Street art + art fair = an oxymoron

The Stroke 02 urban art fair was disappointing.  Aside from its overly commercial focus, it lacked the vibrancy we’ve seen and experienced on the streets and elsewhere.  Right from the beginning, we all asked, “Why Munich?” and later learned “that’s where the money is.” The fair itself was situated in a four storey building next to the well groomed Englischer Garten in Munich, which alone seemed an odd and unfortunate decision.  The most interesting project was a live painting by 11 artists from Switzerland.  They had pieced together a large grid of 80 or so 16 x 20 boards, which…

Alternative Berlin

At Spencer Homick’s suggestion, my SLU students — Kat Dwyer, Bridget Montesanti, and Charlie Reetz — and I signed up for a walking tour yesterday with a group called Alternative Berlin to see and learn about street art.  It was a great way to begin our two week journey — better than I expected, to be honest.  Our guide Mark was extremely well informed, not only of the “scene” itself, but also about the ways in which artists engage the community with their work.  He discussed street art as much more than mere decoration and/or defacement of the public environment. …

Rules of Evidence at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt

A program entitled Rules of Evidence will be presented at the Haus der Kulten der Welt during the first week of June when I’ll be in Berlin with three students to study street art. Curated by Okwui Enwezor, the project is “the first edition of a new biannual encounter at Haus der Kulturen der Welt that will feature five days of thematic programmes, conceived by a group of international filmmakers, curators, artists and theoreticians. A key component of the encounter is the critical re-evaluation of historical processes in the light of the contemporary moment. Also at stake is the role…

Bomit presents “Giant Hype”

Not sure what’s up with this new Web site Giant Hype. Their first post highlights Shepard Fairey’s mural at Karmaloop in LA. There doesn’t appear to be any commentary on the new site yet.  Despite the success and glam, I like SF’s work a lot, indoors and outdoors.  Saw a great wheatpaste mural by chance in DC when I was there a couple of weeks ago.  Walking down the street towards Dupont Circle, hidden down an alley, and voila.  Lovely.

Written in the subways

Bob Noorda died this past week, the graphic designer for the NYC MTA signage system.  Noorda standardized subway signage using Helvetica, a sans serif type font (see my previous post about Helvetica, the film). All of which got me to thinking about subway writing (thanks Funkyparty). Peanut butter and jelly.  Can’t have one without the other….

B.N.E.

Check out this story about B.N.E in the NY Times today, forwarded by the tallest ninja in the sticker posse, Grant Cornwell. From the article: “Peter F. Vallone Jr., of Queens, chairman of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, condemned the show. ‘This isn’t even someone who’s decided to go legitimate,’ he said. ‘This is an unrepentant criminal who has cost honest taxpayers a lot of money, and he’s profited from it’.”  Sorry, Pete!! B.N.E. uses a “serious-looking Helvetica Neue Condensed.”  I just watched the film Helvetica a few days ago, which describes the way the font was developed 50…

Metadata madness

After Kevin’s new sticker scans are loaded, I’ll need to figure out how to identify these sticker pranksters without repeating what others have done.  Others have done a lot.  A catalogue raisonne’ might do the trick. I can’t do a catalogue raisonne’.  There are way too many out there, though everything I’ve seen is online. Cedar Lewisohn’s STREET ART book is unparalled.  Check him out on Facebook.

JR public art project in Kenya

From the Wooster Collective: JR Finishes His Most Ambitious Project Yet In The Slums In Kibera, Kenya Exciting news from our friend JR who emailed us just a few moments ago from Kibera, Kenya – on of the largest slums in all of Africa. Today, after more than a year of planning, 2000 square meters of rooftops have been covered with photos of the eyes and faces of the women of Kibera. The material used is water resistant so that the photo itself will protect the fragile houses in the heavy rain season. The train that passes on this line…