Well, the world ended this week—again. Yet here we are, still standing, and so are you. It turns out Donald Trump has successfully rallied the resentment of those feeling abandoned by the system, and they now firmly believe he’s their champion. Meanwhile, disbelieving technocrats and exasperated suburbanites are left shaking their heads at the audacity of those who elected this populist strongman. Twice. With another election loss under their belts, will anyone soften their stance enough to find common ground? Probably not. In fact, if everything goes according to plan, they won’t. For some, the longer we keep fighting one another, the better.
Look, the pigeons in New York do not care about all of that noise. As long as those pizza crusts keep coming, bro.
Here’s our weekly conversation with the street, this week featuring: Nick Walker, City Kitty, IMK, JEMZ, STOMP, Yevgeniya Shevchuk, Mendoza, PAR, SNIPE, DZEL, OPTIMO NYC, Lorenzo Masnah, ZOOT, and Iván Argote.
Street art duo Faile is reshaping the scene, “designing for a new world” in New York this week with their latest venture. Known for their early days of illegal street art in Brooklyn two decades ago, Faile now takes a bold step forward through their partnership with Herman Miller. The collaboration results are nothing short of innovative, distinctive, and wildly imaginative – the kind of creativity we’ve come to expect from these guys, who continue to make the path by walking. Patrick and Patrick have never shied away from taking risks in exploring new techniques of image combination and manipulation. Congratulations to them and their team for yet another remarkable leap!
New York never stops, even when hosting its most high-profile guests. Just this past Friday, a defiant Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the UN, practically declaring war on the world, while Mayor Eric Adams stood in court, pleading “Not guilty, your Honor,” to charges of bribery and wire fraud tied to alleged foreign donations for official favors. Meanwhile, former President Trump met with Ukrainian President Zelensky to discuss the ongoing war with Russia—and likely debated how much more US taxpayers should contribute instead of addressing pressing issues at home like housing for the homeless or universal Medicare for All.
Amid all this, the city’s pulse is changing with the season. The leaves are turning stunning shades of yellow, orange, and red, and the streets are alive with vibrant murals, graffiti, and street art—both legal and not. New York’s energy is palpable this week, and we’re thrilled to welcome visitors from around the world while showcasing the street works from sister cities like Brooklyn and Berlin.
And here we go boldly into the streets of New York and Berlin this week with new extramural stuff from: Queen Andrea, Modomatic, Millo, Dulk, Par, Caro Pepe, Devita, Never Satisfied, JT, Mondo Crew, Mr. Super A, and Carlos Alberto.
When surveying the current crop of street art here and in other cities around the world, we wonder where the political will has gone – the one that seemed much more confrontational and conflicted in earlier years of the modern movement. The once fiery, in-your-face spirit seems to have mellowed and become pleasant and pleasing. One theory that pops up regularly when surmising why there is a lack of conviction in street messaging, even as wars break out and the wealth gap widens everywhere you look, is that there is no such thing as anonymity as there once was. Privacy has almost completely been allowed by the citizenry to be eroded.
With a default Digital ID following your every movement and transaction, the means for someone to triangulate a particular data point are so sophisticated that if you speak out or actually challenge the status quo, you will probably be traced. Hell, any Twitter storm can produce an army of motivated detective volunteers to doxx someone who has offended social media “norms,” and we use that term loosely.
Your 13-year-old nephew Lucas can easily unearth someone’s personal details without breaking a sweat, and he doesn’t even have a laptop. 20 years ago, a graffiti or street artist could assume some modicum of anonymity, but in practice, the current crop uses the streets as a marketing extension of their Instagram account, an expression of their online personas, studiously and clearly spraying @ tags and websites on their street pieces to make sure you can find them.
So if you are pissed off at the system, you probably think twice before you put it on the streets these days unless it is a screed sprayed with a fire extinguisher that is largely untraceable – or something like that. In the case of whoever sprayed “Rishi Sunak is a Rat-Faced C*nt” on a wall, you may even inspire a punk ditty.* For many right now, activism is not even the point.
Here is our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring David Puck, Shok1, Epic Uno, Par, Kitsune Jolene, Smug One, Trasher, V. Ballentine, Inker, P.T., King57, FUP One, and Cope Doz.
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week. It’s been snowing and snowing and snowing this month in New York – providing perfect framing for graffiti and street art.
Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Adrian Wilson, Beer, Claudia Ravaschiere, Dasu, Dos Wallnuts, Eron, Goog, Guild234, Hellbent, Magda Love, Michael Moss, No Sleep, Note, Par, Seo, Serve, Swoon, The Postman Art, and Treeze.
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week. The first day of February brought New York a blizzard – a foot and a half of snow, complete with winds and drifts and buried cars. It drives everyone outside to experience the new world, especially kids, big and small.
I am a poem of blizzards trapped in snow; paralyzed in a city of 8 million snow-poems digging out of record wind-fuelled drifts of snow; trapped in the wintery vice of its wintery vice-like grip of treachery.
–Rupert The Red Nosed, “The Language of Snow”
And like kids, we too like to stomp through the snowy streets in big boots, looking for hidden missives and pieces of poems, delighted by the mysteries buried in this cold and windy town.
Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Carl J. Gabriel, Chris RWK, Dare2, Eye Sticker, George Floyd, HOACS, Jeremy Novy, Par, Praxis VGZ, Roachi, Skewville, Sticky, Sule Cant Cook, Viler, and Zexor.
Some hard news seems to great us every day, yet New Yorkers don’t give up so easily. And by the way, banging bright and crispy fall weather we’ve been having, right?
Here is our weekly interview with the streets, this week including Adam Fujita, Crash Floor, Disgusting is Good, Drop Dead Grace, Eye Sticker, Labor Camp, Mad Vaillan, Par, Save Art Space, Server Up, Specter, Texas, and Vayne.
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
