On the Street

BOO! Monstrous BSA Halloween Photo Essay

Happy Halloween to all you good boys and ghouls lurking behind heavy closed doors with frogs in your pockets and bats in your hair. Do you dare venture out this All Hallows Eve? What will you see tonight in the cold black air?

“What beckoning ghost along the moonlight shade
Invites my steps, and points to yonder glade?”

Alexander Pope: To the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady
 

We know that BSA fans dig Halloween more than many holidays. Almost more than your birthday, but not quite, but almost. From his year round collecting of images, here’s a monstrous 39 photo essay from photographer Jaime Rojo of werewolves and vixens and frankenfreaks and zombies and ghosts just for you today.

Judith Supine (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Skullphone (photo © Jaime Rojo)

QRST (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dust Lust (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sweet Toof (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kid Zoom (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ghost (photo © Jaime Rojo)

General Howe (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tristan Eaton (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Steiner (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ludo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Charm (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cfer (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jennier Catron and Paul Outlaw (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jennifer Catron and Paul Outlaw (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled from a David Barton Ad (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Royce Bannon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lichiban  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ms. Klu (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cake (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kid Zoom (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Krisna (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Flower Face Killa (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Miss Bugs (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mark Jenkins (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kriest (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Casper (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Haculla (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Images of the Week 10.30.11

FAILE DAY TWO : THE HOUSTON WALL AND A PRAYER WHEEL.

Friday was a sunny clear October day and the Faile Duo returned to the Houston Wall to complete their installation, a continual layering of the images and visual vocabulary they have developed into a language. Aided by a handful of assistants, they set out to fill in by hand painting the missing details on the hand painted and wheat pasted panels that they put up on Wednesday. It took them a month to hand paint all those panels at their studio. When that was completed they proceeded to add smaller pieces that were hand painted s well and silk screened.

Passing tourists stopped to take photos and admire the wall and ask questions while more industrious New Yorkers could only afford to take a quick glance and continue their brisk pace toward an important meeting or to the hair salon or the gym. Other Street Artists like Futura, JR and Kenny Scharf stopped by to say hello to the Faile fellas — adding to the small town feeling, one of the Patricks helped a lost mother navigate on her iPhone, as she and her child in tow taken a wrong turn. Sometimes New York feels like a quiet place, even as the traffic roars by.

Our interview with the street this week is with Brooklyn Street Art Collective, Faile.

Faile. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faile. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faile. A studio assistant helps with hand touch ups on the printed wheat pastes. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faile. Patrick O’Neill adds some yellow.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faile. Patrick McNeill does some clarifying (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Young fans capture the brand new piece by Faile. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faile. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faile. Getting the wheat paste ready to apply hand painted and silk screened additions. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faile. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faile. Quality of life seal.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faile. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faile. Keeping an eye (or rather, a foot) on the mock up.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faile. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faile. Photographer Martha Cooper (wearing Obama on her hood) is joined by an enthusiastic Faile fan.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The NYPD provided some live action drama with Faile as a backdrop. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A brand new prayer wheel appears. Faile. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faile. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tricky Dick Nixon down at the bottom. Faile. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A slice of Mao in the new piece by Faile. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The sudden Nor’easter cleaned off the sidewalk and streets, leaving Faile to shine. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A poppy green umbrella seems to fit perfectly in the new mural. Faile. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faile. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Martha Cooper Shoots Faile on Houston

The Houston Wall, a showpiece of curated Street Art in an increasingly malled and moneyed Manhattan where the uncurated stuff is getting harder to find, is once again brandishing a Brooklyn favorite, thanks to Faile’s installation yesterday. Patrick and Patrick worked methodically throughout the day and are expected to return for some hand touch ups before sealing it. With this wall, owned and curated by developer Tony Goldman, it’s anybody’s guess how long it lasts without being tagged, as Shepard Fairey and Kenny Scharf can tell you. Happily for all of us, photographer Martha Cooper caught all the action as it was going up and she makes a guest appearance today to share these excellent shots and observations with the BSA family;

Faile (photo © Martha Cooper)

“The Brooklyn collective Faile had an all-day, marathon pasting session yesterday on the Houston/Bowery wall transforming JR’s muted black and white photo into a dazzling display of color. The free-standing wall has been a favorite urban canvas since Keith Haring appropriated it in 1982. Faile hand painted their piece in their studio on multiple sheets of paper which they then pieced and pasted onto the wall. ” ~ Martha Cooper

Faile (photo © Martha Cooper)

Faile (photo © Martha Cooper)

Faile (photo © Martha Cooper)

Faile (photo © Martha Cooper)

Faile (photo © Martha Cooper)

Faile (photo © Martha Cooper)

Faile (photo © Martha Cooper)

Faile (photo © Martha Cooper)

 

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Stencils: Simple, Small, Effective

One trend these days in the world of Street Art is to go lavishly large, big with a bang, gargantuan with gusto!  Copius expanses of epic walls, scissor lifts, cases of cans and buckets of wheat-paste, an assortment of assistants, photographers, a public press release, and a panting play-by-play on social media as the Street Artist progresses across the cinder blocks. The desire to think big is a historical human inclination, from the pyramids to the Great Wall of China to Burj Khalifa to the works of Christo and Jeanne-Claude , we love gigantic work.

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Due to its completely democratic nature, the Street Art practice also includes the simplest, least showy, and anonymous pieces. Often we find little one-layer stencils, sprayed in ten seconds, to be just as interesting, and sometimes more powerful than the largest mural. Hidden, tucked away on the bottom of a doorway or a lamppost, the stencil is a fast way for an artist to get up and run, as fast as a sticker slap and just as effective. This collection of stencils recently collected in a few cities reminds us of those days when a lot of Street Art was not conspicuously installed and the works were small.  The artists here are unknown to us but maybe you have seen them.

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Don’t crack your knuckle! They’ll grow as big as the Ritz-Carlton. Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Could be hallucinating but does this fly have a lion face? Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Even pugilists take a break. Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Señor Conejo has an announcement. Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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New Street Art from Nuart 2011 in Norway

Nuart 2011, the annual Street Art festival in Stavanger Norway, just wrapped with a small tight roster of international artists putting new murals and installations around this waterfront city of 120,000. An inventive late “Summer Camp” that has brought worldwide attention and fame to the city in the last decade, Nuart continues to creatively stretch and challenge it’s participants while putting them on the street, in the gallery, and in front of the classroom.

brooklyn-street-art-lucy-mclauchlan-mookie-mooks-nuart-11-webLucy McLauchlan (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © Mookie Mooks)

It could be the electronic music festival, the wicked history of goth and black metal spawned here, or the nearly thousand year old cathedral downtown, but something smart skews the outlaw impulses of artists toward exploration here. Perhaps it’s just the contrast of this sharp manicured capital of culture playing host to an art movement associated with urban decay that feeds the uncanny tension in some of the work. Whatever it is, each year there is something of high caliber that helps keep Nuart fresh and relevant.

For Nuart 2011 eleven artists from seven countries worked to create installations, including an indoor exhibition in a complex of buildings that formerly housed a brewery. Participating artists were Dan Witz (US), David Choe & DVS1 (US), Vhils (PO), Herbert Baglione (BR), Dolk (NO), Lucy McCluchlan (UK), Herakut (DE), Tellas (IT), Escif (ES), HYURO (ES), and Phlegm (UK)

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Lucy McLauchlan (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © CFSalicath)

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Escif (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © CFSalicath)

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Escif, Hyuro (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © John Rodger)

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Hyuro (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © CFSalicath)

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David Choe, DVS1 (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © CFSalicath)

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David Choe, DVS1 (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © CFSalicath)

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David Choe, DVS1 (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © CFSalicath)

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David Choe, DVS1 (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © John Rodger)

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Phlegm (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © CFSalicath)

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Dan Witz (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © Dan Witz)

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Dan Witz (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © Dan Witz)

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Dan Witz (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © John Rodger)

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Dan Witz conducted the first ever Workshop for Children at Nuart with great success! (photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © John Rodger)

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Herakut (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © Akut)

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Herakut (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © CFSalicath)

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Hera of Herakut (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © Mookie Mooks)

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Herakut (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © John Rodger)

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Dolk (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © CFSalicath)

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Vhils (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © CFSalicath)

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Vhils (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © CFSalicath)

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Tellas (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © John Rodger)

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Tellas (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © CFSalicath)

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Tellas (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © CFSalicath)

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Tellas (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © CFSalicath)

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Herbert Baglione (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © CFSalicath)

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Herbert Baglione (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © Mookie Mooks)

With special thanks to the talented photographers: CFSalicath, John Rodger, Mookie Mooks and Akut.

To learn more about Nuart visit their site at:

http://www.nuartfestival.no

This article also appears on The Huffington Post



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Images of the Week 10.23.11

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Our weekly interview with the streets; this week including Cake, Dain, Elbow-Toe, General Howe, Joshua John, Obey, Olek, Rae, Shepard Fairey, Swampy, and Swoon.

brooklyn-street-art-swoon-jaime-rojo-09-11-web-6Swoon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Swoon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Cake (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Cake (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Dain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Dain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Swampmobile (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Joshua John. Detail. Joshua put this piece up back in June. When it was damaged he returned to update it. See the updated piece on the image below.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Joshua John. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Elbow Toe (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Elbow Toe (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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It’s harvest time. That’s why this heavy headed sunflower installation by Elbow Toe seems perfect on an October day.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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We are still tracing the relationship between the economy and the occurrence of all things Street Art. Elbow Toe (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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General Howe (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Shepard Fairey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Shepard Fairey seeing double.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Can I park here? Rae (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Olek waiting her turn for some fine detailin’ (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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An old Olek that we had but never published (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Untitled (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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An Organic Wall Grows in Los Angeles

The Magnet Wall. The Organic Wall. Street Art is drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Even if a city officially prohibits any form of uncommissioned Street Art, it probably has a few spots where artists can reliably put their wheat-pastes, stencils, stickers, even sculptures – a community nerve center that quickly gives an overview of the players in the local scene. Usually the art is covered instantly by more art and if it lasts a few days intact it has had a good run. Since Street Art is an ephemeral scene, the artists know this and they are not particularly bothered by the rapid turnover, knowing that their piece will be seen by their peers and the public at large.

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Leba’s cartoon illustration influenced work on this wall echos directly some sentiments of the Occupy Wall Street movement. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

We always think of the streets as an outdoor gallery, and recently in Los Angeles we checked out this magnet wall in the Arts District where it could not have been a more apt description. Hanging out for a little while on this block, we saw a group of four teens taking a casual walk on a sunny day pivoting to the wall to check out the new additions, to point, comment, joke, and pose with each other in front of their favorites – making faces and giving each other the rabbit ears in photos.  Minutes later a European tourist family, urban hikers with cameras and fannypacks, carefully scanned the patterns, textures and layers, taking photos and discussing their discoveries.  Even a bulky fella crossing the street to get into a van emblazoned with a plumbing company logo – paused for a second to snap a cellphone pic before rumbling down the street.

This LA wall is a bit of a community billboard; an outlet and a showcase, where Street Artists try out new stuff and sometimes express personal or political sentiments. It’s never the same, and usually interesting.

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@Get Up Art (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Lydia Emily. You have been put on notice. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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UTV C/S (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Word 16 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Don’t Lose Hope (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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FOH! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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OKKO! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Casper Loves LA! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Ghandi plays a role. Kryptik (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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The Active Space Presents: “The Rainbow Machine” by Reid Bingham and Sean McIntyre (Brooklyn, NY)

The Rainbow Machine

brooklyn-street-art-sean-mcintyre-reid-bingham-jaime-rojo-bring-to-light-nuit-blanche-new-york-10-2011-web“The Rainbow Machine” by Reid Bingham and Sean McIntyre. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Reid Bingham and Sean McIntyre participated in this year Nuit Blanche New York 2011 in Greenpoint, Brooklyn with their Rainbow Machine. This outdoor installation is the perfect photo-op and you’ll get that special memento to send your family back home in Idaho.

Beat Night Fall Exhibition

October 28th – November 28th 2011

October 28, 6-10 PM

Address

566 Johnson Ave.
Brooklyn, NY

Buzz 5 to be toured through.
On street parking.

Mass Transit

L Train to Jefferson Stop
Walk towards Flushing Ave.
Turn Left on Flushing Ave.
Turn Right on Stewart St.
Walk 3 short blocks to Johnson Ave.

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Occupy Wall Street: A Month-Long Wake Up Call In the Streets

Despite some clumsy attempts to draw parallels between the Tea Party protests in the summer of ’09 and the Occupy Wall Street marches that are now passing the one-month mark, the video and images have been perfectly clear. Back then we saw right wing cable hosts hard selling and health insurance companies charter-bussing as many fans as they could to rallies to give the impression that there was a populist sentiment against radical ideas like affording a doctor visit and preserving the social safety net.  All we really learned is that a lot of white people are irked they have a black president. Shocking.

This autumn these motley mismatched marchers have found their voice and the directions to Wall Street on their own, creating their own media on the way. True, the Grey Lady whose eyes have clouded to marches in New York over the last decade reluctantly put down her sherry to acknowledge these people eventually. After a few weeks of relative silence the “liberal” newsies are now interviewing OWSers in Zuccotti Park and Washington Square Park and Times Square, but these people didn’t drive the story, they followed it. A pendulum has begun to swing back with a multitude of so-called leaders in tow.

brooklyn-street-art-occupy-wall-street-jaime-rojo-09-11-web-34Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The images coming during this one-month-old movement have presented at times a perplexing variety of placards and ideas, confusing boffo Biff Newsreader who relies upon a three word phrase to sum it all up before breaking for a pharmaceutical commercial.  But this is New York, a land of 11 million stories and more than a hundred languages and tens of religions and the non-religious. These signs and skin colors and accents are what makes New York so stunning, so strong; and now this startlingly un-silent majority in all it’s complexity is teaching us the simple truth of just showing up. Who knows what the one big message is? These people here are the message.

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Polls out at the one-month mark say New Yorkers favor the “Occupy Wall Street” marches 3 to 1.  Unlike the largely monoculture Tea Party protests, it looks like our streets are primed for these conversations because we’ve been working out our extreme differences and have found constructive ways to talk to each other – without spitting on each other or on passing congressmen. This looks like direct action democracy with many visions and voices, the majority peaceful, and many a little tired from the late nights and walking. If you can come to these streets right now and say you are frightened by what you see, get your head examined. Old people. Kids. Dogs. Respectful lively debate. Does this scare someone?

Here’s another installment of photos from the developing story on the street – a panoply of faces and messages; artful, pedestrian, human.

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Tough New York pigeons dropping in to lend a wing. Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011. According to the guy with these lavender fabric strips; The combination of red, white and blue in the American flag gives you purple. He said they are a symbol of unity in the whole country. All are invited to join, to occupy, to ask for a fair share of the country’s wealth. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. The pantry. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. Ben of Ben & Jerry serving free ice cream. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. Jerry of Ben & Jerry serving free ice cream. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. An artist drawing the scene at Zuccotti Park on October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Occupy Wall Street. October 14, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Signs of the Times; local so-called liberal media eventually were forced to acknowledged what quickly became a global story, if only to gently patronize. (photo © BSA)

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GARDENSK8 2.0 Silent Auction (Pine Brook, NJ)

GardenSK8
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GARDENSK8 2.0
GardenSk8 Indoor Skatepark Open its Doors for the
First Time after Hurricane Irene

More than 20 International Graffiti Artist Turn the Skatepark in the World’s Largest Indoor Installation

On October 29, 2011, GardenSk8 indoor skateboarding park, located at 321 Changebridge Road in Pine Brook, NJ, will open its doors for the first time after being destroyed by hurricane Irene 3 months ago.  From 6 PM to midnight, more than 20 graffiti artists from around the world will showcase their art on the walls of the park, making it the word’s largest indoor graffiti installation.

The event, titled GardenSk8 2.0, will include hip hop music and performances from Venemous & DJ Priority, Nobel Productions, Manny D, Black Collar Biz and Animal Crackas.

There will be a silent auction featuring graffiti art on canvas and skateboards, sign product from top professional skateboarders and other products.  All money raised will go back into rebuilding the skatepark.  The park was flooded with more than 3 feet of water during hurricane Irene destroying many of the ramps and the entire retail section.

Graffiti artist who participated in this installation include Demer, Snow, Then, Joe Iurato, Logan Hicks, Kasso, Rain, Hef fx ad, The Fresh Collective, Elan & MMK, Genoe, Mercro, Ree 2, Part 1, Col, Sen 2, Mike Die, Robots Will Kill, Swith, 2 Tek, Pase, Mek, Faro, Doctor Crab and many more.

WHAT:          GARDENSK8 2.0

WHERE:        GardenSk8
321 Changebridge Road
Pine Brook, NJ 07058
212.287.7626

WHEN:        Saturday, October, 29, 2010
6:00 PM to 12:00 AM

PRICE:        Suggested Donation, $5.00

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Los Angeles Based Graffiti and Fine Artist Saber fights the City’s Mural Policy

brooklyn-street-art-saber-Occupy-Los_angeles-1-webStill from Saber’s time-lapse video of his big flag for Occupy Los Angeles

Saber, Graffiti Artist, Fights To Lift Mural Ban In LA:

For the artist Saber, participation in the democratic process has always been complicated. He’s an international graffiti legend, holding the world record for the largest graffiti piece, done along the LA river in 1997. Despite its place in the history books, the city of Los Angeles spent a whopping $837,000 to paint over it in 2009. Now Saber is approaching public art laws from a different angle, spearheading an effort to reform Los Angeles’ mural policies.

Click here to continue reading on Huffington Post ARTS…

Saber’s 32′ by 16′ Occupy Flag time-lapse directed by Saber and Greg Norman

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Boston Street Art, and Swoon’s “Anthropocene” at ICA

Her name is unpronounceable, so people just call her Mrs. Bennett. One of the last aboriginal people in Australia, she sits atop a rolling line of four-eyed Tibetan demons with human faces who are sucking species into their mouths on this wall installation at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston (ICA). Traditionally these demons would be protective, but “Swoon really sees these as a representation of humanity’s need to devour, and in excess, to destroy“ explains Pedro Alonzo, curator of the show, as he gives guests a tour of “Anthropocene”, the two part installation by the Brooklyn Street Artist. The shows’ name refers to the current era, and according to Wikipedia, “The Anthropocene is a recent and informal geologic chronological term that serves to mark the evidence and extent of human activities that have had a significant global impact on the Earth’s ecosystems.”

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Swoon “Anthropocene Extinction” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Swoon “Anthropocene Extinction” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Part two of the installation at this modern museum overlooking the Boston waterfront is the mini temple suspended from the ceiling in the entry hall to the galleries, best viewed from the glass central elevator that carries you from floor to floor. With joints hand-tied in a manner Swoon learned from Chinese scaffolding architecture, the 400 pound structure is made of bamboo, copper, and multiples of hand cut paper animals, species endangered or soon to be in this era of human destruction on Earth. “She built the structure in four parts, we assembled it and installed it (over 6 days), and she draped it with these materials, ” said Alonzo.

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Swoon “Anthropocene Extinction” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Swoon “Anthropocene Extinction” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

During the installation the main hall was reserved for work tables and a temporary print shop, where many assistants spent hours hand cutting the animals and shapes that adorn the works and the parade that swings from the ceiling connecting the two areas. Seahorses, frogs, beetles, and butterfies all create the chain of life in this intuitive biologic story of connective species and collective endangerment. Disappearing before they can become fossils, the animal world is memorialized in this most ephemeral of materials, an exhibition that will similarly be destroyed when the wall is sanded and painted. In this impermanent way, it best mimics the installations Swoon does on the street.

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Swoon “Anthropocene Extinction” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Swoon “Anthropocene Extinction” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Then out to the streets of Boston we went, hitting a number of spots with the guidance of photographer, artist, and Street Art expert Geoff Hargadon, who began one of the city’s only organic walls for Street Art and graffiti art in 2007. A natural magnet for painters and wheat-pasters, the ever-changing dialogue of “The Wall” on display is periodically wiped clean for a new group installation. The outdoor gallery has provided an outlet for hundreds of local and visiting artists as well as a providing a backdrop to photo shoots, video, and television programs. On the day we were there, a dancer was set to perform her moves under bright lights in the alleyway. Below are images from that days tour.

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Swoon on the streets of Boston (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Swoon on the streets of Boston (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Swoon on The Wall at Central Square in Cambridge (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Alphonse (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Darkcloud, Mise. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Obey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Stikman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Syms (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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The Wall at Central Square (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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The Wall at Central Square (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Brian Butler. The Upperhandart on The Wall at Central Square (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Darkcloud on The Wall at Central Square (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Mancini and friends on The Wall at Central Square (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Mark Carvalho on The Wall at Central Square (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Mer One on The Wall at Central Square (photo © Jaime Rojo)

With special thanks to Swoon, Pedro Alonzo, the ICA, and sincere gratitude to Geoff Hargadon.

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