Art as Authority
A contemporary, sometimes historical, art, social, political, blog in and around the art world and its artists. Poetry, litterature, commentary, images, music, books, life... Et aussi, un peu de la culture Française et ses artistes contemporains. A place to come to read, relax and contribute your ideas and projects.
août 08, 2010
juillet 20, 2010
Grafiti en Madrid y Barce
by Lea Dennis
On a recent visit to Barcelona and Madrid I took some shots of street art and graffiti. I just thought I'd share them. Enjoy.
mai 18, 2010
Political Sign
by Richard Gleaves
Richard Gleaves
The signs have returned to San Diego, signaling that ritual pre-election period where free speech is allowed to tacitly override city regulations prohibiting the unauthorized appropriation of public space with brightly-colored messages... in a word, graffiti.
Not everyone, however, is taking it sitting down, as can be seen in the following excerpt from a Carmel Valley Community Planning Board document. What's most remarkable about this text is how similar the language is ("try to convince them they are better off staying out of this area") to descriptions of civic graffiti abatement efforts.
In 2004 I decided to investigate the sign system for esthetic potential. A day after the election, several signs in my neighborhood were appropriated, altered, and surreptitiously returned to the wild. Surprisingly, they stayed up for several weeks.
novembre 23, 2009
The Art Street Journal
from the press release
The Art Street Journal is an international monthly art publication focused on the most exciting new voices in contemporary art.
The November issue includes:
- Interviews with Dan Witz, Hush and WK Interact
- Features on Conor Harrington, JR, Chloe Early, Armsrock, M-City, Mark Whalen (Kill Pixie) and Candice Tripp
- Previews and reviews of ARTotale, Untitled II: The Beautiful Renaissance, The Ghost Village Project, The Thousands, Represent, the Edinburgh Art Fair and SCOPE Miami
- Images from some of the best of today’s street artists as curated by Unurth’s Sebastian Buck
The Art Street Journal is distributed worldwide. Current cities it can be found in include:
Berlin Buenos Aires Edinburgh Frankfurt Grottaglie Hamburg London Los Angeles Montreal New York Newcastle Paris Porto Alegre Sao Paulo Sydney Tel-Aviv Valencia Vienna Warsaw
People can sign up for a free annual subscription at www.theartstreetjournal.com. If you would like to receive a copy yourself, please send us your full name, mailing address and the best contact phone number and we will send one your way.
octobre 19, 2009
Urban Morphology: A Pattern Language
by Richard Gleaves
septembre 26, 2009
Esthetic Vandalism, Source Material, Subconscious, Free Art, Economic Viability, Gift of Anonymity, Hack Artists, and Damien Hirst’s Pencils.
by KAI ONE
Every second the art world breathes in another minute of life, one young person at a time. Every time a television clicks off or property is vandalized you are hearing the sound of our collective esthetic palette expanding whether you like it or not. This new generation of artists, art critics, and art collectors emerge as the youth shy away from vacuous commerce and slave labor crafted objects of fetishism. Perhaps pigment marking surface is now morally superior to Nike Airs made in sweat shops by nine year old girls. When I was a kid I coveted all sports card ephemera. I was only mildly interested in the sports themselves but the cards, banners, magazines, games, toys, and other collectibles delighted me. These objects of worship were also worth big money at the time and I acquired them like a cutthroat stock trader. I would hustle my less knowledgeable classmates out the choice shit because I had done all my home work. They invested their allowances in cards and I invested mine in the card price guides. As soon as the bottom fell out of the cards market I quit collecting them and left all of my prize cards in the bushes of the mall after being told by the card shop that they wouldn’t buy any of them back. It turns out that if I had held on to them about 15 years later (now) they would be worth a lot of money.
septembre 16, 2009
Josh Flood Interview
by Kevin Freitas
Alfred E. Raider - Josh Flood
One of the nice things about Art as Authority's contributors is, they are independently, very accomplished artists in their own right. They graciously submit to the blog, taking time out of their lives to cover an event or someone else's show. They do this without rancour, freely, and on occasion they too get to share in the recognition they so richly deserve. Take Josh Flood for example, he put on one of the most kick-ass shows San Diego has rarely experienced last year at the Art Produce Gallery. He has not slowed down since, in fact, no one can keep up with him as he turns out his own great work and curated exhibits. Well now, San Diego's adopted son has been interviewed in the Tucson Weekly by Mari Herreras and we're damn proud. Check out the excerpt below and then read the full article. Word up my man!
T Q&A
by Mari Herreras
Josh Flood wants to show how pop art can be more than just depictions of a Campbell's soup can. The 27-year-old says his version of pop art has more to do with what's going on in the world today, and how that world relates to our everyday lives. Flood is part of a group of local artists working to connect young people to art through events, projects and volunteering. Check out Flood's paintings at The Living Room (thelivingroomtucson.com), 413 E. Fifth St., from 7 to 10 p.m., Friday, Sept. 18, as part of Paper Stacks, a group show that includes music and poetry readings. Connect with Flood and see his art at twitter.com/JoshFloodArt. Read the full interview here.
juillet 16, 2009
Fallen Snow
© Patrick McMullan Photography
more...
juillet 15, 2009
On the road to Overton
by Kevin Freitas
A couple of videos taken on the way to go see Michael Heizer's "Double Negative" in Overton, Nevada.
juillet 08, 2009
Miami Graffiti
from the press release
Mid-City Arts continues to bring the best of street art to Los Angeles with its latest show honoring the Miami graffiti scene. “Miami Graffiti” opens July 11, 7pm – 9pm and will be on view through July 26th.
Mid-City Arts
5111 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90019
http://www.midcity-arts.com
Rapidly becoming one of the United States' top graffiti destinations, Miami, Florida is home to a deep well of talented artists driven by a fiercely competitive graffiti scene. Miami’s profile has risen thanks to the city’s role as host to the famed "Art Basel" and most recently "Primary Flight.” “Primary Flight” is the internationally acclaimed, site-specific, street level mural installation that takes place during Art Basel. Artists that have graced the Primary Flight walls include Crome, MSG, Typoe as well as Blek Le Rat, Retna, El Mac, David Choe, Revok and many others.
juin 29, 2009
Iz the Wiz
by Richard Gleaves
Iz the Wiz — a writer who lived largely for sex in a can, and died largely of it, kidney and heart.
The NY Times obit mentions that Cooper and Chalfant's classic Subway Art was recently reissued by Chronicle Books. An art book's art book, this one's for the ages... check it out.
juin 03, 2009
Check 2 Check
by KAI ONE
"My fight is ill" - Naughty by Nature
What do you do when you have no job and no money? I don’t know what you would do but I threw a party. It wasn’t just any party it was like getting flashed transported out of my shitty little miserable city through funk music and revelry. It was more than just a party though it was an art show. Actually it was two art shows in the same night. If you were too stupid to understand the concept then we didn’t want you to come. Check 2 Check. Shit was off the chain. Admission was $1 with a ticket to an art raffle that never happened because the MC got wasted. Instead art was hurled out into the crowd like nuclear warheads.
It all started as a stoned idea in the head of a local sandwich shop delivery driver. He came by our house while we were having a yard sale and saw the mass amount of art we had piled up in every corner. He had a venue that we could have a show in at a local Hardcore music spot. I rounded up a dozen or so of the most honest, free-wheeling, broke, degenerate, beautiful, talented cats doing their thing out here. We had so much art that we needed to find more than one spot to show it in. Plus we were trying to have a free show and they were trying to charge for our bands. Crack Banshee, Zackey Force Funk, and Twenty One Pump Street tore the walls down. Playing cards rained in the air. Minds were blown. This is what art is supposed to be about. Two shows one night. More art than you can shake a stick at. I lost ninety six bucks off the show. The fucking cops even came and red stickered the venue. Welcome to 2009 you still can’t stop us.
Photobucket link to slideshow of art and after party: http://s167.photobucket.com/albums/u150/kai1st/
http://www.myspace.com/21pumpstreet
http://www.myspace.com/zac0ne
http://www.myspace.com/crackbanshee
Documentary on UK Crew: http://vimeo.com/4829666
mai 01, 2009
ART THEFT IN SAN DIEGO
by Richard Gleaves
Estimated value $5,000 to $10,000.
If you have any information regarding this artwork please call the San Diego Police Department at (619) 531-2000.
avril 09, 2009
'Streets as Journal' for Art as Authority
by KAI ONE
"I was talking to my boy the other day about the fine art game and he was saying that the most important element to success was who owned your work. I said fuck that I want the masses to see this shit. Maybe he was right though. Either way I just stay in the streets chug-a-lugging along trying to go for mine. That boredom and malaise hits you quick and before you know it you are dipping through backstreets trying to shake off Johnny Law all the time worrying about what bridges you are going to burn tonight. The streets are just pages for this corny clichéd life and I’m just wandering through them."
février 11, 2009
Shepard Fairey, Fair Use, Plagiarism in Street and Fine Art
by KAI ONE
No matter what you think about Obama, it is hard to deny his election to the presidency and meteoric rise to popular attention, was at least due in part to the oft bootlegged red white, and blue social realist style HOPE illustration. The original (and I use the term loosely) piece of art was created by Shepard Fairey the second or third week in January 2008, one year before Obama took office. Just recently, a large scale variant by Fairey has been inducted into the Smithsonian as the official presidential portrait: the cash cow has truly come home. Once just an innocuous hack poster adored by the nation of liberal automatons, the poster is starting to bring real money and accolades.
Continue reading "Shepard Fairey, Fair Use, Plagiarism in Street and Fine Art" »
janvier 22, 2009
New Works in Watercolor
by KAI ONE
décembre 16, 2008
The Ugly Kids go to war with the Silver Ladies and get their own art show
by KAI ONE
The Ugly Kids is an artist collective that has gotten loose coast to coast producing avant-garde art since 1998. I got hooked with my boy 4Skin in 1999 and at first, the UK didn’t want me but I rode 4Skin’s coattails until I was soon part of an ever evolving dysfunctional family that raised hell, bickered, and produced art. Since then, 4Skin has subsequently disappeared off of the face of the earth. I’m still here though doing my thing, back at home and posting up with at least 80 percent of the crew intact.
The Ugly Kids had a tough time coming up. We've been shot at, trash talked, beat up, chased and sweated by the police but have still managed to prevail.
Continue reading "The Ugly Kids go to war with the Silver Ladies and get their own art show" »
décembre 04, 2008
KAI ONE Interview in the Arizona Daily Wildcat
by Kevin Freitas
If you haven't already figured it out by now, our friend KAI ONE never stops painting, never stops writing on and off the wall, and never gives up. There's something else you should never doubt either, not ever, graffiti my gentle reader is Art with a capital "A". It isn't High Brow and it isn't Low Brow, it's art. Pure simple expression, pure complex form and color and it takes an unwavering dedication from its creator to make it happen. The weight of graffiti's negative image is slowly being lifted by artists like KAI ONE, who have successfully bridged the gap between a somewhat pretentious fine art world and art from the streets, an art that burns like a fire in the belly. The Board Culture industry for example, has recognized this talent and is now giving overdue homage to these "street" artists by bringing them into more economically viable product lines and support. You can show your support as well, for KAI, and the rest of the graffiti artists who are keeping it real by reading the following article from Marisa D. Fisher in the Arizona Daily Wildcat, entitled "Cans carpet canvas with aerosol aesthetic". There's an excerpt below. And if you would like to see some original artworks by KAI, click here. KF
Cans carpet canvas with aerosol aesthetic
By: Marisa D. Fisher
photo: Sheldon Smith
If kids don't want to color inside the lines, nobody's going to be able to make them; such is the nature of graffiti art. In a perhaps well-intentioned but tritely ironic gesture, Tucson's Graffiti Removal Program provides an anti-graffiti coloring book for printing from their Web site. Inside, Mr. Tuffy the boxer encourages his young audience to "Knock out graffiti in Tucson!" with messages including the slogan, "Graffiti is unwanted markings." That's not just bad grammar; it's an overgeneralization of an underrepresented art form. more...
novembre 20, 2008
KAI ONE - "Urban Detritus" - Works for sale
KAI ONE is a damn fine graffiti artist. The homeboy from Tucson has something special running through his veins, other than Krylon Ultra Flat Black, that gives him a brillant artistic edge over his competitors. It is first and foremost, his dedication to the art form of graffiti. Secondly, respect for others and his art, and an unsatiable drive and energy that pushes him to innovate, take risks, and generally improve upon the state of graffiti today. "Don't count the kid out," is one of KAI's mottos - a way of life perhaps - that insures that we won't. His work is just too strong. Keep this in mind while you're admiring the works below: KAI ONE is to graffiti what Muhammed Ali was to boxing - a champion!
All the pieces on view, have come from KAI's first one-man show at Art Produce Gallery in San Diego. If you would like to know more about his process and influences, a video interview of KAI alongside his work in the gallery can be seen here. All purchases will be securely packed and fully insured for shipping. PayPal is accepted and purchases can be made through eBay if you prefer. Please direct all inquiries and questions to artasauthority@artasauthority.com Thank you!
"Beast"
acrylic, gesso, house paint on canvas - 30" x 24"
$ 150.00
Continue reading "KAI ONE - "Urban Detritus" - Works for sale" »
novembre 05, 2008
Nikki
by KAI ONE
"In the vein of so called Gutter Photojournalism is Nikki. Her photos capture that fleeting and sometimes bleeding essence of life and death. A few of these pictures are really heavy and not for the faint of heart, but therein lies their importance. These photos are not meant to be exploitative; they simply capture the breadth of scum life that endears even the shadiest of characters. Its cool to see a human side to people hellbent on image creation and life's destruction. It's god and the devil in the details. What I like about these photos are the quaintness in which they portray the human animal in a fleeting world. Sometimes, things feel like they're going so fast that you can't even hold on. We may be slighty different from our under evolved brothers, but not that far away. We resist, even though we're still guided from some primal place for better or worse."
octobre 04, 2008
Final Week! "Urban Detritus" by KAI ONE at
Art Produce Gallery
by Kevin Freitas
Dance Performance by transcenDANCE Saturday, Oct. 11 @ 7:30pm and 8:30pm. In conjunction with Art Produce Gallery, Art @ the Core, North Park Nights and Art as Authority. Come share in the festivities as the North Park Nights (NPN) arts organization kicks-off its opening night events with exhibits, performances, music and dance. Updates coming soon at North Park Nights.
septembre 18, 2008
KAI ONE Interview - "Urban Detritus" at
Art Produce Gallery
septembre 14, 2008
Working the windows
by Richard Gleaves
août 13, 2008
KAI ONE at Art Produce Gallery
by KAI ONE
"Urban Detritus is a visual love poem to millions of nameless dilapidated buildings and cold steel freight trains. It pays homage to a society which has been destroyed right under your nose. If you would have stopped to smell the buff paint you might have been able to catch one last glimpse of beauty. Grit your teeth and pick up the sad debris from the crumbling worlds of art history and raw vandalism. Urban Detritus is pigment on surface, it’s non-archival, and it doesn’t give two shits about your dirty money. It’s the aesthetics of erosion." KAI ONE
Property is theft.
Property is liberty.
Property is impossible.
--Pierre Joseph Proudhon
août 12, 2008
WERK
by KAI1
Only really badass art blurs the line between art and terrorism. The coolest example in my mind is that dude who got busted by the FBI for doing art with germs and bacteria.
WERK, the man (and not what we do for money) has a pretty good story though. When I first heard it I was reminded of some Earth First wet dream, but as I read the police report I realized that it was just one big performance art piece being played out in the suburbs. The main characters are McDonalds, trashy commerce, bored kids, and inept detectives.
août 09, 2008
Graffiti without paint
by Richard Gleaves
août 01, 2008
Le Moulin à Images by Robert Lepage
by Richard Gleaves
Site-specific cinema on 81 grain silos, par un des plus grands artistes de la galaxie.
juillet 09, 2008
Avoiding Catatonic Surrender
by KAI1
The first time I got close enough to smell a freight train was a hot Arizona night in the late Nineties. On that night I had no idea I would meet my Zen master for the first time or that the next decade of my life would be irrevocably tangled with the pictographic forms illegally placed on freight trains and lonely stretches of abandoned and unwanted walls. My companion became my first writing partner and we would lurk about town for the next few years creating and observing graffiti before he would be suddenly ripped out of my life by drug addiction. He is the one who saw the line of yellow Railboxes tucked into a dark corner of a dimly lit building. The air was musty and something told me I had no choice but to turn in and seek solace by applying pigment to the facades of the trains.
photo by Kirke Campbell
mai 24, 2008
Graffiti and Desperation
by KAI1
Times are tough all over and shit is bound to get worse. The world has its collective eyes closed to the problems that fester underneath the skin of our culture and I hate to tell you sweetie, but help isn’t on the way. I have my eyes closed as well, and I’m not watching my back either. I’m just cutting through the stillness of the night air, putting pigment on surface and watching only for a second as the ink begins to drip. Then it’s on to the next spot because you have to keep it moving, and remember never look back because they might be gaining on you.
mai 05, 2008
"Alright Man" - SOKE interview
by KAI ONE
My pal Soke here, has dabbled in all aspects of criminal life spanning across all 50 states including Canada, and of course Mexico. He has been engulfed in the modern graffiti culture playing a major role for the last decade in the southwest. He now makes a modest living doing murals and selling paintings.
KAI1: Alright man – tell me about doing some graffiti.
SOKE: What types of graffiti are you talking about?
K: Whatever types of graffiti you like to do man.
S: As long as its graffiti I like to do everything. I prefer doing filler bombs with black and white, preferably Kilz tips as high as I can reach on freeways and abandoned buildings. I also like to use the canvas of nice vehicles leaving the club, such as Hummers i.e. Escalades, any kind of Audi, even if it’s a nice Mitsubishi. I like to adorn them with my name in numerous places.
avril 23, 2008
High-end graffiti
by Richard Gleaves
Behold the power of the white cube, temple of the contemplative arts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96TyAQ7KnVQ
avril 08, 2008
Corporate Graffiti
by Richard Gleaves
City officials suspect that 40 percent of Los Angeles' 11,000 billboards were installed illegally, and that the city Building and Safety department has not been enforcing the billboard laws.
In 2002 the LA City Council voted to require city inspectors to inventory all existing billboards. One month later the billboard companies filed a federal court injunction which stopped the inventory effort.
A 2006 legal settlement with the city allowed the billboard companies to begin converting a portion of their billboards to electronic LED displays. In return the companies agreed to provide the city with a list of all their billboards, both legal and illegal.
Two weeks ago the City Council learned that rather than providing the list, the companies instead delivered several boxes of documents and an unreadable electronic file purporting to contain the list.
CBS and Clear Channel, two of the largest billboard companies, are now suing the city to prevent it from releasing any list of billboards to the public, on the grounds that such a list constitutes a "trade secret."
City activists have demanded that the list be made public so they can protest the billboards that illegally deface the city.
mars 29, 2008
KOOR in NYC
Monday March 31st
KOOR "BACK TO THE ROOTS" (NYC)
From 7:00 -10:00pm. all ages
Chuck "KOOR aka KOOL KOOR" Hargrove started writing graffiti in the south Bronx in 1976. After participating in virtually every important exhibition on Graffiti Art in New York City his dynamic artwork took him on a journey exhibiting in galleries and museums around the world. You can find KOOR in famous collections such as The Metropolitan Museum, Chicago Renaissance Society, The Butler Museum, Wihelm Hack Museum in Germany, The Groninger Museum in the Netherlands and an impressive list of others. Today gallery 151 is pleased to welcome KOOR back for his first solo exhibition in NYC since over two decades. Titled "Back to the Roots" KOOR is reflecting on the symbolism and architecture in his artwork, taking us on a journey into the past then straight into the future. Exhibition runs from 1 through 14 April
Gallery 151
151 Wooster St., 2nd Floor (off Houston Street)
New York, N.Y. 10012
Please call Gallery for exhibit hours at 212-375-0151
1 train to Houston Street, C and E to Spring Street, R and W to Prince Street.
About KOOR's ART
KOOR creates artwork that makes us feel that life as we know it is not real at all, there lies several other levels of reality that we choose not to see. Each reality tragically effecting another. We feel this because we can see that other side in his artwork. Tension of his every day struggle to exist in this world becomes clear in the reality of his artwork. Architectural structures bend and twist like strands of nerves in human anatomy, Like the mind fighting to calculate a difficult equation. The use of robotic forms reminds us that there is still a link to a our reality. Like in the works of Mobeus we discover deep transforming perspectives in KOOR's drawings relaying to us that even these new worlds are not yet fully defined. It is here that we find the key to the power of KOOR's work. The rules are being made along the way. However definite they may be, even the artist has to play by them. The longer we look the more it all comes together. We are discovering frame by frame the projections of the meaning of life as it radiates on the surfaces of another reality. A reality where we want to return to, or one where we very well may belong.
mars 11, 2008
We Came. We Saw. We Kicked Ass.
by Kevin Freitas
An American in Paris? - but of course! A Frenchman in San Diego? - splendide!
Paris artist Julien Colombier stands in front of a graffiti mural by Arizona writer KAI1, freshly painted behind the Art Produce Gallery where Julien is having his first solo exhibit in the US. Both artists, KAI1 and Julien, blew into San Diego to participate in their respective expositions with great fanfare and success.
Julien's show entitled "90 Grammes" will be on view through April 6, 2008 at the Art Produce Gallery, 3139 University Avenue, San Diego, CA 92104. Please call 619.584.4448 for more information and gallery hours. Or check out the review of the show at SignOnSanDiego.com here for a taste of what awaits you.
KAI1 is participating in "COPY" which is also on view at the Simayspace Gallery located within the Art Academy of San Diego, and features local San Diego artists Joey Burns and Richard Gleaves along with Kevin Freitas, Herve Crespel, Bret Barrett and Tom Torluemke. The Academy is located at 840 G Street downtown San Diego. Call 619.231.3900 for more information and opening hours. Check 'em both out, you'll be glad you did!
février 19, 2008
TOKEN & PAS - Interview
by KAI ONE
Paso is the big homie both figuratively and literally. I’ve known him ever since we were little piss ant kids (well, he was never really little) and though I always thought he was one dude that would never eclipse me in graffiti, in the last few years he has become a complete savage and has quadrupled the meager amount of damage I’ve done. I don’t have any hate for him though, nothing but love. I remember one time a few years back he stood up his parents around Christmas time to go paint trains with me; you gotta admire the kid’s dedication.
In the sickly world of graffiti he is one dude that I can genuinely say has a heart of gold. He is one dude that I know would never snake me and can always expect him to really tell it how it is even if I don’t want to hear it. We’ve been known to give the big mofo hell on occasion but that’s only because we love him so much (and because he’s got a set of hinges tatted on the inside of his elbows). He gave me my favorite tattoo and has spotted me countless cans of paint on many different missions. You know what they say: friends who vomit together stay together. Hell, he even inspires me to get a real job. His M.O. is raw destruction, and he doesn’t care if you don’t like it.
Token is the man as well, and I’ve big upped him on here before but thought that he could join us for this little interview too.
février 10, 2008
KAI1 @ Art Produce Gallery
by Kevin Freitas
janvier 24, 2008
Atomic e-graffiti
by Richard Gleaves
The Czech art collective Ztohoven tagged the morning weather show on Czech Television’s CT2 channel with a simulated nuclear explosion. The tag was accomplished by switching the cables on an unmanned remote camera and routing in an altered video stream. Members of the group face up to three years in jail for "attempted scaremongering."
janvier 14, 2008
"E.T. phone home"
by KAI ONE
YOU all may remember Skae from my last article about him in which I recounted one of many crazy nights in this here graffiti game. Skae continues to push the envelope in graff as well as “fine art”. His new work which is a hybrid fusion of graffiti, pop culture, comic books, science fiction, religion, politics, sex, drugs, public domain, video games, economics, consumerism, cartoons, national collective unconscious, fantasy, mutants, celebrities, and his twisted imagination continues to inspire and amaze me. It seems like he always comes up with all the good ideas first. Luckily he is the homie and if I bit a few things here or there he doesn’t deliver me an ass whopping. But don’t try that at home though.
His new paintings and drawings are the continuation of a dialogue that started with Warhol, Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers, Keith Haring et al. The idea of image appropriation remains on the forefront of the artistic discourse these days. While his contemporaries were content with merely copying images and turning them into fine art, Skae puts them through the elaborate wringer that is his twisted mind and comes up with clever permutations and juxtapositions that speak volumes about the current status of the world. He just keeps on innovating. I particularly like his drawings in which the subject gradually (de)evolves through the process of digitization. The most amazing thing is that the only computer he uses for this process is his brain. We sat down for a little conversation about his formal training (i.e. vandalizing shit) and perhaps through this we can glean a little insight on how he was able to come up with such characters as: Bi-Polar Homer 3000, E.T. Cubism, One Eyed Grimace, Old School Hip Hop Mr. Potato Head, Bevis and Butthead conjoined Twin, Al Queda Seraphim, Snoopy Squiggles, Dope Fiend Q Bert, and the rest of the bastard children that would have been aborted if not for his imagination. Skae is one of the very few people who make me glad to be around for this ride on Spaceship Earth -
janvier 11, 2008
Reverse e-graffiti
by Richard Gleaves
Roaming the Consumer Electronics Show with a bootleg TV remote: like traditional tagging, equal parts antisocial and beautiful:
décembre 26, 2007
They Don't Like Graffiti
by KAI ONE
They don’t like graffiti in the ‘Sco’ no more – but I do.
The first time I visited San Francisco was in around 2000. Not much had changed in the seven years prior to my next visit. There were still pieces running that I remembered knocking me on my ass from the first trip.
novembre 21, 2007
blah blah BLAH
by KAI ONE
"Despite shunned interveiw requests I still had to give BLAH a post. He is hands down my favorite artist and inspired me first in graffiti and then in traditional art. I've seen him go through many changes through the years. I know that even if he won't return my calls (he doesn't return anyones) he still has mad love for me. I remember creeping into the Stucture yard for the first time with him. The air was cold and coyotes howled in the distance. We walked past the illuminated gaurd shack like ninjas and painted concrete hoppers into the wee morning hours. When we left I was so filled with adrenaline that I backed my car out over a barrier in the road. This was one of hundred such nights that I'll remember as the greatest times of my childhood. I'll shut up and let his work speak for itself."
novembre 08, 2007
A "TOKEN" Gift
by KAI ONE
"Token is like an OG big brother who has really held me down while my real brother was locked up.
He continues to go hard on the steel with a crisp original style and crazy characters. Token is on my list of top three favorite artists. He's been doing his thang for almost two decades and deserves a little shine."
Editors note: Unlike most artists practicing their art on paper or canvas in the comfort of their home or studio, graffiti writers such as TOKEN or our friend KAI1 (les amis de tes amis sont mes amis) perform their art in a harsh and dangerous environment - outside. They take enormous risks everytime they go out, usually at night - for obvious reasons, and graffiti though long accepted into posh galleries and museums in NY, has yet to obtain a legal status in our society. It is unfortunate and unfair. However, there is one commonality between the studio artist and the street artist which is typically a lack of any adequate health care or insurance. When their health has been endangered or accidents happen, they are left with huge medical expenses and nothing in their pocket. Such is the case for our friend TOKEN.
TOKEN has recently broken his leg quite badly in the process of making his art and requires further surgery to repair it. KAI1 has asked us here at Art as Authority to ask our readers and others, to make a small donation to help ward off some of the medical bills TOKEN is accumulating. Won't you please help by directing all your donations through a secure PayPal account to kai1st @cox.net. Please log onto the PayPal website, look for the button "send money" and make your donation using the email address kai1st@cox.net as the recipient. Please put TOKEN in the subject line. Thank you and much respect as we all wish TOKEN a quick recovery. Kevin Freitas
octobre 16, 2007
Catacombs - KAI1 Down Under
by KAI ONE
I stumbled out of work into the frigid air. I aimlessly walked along the streets of BK, the smell of meat grilling in the air, when I stumbled upon a vast urban catacomb.
It was flanked by a freight yard and a stretch of water. It looked extremely sketchy but I casually strolled in trying to look like I belonged. Adjacent businesses had the entrance blocked but I found a small overgrown passageway between barbed wire fences. Through the shrubbery I could see a parking lot filled with NYPD cars. This probably wasn’t the smartest spot to go into being that it was still broad daylight and I didn’t have my Nikes on.
octobre 10, 2007
Eye Candy
KAI1 has always known to put his art where his mouth is - many thanks! KF
octobre 02, 2007
Freedom Tunnels
by KAI ONE
The simplest thing to do in the world is to write your name. It is one of the first things that children learn to do as they are growing up. In graffiti there are infinite variations of the name possible. In most places the pictorial histories have been whitewashed or sand blasted away. You can never totally erase (or at least they haven’t yet) a history so vast, especially in its epicenter. You just have to go a tad bit deeper and get your kicks dirty a little bit.
septembre 08, 2007
Graffiti Interview - BENS and GATER
by KAI ONE
Here is a little dialogue with Bens and Gater, to get some insights on their thoughts about the current state of graffiti and some other related topics. Both agreed to speak candidly being comfortable behind the anonymity of their assumed nom de plumes. This will be the first of several such interviews and the goal is to explore the vast array of ideological circumstances that mold graffiti writers.
K: KAI1: Alright dudes (in dickhead tone) – what do you guys write? What crews?
G: Gator: One, I only write one crew … UK.
B: Bens: Shit man… Bens One. Don’t give me attitude either. I write UK.
août 20, 2007
Festival Kosmopolitain
Julien Colombier at the Festival Kosmopolitain, held every summer in a suburb of Paris (Bagnolet). Kosmopolitan is a weekend long outdoor art and graffiti event where artists are invited to participate and paint "live" before the public.
juillet 28, 2007
Skae : Portrait of a writer
by KAI ONE
10 AM on a Tucson Saturday morning, circa ’02, cruising down a strip of road that’s always abandoned this early. Pale grey concrete is juxtaposed with arid desert sand, convenience stores, crack houses, and motorcycle shops. “Jesus Is Lord” is painted on the side of a particularly dirty tattoo shop with Icy Grape Krylon. The letters are hideous LA bites, circa 1990, but it’s the only unblemished graffiti in my small desert city that has been continuously present since early memory. Across the street there’s a lonesome bar bordering the edge of one of the many blocks where the Crips stay. It’s called the Runway and is owned by a friend’s mom.
juillet 03, 2007
Dressing the Door - KAI1 Photo essay part II
by Richard Gleaves, photos KAI ONE
Your front door should be the focal point of the front of your house. In addition to painting the front door a color that compliments the siding or bricks, the inclusion of a few decorating accents can make a big difference.
-- Online Discount Mart
DRESSING THE DOOR
What makes wrecked doors look so good?
Continue reading "Dressing the Door - KAI1 Photo essay part II" »
juin 25, 2007
Recommended viewing - "Against the Wall"
aka Quality of Life
by Kevin Freitas
For more information and to order, go to http://www.qualityoflife-themovie.com/
Also available on Netflix under the title "Against the Wall"
juin 16, 2007
KAI1 - A photo essay
by KAI ONE
"Wrecked doors are a part of a vast network of unchecked layers of anarchy which are now being forced off of good spots and into the asscrack fringes of culture. In them sometimes, we witness a multi-layered collaboration of dozens of different human beings."
juin 09, 2007
Life in the Fast Lane - KAI1 in Jersey
by KAI ONE
I had been in New York for only a couple of weeks and after riding the Greyhound bus in with the rest of the degenerate, broke, and sick masses out from the West coast, the plane ride from SF to JFK was a lot quicker and cleaner than the bus trip from Tucson to California but lacked soul and intrigue. There was no one on the plane to tell me stories about being freshly released from prison for multiple DUIs while drinking a fifth of cheap peppermint schnapps and thumbing through pages of amazing prison art (one of my favorite types of art). The graffiti in NY is an altogether different animal as well. In San Francisco the streets are wrecked pretty badly but no where near the scale of New York. New York has blocks and blocks of pure gut wrenching holy inspirational complete destruction. Tags and fill-ins are living everywhere and the pretty shit is for the most part left for the toys and the old-timers to contemplate. The climate is savage and honest but lacks a certain massiveness which I expected.
Growing up as a little kid in a town so far away from one of the birthplaces of graffiti there wasn't much for us to learn from, only the older guys who were all biting either NY or LA style. The first document to come out for us toys to study was the book Subway Art, which dropped in around 1982 the same time as Style Wars. After that, the nooks and crannies of the world would study these as there was no other OG foundation for learning about style. I studied style pretty much during all waking hours for a good 5 plus years. Many on the outskirts did not really get to learn about graffiti in a true way. This can be witnessed in the plethora of writers who can’t tag, but only piece.
avril 26, 2007
Planet Art
by Richard Gleaves
I don’t think the removal is slower, it is just that more graffiti than ever is popping up. Our contractors removed a record 27 million square feet of graffiti from 489,000 locations last year.
-- Paul Racs, Office of Community Beautification, City of Los Angeles
avril 02, 2007
Nonpaternal Events
by Richard Gleaves
Graffiti is, in theory, an open ended system. If you had multiple lifetimes and a vast squad of goons you could saturate every surface available with markings. But in reality it's all about what spots you hit and if you have enough respect not to get your spots ragged out and enough luck and skill to get a few that can escape the eye of the buff squad.
- KAI1
Police and academics in Cambridge are trying to find a graffiti artist who could be Britain's brightest vandal. The artist spray-painted part of a chemical component of DNA on the road outside a lab where the double helix was unveiled 50 years ago.
- BBC News
In molecular biology, "junk" DNA is a collective label for the portions of the DNA sequence of a chromosome or a genome for which no function has yet been identified. About 98% of the human genome has been designated as "junk" ... much of this sequence may be an evolutionary artifact that serves no present-day purpose.
- Wikipedia
The era of garage biology is upon us. ... A mere $1,000 will get you a set of precision pipettors for handling liquids and an electrophoresis rig for analyzing DNA. Side trips to sites like BestUse and LabX may be required to round out your purchases with graduated cylinders or a PCR thermocycler for amplifying DNA.
- DNA Hack (the website for Amateur Genetic Engineering)
Maybe bathtub biotech will be the next to capture the mindshare of the techie tinkerers. Maybe bioinformatics and the diffusion of genetic engineering technologies will inspire a new generation of bio-hackers. Certainly the technologies are there for those inclined to genetically edit their plants or pets.
- MAKE Magazine
Perhaps the recipient of the gift is a neophyte who does not have the knowledge or skill to decode the complex typography ... When you throw a bottle into the ocean it might not be discovered by its intended recipient. Would you be able to understand a message in a bottle written by someone in the past? How about someone in the future?
- KAI1
After testing his own DNA at the request of a distant cousin, Mr. Grieve was shaken to discover that he did not match any of his extended family, including his first cousin, the son of his father's brother. That could only mean an occurrence of what genetic genealogists call a "nonpaternal event."
- The New York Times
mars 29, 2007
That's Phat!
by Kevin Freitas
Anne Ellaway, Sally Macintyre and Xavier Bonnefoy may not be household names to you and me, and you’re not likely to know what they do as a profession – Ellaway and Macintyre are the Senior researcher and Director of the MRC Social and Public Health Services Unit, at the University of Glasgow and Bonnefoy is the Regional adviser for WHO European Centre for Environment and Health in Bonn, Germany. However, they just might know what leads to obesity in adults, other than the classic reason which is the imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure, but you add to that the newest factor they have surmised is tipping the balance and you get - GRAFFITI ! Yep, you read it here first folks.
The co-authors findings were published in 2005 by the BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. which is part of the BMA or British Medical Association. The authors hypothesized that “areas which are pleasant with lots of greenery and few incivilities might encourage people to take exercise and thereby influence levels of obesity.”
(BMJ, doi:10.1136/bmj.38575.664549.F7)
Those “incivilities” they’re referring to would be in short, litter, graffiti and dog shit. Most of the data that they based their study on came from the LARES study (Large Analysis of European Housing and Health Status) realized in 2002-3 and conducted in eight European countries “varying in their wealth, culture, and history.” The eight cities and countries were Angers, France; Bonn, Germany; Bratislava, Slovakia; Budapest, Hungary; Ferreira do Alentejo, Portugal; Forli, Italy; Geneva, Switzerland and Vilnius, Lithuania.
mars 21, 2007
Go West Young Man, Go West or KAI1 Tearin' it up in SF - Fresh kills from the front
by KAI ONE
WHEN you’re really getting your shine on - the haters want nothing other than to dull you. However, you must always respect the haters because they gauge the success you obtain. The graffiti writer and the buff jerk are simply two sides of the same coin. Writers take great joy in their destruction while the buff jerk bubbles up with disdain as he scrubs a window with mineral spirits or triple coats the façade of a business with thick enamel paint. Just as the knucklehead kid loves to embellish the blank wall, the buff jerk wants to destroy the graffiti. The young goon with a hoodie pulled tight over his face laughs a deep belly laugh as he causes thousands of dollars in damage in seconds. The shop owner only thinks about dollars and cents. How will this ugly monstrosity on his storefront affect his business? It might even ruin him in the long run because potential customers are scared by the incomprehensible symbols. Fear is always the initial reaction to something unfamiliar. We’ve been so bombarded with graffiti imagery in the media that you think the masses would be used to it. The general populace has been slowly eased into the idea of soft bubble letters and intricate pieces on TV but if you start grilling in public just watch out for the angry mob that’s bound to form. Apparently the cats writing on walls are worse than the seas of crack heads and indigents loose on the streets.
février 05, 2007
The Esthetics of Circuit Design - UPDATE
by Kevin Freitas
Turner, contractor to pay $2M in Boston bomb scare
More info here.
and a video of Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens - currently pending trial - putting up the hoax devices/"bombs" in an ill-fated advertising campaign.
which if you go to the Graffiti Research website here, have a solution to further prevent "bombing" within the city along with their own campaign to free Berdovsky.
février 01, 2007
The Esthetics of Circuit Design
by Richard Gleaves
Some unreported facts behind the Boston terror scare:
The "hoax devices" are based on Night Writers, a low-cost electronic LED graffiti device developed by Graffiti Research Lab.
Here is G.R.L.'s mission statement:
"Outfitting graffiti writers, artists and protesters with open-source tools for urban communication."
Unfortunately this statement contains an internal contradiction: "open-source" by definition means the tools are available for use by anyone, including the ideological opposites of "graffiti writers, artists and protesters." Read: corporate ad agencies.
As a result, the G.R.L. home page currently reads as follows:
You may have heard about the most recent terror attacks in Boston. This is NOT the work of the Graffiti Research Lab. ... It’s just more mindless corporate vandalism from a guerilla marketer who got busted. Interference Inc, welcome to the world of being misunderstood, scapegoated, demonized and wanted by the law. Still wanna be a graffiti artist?
The Anti-Advertising Agency offers a cogent explanation of how the soon-to-be-defunct ad agency Interference Inc. ended up creating a nationwide terror scare, while G.R.L. and its followers threw up Night Writers without ever catching radar:
The G.R.L. Night Writer is done with materials bought at a hardware store. It’s made with cheap LED’s, tape, and magnets. It’s designed to be a low-cost, small-scale project with a strong visual impact. It works well, but it takes about an hour to make if you are experienced, work quickly, and have some help. This wouldn’t work for mass production, so Interference Inc built on the idea, adding a custom designed and manufactured circuit board, a photo cell, wiring, resistors, and large D cell batteries. Arguably a better design if you are producing 400 at a time to distribute around the country and you have backing funds from Turner Broadcasting. ... The perfect irony to this story is that advertisers can’t get it right. What attracted the attention of the bomb squad was the wiring, circuitry, and large batteries that Interference Inc. added to G.R.L.'s original design...
An object lesson in how 9/11 has made unauthorized public sculpture a vastly trickier proposition: the problem being how to create and install unidentified public objects which read as harmless while still hitting esthetic goals.
janvier 26, 2007
Personally, I believe very much in values of savagery. I mean: instinct, passion, mood, violence, madness. - Jean Dubuffet
by KAI ONE
Life rarely ever works out like you thought it would. The only sure thing is that the sure thing will always fall through. Change is the only constant; it pushes us into the realm of vulnerability. It sucks to be decimated and have to rebuild. Nothing in life is permanent. We get, at the very most, a measly decade to do something with. Even the greatest geniuses’ vision will be washed away by time. The greatest painting will fade and the most beautiful song will be forgotten. Is it worth the effort that it takes to be a legend? Or is it better to simply exist at one with the time that you have, wherever you are, and be content to be forgotten? When we grew up they would tell us that we were nothing if we weren’t on TV. I’ve always had the most love for art that looks like it crawled its way up from the guts of a mad man who has created it out of a sheer desire to exorcize it from the core of his demented being.
janvier 10, 2007
KAI1 - Lookin' good in Tucson
by Kevin Freitas
As the Santa Ana winds are burning up beach front property in Malibu, Arizona winds are stirring up (once again) controversy (won't they ever learn that graffiti is ART) by none other then our contributing writer to Art as Authority and good friend, KAI1. Damn we're proud! Check out more below. There's also a lexicon for you graffiti newbies. Article by Ashley Houk and the Tucson Weekly.
Tagging Tales
A night inside Tucson's street-art community
The sweet, acidic smell of spray paint surrounded us like a cloud. Two graffiti artists--"Kai" and "Exit" are their tag names--made letter outlines for their bombs, large names and graphics, in a 30-foot-wide wash under the midtown Padre Kino statue. More
Bomb: A bigger name or graphic, often with two or three colors of paint. More
Tucson Crews (so you know what that tag stands for) More
décembre 12, 2006
Sometimes the adrenaline has me so riled up I can barely even sleep.
by KAI ONE
I WAKE UP almost daily haunted by dreams and nightmares. Most of the time I can’t remember a thing but some days I wake up drenched in sweat and the dreams are chiseled into my conscious mind. They say that recovering alcoholics and drug addicts often have “using dreams” in which they are getting high and the moment is perfect just like the first time. We all are constantly trying to obtain that which is only perfect in our mind. No matter how futile the chase, respect must be given for trying. Everyone is searching for that perfect combination of something. It could be that perfect combination of drink, smoke, and pills. It might be that perfect girl, the perfect television program, the perfect train car, the perfect job, the perfect house, the perfect neighbors, or the perfect life. Shit ain’t perfect though. Our deep flaws are what make us beautiful. How can you enjoy a breathtaking multicolored sunset without vandalism stained train cars? Fake breasts don’t look good. Shallow people don’t make good friends. The Xylene and Ketones waft through the air. Krylon ultra flat black smells sweet. Ink stains our hands for weeks. View larger image
Continue reading "Sometimes the adrenaline has me so riled up I can barely even sleep." »
décembre 04, 2006
C'est le pied - Julien Colombier à Paris
Julien Colombier in the studio. One of the best...
Continue reading "C'est le pied - Julien Colombier à Paris" »
octobre 19, 2006
Graffiti - the Incurable Disease (thankfully)
KAI1, young graffiti artist, U.S. made joins the editorial staff at Art as Authority (we just keep getting better and better) with his first essay on the present state of graffiti and its incurable future. We welcome KAI and look forward to a long and painted journey with him. KF
Graffiti has infected hearts and minds throughout the world, whether you love it or hate it we cannot turn back now. Wherever there is a blank wall and a kid (or adult) with a can of paint graffiti will emerge. Graffiti is a manifestation of the build up of feelings and oppressions brewing inside of all human beings. The participants on the illegal side of the graffiti contest bridge all barriers including race, class, age and gender. The people who are cleaning up graffiti are not as varied – they are usually middle aged folks who don’t understand why the kids keep writing on their walls. But the real actors in the game of graffiti can be anyone.
Continue reading "Graffiti - the Incurable Disease (thankfully)" »
juillet 27, 2006
Art under the overpass
by Kevin Freitas
Each step I take over moss covered rocks, oozing stagnant muddy waters and prickly scrub brush brings me closer to these mammoths, carrying the weight of humanity like some forgotten Atlas, standing broad shouldered in a successive line, forgotten monuments to the taming of the West, an industrial era and revolutionary building materials.