idea of what this city is able to offer to the artists: An incredible visibility and an enthusiastic audience. It’s a gift for all the urban artists that love to share their art in a public space. Here are the completed murals of Labrona, Gaia, Lny, Jason Botkin, FinDac & Angelina Christina, EnMasse, Chris Dyer, Paria Crew, and Wzrds gng.

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Labrona
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Gaia
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LNY
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Jason Botkin – and Jeremy Shantz’s car
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FinDac & Angelina Christina

Continue reading “MURAL Festival – Montreal, Canada (part 2 )”

MURAL Festival, Montreal, Canada (part 1)

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ROA

MURAL‘s first edition is what we can call a success. Montreal had never run such a massive urban art event … MURAL brought together some incredible local and  international artists for 4 days of explosive creativity. Running up and down Saint-Laurent Boulevard to admire and document all the murals was delightful. After given you an idea of the murals in progress last Sunday, here are the completed murals of ROA, Troy Lovegates (aka Other), Escif, Omen, Phlegm, Reka One, Pixel pancho, A Squid Called Sebastian, Le Bonnard, A’shop.

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ROA
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Troy Lovegates (aka Other)
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Escif – Barré means “Locked”
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Escif – Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité

Continue reading “MURAL Festival, Montreal, Canada (part 1)”