I'd call myself an artist rather than a designer, I do design, I do it cheaply, but only to put a little food on the table. For those who fetishize design in all its manifest forms I can completely understand the fascination, the consumer-designer relationship is a vibrant one, yet there are pitfalls. One of those being 'taste for taste's sake', i.e simply redesigning something to make it 'look cool', the other being the media's habit of latching on to big names for a decade or two, desperately hoping that those few mega-successful designers out there that make a household name for themselves actually know what they're doing.

I understand the fuss about designers that can simplify and stylise mundane everyday objects, such as Philippe Starck's lemon squeezer on a basic aesthetic level at the very least, James Dyson's vacuum cleaners actually do represent a leap in technology as well as style, and even I will turn my head for the occasional uber gadget, but the truth is that design for me is just a natural part of life, somewhat like evolution. The point when design starts to become interesting for me is when it challenges public perceptions and precepts, reimagining our society in another way, as with the Bauhaus movement, Le Corbusier, and even the Art Deco period to some extent, both reflecting new attitudes and predicting our future behaviour.

Ever so slightly reminiscent of the Biblical struggle between David and Goliath, the behemoth yawn fest that is The London Design Festival is looking a little less confident this year after a 9 year stint as a monopoly, The Anti Design Festival is preparing to pull the media rug from beneath them as it challenges what the organiser Neville Brody sees as a 25 year cultural freeze in UK design. Set to run simultaneously in the last week of the LDF, it should really cause a commotion. You can see it for yourself from 18-26 September on and around Redchurch Street in Shoreditch, London the ADF gathers contributions of art and design that challenge contemporary stereotypes. This is work that is seen as un-commercial, dangerous, and anti-establishment. For artists, designers, and other creatives, this is an opportunity to exhibit work alongside contributors including Jonathan Barnbrook, Stuart Semple and Stefan Sagmeister.

Here's what Brody has to say on the subject:

"This is the chance to show previous work that has failed with clients or instructors, or to produce completely new work without the imposition of market restrictions. Because this festival is completely non-profit in orientation, we cannot pay for contributions. However, this is an opportunity for your work to engage a wide audience in a context that will challenge and provoke the public to rethink the role of art and design in contemporary culture.

We have two separate streams that you can submit your work to. Submissions will be accepted until Friday, 13 August 2010 at 11:59PM BST. There is no need to confirm your interest.

The first stream is for small, reproducible multiples. Submissions can take any form you want, but the bulk of the work should be cheaply-made and reproducible so that visitors can take it and use it however they want. For more information, including creative prompts and a submission upload form, please see this link. Please write to andy@researchstudios.com with any questions related to this first stream.

The second stream is for large, one-off pieces of various sizes that will be framed and hung closely alongside each other. The theme for this stream is State of Mind, Mind of State, which considers the reciprocal relationship between personal psychology and state control. For more information, including submission details, please see this link. Please write to submit@antidesignfestival.com with questions related to this second route."

Read the full interview at It's Nice That or visit the ADF site at www.antidesignfestival.com.

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My latest work is called "Cock-Eyed". An unfortunate example of English phraseology. Prints available at Imagekind and PimpArtWorks.

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Ben Eine, until relatively recently the best kept secret in UK urban art has hit the headlines when British PM Dave Cameron and President Barack Obama recently performed an art trade on Dave's first official visit as Prime Minister to the USA. What I didn't know until even more recently is that the guy is literally based down the road from me in Hastings. I had an inkling he had links down this way when Chris, my gf, pointed out some signage at her local jewellers in Kings Road St. Leonards on Sea.

Anyway, it only seems right I give the guy a big shout out seeing as he's about the biggest local name I'll probably ever drop in my life. Eine is famed for his typographic stencil art such as his series of shop shutter works and vast murals including titles like Vandalism and Scary. Here's what Wikipedia have to say on the guy:

Prior to becoming involved in commercial graffiti, Eine was a very famous and highly credible writer in the underground London graffiti scene.

Inspired by the work of fashion assassin Noki, Eine first started to explore more commercial avenues in a workshop above the Dragon Bar in Lenoard Street, London (now knocked down). Eine produced a number of custom clothing designs notably some custom "VANDALS" sweatshirts and started to explore screen prints.

At this time Eine contributed to sticker graffiti and was prolific in East London with his neon and black EINE stickers (multiple EINE names).

Eine first came to prominence in the "commercial" graffiti scene through his symbiotic partnership with London graffiti artist Banksy; through Eine, Banksy was able to access the underground scene and through Banksy Eine accessed the commercial world. Impressed by the work of Banksy Eine chose to focus on "commercial" graffiti.

In his commercial work he has produced numerous lettering styles including: shutter, circus, neon, elton, vandalism and wendy.

Of course there's much more to Eine's work than typographic stencils, I love his Cork Street Monsters canvases…

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/paulbaines/~3/ogOdP3qzyvc/

Ben Eine, until relatively recently the best kept secret in UK urban art has hit the headlines when British PM Dave Cameron and President Barack Obama recently performed an art trade on Dave's first official visit as Prime Minister to the USA. What I didn't know until even more recently is that the guy is literally based down the road from me in Hastings. I had an inkling he had links down this way when Chris, my gf, pointed out some signage at her local jewellers in Kings Road St. Leonards on Sea.

Anyway, it only seems right I give the guy a big shout out seeing as he's about the biggest local name I'll probably ever drop in my life. Eine is famed for his typographic stencil art such as his series of shop shutter works and vast murals including titles like Vandalism and Scary. Here's what Wikipedia have to say on the guy:

Prior to becoming involved in commercial graffiti, Eine was a very famous and highly credible writer in the underground London graffiti scene.

Inspired by the work of fashion assassin Noki, Eine first started to explore more commercial avenues in a workshop above the Dragon Bar in Lenoard Street, London (now knocked down). Eine produced a number of custom clothing designs notably some custom "VANDALS" sweatshirts and started to explore screen prints.

At this time Eine contributed to sticker graffiti and was prolific in East London with his neon and black EINE stickers (multiple EINE names).

Eine first came to prominence in the "commercial" graffiti scene through his symbiotic partnership with London graffiti artist Banksy; through Eine, Banksy was able to access the underground scene and through Banksy Eine accessed the commercial world. Impressed by the work of Banksy Eine chose to focus on "commercial" graffiti.

In his commercial work he has produced numerous lettering styles including: shutter, circus, neon, elton, vandalism and wendy.

Of course there's much more to Eine's work than typographic stencils, I love his Cork Street Monsters canvases…

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'Depre$$ion' is my latest print available at Imagekind – 40" x 60" $50.90 and at PimpArtWorks at £16.80 for a 24" x 36" print.

Money's too tight to mention…

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Another print by me, this one's called "Semantics". Another corporate game of distraction. Prints available at 40" x 60" for $50 each.

See more of my prints at Imagekind, Artsprojekt and limited edition signed prints at PimpArtWorks.

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Here's my latest print available at Imagekind simply entitled 'Sex Sells' available in various sizes up to 41" x 60" for $50.99 and 20" x 30" at PimpArtWorks at £16.80.

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I suppose Cleon Peterson is the kind of artist you love or hate, his brightly coloured neon paintings and prints are immediately recognisable and almost always filled with scenes of ultra violence. He's really popular with the urban art crowd and has even been a guest artist at OBEY. I've read and seen Clockwork Orange a few times now so this work is right up my street, jam-packed with cynical social commentary and almost a "Where's Waldo?" quality in some of his more panoramic pieces like this one. Anyway if you've no idea who the guy is but want to know more then there's a cool interview with him at Anthem Magazine. If you need more then look him up on the net, he's everywhere

Here's the press release "The BLDG is excited to announce the release of a new print series by artist Cleon Peterson. For those of you unfamiliar with Cleon"s work he is know for creating anxiety-riddled worlds fueled by violence and chaos. Cleon produces a world where deviance is the norm and his characters are forced to navigate through a lawless terrain.

Both prints measure 13.5 x 17.5 and are printed on heavy 100% cotton paper using ink so bright it may cause blindness. The prints will be released sharply at 1:00 pm EST on July 14th. For more information visit www.BLDGrefuge.com for more information.

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From Bert in Copenhagen:

“Over a year ago I started placing my work into the public urban landscape. Of great importance was that I used a form of wood already found on the street and make the work pertinent to its surroundings. My objective was to bring sculpture to a new and unorthodox framework: common road works. I carve 100x100mm timber used in the barricades surrounding almost all road works/ building sites in Copenhagen.
In the middle of the temporary and unsightly mess, where one would not normally expect an artistic experience, I plant my hand carved and painted wooden sculpture. The incongruity should provoke a smile and some bafflement for the viewer and I hope that the carvings will help alleviate the irritation of congestion and hindrance these work areas create.”

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In early 2007, after finishing up curating our 11 Spring exhibition, Sara and I received a phone call from a wonderful book editor named Ethel Seno. Ethel, who had recently finished working with David LaChapelle on Heaven To Hell, was looking for her next project and had been speaking to her boss, Benedikt Taschen, about doing a big book on urban art. She asked if we were interested in collaborating.

Having collected TASCHEN books for many years, and knowing the quality of the books that Benedikt Taschen puts his name to, we were thrilled to receive Ethel’s call. But what we weren’t interested in doing, and something we told Ethel when we first spoke, was to work on developing another “street art book.” Even back in 2007 there were already tons of quickly produced street art books in the stores, and while a few of them were indeed very good, we didn’t want to add another book to an already crowded genre.

In talking with Ethel, we said that we wouldn’t be interested in doing the book without including the writer Carlo McCormick whom we felt knew the subject better than anyone else on the planet, and could add wonderful context and a fresh perspective. Soon Carlo was brought into the conversations and a couple of months later contracts were signed and we all rolled up our sleeves and started work.

Paolo Buggiani, Minotaur, Brooklyn Bridge, NYC 1980

We’re thrilled to announce that in just a few weeks time, after three years of development, TRESPASS: A HISTORY OF UNCOMMISSIONED URBAN ART will finally hit stores around the world. We couldn’t be happier as TRESPASS is definitely the book that we all wanted to make. And while the book does include some wonderful examples of street art and graffiti, it’s much, much more than that. Using the act of trespassing as a narrative thread to bring together a very disparate group of artists, we set out to find visual documentation of ephemeral acts of public art that in many cases had no known photos. Unlike other books that are grouped by decades (“The 70’s, “The 80’s”..) or by medium (“Stencils”, “Wheatpastes”…) or by location (US, Europe, Asia….) the chapters in TRESPASS are, thanks to the brilliance of Carlo McCormick, organized by a series of very unique themes including: Conquest of Space, Public Memory/Private Secrets, and Magical Thinking. In addition to Carlo’s text the book not only includes essays by Sara and myself, Anne Pasternak from Creative Time, and civil rights lawyer Tony Serra. Finally, to set the theme of the book into motion, TRESPASS opens with a wonderful introduction penned by Banksy.

With over 300 pages of works by more than 150 artists, Trespass ultimately brings together into one book four generations of artists that include Jean Tinguely, Philippe Petit, Paolo Buggiani, Duke Riley, Spencer Tunick, Keith Haring, Os Gemeos, Jenny Holzer, Barry McGee, Gordon Matta-Clark, Shepard Fairey, Blu, Billboard Liberation Front, Guerrilla Girls and Banksy, among others. If you’re a regular Wooster reader, some of the photos may be familiar to you. But many of them will surprise you, as the book includes dozens of never seen before photographs of long-lost ephemeral works. In putting the book together with Carlo and Ethel, we held true to one fundamental rule: Every photograph in the book had to be of a work that was unauthorized and lacked permission. Commissioned work, even even if the photographs were absolutely spectacular, would not be included.

ZEVS, Liquidated McDonald’s, Paris, France, 2005

In an early conversation with Benedikt Taschen, Sara stressed the fact that for us to truly put out the book we all hoped for, not only did the book have to be large format and of very high quality, but it also had to be extremely affordable. Our wish was that the book would sell for under $50.00 so when we heard that TASCHEN had agree to a retail price of $39.99, we were absolutely thrilled.

So in the coming weeks stay tuned for more information about TRESPASS as like being parents of a new born baby, it’s a project that we’re very proud of and love talking about. There are also plans for a series of launch events including one in New York on September 28th and one in Miami during Art Basel in December.

To give you an early taste of what the book is all about, click here for a special visual “leaf-through” of the book.

We can’t wait for all of you to see the finished book and to hear your thoughts and reactions.

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INVASION OF FUTURAMA
Uploaded by extermitent. – Watch original web videos.

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From Charushin:

“i did this action in Moscow in August 2d when the day of Air Assault Forces takes place. It used to be very brutal and aggressive day when former and current members of AAF get totally drunk and destroy everything/beat whoever they want. They are allowed to do it by government (because for government it’s easier to allow such one-day-anarchy than pay them good salary and bring some changes into corrupted and demoralized army). Many people (especially colored) don’t leave their home this day because it’s quite dangerous. Others are afraid to pass these places where the AAF members are hanging over.

One of their favorite entertainment is swimming in the fountains. I colored water in one of them in pink color. Color of love and tenderness. These guys always have not enough love and affection”

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