• linked fromhttp://blog.friend-and-co.com/2009/10/chuck-close.html

• linked fromhttp://blog.friend-and-co.com/2009/10/barry-mcgee.html

If you didn’t know, but should’ve guessed, I’m a Brit, and our empire is well and truly over, and has been way before I was born (thank God). What’s more if things keep going the way they are it won’t be long before the USA will need to hand theirs over too. The dollar is collapsing, China, India and South America are starting to rake it in, Saudi Arabia owns around 7% of America already, and sooner or later The States and all its citizens will have to learn to adapt.

In the meantime you can split the country into two distinct parts, the haves and the have nots, the rich and the poor, the possessors and the dispossessed. The fact is that since the collapse of the global economy most countries that cannot afford war, at least financially, are still fighting in hotspots around the globe. The countries that can afford it are either playing for time or if optimism rules the day, have the sense not to waste lives, money and self-respect destroying their far flung neighbours. Americans are losing their homes, Chicago is rioting, but the mainstream want to keep the blinkers on, it doesn’t matter if 10% of the country are now unemployed, it’s just ahem… a blip. If only.

For me, culturally at the very least, America is still the powerhouse of the world. Sure, most of it is mainstream crap, Hollywood movies, globally marketed corporate brands, disposable pop, you name it a vast slice of the pie is served up by America. The problem is that more and more people are sick of it, consumers are getting agitated, and slowly certain unruly individuals are emerging. They are beginning to revolt, some in very small ways, others in a full frontal attack.

One of the last countries to induce this new wave in ‘people power’ is America, it’s traditionally a conservative country, a vast majority believe in a fire and brimstone God, more people voluntarily sign up for the forces there than anywhere else in the world, a great swathe of mall loving, car driving, burger eating, TV watching citizens of the States don’t want to rock the boat, it’s just not in their interest. Rather, it wasn’t in their interest, but I know that anyone who can count their views as Liberal will have noticed the sea change. It’s in their interests to, they’ve voted in a Democrat, they’ve done it legally, unlike say Bush vs. Gore or the recent Afghanistan election debacle, they want change, but change is ugly, it doesn’t rain like Manna from heaven, it rises up through the gutter and chokes the staid conformity that got us into this mess in the first place

Obama isn’t going to save the world, the people might if they felt their actions could change society, however creative minds for the main part already know the score, their cultural radar is still working and they have got the signal. One group who will certainly count themselves amongst that number is the BLDG gallery which positively promotes dissent amongst the land of the free, they’ve imported renegades from the UK like Prefab77 and they’re producing their own too including Digrent who’s just released his latest limited edition print (on sale today). They exhibit and sell art online and at their space in Kentucky. They dropped me a line seeing as we’re like-minded when it comes to the complacency of the masses, so what the hell, let’s explore the BLDG.

Toy Soldier by Digrent

Definitely reminiscent of Banksy this is Digrent’s latest offering via BLDG is Toy Soldier. The size is 19"x25", it’s a 4 colour hand-pulled screen print, it’s signed, numbered and embossed, and is a limited edition of 50. It’ll set you back $50 from today so if you want to grab yourself a copy you’re in luck. Nice smooth edged print, very soft and clean printing there, the last Digrent print entitled ‘High Life For The Soul‘ has already sold out, so I’d decide if you’re going to raid the piggy bank now or never.

A lovely piece of Warholian art, very very clean and crisp and a nice poke at the hypocrites who think they don’t take drugs, alcohol is a drug, so is caffeine, in fact even money, I recall a song saying Love is the Drug too, but I’ll let that one pass. The truth is life must suck big time for anyone to even try and get intoxicated, reality just isn’t good enough. In fact it never was, we’ve been brewing and smoking, and doing anything to get out of our collective gourd since we first learned to walk on two legs.

You know it’s a real shame that the best laid plans are made by stoners and boozers kicking back on a couch. Sure they get the answers to life, but they know deep down, deep deep down, that no one is ever going to listen to them. The crazies, the guys who think God’s talking to them, the one’s who believe there’s such thing as an honourable kill, a just war, a fair economy, a truthful government, those types, the people with the giant sized egos and parents with deep pockets, they’re the ones that rule the world. If I was them, or anyone who ever thought that say… voting for George Bush was a good idea, I’d just rue the day. Rue the day that everything got this bad, rue the day that anyone ever thought that burning up every last resource on the planet for the sake of pride or greed or plain old boredom was a good idea.

There are a few exceptions, Obama being one, but I’m already predicting a media martyr there. You can be as enigmatic as you like, you can tell the truth, you can have Nobel prizes coming out of your ears, but no politician really changed the world, only the people can do that, and right now they’re too busy nursing their bruises. It’s a comedown, it’s like the who planet just had a party, like pigs at the trough, gorging on the wealth, when we had the chance to make things better the bankers stole the lot and ran off to the Bahamas. Those who fail to deliver a miraculous new and prosperous age, a fair society, a greater human race, they get punished far more than the cretins like Bush. Obama can’t do it, the people can’t do it, we just can’t afford it, so roll on the revolution :/

Incidentally, they pulled Miller beer out of the UK last year, they said it was "inviable". That’s just the start, get ready for a lot less American products being sold around the world, I’ll probably be drinking Saki within another year, hell, if it’s cheap and abundant, I will learn. I’d better learn some Chinese whilst I’m at it, the English language will probably be phased out soon too if things keep going the way they are.

BLDG are will exhibiting this piece called "Shot at by Both Sides" by Prefab77 at their gallery on November 13th 2009:-

Whilst you’re at it check out the rest of Prefab’s work, it’s hot I’m telling you. Here’s some Destroy and Rebuild prints worth nabbing too. I love this one, simply entitled ‘Texture‘. Lives up to the name!

This one’s called ‘Orange‘.

Finally ‘Moss‘ featuring, you guessed it, Kate Moss, the queen of the chavs.

Also make sure to check out their Apeseven prints.

I’m getting so close to doing my own prints it hurts, I know I’ve teased you all with my constant deliberations but I’m actually waiting for paper and a hose attachment for the jet washer right now, that’s how close it is to the first series – and yes it will be a limited run of Black Christ, A1 size, signed and numbered, and just 48 of them so they will be  very very rare! Hey couldn’t resist a plug for myself, well no one else is going to do it…

Check out BLDG at www.bldgrefuge.com.

Tags: BLDG, Destroy and Rebuild, Digrent, graffiti prints, limited edition, Prefab77, street art, urban art

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Sure it’s the end of the world, or near enough, we all need to do our bit, although seeing as our local council don’t bother recycling most of the paper, card and plastic we carefully place in their specified bags each week, I wouldn’t hold out too much hope. But asides that, asides the human race trashing the whole world, junk can be fun.

My dad is a hoarder of the first class, his knees are going these days, he has to wear rather Victorian-looking straps and clamps just to walk a few feet, but in his younger days he was a fantatic when it came to collecting rubbish. He still has a few metal detectors lying around, his shelves are lined with scrap, as well as at least a few hundred old medicine bottles, the odd gas mask or Military Police helmet, a pile of abandoned accoustic guitars, postcards from strangers, pub ashtrays, old shop and road signs, you name it, somewhere in his flat you’ll probably find one.

When I first started at Brighton University I took Marcel Duchamp’s principle of the ‘found object‘ a little too much to heart, I’d trapse around abandoned buildings, rubbish tips, derelict industrial sites and the like, hunting down anything remotely shiny in true magpie fashion. I’d wheel my highly subjective treasure back to college and proceed to stick it all together and call it ‘art’. I soon learned that everything I made contravened some kind of health and safety law and soon solely moved on to painting, printing, installation work and photography. Fortunately for the rest of the world, Subodh Gupta didn’t. His incredible sculptures are constructed from all manner of refuse, and not only does his art harbour a wealth of beauty and a perfectionism of technique and form, it also points both towards a new ideology for waste and recycling, transforming public opinion and raising the stakes for the ecological argument.

Born in 1964 in Bihar, India, he is now mainly based in New Delhi, though most well known across the world for his recycled sculptures, he is easily as comfortable in a wealth of other mediums including painting, traditional sculpture, photography, video and performance. I first came across Gupta’s work when reading up on a new sculpture at the Venice Biennale entitled ‘Very Hungry God‘. Created in 2006 for the Nuit Blanche annual all-night festival in Paris, this giant silver skull is formed from hundreds of soup cans, meticulously constructed to rather impressive dimensions.

"Outside the church I served vegetarian daal soup as a form of ‘prasad’ (in India when you go to a temple or a guduwara you are offered food with the blessing). I liked the mix of the Catholic church and my intervention using a symbol that many artists have used before – the skull – and its many connotations."

He has used the same construction techniques in other works such as ‘Spill‘.

Line of Control is yet another in the same mould… in this case depicting an atomic mushroom cloud.

However as mentioned earlier the comparisons made between Gupta’s pieces and Duchamp’s ‘readymades’ have been coming thick and fast, especially with works like ‘Common Man‘ which renders a Duchampian classic featuring a depiction of Mona Lisa with moustache in three dimensions as a bronze statue. Yet Gupta continues to return to his love of the found object in far more challenging pieces, and asides the intellectual debate that may incur, many are indeed visually stunning such as ‘Everything is inside‘ and ‘There is always cinema‘.

However I personally find Gupta’s readymades or found objects most the appealing if not fascinating. Tracing back to the very origins of Post Modernism, where one man, Marcel Duchamp, a genius if ever there was one, stood up to the autocracy of the arts establishment and declared a new avenue for creative exploration. Following his lead with works such as ‘Gandhi’s three monkeys‘ Gupta continues to raise the lowly, extricate the mundane, heighten the everyday, and encourage debate regarding both the purpose and result of artistic endeavour – as well of course the ultimate fate of our ecology and hence fragile society as a whole.

Catch more of Sudoh Gupta’s work at Galleria Continua, Hauser & Wirth, Jack Shainman, Saatchi Gallery and even bid on his works at ArtNet.com.

Tags: Eco Art, eco sculptures, ecology, found art, Marcel Duchamp, readymades, recycled art, sculpture, Subdoh Gupta

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• linked fromhttp://bristolgraffiti.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/nick-walker-wayz-of-the-dragon/

Bomb IT Graffiti Documentary – Interview with Jon Reiss – Watch Full Doc Now!

Graffiti van

Sao Paulo, Brazil Pixacao Tags

‘Bomb IT’ is a new graffiti and urban art documentary from director Jon Reiss, it looks at a broad range of urban art from the likes of Brazil’s Os Gemeos, COPE2 from NY, stencil legend Blek le Rat and a load more legends from all over the world.

World Graffiti Urban Art has an interview with Jon Reiss, the trailers to the movie and the links to watch the ‘BOMB IT’ Graffiti Documentary totally free on Babelgum.com, see below. Really, it’s free and it’s AWESOME!

It’s one of the best graffiti and urban art documentary films we’ve seen, covering exciting graff scenes from as far as South Africa and Brazil. The Brazil coverage is particularly facinating, as they follow pixador artists around Sao Paulo and meet a sewer artist who reveals some pretty heart-breaking scenes.

Pixador graff artist climbs billboard – Sau Paulo, Brazil

The doc is also full of some of the sickest new and old urban art around and even the most hardcore writer will learn something new about the different graffiti scenes around the world.

The full-length documentary, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and has screened at over 20 other festivals including Full Frame Doc Fest, is available to watch on Babelgum’s Metropolis Channel, which is dedicated to showcasing videos about art, urban culture and trends.

MICKEY – Holland (Amsterdam) Graffiti Art

Named one of Daily Variety’s “Ten Digital Directors To Watch” John Reiss’s BOMB IT tells the story of graffiti through interviews and guerilla footage of graffiti writers in action following the movement as it paints the globe from Paris to Sao Paolo and Los Angeles to Cape Town. Featuring old school legends and current favorites such as Taki 183, Cornbread, Stay High 149, T-Kid, Cope 2, Zephyr, Revs, Os Gemeos, KET, Chino, Shepard Fairey, Revok, and Mear One. This cutting edge documentary tracks down today’s most innovative and pervasive street artists as they battle for control over the urban visual landscape.

Check out the trailers below, and an interview with the director Jon Reiss as he talks to World Graffiti about the making of the documentary.

Bomb It: Trailer – No. 1

Q : so how did you hook up with Cornbread? You agree that he’s the first graff writer?

A: We already had at the time a very good relationship with Pose 2 who in turn introduced us to Cornbread. He is one of the first modern graff writers – Cornbread even refers to a freeway writer who was working in the 50s. But for me graff goes back to the birth of human consciousness.

ICE – South Africa Graffiti

Blek le Rat interview – France Stencil and Paste-Up Art

People have been wanting to write on walls since that had something to write with and on! It will continue until we kill ourselves off. Go to Italy – even though there are a lot of writers there – much of the graff in the streets is either political or amourous. People need to express themselves in public.

Q: How long did it take to make the documentary?

A: Started 5 years ago – Bomb IT took three years but its been 2 years in the distribution. The project is expanding not only with the episodes on Babelgum, but we will eventually cut 4-6 more films from our 400 hours of footage. Bomb IT: Sao Paulo is 1/2 way done. NY and LA are in progress.

Bomb It: Urban Trailer – No. 2

Q: Most interesting/weirdest featured artist?

A: Never going to pick favorites – you should know that – all the others will be hating on me.

Q: The gang world and graff world are intertwined in many people’s minds, can the 2 be separated? Do you think the gang connection made by the general public hurts the urban art scene?

A: The link between gangs and graff is mostly established by the media. Even the NYC Vandal Squad laughs at the concept that writers are in gangs. However there are stronger links between gangs and graff in a couple of cities – like LA where some writers have done some things that help the media in their cause to link the two – unfortunately. Education is the best bet – part of the reason I made Bomb It, so that people could understand and appreciate the many many faces of graff.

Q: What’s your favourite graffiti decade? 70s 80s etc?

A: NOW!

Q: Tell me a bit about you, you always been into graff?

A: Nope. Fell into it – a DJ from my film Better Living Through Circuitry introduced me to Sharp and 2ESAE on a trip to NY. Two things hooked me in those meeting – the intelligence and depth of the culture, and the nocturnal run that 2EASE took me out on.

Q: Whats your opinion of the ‘broken window’ theory, that graff leads ultimately to more crime & urban decay?

A: I think my opinion is reflected in the film. As Tkid says “whose quality of life?”.

Q: What was your favourite part of making a documentary like this?

A: Getting people to appreciate a culture that they used to hate.

Bomb It: Worldwide Trailer – No. 3

Q: it was cool you went to Cape Town, great to see some African writers, not usually featured in docs. Totally different style of writing too, you liked it there?

A: Cape Town is amazing! Love it – really generous people.

Q: Do you find yourself looking around for art when you walk around?

A: All the time. Once you start – you can’t stop.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FULL GRAFFITI DOCUMENTARY ‘BOMB IT!’ FREE ON BABELGUM.COM!

You can also watch clips from the film, find your favourite artists…

Thanks very much to Jon for answering my questions, go check out the film, I can’t recommend it enough.

In addition to premiering the full-length documentary film online, Babelgum is debuting exclusive shorts produced for Babelgum by director John Reiss. The pieces spotlight renowned graffiti artists both new and as seen in the film available to view now.

Here are more graffiti videos on World-Graffiti.com.

Check out these awesome Nonoloa graffiti and urban art tshirts…

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• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WorldGraffiti/~3/fAt_R5VIYoI/

• linked fromhttp://bristolgraffiti.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/nick-walker-wayz-of-the-dragon/

Unfortunately I’ve been unable to erase the memory of the days when every Friday me and my mates would make boxes on the dancefloor in our braces, bandanas and bottle-topped trainers.

Fashion and two-stepping aside however, good times were always had, which is why I’m loving this canvas reminder from Eine.

Eine Kleine Housemusik

Choose from orange, blue, pink or green here: http://bit.ly/3VIXNr.

Until next time.

The Wall Pimper

www.pimpyourwalls.co.uk

• linked fromhttp://wallpimper.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/aceed/

Unfortunately I’ve been unable to erase the memory of the days when every Friday me and my mates would make boxes on the dancefloor in our braces, bandanas and bottle-topped trainers.

Fashion and two-stepping aside however, good times were always had, which is why I’m loving this canvas reminder from Eine.

Eine Kleine Housemusik

Choose from orange, blue, pink or green here: http://bit.ly/3VIXNr.

Until next time.

The Wall Pimper

www.pimpyourwalls.co.uk

• linked fromhttp://wallpimper.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/aceed/