All posts tagged: Various & Gould

Graffiti Haven “American Flats” Slated for Destruction in Nevada

November 13, 2014 Artists

The news of the impending destruction of a primary spot for graffiti fans in Nevada has saddened a number of artists who have spent long hours painting and socializing at the former site of the American Flat Mill in Virginia City. According to the Reno Gazette-Journal in late October the Bureau of Land Management has just awarded the contract “to dismantle, crush and bury what’s left of the massive mill.” As an abandoned industrial site for the last ninety years or so, it is catnip for graff writers and street artists. Even though it is one of Nevada’s most culturally fascinating relics anyone would admit that it can be hazardous because of its state of neglect, even if its an open secret that it is well trafficked by thrill seekers. For former Brooklyn-now-Reno Street Artist Erik Burke, the news signals the end of an era for him not only as an artist, but because he married his wife on the site. Today Erik provides an essay for BSA readers about his perspective on the loss of this site that holds many memories for tourists, artists, filmmakers, and countless others.

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American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 . Please help ID the artists on this photo. (photo © Meryl Burke)

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by Erik Burke

Over the last week there has been increasing talk of the imminent demolition of The American Flat Mill. In case you are not familiar with this place, the CliffNotes version of the American Flat is that it was a gold, silver and low-grade ore processing plant that opened in 1922 and after a painstakingly brief period of boom it went bust in 1926. Since that time it has been a sightseeing and activity playground for countless visitors. Since local nostalgia is currently running a fever and countless people are sharing their experiences I feel compelled to share my unique bond with this skeletal ruin of Nevada’s formative mining days.

American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014. Please help ID the artists on this photo. (photo © Meryl Burke)

The American Flat will always hold a special place the relationship between my wife and I. It had been the destination of one of our first dates and in April of this year we were married there. The fact that we were able to share this experience with our closest friends and family was truly astonishing given the fact that our hallowed ground was on hollow ground.

The smell of sage and spray paint mingled with our Pastor’s words as we confided our eternal love for one another in a makeshift church, and while we forgave those who trespassed against us we too hoped the Sheriff would return the favor. It was in those time-slowing moments that we all could attest that there truly is beauty in ruins.

American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 (photo © Meryl Burke)

During the prior week my closest friends and I spent whole days preparing for the ceremony by secretly removing fallen obstacles, assembling monumental towers of rusty barrels, creating mirrored mosaics, sweeping aisles through rubble, tie-wiring bouquets of brush and wild flowers. We also installed works by artist friends from Berlin, Tel-Aviv, Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis, and New Orleans.

Each morning we would arrive to a bit of un-curated vandalism that happened during the night and we would have to do damage control. When people say, ‘how would you like it if I tagged your house?’ I can now sympathize.

Arnz . Rogue. Yesir . Sunset. American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 (photo © Meryl Burke)

By the day of the wedding we had completely transformed the place, and like so many current testimonies about the Flats, the site had also transformed us. Whether you perceive the ruins as a backdrop to your fashion shoot, canvas to your creative whim, or, as my wife and I did, center stage for exchanging your vows, I think The American Flat should be preserved for generations to come.

While some individuals and entities see the demise of the flats as a trash-strewn, rotting liability of juvenile vandalism, a far larger majority see it as an Americana gestalt. Sadly, Building Solutions Inc. out of Reno recently won the contract with a $1.3 million bid for an un-building solution and they will begin dismantling shortly.

American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 (photo © Meryl Burke)

When the Reno Gazette Journal interviewed Dave Erbes, a BLM geologist working on the project, he said, “There is going to be more known about the site after it is gone than there ever was before. In a couple of months hopefully you will be able to go online and tour the whole thing.”

Sadly the difference between knowing and experiencing is quite significant. Future generations will never know the feeling of clinging to the sun-warmed iron stairs as pebbles of concrete ping their way into a darkened tunnel or the sight of dropping a cheap flashlight into a pool of cyanide and watching it illuminate.

American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 (photo © Erik Burke)

Mark Twain said, “an honest politician is an oxymoron”, and he would be rolling in his grave at the thought of an online “experience”. It’s disheartening to live in a western society that chisels history off the totem pole and places a fence around the remainder all in the name of liability. While it seems that salvation of the mill is not in our cards perhaps this demolition will serve as a good kick in the ass for us to get out there and truly experience our diminishing back yard.

American Flats, we’ll miss you.

American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 (photo © Erik Burke)

Author. American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 (photo © Erik Burke)

Clairvoyance. American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 (photo © Meryl Burke)

Dirt TBK . Overunder. American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 (photo © Erik Burke)

ABC Art Attack. American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 (photo © Erik Burke)

Various & Gould. American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 (photo © Erik Burke)

Overunder. American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 (photo © Meryl Burke)

IRGH . The Reader. American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 (photo © Erik Burke)

Klone. American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 (photo © Erik Burke)

Joins CBS. American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 (photo © Erik Burke)

Overunder . Klone . Joins CBS. American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 (photo © Erik Burke)

Mike Fitzimmons. American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 (photo © Erik Burke)

American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 (photo © Erik Burke)

Erik and Meryl’s wedding ceremony at American Flats. Reno, Nevada. 2014 (photo © Lindsey Pisani)

Please help ID artists whose names we didn’t know in this article. Thank you.

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

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“We know exactly what we want – but we keep changing our minds!” (Various & Gould)

June 21, 2014 Artists

Watch what you say, people, because your words may end up as floating balloon heads on the side of a farmhouse in Germany.

Not sure if that new axiom will be memorized worldwide, but we were shocked shocked none-the-less to learn that some off-handed comment in Bed-Stuy a couple of years ago inspired Various and Gould to name a print and a mural after it.

Various & Gould. Brandenburg, Germany. June 2014. (photo © Various & Gould)

“This line itself again was based on the talk we had with you, when we first met at Brooklynite,” explains Various and Gould about the origination of the title.

“You might not remember the exact situation, but during our conversation and while joking around in the Gallery’s garden somehow the title of the print was born, as one of us said something like ‘We know exactly what we want …’ and one of you completed: ‘… but we keep changing our minds!’ ”

Your challenge, dear BSA reader, should you choose to accept it, is to guess which one of us made such a sarcastic rejoinder. Until then enjoy this new mural piece in Brandenburg by Various and Gould.

Various & Gould. Brandenburg, Germany. June 2014. (photo © Various & Gould)

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Project M/3 Opens for UN in Berlin and Martyn Reed on Table Etiquette

March 20, 2014 Artists, Interview

“good table manners, social awareness, whether or not they are house trained…”

Project M sounds like a James Bond plot feature, and if you’ve seen the smartly swarthy man of mystery at the helm of this installation you may expect him to scale the facade of the Urban Nation, instead of simply curate it.

But that is what Nuart’s founder Martyn Reed is doing in Berlin right now – cultivating a diverse program of urban artists on the ground level of a promising new project now under construction. Last week Martyn met with a number of the participants who flew, drove, walked to this neighborhood in transition to install their works for M/3 – including New York’s Martha Cooper, Melbourne’s Buff Diss, and Berlin’s Various & Gould, among others.

Martha Cooper. Shot from inside the window. (photo © Luna Park)

Project M, now in it’s 3rd edition, is a rotating street level exhibition to draw attention to the birth of an auspicious new cultural and art project that will anchor Berlin even further in the minds of fans and academics alike who follow the scene that continues to evolve around art in the streets.

An international presence in an internationally revered street art/ graffiti/ urban art/ mural city, so far Project M has featured artists such as Faile, Ron English, Know Hope, Sandra Chevrier and Strøk, and by the end of this series will have featured many more who are lending shape and form to this global scene with many names.

Martha Cooper poses in front of her window, 33 years after taking the original photo. (photo © Luna Park)

On hand for the installation action a few days ago was New York based photographer Luna Park, who shares with BSA readers some of the installation action, and we spoke with Mr. Reed about his curatorial vision for this iteration of Project M.

Brooklyn Street Art: Can you tell us about Project M and what you will be drawing attention to here?
Martyn Reed: It’s an interesting project and quite unusual in that it uses the inside of windows to house the work, and due to the nature of the project has quite a few restrictions that we’re not used to on the street or gallery. But like working on a canvas, these restrictions can often focus the mind.

For this iteration of Project M (the third), we set ourselves three tasks; to integrate Berlin artists into the group, to focus primarily on Stencil Art, and to mix well know names with emerging talent. We also asked a few of the artists, Martin Whatson and Ernest Zacharevic for example, to work site specifically.

So much for the “Broken Window” theory. Martha Cooper (photo © Luna Park)

Brooklyn Street Art: When you were thinking about which artists to choose for this project that is still in its early days at UN, what qualities were you looking for?
Martyn Reed: As ever with Nuart, it’s not always just about the art. This was to be a pretty intense 12 hour working period in a relatively small space with a crew who hadn’t yet met the artists. In cases like this it is important, like at all great dinner parties, to get the mix of guests just right.

Failing that, it is important to ensure that there’s plenty of alcohol available. Other qualities we looked for were good table manners, social awareness, whether or not they are house trained, and whether they can they be trusted with sharp implements etcetera. – For the most, I think we got the balance just right.

Levalet at work on his piece. (photo © Luna Park)

Brooklyn Street Art: Berlin obviously is a major city for street/urban/graffiti/mural art. How would you describe the influence of the local scene as factoring in to your curatorial vision on this project?
Martyn Reed: I think it’s important to get to know as much as possible about the artists and area you’re working in. Fortunately we have a lot of friends based in Berlin and a pretty intimate knowledge of the scene.

I knew which artists and style of work I wanted for this project and also those I thought who would be valuable allies for the UN project in the future. Berlin’s an interesting place to work with its heady mix of activism, anarchy and youthful abandon. I guess finding a way to harness and present this without becoming it, is key.

Levalet (photo © Luna Park)

Brooklyn Street Art: You have had some view of this already during the installation – but which artist do you think will provoke the most response from passersby?
Martyn Reed: For me it is Martha Cooper’s “Cops” from 1981, a vintage photo install chosen specifically for this location that is overlooked by the U-Bahn, Berlin’s Subway. It’s 20% larger than life and is really imposing in situ and when viewed from the train. It has already garnered the most interest and I’m sure is on its way to being a “future classic”.

I’m really happy bringing this particular work to the street and presenting it as a work of art in its own right, and of course, it’s always a pleasure to honour such a legend as Martha.

Various & Gould at work on their piece. (photo © Luna Park)

Various & Gould (photo © Luna Park)

Martin Whatson at work on his piece. (photo © Luna Park)

Martin Whatson (photo © Luna Park)

Buff Diss at work on his piece. (photo © Luna Park)

Buff Diss (photo © Luna Park)

Evol. Detail. (photo © Luna Park)

Plot Bot at work. (photo © Luna Park)

Ernest Zacharevic at work on his piece. (photo © Luna Park)

Ernest Zacharevic stands aside his new installation for M/3 (photo © Luna Park)

Poland’s M-City through the glass. Detail. (photo © Luna Park)

M-City with David Hochbaum on the right. (photo © Luna Park)

Rone on the facade, upper portion. Curated by Urban Nation. (photo © Luna Park)

David Hochbaum on the lower facade. Curated by Urban Nation. (photo © Luna Park)

We wish to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Luna Park for sharing her photos with us. If you wish to see more of Luna’s work click HERE

PROJECT M/3, curated by Martyn Reed of Nuart features: MARTHA COOPER (US), DOTDOTDOT (NO), ERNEST ZACHAREVIC (LT), VARIOUS AND GOULD (DE), M-CITY (PL), LEVALET (FR), PLOTBOT (DE), MARTIN WHATSON (NO), EVOL (DE), BUFF DISS (AUS)

For more information on Urban Nation, click HERE.

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Unbridled Berlin Street Art : Spencer Elzey in Europe

November 21, 2013 Artists

Berliners are hard to crack, they say, but probably not for New Yorkers. We “get” them because of their no-nonsense frankness, sometimes sharp tongues, and because their “creative types” are unhinged in a way that New Yorkers have been historically.

When it comes to the volume and variety of art that is being loosed in Berlin these days, they are setting some standards that many are still catching up with. Right now when you look at the freewheeling expression that bolted out from a broken wall more than 20 years ago and never looked back, you realize that Street Artists in Berlin are not hard to crack, they may simply be a little bit cracked.

Various & Gould (photo © Spencer Elzey)

In the third city of our series this week for Spencer Elzey’s residency on BSA, we visit Berlin, which some argue is the preeminent scene for urban art right now. It does appear to have a perfect mix for vibrant arts growth – a creatively permissive atmosphere and affordable lifestyle prevails in this city of design. And while uncommissioned public art is not legal, it is also not verboten.

The kids may come for the music and the art collectives and the dance parties, but they stay for the aerosol and the expressive faces and figures that accompany you while you walk. So far, people seem happy to let this arts scene continue to evolve and not surprisingly, tourists are magnetically drawn to it.

Victor Ash (photo © Spencer Elzey)

As you walk through certain neighborhoods you may prepare to have your pre-conventions subverted and inverted. Awash with a decade plus of unbridled art, the scale, style, influences, and techniques of pop, illustration, and graffiti are all truly playing with each other.

Where a large spate of legal mural work has monopolized creative energies of many Street Artists in New York recently, some players have commented that the content is being tamed and neutered and the resulting scene is less risk-oriented stylistically. As you look at the work Elzey found in Berlin, you are reminded what it looks like when art laborers don’t have to self-censor or look over their shoulder. Also, it is still affordable for artists. Oh, wait, did we already mention that?

Robi The Dog (photo © Spencer Elzey)

“Out of the cities I visited the one that contrasted the most with NY was Berlin. It felt like a beautiful lawlessness with graffiti and rollers everywhere,” says Elzey as he tries to put his finger on the attitude of exploration and discovery that floods large areas of the city.

“Berlin by far had the most graffiti and Street Art in its most raw and authentic form, which is how I think it should really be experienced. It felt more free and genuine. Besides RAW and Urban Spree, which are commissioned areas, Berlin felt like a giant playground. There was graffiti and rollers everywhere and lots of abandoned factories to explore and have fun in.”

Blu (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Berlin has been an international draw for artists and arts institutions for the last decade at least and many of the Street Art world make sure to head here at least once, sometimes staying months and couch surfing and partying an staying out all night. Since the graffiti scene and the Street Art scene are not so polarized in the minds of people here there is also a freedom to experiment without fear of upsetting your peer group.

Luckily for BSA, local Street Artists Various & Gould were very hospitable and more than helpful and willing to tour Spencer around some of the hot spots and to give him some background on the Berlin streets. “Meeting someone you admire, be it an artist, musician, or actor, is always a special experience,” he says about being with V&G, “It feels a little different when that person is a Street Artist, or at least it does to me. The fact that part of their job means that they do illegal things, being trusted enough to be welcomed into their inner circle has deeper meaning.”

Blu. Detail. (photo © Spencer Elzey)

So he was in good hands with these two who have deep roots with the artist community and who frequently challenge themselves to look at their own work with new eyes – and to find new ways to engage with passersby with their art and a bit of theater. “In the case of Various & Gould in Berlin and C215 in Vitry I was able to meet these artists on their own turf. They showed me some of their new work in their studios and then toured me around the neighborhoods that they know best,” he recalls with some delight.

“While seeing art on the streets is one thing, getting the first hand history behind it makes it more meaningful,” he says. “You get more history and depth that way.”

Blu (photo © Spencer Elzey)

How long Berlin will continue to be a petrie dish for experimentation and discovery? Forever. Just kidding. But for the moment this ephemeral art movement is fiercely alive and more independent than many cities. Artists have always made life a bit of a moveable feast. Today its Berlin, tomorrow it could be Mexico City, or Lima, who knows?

“I think I would recommend it if you were a younger artist who was trying to break into the game and establish a name for yourself,” says Elzey.

Blu (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Alaniz (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Herakut (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Various & Gould (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Os Gemeos (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Nunca (photo © Spencer Elzey)

JR (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Cooked (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Vhils (photo © Spencer Elzey)

MTO (photo © Spencer Elzey)

MTO gives Alias a shout out. (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Klone (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Neurotitan (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Vidan The Weird (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Tafe (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Reaktor and Paulo Ito (photo © Spencer Elzey)

G (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Inti (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Ema Jones (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Klub 7 (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Broken Fingaz (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Blek le Rat (photo © Spencer Elzey)

BLO (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Maclaim (photo © Spencer Elzey)

ROA (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Otto Schade (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Nychos (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Our sincere thanks to Various & Gould for their hospitality and time.

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Various & Gould Spark a Witch Hunt on Streets of Berlin

November 16, 2013 Artists

Witches are burned at the stake. Or hanged, drowned, beheaded. Ask the American Puritans.

Of course, demonizing and ostracizing and terrorizing never quite went out of style since those formative years of the US, and the global history of the race is rife with this inclination. From Salem to today, ignorance and fear can be stirred rapidly into hysteria, usually by an invisible hand. In a tumultuous period of finger pointing and fear mongering that is often laced with latent prejudice, it is possible to whip people into a fevered frenzy of sanctimonious vigilante vitriol to purge that evil that resides amongst us, and within us.

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Various & Gould. (photo © Various & Gould)

A riveting interactive witch hunt, complete with matches, candles, smart phones and QR codes, has just begun on the streets of Berlin – the creation of conceptual Street Artists Various & Gould. Better yet, you know many of the 13 ‘witches’, as they are people from modern times who have suffered fates of being accused and depicted as evil.

“That these people might have been persecuted and burned as witches in earlier times is a mere speculation here,” say the two artists, whose project encourages you to strike a match across the face of their screen printed posters and light a candle at the base of it. But whether or not these people would have been called witches in earlier days, there are other similarities V&G want to draw attention to. “They still have to fight for their ideas, their freedom, their dignity or in some cases even their lives today,” they say.

Various & Gould. Yoko Ono and Malala Yousafzai (photo © Various & Gould)

Who are you talking about, you ask? Edward Snowden is one – currently a polarizing figure for revealing the extent of spying the US is doing on world citizens and governments – is alternately spoken of as a folk hero and an evil traitor.

Yoko Ono is another – once vilified, now celebrated, for the very same violations in art and cultural orthodoxy. Also she broke up the Beatles singlehandedly for Christs sake. Also she’s a peace activist, so that is upsetting. Now widely considered to have been ahead of her time, Ms. Ono once felt the firey public disdain for her so adamantly that she wrote and performed a song in the 1970s entitled “Yes, I’m a Witch”.

V&G even had a little luck reaching out to some of their witches for the project and got some responses. “Yoko Ono said that she was touched by our mail, but was having an important event elsewhere, which was no surprise,” says Various.

Also, performance artist Marina Abramović is a witch, as well as Antony Johnson and a Pussy Rioter. The reasons for selecting the witches who include journalists, rappers, human rights activists, artists…. may be obvious to some, perplexing for others. Their controversial status is the space of the public mind in which they each hang.

Various & Gould. Yoko Ono. (photo © Various & Gould)

Various explains, “In this respect, the witches series can be understood as a homage to the portrayed people and a reference to the intolerance of today’s apparently enlightened times.” Gould agrees, “Different-minded people are being scape-goated and demonized in the public just as they once were.”

Of the 13 witches you will see a variety of names and if you don’t recognize them you can use the QR code beneath it or go to the special website to read and hear audio giving biographical information in German and English.

Anne Wizorek, a feminist blogger and one of the portrayed witches will even be on hand to introduce the gallery show entitled “Witches Wanted – Wanted Witches” at Open Walls this evening.

Speaking of the installation and the reactions they have received to the witch hunt that spreads across the city, Various says they had been afraid of negative reactions but thus far there have been none. “Somehow we were afraid someone would maybe get our intention wrong or be mad … but so far reactions are good.”

Various & Gould. Malala Yousafzai. (photo © Various & Gould)

In an increasingly polarized political atmosphere throughout the western world due to many factors, Gould says their imaginative project and execution of it hasn’t touched off controversy and has been really well received. “It was also very fulfilling for us to return to one of the portraits that we have in the street and to find some of the candles still burning!”

This witch-hunt in Berlin-Kreuzberg is not to be understood as a chase, but rather as an interactive scavenger hunt they say on www.witchhunt.eu/, where you can see the map locations and follow the hunt.

You can also follow the hashtag #WitchHuntBerlin on Twitter.

The full list of people portrayed as witches includes Marina Abramović, Mae Azango, Ameneh Bahrami, Antony Hegarty, Le1f, Yoko Ono, Nawal El Saadawi, Edward Snowden, Aung San Suu Kyi, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Anne Wizorek, Lana Wachowski, and Malala Yousafzai.

Various & Gould. Edward Snowden. (photo © Various & Gould)

Various & Gould. Edward Snowden . Amenem Bahrami . Le1f (photo © Various & Gould)

Various & Gould. Le1f. (photo © Various & Gould)

Various & Gould. Lana Wachowski. (photo © Various & Gould)

Various & Gould. Mae Azango. (photo © Various & Gould)

Various & Gould. Aung San Suu Kyi . (photo © Various & Gould)

Various & Gould. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova. (photo © Various & Gould)

Various & Gould. Nawal El Saadawi. (photo © Various & Gould)

Various & Gould. (photo © Various & Gould)

Various & Gould “Witches Wanted – Wanted Witches” exhibition opens today in Berlin. Click HERE for more information.

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Open Walls Gallery Presents: Various & Gould “The Pressure of Printing” (Berlin, Germany)

May 28, 2013 Afghanistan, Artists

Various & Gould

VARIOUS & GOULD | THE PRESSURE OF PRINTING

OPEN WALLS Gallery cordially invites to VARIOUS & GOULD‘s upcoming show, opening on June 8th from 20:00 onwards, in our showroom in Stattbad.

For VARIOUS & GOULD the collage technique is a principle of creating common ground. Testing and experimenting with methods of collaborative printing, was the aim for their residency at the Frans Masereel Centrum, in Belgium, at the beginning of this year.

As an introduction into our program, VARIOUS & GOULD will present the “Belgian Houses” series. This particular body of work is build up from many little bits and pieces, such as patchwork figures, body parts, objects & patterns combined and reassembled together. There are alternately printed by the two artists, in an impressive manner, on paper-sheets. The artists reversed their workflow and implemented the method of collaging directly into the printing process, revisiting previous templates and thus composing new pieces. The result is a series of twelve “collage-prints”.

http://openwallsgallery.tumblr.com/

30 Works Gallery Presents: “Dirty Words” A Group Exhibition. (Cologne, Germany)

February 19, 2013 Afghanistan

Gruppenausstellung mit Decycle , EMESS, L.E.T., Marc Peschke, mittenimwald, Various & Gould und Van Ray

„dirty works @ 30works“ geht in die vierte Runde. Ein weiteres Mal wird die Kölner 30works Galerie zur Spielfläche, zum Experimentierfeld, zum Treffpunkt der Jungen Wilden der Kunstszene. Streetart? Pop Art? Bildende Kunst? Es ist heute schwer, da noch eine Grenze zu ziehen. Diesmal sind Decycle, EMESS, L.E.T., Marc Peschke, mittenimwald, Various & Gould und Van Ray zu sehen – Stars und Talente aus ganz Deutschland: eine wilde Mischung. Ausstellungseröffnung ist am Samstag, den 26. Januar, um 20 Uhr.

Streetart ist rau. Sie ist handgemacht. Sie ist ein Spiel mit Zeichen und Codes. Manchmal ist sie wie eine feindliche Übernahme, lässt einen Raum des Widerspruchs entstehen. „dirty works vol. IV“ bietet nicht weniger als einen Culture Clash, einen kulturellen Mustermix. Neueste Pop-Hybride, rau und unmittelbar werden hier präsentiert. Spektakuläre Bilder, junge Kunst, die provoziert und anmacht, die den Kunstbetrieb herausfordert, die nach einem anderen Leben giert, die sich wehrt gegen Kommerzialisierung und Gentrifizierung der Städte, die sich als Gegenpol versteht, als beißender Kommentar auf eine zunehmend normierte Umwelt. Diese Kunst ist vielgestaltig, technisch wie inhaltlich – aber vor allem ist sie: nie langweilig. Streetart, Urban Art und Bildende Kunst. Neue, frische Bilder. Jetzt zu sehen in Köln bei „dirty works vol. IV @ 30works“.

Finissage: Sonntag, 24. Februar von 15 bis 18 Uhr.
Ausstellung: 26.01.2013 bis 23.02.2013
Di-Fr 15-19 Uhr, Sa 11-17 Uhr sowie nach Vereinbarung.

30works Galerie
Antwerpener Str. 42
50672 Köln

Finissage – dirty works @ 30works

Various & Gould Mask a Living Tree with Death

September 25, 2012 Artists

“What becomes of Berlin, if the various subcultures won’t find enough central places to develop anymore?”

That’s a question from Street Artists Various and Gould about their city, but of course it’s relevant in many.

Various & Gould. “Duali Tree” (photo © Just)

The artists who bring the creative tree of life to a dead neighborhood are often victims of the people whose primary interest is to capitalize on it; the money handlers and opportunists effectively killing the very thing that attracted life in the first place. By way of metaphor, Various and Gould mounted their personal installation on a tree in Görlitzer Park, Berlin to raise the question and continue the conversation that cultural observers have about the role of subcultures in greater society. Is there a social contract that exists which supports the subculture and values it’s contribution – and if we value it, should we make any effort to sustain it?

“Trees are symbols of vitality and growth. They supply oxygen and give shape to their surroundings. With our installation “DualiTree” we’d like to bring up the inseparable bond of life and death,” said Various as the two commented on the installation. The pretty simple public project uses sailcloth, flexible tent poles, cardboard, loops, rope, and acrylic paint to project the face of death onto a living tree. The installation is in reaction to the various hotspots for subculture in Berlin that are now closing as more commercial interests have driven the prices of rent up in areas of the city where the average person would not have walked at night before these scenes evolved.

Various & Gould. “Duali Tree” (photo © Just)

Two days before their installation Berlin artist’s squat Tacheles was cleared after 22 years, which many say was THE symbol for the creative potential of Berlin (and a top tourist attraction. Similarly spaces like the community-garden project Prinzessinnengarten (German for princesses-garden) is at risk and started a petition, and the 300 square foot Neurotitan art space is on a very insecure rental ground – even though it has hosted up to 12 shows a year and given opportunities to Street Artists like the young Brooklyn Street Art collective Faile in 2003 and the Just Seeds collective in 2012. It is without question that vital spaces like these, which provide fertile soil for alternative culture – urban art, comic art, illustration, painting, performances, book presentations, small concerts, and collaborations, are crucial engines to the greater creative economy.

Various & Gould. “Duali Tree” (photo © Just)

As they look at the new Duali tree today, still standing after two weeks, Gould re-iterates, “The alternative scene is an essential part of what makes Berlin so special and brings it’s veins to pulse.”

Various & Gould. “Duali Tree” (photo © Just)

Various & Gould. “Duali Tree” (photo © Various & Gould)

Various & Gould. “Duali Tree” (photo © Just)

Various & Gould. “Duali Tree” (photo © Various & Gould)

Noting the collaborative nature of this particular creative venture, V&G thanks the people who helped in their installation: Just, Frank, Lars, Robert, Julien, Stev, and Jonas.

To see more JUST photographs click here.

A Roof With a View : Looking at Art Up Above

July 25, 2012 Artists, On the Street

Climbing up on a roof during the sultry city summer can be liberating, and it turns out to be a prime place for painting too. Away from the cacophony of the sweaty streets, the breeze up here is a little cooler and stronger and aside from the occasional potted tomato plant or sun-tanning waitress, you are on your own. You may not own any personal real estate, but right now this is all yours, this sweeping urban vista of grand, glassy, grimy, gawdy, and gutted.

For years graffiti writers and Street Artists have sought these undiscovered spots as a kind of refuge, an urban backyard for hanging out and going big, often collaboratively. You could say that rooftop spots even have a certain lore, a place to tell stories about and revel in. In a hard-knock nasty city that sometimes seems to swallow people whole, on this rooftop with a view you can do a huge piece and feel like you are holding it all down. Not to mention the bragging rights you can claim for hitting a high profile location that grabs eyeballs and raises the stakes. As for the city dweller, the work, as ever, is subjectively reviled, ignored, or celebrated. No one can truthfully deny its affect on the character of the cityscape.

Here are some choice roof shots by photographer Jaime Rojo across New York, LA, Chicago, and Boston to give you a birds eye view of some art from on high.

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Pulling Strings in Berlin; “Heinrich” The Public Marionette

July 18, 2012 Artists, Berlin, Germany, On the Street

“All of us are like marionettes,” says Ben, “Somebody pulls our strings and we move.”

Various and Gould can’t be sure that their own strings didn’t get pulled last week when they installed on the street a life-sized replica of one half of this German Street Art duo. Hanging from the beams below a train station in Berlin-Kreuzberg, the cardboard puppet named “Heinrich” had gone on display two or three times indoors before but the artists wanted to see how he would be received by passersby in the public sphere.

“Before we were even done installing people showed up and started to play intuitively with it by pulling the strings,” they told us as they described their surprise at what would become a 6-day experience.

People from all walks of life and ages took interest in this naked man hanging out near the bicycles, and many took his movements into their own hands. The artists visited the site regularly to observe the interactions, and often found that a mirroring of movements, a sort of dance, took place. “Not only was the marionette being moved but also the people moved themselves. Some just pulled one of the chords briefly, while others would get totally into it, grabbing the strings with both of their hands, experimenting with various sequences of movements.” Their lifeless creation somehow brought the street to life, and vice versa.

Sometimes there was damage to Heinrich that they needed to repair when visiting him first thing in the morning, and he suffered one violent episode that left his arms dangling by themselves from the hooks in the ceiling above. But he also gained a protective crew of friends who call this area home, including the 40-ish slim musician named Ben with a bandaged hand of his own. Drinking coffee or beer with his buddies all day, Ben took on a protective air toward the puppet, instructing people how to use the strings. To their amazement, the artists often found that their creation had been repaired; a torn-off foot was reattached with a rubber band and a shoulder joint was rejuvenated with an empty cigarette box and some adhesive tape.

What began as a fun experiment with a puppet that they were ready to part with eventually transformed into a bonding experience they had not predicted. Watching individuals interact with the strings became like poetry. “It looked like two marionettes facing each other with both being joined by the same chords,” they say. Finally one day Various and Gould found that Heinrich had been cut down from his strings and taken away, perhaps to someone’s home.

For their experience, they cannot help but think of the people they met, and what Ben said about everyone being a marionette. Public artists know of course that public art will always be subject to the whims of the public. What they didn’t expect was to find that their puppet project might have had some heart strings attached to it.

The artists wish to thank Lucky Cat and Studio Nura for their photography, support and help with this project.

“Heinrich”, a life-sized marionette by Various & Gould
Installed at Goerlitzer Bahnhof in Berlin-Kreuzberg on the 10th of July, 2012.

This article is also published on The Huffington Post

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Various and Gould Perform “Guest Work” on the Street in Istanbul

April 18, 2012 Artists, Events, Germany, Istanbul, On the Street, Performance, Turkey

The German Street Art Duo and “Berlistanbul”

A cobalt blue streak sweeps through a narrow street in Istanbul as Various and Gould don fluorescent orange work vests and push brooms with a purpose. The lunchtime crowd gathers a few steps back and to the sides to witness a remarkable cloud of ultra-marine pigment forming a wake behind the two German Street Artists as they perform their new installation focusing on work and workers.

Simply by changing the color of the dirt, the effect of an everyday act by municipal workers is effectively transformed, if not understood. 34 kilos of non-toxic blue pushed up a street with confidence and industry by two people wearing an official-looking logo on their uniforms does cause confusion. “What happened? Did someone die?” asks a spectator. No, they are assured, it is an art performance – an explanation that calms most but not all, including restaurant owners here in this eastside tourist district of “Beyoğlu” while their dining guests look curiously with mouths agape.

“Zu Gast Arbeit”, loosely translated as “guest work”, is the name of the piece by Various and Gould and like many of their wheat-pastes on streets in cities around the world, it is focused on the topic of “work”. In this part of Istanbul where they are participating in a group show called “Outside In” with eight other Street Artists, V&G talk about the significance of this public act of sweeping and the changing nature of work today, “Work nowadays is becoming increasingly invisible. It is getting harder to grasp and comprehend.” With a hint of the ridiculous their custom “uniform” logo shows their affinity for workers in their home and host city. “On the backs of our orange vests we stenciled the two city emblems merged into each other – on the bottom the shape of Berlin’s familiar television tower and on top the municipal logo of Istanbul. Together it can be read as the symbol for a utopian place called “Berlistanbul”.

So how did this performance go? And why is the topic of work so important to the duo? Various and Gould talked with Brooklyn Street Art to give us a better understanding of “Zu Gast Arbeit”.

Brooklyn Street Art: Your Street Art work often focuses on themes related to work and workers. While technological changes have caused many jobs to evaporate, the streets don’t clean themselves, do they? The world still depends on workers, right?
Various and Gould: Yes, of course the world depends on workers. In many areas migrants do mainly these physically exhausting and badly paid jobs. Physical labor isn’t very well respected and although this work is important, we hardly say “Thank You”! Also there ARE machines that clean the streets and replace the jobs of a lot of people.

Brooklyn Street Art: Are you drawing attention to the act of physical labor, or to the life of the worker?
Various and Gould:It has a lot to do with the physical labor of a worker and also with the role of a worker. The monotonous repetition of the sweeping movement is somehow neutral and peaceful. The street cleaner is a familiar image to the residents and is normally not much noticed. He is somewhat official, as he is hired and paid by the city, but he is also perceived as low-grade.

It’s just the little shift of a color in the performance that adds a different meaning to the act of sweeping and draws attention to it. The combination of “cleaning” (but actually doing the opposite of it) brought in a breeze of absurdity and senselessness. Art is irrational. And when an idea comes up, it comes from the guts and isn’t much explainable at first.

In the book Momo, by Michael Ende, there is a beautiful scene, where Beppo, the street cleaner, tells Momo that it is important not to look for the end of the long street and the long distance you still have to go, but rather to put your concentration in every step and sweep and breath. Then it is fun and you do your work well and suddenly you reach the end of the street.

Brooklyn Street Art: While this blue streak through town is visual, would you say the project is more conceptual in nature?
Various and Gould: Actually it isn’t very different from what we’ve done before: bringing some color to the street … but yes, it is a conceptual work. We chose the medium of a performance very carefully. We knew that every detail matters and each has a certain meaning, so we tried to reduced the elements of the performance and simplify it. It is about a seeing something in a new way and the context plays a big role this performance. If it were performed this way in Berlin it wouldn’t have the same meaning. (But since the element of chance is also part of a performance the perception of your work is unpredictable anyway.)

Brooklyn Street Art: What role does a public performance like this play in a community?
Various and Gould:This is hard to say, as we aren’t part of any community in Istanbul! We were guests and tourists. We were a bit afraid of coming to Istanbul with this performance, not knowing the community so well and all the customs – there is always a risk of being called an “Orientalist” – meaning a person who goes somewhere with a Western behavior of superiority.

And as the Turkish-German guest worker issue is as quite delicate, we didn’t know how our performance would be understood and perceived. But we had the feeling the spectators were quite open. Although the performance was meant as a dialogue and contribution it clearly holds the potential of (cultural) misunderstanding and incomprehension.

Brooklyn Street Art: Your logo merges the cultures of Berlin and Istanbul. Can you talk about the significance of these two cities to each other and their relationship to work?
Various and Gould: There are quite a few parallels. It seems that Berlin and Istanbul both are very popular as cultural hot spots at the moment. Many young creatives from all over the world are moving there and this is also accompanied by a higher tolerance for differences. For us these two cities are like a gate to a German-Turkish cultural exchange. In light of the history of Turkish guest workers coming, living and staying in Germany it is time for a merging movement toward each other from both sides.

“Zu Gast Arbeit” – A performance by Various & Gould

In Istanbul, Turkey on the 5th of April, 2012.
Photos by and copyright of Gülbin Eriş.
With support from: Sinejan Kılıç and Önder Duman
Curator: Sinejan Kılıç

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Images of the Week: 03.04.12

March 4, 2012 Artists, Berlin, Brooklyn, California, Germany, L.A., Los Angeles, Manhattan, NYC, On the Street

Our weekly interview with the street, this week including Bronco, Cindy Sherman, Dan Witz, LNY, Miyok, PK, Read, Royce Bannon, Stikman, Swoon, Trojan Horse, Various & Gould, and Who is Charlie?

Dan Witz was recently in Los Angeles and Daniel LaHoda from LA Freewalls Project took him around to visit some walls. This and the following images are of his series WTF in The Arts District, The Warehouse District and the Manufacturing District. (photo © Dan Witz)

Swoon, Royce Bannon and a Polaroid shot of an amorous couple complete this snap shot of the dialogue on the streets of NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

German duo Various & Gould spotted this box/crate free standing on the streets of Berlin. The crate was built to protect a very old iron gate from the harsh German winter weather. Then they got thinking… (photo courtesy of © Various & Gould)

Various & Gould. Back at their place they build a horse head with a wooden frame and covered it with cardboard. (photo courtesy of © Various & Gould)

Various & Gould. And with the help of BRONCO and Studio Nura they transformed the box into an Art Deco Trojan Horse! (photo courtesy of © Various & Gould)

We are very excited about the great, talented and hugely influential artist Cindy Sherman current exhibition at MoMA. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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