2 years ago I had my first experience being part of an experimental art installation by participating in 'The Dream Director' by brilliant artist Luke Jerram, who brought us such wonders as the Hot air Balloon Orchestra, his glass model of the HIV virus and now The Plant Orchestra. Today I discovered I was in the short film made to accompany the installation....ahhh..happy memories....
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Monday, 14 September 2009
Street Art vs. Graffiti
Street Art vs. Graffiti
Concepts of the underground and the mainstream are always in a state of flux.
Until today, I was under the impression that graffiti was no longer considered a serious crime. When thinking of prosecuting graffiti artists, the image that comes to mind is always one of an overweight security guard giving up his jogging pursuit of some youths running down the railway sidings, who are themselves more concerned about ripping their kappa jackets than getting caught. Also, I was under the impression that Banksy and T.wat and Le Rat and all the other big name street-artists were beloved cuddly members of society who had just grown up on the wrong side of the tracks and it was now common knowledge that they were politico-artists, rather than vandals.
However, it seems there is a world of difference between street-artists and true graffiti artists. "Right now I have five friends in jail and two on bail for 'bombing' [a term for spray-painting] trains and I think every 'writer' in London has had their door kicked in by the graff squad recently," an anonymous ‘bomber’ stated in The Independent today. The article went on to detail how seriously our government still takes graffiti on the streets of London. It seems that the punishments for vandals are still extremely severe, as the minimum spent each year on cleaning up the London tube carriages alone costs the UK a minimum of £10m every year.
Concepts of the underground and the mainstream are always in a state of flux.
Until today, I was under the impression that graffiti was no longer considered a serious crime. When thinking of prosecuting graffiti artists, the image that comes to mind is always one of an overweight security guard giving up his jogging pursuit of some youths running down the railway sidings, who are themselves more concerned about ripping their kappa jackets than getting caught. Also, I was under the impression that Banksy and T.wat and Le Rat and all the other big name street-artists were beloved cuddly members of society who had just grown up on the wrong side of the tracks and it was now common knowledge that they were politico-artists, rather than vandals.
However, it seems there is a world of difference between street-artists and true graffiti artists. "Right now I have five friends in jail and two on bail for 'bombing' [a term for spray-painting] trains and I think every 'writer' in London has had their door kicked in by the graff squad recently," an anonymous ‘bomber’ stated in The Independent today. The article went on to detail how seriously our government still takes graffiti on the streets of London. It seems that the punishments for vandals are still extremely severe, as the minimum spent each year on cleaning up the London tube carriages alone costs the UK a minimum of £10m every year.
Hitler: The Poster Boy for AIDS
Hitler: The Poster Boy for AIDS
I thought warnings were getting a little extreme nowadays when I turned over my pack of Marlboros to see a dead man staring up at me, or turn on the TV and see the new traffic warning advert with a small dead ginger child stalking a middle-aged man. But it seems Germany has managed to take the biscuit with their newest ad campaign promoting STI awareness. ‘AIDS is a mass murder’ is the newest campaign from German AIDs awareness group Regenbogen to promote AIDs awareness, and by golly it has, with this thing flying all over the interweb like Batman on uppers! Watch the steamy video for yourself at http://www.aids-is-a-mass-murderer.com/.
Yup, it certainly puts you off ‘relations’ when Hitler’s moustachioed little face pops up at the end, and its getting some new and much needed attention to the disease, but I’m not sure how effective it’ll be in the long run...
‘Does this guy look like Hitler? Stalin? Harold Shipman? No! No mass murderer resemblance! No protection required.’ http://www.aids-is-a-mass-murderer.com/
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