Secret Still

Would you look at that? Two graffiti posts in one day. It’s almost like back in 2004 when I started this site, and spent so many hours staring at wildstyles that I started to see graffiti in the wear-patterns on the sidewalk, in the bark of trees, the reflections on windows, every-damn-where. A big part of my original interest in graffiti was Mear-One showing up in the back of Urb magazine, blowing my fragile, young mind with his distorted dystopias and mystic imagery. Keeping that crazy intense color and contrast alive is SHOK-1, who has can control out the ass. The 14 year-old me in my best friend’s room flipping through Urb and listening to Gang Starr would be shitting himself over these pieces. And drinking root beer, that kid really loved root beer.

SHOK-1

Look, I know this is my first post back from vacation, and I should write more, but how much can I really say about the graffiti of TRASH that it isn’t already saying for itself? Not much, not much at all.

TRASH

These days there are 3 year-olds who can tag there name in various “Wild Styles” blindfolded. I’m not saying that it’s played out, because, when done well, it still blows my mind, but there are so many other styles to explore and so many beautiful things you can create with them. This isn’t your mom’s graffiti. Take someone like neli0, using bright colors and a mix of geometric and organic shapes. If Mondrian and Picasso ate some mescaline together, this is probably what they would come up with. And damn if that doesn’t get me right in the pleasure center of my big, wet brain. With some spillover into all those little neurons that fire when I have ideas. The really great stuff gets my mind working overtime, and if the lights were off right now you’d see my grey matter lit up like a fucking Christmas tree.

neli0

Maybe you’re well-versed in the world of Street Art and Graffiti, can tell a Sever piece from a Revok in two fat cap lines or less, or maybe you have no idea what I’m talking about, but a thing you should know if you don’t already is that the Broken Fingaz crew is one of the all time greats. With that basic knowledge, and the fact that Unga is one of them, you can draw the conclusion that Unga’s work is tip top. You see what kind of joys the Transitive property can bring? That and using your own eyes to see for yourself.

Unga

In the world of graffiti, you have to realize that whatever your tag is, you will be re-writing that tag literally millions of times over the course of your life. Each one is different, each one is original by its nature, but they are all inherently the same. The amount of variation that this leads to is infinite, but it can also be pretty damn repetitive and exhausting if you don’t either love the shit out of that tag, or find ways to see it as something totally abstract and without context. DO-IT has taken this to a level I’ve never encountered before. Yes, his paintings are amazing, and I love his simplification of letterforms to within a hairsbreadth of the abstract, but even more than that I love the work he’s doing on wood, playing with the configuration of wooden pieces into panels and also the forms that are painted onto them. He’s certainly not the first person to build a canvas out of wood pieces, but he’s the first that I’ve seen who takes the time to consider their configuration in terms of what will be covering them and vice versa. Separately they would be  excellent art, together they’re something altogether more beautiful. In case you can’t tell, I’m a fan.

DO-IT

Maybe it’s just something about Wednesday, but usually by the middle of the week there’s a nice angry core inside of me whose embers are fueling my drive to work. Wednesdays I listen to metal. Wednesdays I watch shark attack videos. It’s not a great day to schedule a meeting with me. It’s definitely not the day to use words like “workflow” and “action item” around me. But for Faro it’s the perfect day to send me some samples of  gritty, semi-angry, metal-powered work. That shit is just exactly what the doctor ordered. So while Bruce Dickson (I start off old-school in the mornings) is bringing my rage up to a nice healthy glow, Faro’s work is providing the perfect backdrop with neo-Egyptian monsters wreaking havoc on my screen. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one that feels the anger on Wednesdays, so join me won’t you, for a journey with my favorite of the 7 deadly sins — wrath.

Faro

I think the first Swampy skull I saw was a great big, shiny, pink bastard at Albany Bulb in all its heavy metal monster glory. And like a lot of things in the world — when it’s in your mind, you start seeing it everywhere (especially because he chills in Oakland a lot). I didn’t know who was making them (Ert told me at some point), but I knew that I kept imagining these long dead titanic beasts roaming the land, crushing everything in their path without thinking, sludge metal playing in the background. Just real fucking awesomeness. Fast forward to a few days ago when I posted about the Living Walls conference (mentioned here). Swampy himself will be in attendance, and I was reminded that, “hey, I like that guy’s work.” As with all the things I like, I am now forcing you to look at it. LOOK AT IT. There, now go do whatever you want, I don’t care.

Swamp Donkey

For the first time maybe ever in my life, I find myself wanting to be in Atlanta. Not to stay, hell no, but for just long enough to attend the Living Walls events that are going down August 13-15. The whole idea of the Living Walls conference is kind of a free form, fly by the seat of your pants event that brings Street Artists from all over the world together to do what it is they do best: make some art on the streets. There are lectures and whatnot, but the real draw is the legal walls to mess around with, and, of course, the not legal walls that will also get used. You can’t put that many street artists together in one place and not expect something amazing to happen. If I could afford it, I’d hop a plane to Atlanta, and join in the fun. Instead the ATL and I will remain, as always, quiet enemies.

Living Walls

Just dig on that, Monday readers. Just dig your bleary eyes into that.

Escif

Here we see the graffiti in its natural habitat. A timid creature, the graffiti tends to occupy the quiet, untrafficked areas of urban landscapes. It can often be seen grazing under overpasses, behind large buildings, or even in train yards. Due to overcrowding of its habitat, however, it has more recently been forced onto the streets and sidewalks, finding shelter in newspaper machines, on trash cans, even street signs. The graffiti has adapted itself to these adverse conditions by becoming smaller and less intricate, sacrificing its former beauty for survival. Often, in these more public environments, the graffiti’s lifespan is shortened to days rather than months or years, leaving behind the blank, geometric husk of their fully matured forms. The graffiti, one of nature’s most interesting creatures, is threatened by extinction from its modern, fast-paced, ever-changing environment, driven out by ads, a cunning and pervasive species, which can even mimic the graffiti’s appearance to gain further control on the ecosystem. These paintings of graffiti in their former glory may be all we have to remember them by in a few years when the species has silently faded away forever.

Jessica Hess