SOFLES – Graffiti Mapped – Presented by Juddy Roller

SOFLES - Photo by David Russell
SOFLES – Photo by David Russell

I was going to wait for my Jan/Feb post which is coming very soon, but this can’t wait and deserves its own post.
A few months ago SOFLES came to Melbourne to paint this EPIC piece. Selina Miles and the guys from Juddy Roller were also hanging around, so there bound to something special going on… Special is not the word to describe what came next.

The piece itself was spectacular in black on a all white background – reminding me of a raw sketch straight outa Sofs’ black book. I also love how he left all the raw throws and tags around the piece. The piece was painted over 3/4 days using a massive crane and a fuck load of paint. Note the cheeky PORK roller that just popped up recently..

After the painting was completed – that’s when the projection mapping started. You can tell by the video that’s it’s an excruciatingly detailed process – which is also evident in the final production.

The production was a part of Melbourne’s annual ‘White Night’ Projection festival. This year was the first time graffiti and projection were combined. Clearly a great idea as the project attracted hundreds of spectators.

Shaun Hossack, creative director for the project (who also runs Juddy Roller studios and runs one hell of a party) did a fantastic job bringing all the parties together and providing overall direction.

From the Press Release: “Over 5 stories high, Sofles’ inner city mural is his biggest work to date. Add to that Grant Osborne’s incredibly detailed motion design and a musical score by New Zealand music producer Opiuo, and you have a truly innovative work of art. Visible for one night only, but destined to leave an impression on the city’s skyline Sofles – Graffiti Mapped was one of the most exciting events of the entire White Night Melbourne festival”.

Check out the full length video below to show the full projection sequence – it goes for about 7 minutes in total.


Also make sure you check out the incredible video below by Selina Miles (director of the famous/viral Sofles – Limitless video) of the end to end process. Selina’s videos not only show off Sofles’ amazing work – they also pay homage to the process and the context around the piece as well ad the scale. I love the movement of the lift with the music and the use of a drone camera (from UAV drones) also brought a great perspective to this piece.

I can see this graffiti mapping business has a big future – the possibilities are endless. Unlike other forms of moving art (e.g.: INSA’s gif-itti) this form has so much more flexibility (and while labour intensive for the projector – much less laborious than re-painting an entire wall).

Watch out for my January/February Melbourne post – coming soon..

Photos courtesy of David Russell.

Video courtesy of Selina Miles and Sofles.

Projection by Grant Osborne.
Music bu Opuio.

2014 Melbourne Catch Up and Wrap Up

WOW! It’s been way too long between posts! I feel bad that I’ve not been sharing all the goodness that is Melbourne over the last few months, so here’s a catch up of what I’ve missed and other cool stuff happening in and around Melbourne. Also my New Years resolution for 2015, more posts on Vandalog! 🙂

Streets and Walls

There’s never a shortage of new stuff going up in Melbourne, here’s a selection of some of my faves snapped by Melbourne’s finest paintspotters over December. In summary – Lister was in town briefly, he painted and did a few ad takeovers, some super fresh graff by some local and visiting legends. My faves are Jack Douglas’ monster, Senekt’s fluro body parts, RASHE’s pieces, a couple of dope Putos pieces and of course the absolute burner by Bales and Skale.

Lister 3. Photo by Dean Sunshine
Lister. Photo by Dean Sunshine
Lister. Photo by Dean Sunshine
Lister. Photo by Dean Sunshine

Continue reading “2014 Melbourne Catch Up and Wrap Up”

Video – Sofles – Limitless

If you haven’t already seen this then make sure you spend 5 minutes and watch one of the best graff videos you will see in a long time.

RJ posted “The Ultimate Timelapse with Sofles” a few months back; and if you thought that was amazing, and it was, this will blow your mind.

Sofles teams up again with Selina Miles (and Ironlak) to create something truly special.

Sofles goes all out for this one. I love the throwies that angle for the camera and the upside down piece, and the awesome surprise at the end. The video also features the work of Fintan Magee, Treas and Quench. The video has already gone viral with pretty much everyone in Australia I know that likes graffiti sharing it on Facebook and has already reached 1.6M views on YouTube in 2 days.

Video by Selina Miles.

Melbourne Monthly Madness – June 2013

June was another busy month in Melbourne. My round up for the month includes trains, walls, shows, a rad new publication and some other bits and pieces of goodness.. I’ll start with my favourite train for June. This one ran on June 6th – thanks to The best of Melbourne Graffiti for the pic. This guy has been killing it lately!

01 RUNZ - Photo via The Best of Melbourne Graffiti
RUNZ. Photo courtesy of The Best of Melbourne Graffiti.

Some shots from Burg’s show at the Vic below, more here. Burg’s street characters are some of my faves with twisted and expressive faces appearing all around Melbourne.

BURG - Photo by AllThoseShapes
BURG. Photo by AllThoseShapes.
BURG - Photo by AllThoseShapes
BURG. Photo by AllThoseShapes.
BURG - Photo by AllThoseShapes
BURG. Photo by AllThoseShapes.

Knock Knock Magazine released their latest issue, Issue 4 -The Travel Issue. Knock Knock is an online magazine focusing on talented creative people, this issue features articles on Ben Quilty, Mark Drew, Geoffrey Lillemon, Dave Cragg, Sobekcis, Sheryo & The Yok, Onur Gulfidan, Rosek, Haribow, Maaden, Beatrix Curran, Kate Florence Knowlden, Val Kelmer, Jess Howell, Robyn Aubrey, Arman Nobari, Embassy, Spoonty and DoubleTrouble. A great read and a well put together production. Check out these screen shots from Issue 4:

Screenshot from KnockKnock Issue 4
Screenshot from KnockKnock Issue 4
Screenshot from KnockKnock Issue 4
Screenshot from KnockKnock Issue 4
Screenshot from KnockKnock Issue 4
Screenshot from KnockKnock Issue 4

Continue reading “Melbourne Monthly Madness – June 2013”

The ultimate timelapse with Sofles

Honestly, when I see a time lapse video of street art or graffiti, I usually watch about half of it and then skip to the end to see the finished piece. I often then discover that the filmmaker has neglected to include the finished piece at all which is kind of upsetting, and when the finished piece is included, I’d still rather see a photo. Time lapses can be great, but the usually go on for too long. We get it. You use spray paint. What does the end product look like?

Well, this video of Sofles is a time lapse of sorts but it completely blew me away. I don’t think I missed a single frame of the nearly 4-minute piece except to blink. It’s extremely difficult to capture graffiti as the performance that it is, but this video comes close. It may not really capture the performance of graffiti in the purest sense, but it does turn the act of Sofles painting into a performance of sorts. Such an amazing piece. I’ve seen things a bit like this before, but never anything at this level of complexity. Kudos to Ironlak, Sofles and filmmaker Selina Miles for keeping me watching a time lapse video of painting for about 20x longer than I normally would.

Young & Free: Australian street artists in SF

One thing that has come up a number of times on Vandalog and in my personal conversations is the seeming isolation of Australia’s street art scene. Although Melbourne in particular as a street art community to rival many major American cities, it seems that most fans of street art are unfamiliar with Australian-based artists besides Anthony Lister and perhaps Meggs. Now, two of Australia’s most committed street art collectors have teamed up with 941 Geary in San Fransisco to put on the biggest show of Australian street artists the US has ever seen, Young & Free. The show has been curated by Sandra Powell and Andrew King, the couple with what is probably both the best collection of work by Australian street artists, and the best collection of work by street artists in Australia.

13 artists are involved in Young & Free: Anthony Lister, Kid Zoom, Dabs & Myla, Dmote, New2, Ben Frost, Meggs, Ha-Ha, Reka, Rone, Sofles and Vexta. That’s a pretty solid line up, representing most of the best Australian-born street artists (but, as far as I know, Ben Frost is not a street artist). If you haven’t heard of all of those names, you can go to the Young & Free website to get a taste for each artist. Basically, without making the trip to Australia yourself, this show will be the best way to see what’s going on with their street art scene. Hopefully, it will also be a massive step towards putting Australian street art on equal footing internationally with American and European street art.

But of course, a gallery may be a place to experience art, but it’s not the place to experience street art. Street art is on the street. Luckily, all 13 of the artists in Young & Free will be in San Fransisco at the start of September, so here’s to hoping that some walls get painted.

Young & Free is still a few weeks away from opening, with a run from September 10th through October 22nd, but we’ve got a quick preview…

Anthony Lister
Rone
Reka

Photos courtesy of Young & Free

SOFLES – “Fragments of Consciouness” at RTIST Gallery Prahran

Sofles, originally from Brisbane, has his first Melbourne solo show at RTIST Gallery in Prahran (Melbourne). Traditionally known for his graff skills, Sofles is a multi talented artist with works showcasing his illustration, aerosol and more traditional painting styles.

Another great show by RTIST. When I arrived, Sofles was painting the wall outside the gallery, later in the evening he painted a mocked up train at the rear of the gallery.. Enjoy.

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RTIST Gallery
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