On the Street

Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Boston; Another Sort of Art in the Street

October 12, 2011 Artists, Boston, Manhattan, NYC, On the Street

It’s been a few weeks since BSA first showed images of the protesting marchers of Occupy Wall Street and the number of everyday people from many walks of life in the streets has only bolstered what the kids have been saying. Now it looks like the marches have spread to hundreds of other cities in the country and around the world. All this in less than a month? It’s like it was waiting to happen.

Occupy Wall Street (photo © Jaime Rojo)

In the intervening days the rapidly blossoming movement has been endorsed and reviled by many a political figure and well-known media personality. While some shiny happy telecasters seem bewildered by the discontent – the majority of people you talk to on the street or whom you stand behind at the grocery store or bank aren’t particularly mystified by the marchers or their myriad messages. It’s the same stuff people have been talking about at their kitchen table for years now – and now they’re talking together in the public square. Oops.

Occupy Wall Street. American Economist Rick Wolff speaks to Occupy Wall Street Open Forum on October 4. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aside from the populist uprising aspect of it all, the art in the street during these Occupy marches has been pretty good. So have been the slogans, the witty turns of phrase, the clever costumes and dramatic street theater. Is there any question that Street Art will be reflecting what is happening in the streets? In many ways, it already has been – our recent talks at LA MOCA and the New York State Museum concentrated on the tea leaves of the street telling us for the last few years about homelessness, the effects of war, the struggles of the working class, and the housing crises. For many Street Artists this stuff is personal and they’ve been telling their stories with their art.

Here are some of the scenes we caught of the Occupy Boston and Occupy Wall Street marches recently; it will be very interesting to see how art and popular culture are influenced by what is now on display in the Streets. When you call yourself the 99%, you’ve cast a pretty wide net.

Occupy Wall Street (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Occupy Wall Street. “Rent Is Too Damn High” party founder and political activist Jimmy McMillan talks to the assembled on October 4th. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

What cha knitting? Occupy Wall Street. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Occupy Wall Street. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Occupy Boston. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Doodles for Living Walls : Albany

October 11, 2011 Albany, Art Fair, Artists, new york, On the Street

Finished Piece Frees Itself From Fear

That dude Doodles completed his piece at “Living Walls : Albany” in this hidden alley of the state capitol after all the camera-packing explorers and six-packing parties ran out of town. Out behind of storehouse Doodles had a lot of time to himself and he created this ode to shaking off the burdens of life with a progressive story across a cinder-blocked wall. The Street Artist explained to us that in one interpretation the figure represents an average modern person accumulating possessions in a materialistic world. But the metaphor he likes best is about shaking off the mounting burden of fear. The final frame, inspired by the artist’s recent trip to the wilds of the Adirondacks in upstate New York, shows the figure freeing himself from those fear and making a break for the woods. Off the grid! Here we go!

Thanks to Samson Contompasis for photos of the finished piece.

Doodles (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Doodles (photo © Samson Contompasis)

NOMADE Points to the Lights of Metropolis L.A.

October 11, 2011 Artists, California, Los Angeles, On the Street

Street Art collective Nomade continue apace with reinventions of their fearless painting Roman soldier – that spear is a paintbrush by the way – in LA once again. The piece is 89 feet long by 22 feet high (27m x 7m) and located in the heart of the Arts District in Downtown LA, their sixth installation over the last couple of years with the LA Freewalls Project. The group boasts designers of various stripes who have been actively involved in a number of LA industries and who collectively bring this metaphor to life in new ways, each time with elements of photorealism, illustration, and a generous amount of propagandic heroicism from classical antiquity.

Nomade for LA Freewalls Project (photo courtesy © NOMADE)

“Heartship” Takes Flight: How and Nosm Complete Mural in LA

October 10, 2011 Artists, California, Los Angeles, On the Street

Street Artists How and Nosm have just completed a 6 day installation of a brand new piece with the LA Freewalls project here in the Arts District of downtown Los Angeles. With occasional interruptions for rain and food and sleep, the twins methodically knocked out a complex and detailed mural 106 feet wide and 60 feet tall (32m x 18m) that effectively nails their reputation as two of the most talented artists on the Street Art scene today, not that it was in doubt. With two decades of work under their belts, it is a rare combination of focus, relentless creative exploration, and artistic integrity that has shifted the work of these guys into an international limelight over the past couple of years.

How and Nosm. (photo courtesy LA Freewalls Project © Birdman)

How and Nosm. In this image you can appreciate the scale and proportion of this mural on the far right. (Photo courtesy LA Freewalls Project © Birdman)

Named “Heartship” the gargantuan mural is on a mission to entertain, elate, and educate about what self-taught artists with heart can produce and add to the man-made environment. In a direct way the whole project strikes at the center of the current “mural moratorium” in LA, which many local artists view as narrow, marginalizing, and inept.

“The fact that this mural exists contrary to any official public art policy in Los Angeles is a miracle, and a testament to the courage, will, and determination of everyone involved in the project,” says Daniel Lahoda, who’s LA Freewalls Project has routinely advocated for a review and revising of the City’s official policy toward public art and Street Art.

How and Nosm. (photo courtesy LA Freewalls Project © Birdman)

This Saturday (10/15) the brothers will also be celebrating “ACHTUNG!”, their first solo show, with 50 new original works at Known Gallery in LA. Expect to be suitably blown away, and to see a huge crowd.

See BSA’s interview with How and Nosm this summer in Juxtapoz here.

How and Nosm. (photo courtesy LA Freewalls Project © Birdman)

“Heartship”, by How and Nosm. (photo courtesy LA Freewalls Project © Birdman)

With special thanks Daniel Lahoda and to Dante at Madison Realty Group. All photographs © “Birdman Photos” (@birdmanphotos on Twitter).

Images of the Week 10.09.11

October 9, 2011 Artists, Brooklyn, California, Chicago, L.A., Los Angeles, Manhattan, NYC, On the Street, Pasadena

Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring: Nice One, Jim Darling, Cardiff, NohJColey, El Sol 25, Dan Witz.

Dan Witz. fresh from his participation in NUART 2011 Dan give us his take on “Equus” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dan Witz. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NohJColey. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NohJColey. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NohJColey. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NohJColey. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nice One. Last month photographer Brock Brake spent some time with Street Artist Nice One on the same rooftop in Chicago where Ludo put his piece in August. Nice One departed from his usual wheat pastes or air brush compressor and painted this piece with the can. (photo © Brock Brake)

Nice One. (photo © Brock Brake)

Jim Darling new mural in LA. (photo © Jim Darling)

Cardiff. Street installation in Pasadena, CA (photo © Cardiff)

El Sol 25. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“The benefit of death is you know not to waste life living someone else’s choices. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition” Steve Jobs. Stanford University, 2005. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Erik Berglin: Unusual New Birds of Brooklyn

October 6, 2011 Artists, Brooklyn, NYC, On the Street

Swedish artist Erik Berglin has been installing photos of birds on the streets of Europe since 2006. This summer he was in Brooklyn to brighten the hood with an avian air not seen since the great escape of wild parrots from JFK in the 60s. In a typical New York immigration story, first the parrots began working as dishwashers and now they own most of the delis in some parts of Brooklyn. Just checking to see if you are paying attention. Seriously, those AWOL parrots first created a colony in the Marine Park section of Brooklyn and since then have expanded to other sections of Brooklyn and Queens, becoming the new natives.

Erik Berglin (photo © Jaime Rojo)

More of a hobby than a statement, Erik uses existing photos of birds scanned from books and downloaded from the web, wheat-pasting them in unusual yet appropriate locations that catch your attention. They remind some of Dan Witz’s oil painted hummingbirds and the saturated natural habitats of ShinShin and Wing, but Berglin thinks more about the adaptive qualities of birds and that parallel to city dwellers.

Erik Berglin (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“From all the wild animals, birds have adapted best to living in urban conditions. Except maybe for rats – but it is birds we see and encounter in our daily life in the city,” observes Berglin. He talks about rats and birds as heroic overcomers in the urban environment, apparently not aware of our fabulous cockroaches.

Erik Berglin (photo © Jaime Rojo)

With more plumage, attitude and strutting than the Spring 2012 fashion shows at Lincoln Center, this new collection speaks also of the regal self-assured quality of aviators, and the laser like focus needed for survival in the natural and manmade environment. “We view them as a natural part of urban life,” he explains, but he doesn’t limit himself to the varieties that are common here. “With birds there are an endless amount of different species to chose from. I never have to repeat myself,” says Berglin.

Erik Berglin (photo © Jaime Rojo)

OUT DOOR Urban Art Festival ROME (Rome, Italy)

October 5, 2011 Artists, Events, On the Street, Opening, Rome, Street Art Festival, Urban Art Festival

Out Door

Kid Acne (photo courtesy of the festival)

Dan Witz at Nuart: Gets Googly With the Kids

October 5, 2011 Artists, Events, Norway, Nuart, On the Street, Stavanger

If you are not familiar with Street Artist Dan Witz’s work, it won’t exactly scream for your attention. Rather it will position itself as a chameleon in the metropolis; a rusted weather beaten fixture of the urban landscape, a piece of municipal signage, a barely porous dirt-caked mesh metal air vent. 9 times you’ll overlook it, or maybe 99. But the day you notice it you’ll be caught, trapped by its guile, puzzled and possibly unnerved. What’s in there? More to the point, who?

This week at Nuart Dan had the opportunity to put up his darkly tricky all-in-one pieces at strategic locations in Stavanger where they will be overlooked, then discovered.

Dan Witz “King Baby: Tou Scene.” (photo courtesy © Dan Witz)

Dan Witz “King Baby 5” (photo courtesy © Dan Witz)

And new for this Norwegian Street Art festival this year, a workshop for kids took place on Saturday, with Mr. Witz at the head of the class, passing out eyeballs and encouraging reimagining of the urban environment as personified. The simple addition of optical orbs entertained the youthful contingent and helped Dan spread his vision of public space as a playground of ideas.

Dan Witz (photo courtesy © Dan Witz)

Dan Witz (photo coourtesy © Dan Witz)

A New Tou Scene : Inside Installations at Nuart 2011

October 4, 2011 Artists, Events, Gallery, Norway, Nuart, On the Street, Stavanger

Herakut, Phelgm, Tellas, Escif, Hyuro, David Choe and The Mysterious DVS1

The Tou Scene is an important art center housed in a former brewery in Stavanger that dates back to the 1850s. The complex is now a setting for a number of site-specific installations by Street Artists involved in this years Nuart festival, where vignettes and full-blown scenes are conjured and lit to take visitors elsewhere for a moment. Indoor venues like this are great for many of these artists to have the luxury of time for exploration and the further development of their concepts. With a sense of intent, the support system in place at this festival is enabling a dimension of work that cannot be realized during the turbulence and urgency that is the nature of most Street Art. Here are some new spatial tableaus at the Tou Scene by Herakut, Phelgm, Tellas, Escif, Hyuro, David Choe and The Mysterious DVS1.

Thank you to photographer John Rodger who captured these beautiful images exclusively for BSA readers.

Herakut very nearly designed a set for a stage drama (photo © John Rodger)

David Choe and The Mysterious DVS1 installation in their tunnel is illuminated with ultra violet light. (photo © John Rodger)

David Choe and The Mysterious DVS1. Detail. (photo © John Rodger)

Escif and Hyuro collaborated on this installation with words by the late French theorist, writer, filmaker and Letterist Guy Debord, 1931-1994. (photo © John Rodger)

Escif and Hyuro. Detail. (photo © John Rodger)

Tellas (photo © John Rodger)

With special thanks to Ada Zielinska.

The People Speak: Jetsonorama New Project in Flagstaff, Arizona

October 3, 2011 Arizona, Artists, On the Street

“In Flagstaff, Az there is an effort on the part of the Navajo and Hopi tribes against using reclaimed waste water to make snow on a local ski resort, The Snowbowl. Thirteen surrounding tribes hold the San Francisco peaks, where the fake snow is to be made, a sacred mountain. the tribes believe that deities within their respective cosmologies reside there. To use reclaimed waste water is considered a desecration in a place where indigenous people go regularly to pray, collect herbs and to be in the presence of the holy ones” Jetsonorama

To see more images and to continue reading go here

Images of the Week 10.02.11

October 2, 2011 Artists, Brooklyn, Manhattan, NYC, On the Street

Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring: Elbow Toe, David Byrne, Hellbent, Jaye Moon, Colum Cunningham, Dain, David L, Left Handed Wave, Swoon, Samuel Mark, Know Hope, and Hanksy.

David Byrne blows everybody away with this depiction of the world in a “Tight Spot” Under the High Line Park. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Bring To Light” Opens Tonight: Nuit Blanche NYC 2011

October 1, 2011 Artists, Brooklyn, Events, NYC, On the Street, Opening, Performance

Tonight opens the 2nd Annual New York “Nuit Blanche” in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood. As we did during it’s inauguration last year (when we were also participants) BSA proudly supports this public show of light by some of today’s more talented conceptual and technical artists in the street. With more than 60 separate installations and performances all over the place, it is an event open to the public and it claims public space as our space for creativity, interactivity, and community. Despite threats of spotty rain, we expect the crowd to pour in and have a blast tonight.

“We want things to be visually arresting, some things that people stay and linger at, while other people look for a moment and move on,” declares Ethan Vogt, as he lead a bunch of us around some of the sites last night to preview.

“Hey, you. Wanna buy some classified information? Hey, you. Wanna buy a get rich quick scheme? Hey, you. Wanna buy a view from the top? Hey, you. Wanna buy the hottest ticket in town? Hey, you. Wanna buy some culture? Hey, you. Wanna buy some prime investment property?,” says the seductive lipsticked mouth by Diller Scofidio to welcome people off the boat from Manhattan. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jason Peters’ flourescent light sculpture mimics the playful childrens’ park it illuminates, straddling the fence. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“We wanted to save his life….The helicopter lands and the flight medic jumps out, and we’re like ‘throw this guy on the bird’ ” – “Veterans Flame Greenpoint” by Krzysztof Wodiczko.

Krzysztof Wodiczko, an early projection artist known for his large-scale work on architectural facades and monuments throughout the world, brings a very personal projection using the recorded voices gathered around a flame. The stories told are from a combination of American and Polish veterans serving in Afghanistan. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Roland and Andrea, of “The Company” will be running their indoor space installation of lights that will react to frequencies emmitted by live performance and recorded industry. Says Andrea, “We developed a custom software that triggers the lights as they are being affected by the sound. We are going to have a lot of performers as well as found industrial sounds – each light lantern is connected to one specific frequency.

“We use DMX controllers, 76 channels – we can mix, and crossfade, we can chose the right kind of the movement of light but in the end it is being determined by the sound,” Andrea of The Company. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA will bring you images of the event but if you are in the neighborhood, take your own and send them to us! It’s always great to see what you are up to.

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