All posts tagged: Malmö

Spider Tag Uses Electricity to Trace a New Direction In The Dark

Spider Tag Uses Electricity to Trace a New Direction In The Dark

March 29, 2017 ,

It’s good to see artists stretch themselves creatively, going outside of their comfort zone, hopefully, and discovering new techniques and approaches to their art.

“You cannot stay at the same level as when you first practiced your truth, life won’t let you.”

~ Kamal Ravikant, Live Your Truth

Spanish Street Artist Spider Tag has appeared here on BSA for many years constructing his outside constellations in abandoned buildings and community gardens and elsewhere with nails and yarn. If you didn’t see the geometric shapes there on intersecting planes before, he was willing to demarcate their dimensions with bright red lines for your benefit.

Spider Tag. Malmo, Sweden. March 2017. (photo © Spider Tag)

Recently in a new modern neighborhood of Malmö, Sweden called Västra Hamnen, Spidertag decided to use a curiously amenable neon cable material to try out a new public installation. He says the total exhibition lasted about 30 minutes, until the battery died, but it was a successful experiment he is eager to expand upon. “I used nails, a hammer and 50 metres of neon cable,” he says, “I thought it was a perfect spot with the buildings in the horizon.”

Spider Tag. Malmo, Sweden. March 2017. (photo © Spider Tag)

We asked Spider Tag about this new direction and about his practice as an artist working in public space and he reveals that it is not always easy to make a change with your art:

BSA: What inspired you to take this new direction into the darkness?
Spidertag: From 2008 to 2015 I was using yarn and exploring different directions, from geometric, abstract or minimalism in the urban environment and in countryside, taking video documentation and short film. I felt that I had to change the yarn. Even though many people told me that it was a mistake for me to change my art practice because people recognize me for a certain style or practice, I didn´t care. For more than a year I jumped into a bad period in which I didn´t find a solution. It was a scary moment, because I thought that I was losing my sense of direction.

I tried with metal and other materials, but didn’t like the result. And as in a superhero´s classic comic book, by luck or by mistake, I discovered the neon cable. Eureka! Since that moment, I’ve been exploring the use of the light with other materials -hammer, nails and paint- that I´ve used since the beginning of my career. The cool thing for me is that this new material has the same flexible use, but it’s more unique. It is also new and modern in the Street Arts movement.

I had experimented with black lights and yarn back in 2012 in the Alps and in Madrid. So, this is a continuation but with a new power.

Spider Tag. Malmo, Sweden. March 2017. (photo © Spider Tag)

BSA: Do you discover shapes and geometric relationships as you are creating the piece, or do you have the composition diagrammed out in your head before you begin?
Spider Tag: I work with the space. That´s the key in street art, especially when you do illegal work or without permission, because you choose the place. In my case I choose it because the surface, the material, inspire me. I work with sketches and also improvise, but it’s the personal background, the ideas that you look forward to realize and the open eyes to found the perfect place that I follow as a patron…”

Spider Tag. Malmo, Sweden. March 2017. (photo © Spider Tag)

BSA: Sometimes when we see your work, we realize that you are outlining shapes that already exist but we couldn’t see them before.
Spidertag: I walk the streets scanning the surfaces with my mind. There are straight lines everywhere, abandoned spots that are perfect for what I want to do. And when you find these, half of your work is done…

BSA: Have you an interest in creating text or perhaps figures or recognizable icons?
Spider Tag: Yes, but it’s not my field…

BSA: What do you like the most about creating your art in public space?
Spidertag: I enjoy the exploring the moment, walking or being on the bike or skating. And now, also the magical moment when I press the button and the darkness changes with the lights…

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BSA Film Friday: 10.09.15

BSA Film Friday: 10.09.15

October 9, 2015

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Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.

Now screening :

1. Dale Grimshaw Heroically Celtic in Camden, London.
2. Zalez Surfs and Stencils a Goodbye to Summer in France.
3. Hama Woods and “Children of the Forest”
4. Zlatan as Jumping Jack back in His hometown Malmö

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BSA Special Feature: Dale Grimshaw Heroically Celtic in Camden, London.

“It’s always what I end up doing. It’s always kind of concerned around the human form and flesh and the face in a portrait. It is very theatric in a way but it’s the very dramatic lighting. It’s a reference to European figurative painting that I’ve always liked anyway.”

Zalez Surfs and Stencils a Goodbye to Summer in France.

The French west coast is strikingly similar to the US west coast in this ode to our fading friend summer. Interesting how the chillax Ibiza soundtrack of wistful longing smoothly integrate ocean view longshots, skateboarding, surfing, and the occasional spraying of stencils on concrete into the same milieu.

 

 

Hama Woods and “Children of the Forest”

Straight from the Smaabyen Festival 2015 in Flekkefjord Norway here is a skewed view of distribution of resources, err, strawberries. The mural by Hama Woods features a giant rabbit being fed by small frogs, inspired by a popular youngster’s tale called “Children of the Forest” by Elsa Beskow.

 

Zlatan as Jumping Jack back in His hometown Malmö

This jumping jack appeared outside of Malmö Stadium at a recent Wednesday night game. Look a little closer and you may recognize Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s face – it’s his hometown afterall.  The marionette-like footballer actually works too. So far the artist remains anonymous.

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Sweden Starts “No Limit” Mural Festival in Borås

Sweden Starts “No Limit” Mural Festival in Borås

September 17, 2014

It isn’t just Nuart any more.

Scandinavia is taking their mural festivals seriously thanks to buoyant economies, arts programming support, and a growing global appreciation for art in the streets in general. Included in the list of recent festivals are Denmark’s Galore (Copenhagen) and We Aart (Aalborg) and Sweden’s Artscape (Malmö) as well as the more graffiti-inflected Örebro, Helsinki’s Arabia and of course the one-kilometer long graffiti/Street Art slaughter that accompanies the mammoth music festival Roskilde.

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ECB. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

This month humbly began No Limit in the small city of Borås, Sweden, and artist / curator Shai Dahan hopes to enliven the daily views for this population of 66,000 with his curated collection of international artists from street / graffiti / fine art backgrounds.

An artist and entrepreneur who moved here from New York three and a half years ago, Dahan has been rallying local building owners and government institutions to aid in his idea of mounting a show on walls in the city that emulates the success of such festivals elsewhere.

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Isaac Cordal. The small scale installations by the Spanish artist provide a welcome answer to the ever more massive tendencies of wall installations in mural programs. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

“I’ve been on quite a journey and accomplishing this project has been something I have been working on personally for over a year,” he says. With participation and funding from the city of Borås, No Limit this month invited and hosted artists from countries such as The Netherlands, Brasil, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Spain and Sweden and included artists like Natalia Rak, ETAM Cru, Peeta, ECB, The London Police, Kobra, Ollio, Ekta, Carolina Falkholt, Issac Cordal and one of the earliest Street Art stencilists, Blek le Rat.

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Isaac Cordal. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

“And best of all, we had no bad weather. The day Natalia landed (she was the first to arrive) the sun came out, and it stayed out until the very last day,” says Dahan of the festival that he deemed “phenomenal” and included guided tours for over 200 people at a time.

“After everyone left, it began raining, ” he smiles.

For countries that have a so-called “zero tolerance” for illegal art or any kind like Sweden, mural festivals like these effectively circumvent the rigid approval process that typically characterizes public art projects and many make inroads into engaging public space with art in a new way that is emblematic of a vibrant global movement. It may be a tenuous line to walk, but more cities seem willing to embrace this swing of the pendulum with art in the streets.

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The Brazillian Street Artist named Kobra created a portrait of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish chemist, engineer, industrialist, and inventor of dynamite. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

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Kobra. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

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The London Police began stripping because of the hot sun and of course, Jane Fonda. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

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The London Police. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

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Natalia Rak. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

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Natalia Rak. Detail. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

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The graffiti writing artist from Venice named Peeta basically killed his wall with a signature three dimensional tag that floats off of the wall. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

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Simple. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Simple)

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Ollio. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

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Carolina Falkholt. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

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Ekta. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

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Etam Cru. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

 

Click HERE to learn more about No Limit Borås.

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