Mentioned SupaKitch & Koralie a couple of times before and today another great ‘making of’clip for one of their wall paintings popped up. Their work is so nice, have a look yourself. In the meantime stay out of trouble!

The following is a short looking at ‘See No Evil’ and the rise of the global street art movement. A documentary on Europe’s largest street art installation which transformed Nelson Street in Central Bristol into a massive outdoor art gallery.

The documentary features interviews with some of the 72 artists involved, amongst which Inkie, Tats Cru, El Mac, Nick Walker, Shoe, Xenz, China Mike and Paris. Over the course of a week the artists used over 13,400 cans of spray paint to create huge murals, up to 10 storey’s high.

The film also explores how street art has a natural home in Bristol and explains the cities long and colorful graffiti history. Organised by Inkie, Team Love and Weapon of Choice with the support of Bristol City Council and Nelson Street’s building owners. Bristol celebrated the project with an NYC style block party and three ‘Hear No Evil’ events in the disused Westgate building on Nelson Street.

Met A Squid Called Sebastien for the first time while organising Youthwatching several years back. He would join in with several others at the end of the day, expo some of his work, … 

Couple of weeks back we met again over some coffee at Ghent’s Vooruit. He had just returned from the 9000miles tour he did with several other artists. Told me I should check the following book I just remembered (*note to self*) and also come check out his expo at ArtSpace Leguit (which previously also hosted one of our #youngscum get togethers).

If you’re in Antwerp this Friday, definitely go check his guest expo + live painting by 9000miles featuring:

Steve Locatelli
Stanislas Lahaut
Jan Opdekamp
Nadia ‘Cymo’ Oussehmine
Digsville Music
Third Digit

The expo itself, which brings a collection of new works on wooden sufaces made in the course of 2011, will run untill the end of the month. Check the preview below & the facebook event for further details and go see them fatties!

Artspace Leguit

Leguit 23

http://www.artspaceleguit.com/

Images courtesy of 9000Miles

Young & Free is the most significant exhibition by Australian street artists ever seen in the United States. The show features fresh work by thirteen of Australia’s finest urban art guerrillas – from the already internationally acclaimed to the burgeoning up-and-comers.This tribe of artists comes from a variety of backgrounds: brilliant new work by notorious 80’s train painters through to the sublime subtlety of a modern day Rembrandt armed with a spray can. Young & Free is a reflection of Australia’s thriving street culture with a strong grounding in the past and a firm focus on the future. These are modern day bushrangers, patrolling the lanes from Melbourne to Manhattan. This show features a mix of direct sprays, stencils and paste-ups, representing the rich and varied groundings from which these artists have grown. No matter their age, medium or style, the Young & Free artists all share one thing in common: they want to give the urban landscape a fresh coat of paint.

(HT @JonasJanssens, cheers.)

The Ghostvillage Project was created over 3 days on the west coast of Scotland. 6 artists (Timid, Remi/Rough, System, Stormie Mills, Juice 126, Derm) were given free reign to paint in an abandoned 1970s village.

Working together on huge collaborative walls and individually in hidden nooks and crannies all over the site the artists realised long held dreams and were inspired by the bleakness and remoteness of the site. Drawing on the history of the village the artists’ stated intent on completion of the project was to populate the ghostvillage with the art and characters that it deserved.

What happens when you set up a four day paint jam somewhere in the English countryside? Supremebeing set it up and captured it all in the clip below which features live painting by artists David Walker, She One, Mr Jago, Will Barras and Bue The Warrior.

This has been in the make for a while. Already great work by everyone involved.

For all additional info visit http://streetartbelgium.com/ or feel free to contact us.

Seems ROA has been in San Fran the past weeks in preparation of an exhibit at the White Walls gallery during the month of April. Spencer Keeton Cunningham documented this in a lovely fashion. More images can be found overhere.

[More Roa overhere btw]

I have said it before and I will say it again, a lot is happening in Ghent lately and with the opening of the A&Gallery another spot gets added to the list. Not just any opening as Moby will be opening this new gallery with his DESTROYED exhibit.

The Belgian exhibition, which starts on on Wednesday May 18, serves as the official opening of A&Gallery – run by Ben Van Alboom and Wouter Van Vaerenbergh, the creative duo behind the renowned photography project Angels & Ghosts. Moby will not only attend the opening but also play a DJ set at a still secret and very exclusive location.

Most of us mainly know Moby as a music artist, yet photopgraphy and other visual artwork has always been an interest of his. Once a film and photography graduate student, Moby’s been a keen SLR lens man ever since his uncle, a photographer working for The New York Times, presented him with a camera at age ten. To this day, Moby carries a camera wherever he goes.

A photography book (55 photographs taken by Moby while touring the planet) will accompany Moby’s new album Destroyed by the way.

A&Gallery, Schepenhuisstraat 17, 9000 Gent

Renowned for their giant collaborative zen pop murals, KAMI and SASU’s works combine elegant geometry with ebullient, uplifting colors. KAMI and SASU have been an inspiration to a generation of Japanese underground artists.

Like an eclipse, OMNI by KAMI and SASU collectively known as ‘HITOTZUKI’ (lit: Sun and Moon) was a vibrant celebration of the couples idealistic spirit, held at Backwoods Gallery, Melbourne, Australia in November 2010.

[through Wooster]

SUPAKITCH & KORALIE are two French street artists who are clearly influenced by Japanese art. This results in some great work. Have a look at their work which features  geishas, dragons and other elements of the oriental culture.

Regular readers probably do not need an introduction when it comes to Shepard Fairey. For many he symbolises part of the Obama presidential campaign as he gained global acclaim by altering the image above which was widely used throughout 2008-2009.

Fairey has been creating great iconic (street) art since the 1980s and can be considered an icon himself.

What follows is an interview with Obey at the end of last year. A great introduction for anyone who might not be that familiar with Shepard’s work.

through gestalten.tv

An unscientific point of view on the beginning and evolution of life … and how it could probably end. A wall-painted animation by BLU.

Met some great people, had some great experiences, (re)discovered artists, heard some great mixtapes, saw wonderfull street art, got some (product) reviews up and overall featured some great content (although it was not always that great ).

Concertwise we had a good year, with highlights being a studio session by MGMT, the Prodigy concert in Lille, a showcase by Janelle Monae, Chromeo in BXL and the Gorillaz concert in Antwerp.

We also crossed the border several times. Ended up visiting London for Young Scum and ended up there two weekends in a row due to circumstances, went to Paris for the Offf Festival, where we got to stay in the great Hidden Hotel. After that we topped this all off with held a midsummer roadtrip to Croatia & Slovenia before finishing the summer with a quick visit to Amsterdam.

Started reading again in between this all and did some home brewing before finishing everything of with some family time in MT.

As you can see, we ended up sharing all these experiences and still this ended up being the blogpost which read the most throughout the entire year.

All we can say, 2010 has been a blast and who would have thought we would be able to have done it all from one of the greatest cities in the world! Have a great time going from old to new and we’ll see each other once again in 2011! Out with the old one says!

THIS THURSDAY

LIVE
Cupp Cave & Dynooo

++

FREE
at ESPACE LADDA

Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 21

GHENT

More info: check facebook

The greatest sneaker archiving project is about to start as footlocker is going to attempt to unite sneaker fanatics across the globe.

All I know is that I want an invite! @Sneakerpedia give me a damn code

Yessur, 2010 has been a good scum year. We found ourselves in Amsterdam, Ghent, London, Antwerp & Brussels.

Time will tell if we can become scum scavengers across several other European countries, but for now we will be our scumbag selves in Antwerp, thanks to Art Space Leguit and the wonderfull people behind Steve & Charlie.

If you are interested in helping us out in the future (location or even better pay for our beer ) just drop us a line!

For now you can find all the necessary info on the 10th edition overhere and I guess we will see you there!

Discovered Derek Hess‘ artwork years back through Gigposters.com (which we’ve talked about before).

Hess’ work is well-known within certain scenes as it has been used for concert posters, album covers, … but also way too cool tattoos which pop up every now and then.

Have a look at his work and in the meantime stay out of trouble.

Couple of weeks left till FACTS, the biggest comics, sci fi & anime festival of the Benelux. Never been there before, but curious to go and have a look Have a feeling it will be straight out of space!

through NerdCore

Couple of weeks back I Exited through the Gift Shop as I watched Banksy’s critically acclaimed documentary/mockumentary which was released over a year ago. I had been meaning to watch my copy for a while, but had never found the time.

The documentary is centred round Banksy, his fellow street artists and one Thierry Guetta, who is an LA-based Frenchman with a sick passion for making home videos. Its through this passion (and his cousin Invader) that Guetta found himself following known artists around, while they were doing their artwork, shooting tons of video in the hope of making a documentary.

Somehow Thierry also was able to covince Banksy to let him tag along. Too sly to participate in a traditional, aggrandizing documentary about himself though, Banksy instead somehow turns the camera on the camera crazy Frenchman while encouraging him to try his luck himself. Its at that point that Thierry quickly adopts the name “Mr. Brainwash”, plastering surfaces with uninspired, copcat work that looks a lot like Warhol, Obey and Banksy. He somehow also convinces Shepard Fairey and Banksy to be his advocates, spreading the word about a huge coming-out exhibit for which he hires a team of expert craftsmen to realize hundreds of unoriginal concepts.

The main question that remains, did Banksy pull another fast one on us? I read somewhere that Banksy declared that he hoped that it would do for street art what The Karate Kid did for martial arts, but I can’t help but wonder if this is all a hoax? Will he at one point in time tell the world how he “pranked” us all. A discussion I am willing to discuss, but will mainly leave to the “professionals”. Out.

TapeArt is the Art of using tape for it wasn’t made A rather simple yet fitting definition if you ask us.

The following clips where made by some Slovenian crew who organized several cross-slovenian street TapeArt actions with different artists. Nice work that deserves a spot overhere. Out.

through WoosterCollective

Well, we’re back on track & OOTB blog business is booming. The passed weekend/days I spent roaming the streets of London, meeting way to cool & interesting people (you knows who you are and we can’t say enough how much I enjoyed hanging out), dicovering new spots & stuff, …

I will write about a bunch off experiences & discoveries but have decided to do this bit by bit as I do not want to create an overload here. In the meantime you can check some pics I took overhere. Defintely have a look as it features some fine street art near East End, a visit to Tate Modern, …

What’s next you might be wondering? Well, Paris for the OFFF Festival I guess and with a bit of luck I will make it to Amsterdam for a weekend also. So a lot stuff to definitely to keep your eyes open out for. Out.

This passed Sunday shouted for a field-trip. We packed our camera and headed on out.

The afternoon started at Ghent’s finest SMAK where #BGGD28 would take place. On the agenda, a guided tour of Ed Templeton‘s exposition which is being held there. His biggest to date.  We had previously mentioned this one with the opening of Electrified a couple of weeks back. Exiting to say the least as we had missed out on the opening night and we were more than curious to see what mister Toy Machine had to offer.

The main part of our little excursion was Organo0n, Roberta Gigante’s latest work of art or is it artwork though. A part of Electrified, which is hacking public space in Ghent the passed weeks.

Hard to describe Organo0n. What I can say, with my humble opinion, is that I liked the concept and the idea behind it.

I guess by now you are wondering what it exactly was. Well, you know that sound and feeling you have at six in the morning after you have exited a rave or club? That sound in the background of pounding bass? Capture that sound and imagine it blasting through several huge steel pipes. A modern XL didgeridoo we might even call it.

(video through YetAnotherBlog)

Anyways, I took some pictures, but some others also did so here and here. There even is a little piece on the subject from local television station AVS.

Oh, and did I mention it was my first Brussel Girl Geek Dinner ever! Milestone Thanks Vooruit (Karen, Jeroen & Astrid), S.M.A.K. & Clo for the invite. We had a blast. Out.

It reminded me of Slinkachu, who/which once every so often crosses the online paths I dwell and every time I am surprised by the creativity it brings.

The Little People Project, which name you might also know it by, started back in 2006. It was one of the projects Londen-based street artist Slinkachu found himself entangled in. It involves the creation of very small street-based installations of which he then takes pictures from up-close and further away.

In order to do so miniature train set figurines get remodelled and painted over before they are carefully placed and left behind in the most unexpected spots, in real urban situations, capturing them sight-seeing, camping, grocery shopping, fighting and dying. It is therefore both a street art installation project and a photography project.

“The scenes I set up and the titles I give these scenes aim to reflect the loneliness and melancholy of living in a big city, almost being lost and overwhelmed. But underneath this, there is always some humour. I want people to be able to empathise with the tiny people in my works.”

“In contrast to the propaganda posters of Shepard Fairey or the subversive stencils of Banksy, Slinkachu’s approach to street art is more subtle, more sensitive. You could easily have walk right past one of Slinkachu’s installations and not know it was there. His photographs are key: the close-ups make you feel like a participant, while the far-away shots leave you feeling like a spectator.”

I made a quick selection below, but you can find more overhere and should also definitely keep an eye out of the little people blog. Out.

I previously touched the topic, but right now Electrified 02: Hacking Public Spaces is taking place in Ghent. Among many things, one of the eyecatchers is an exhibit by Ed Templeton in the S.M.A.K. and I happened to stumble upon the following video by Emerica …

Its an overview for The Cemetry of Reason, Templeton’s biggest art show to date by the way. It has tickled my senses and I must admit that after having missed out on the opening night I have to try and get there one of the next weeks. I am in luck though as it runs till June.

Keep your eyes open btw as you might see some tweeps passby. I defintely spotted @imkedielen & @danischouten amongst the crowd. Out.

French artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot creates works by drawing on the rhythms of daily life to produce sound in unexpected ways. For his installation in The Curve, Boursier-Mougenot created a walk-though aviary for a flock of zebra finches, furnished with electric guitars and other musical instruments. As the birds go about their routine activities, perching on or feeding from the various pieces of equipment, they create a captivating, live soundscape.

Hilarious really that someone can think to create stuff like this. The installation was commissioned by The Curve in London and can be viewed until the 23 May. As I might be traveling to London in May I might just try and pay it a visit. Out.

Whenever I read hacking I spontaneously think of Angelina Jolie, I think Russian 16-something year old whiz kids with laptops attacking government officials and for the BE readers I am also reminded of Red Attack. As an on-line minded fool hacking is automatically associated with the digital part of life for me.

On the other hand there also is cultural hacking and that’s what Electrified is all about. Throughout April, May & June several artists will be taking over public space in Ghent [Belgium], turning the city into one hackerspace for themselves.

Video introduction for Electrified 02, sad enough only available in Dutch.

So, just as two years back S.M.A.K. and the Vooruit Arts Centre join forces. Not to cross over to the dark-side, but in an effort to hack the city of Ghent. This time the second take-over focusses on artists who hack public spaces on the crossroads of several directions in the visual arts. At the same time it will expose the friction between the areas where the two institutions operate: the S.M.A.K. in contemporary art and the Vooruit in media art, sound and performance art.

I will spare you from the further official lingo, but know that everything will be presented in the S.M.A.K. (where the main exhibition will be held) and the Vooruit. For all other information needs I refer to their site!

Now Astrid was so kind to think of us at OOTB and asked if I would like to be an ambassador for the project. Being a fancy word and all I was honored. You know how that goes Well, I guess my first point on the agenda (cause that is what ambassadors do, they make an agenda for themselves) was to tell you what it is all about. Mission accomplished I guess.

Electrified 02 will kick-off on Friday the 3rd of April and continue on through May & June. I already regret I will not be able to make it for the opening night but I also heard they will host a Girl Geek Dinner on the 9th of May! Looks promising to say the least as Roberta Gigante, a young Italian artist (who currently resides in Brussels) will be doing some crazy stuff with the resonance frequencies of  huge metal pipes. Seems she will be incorporating them into an instrument called “OrganOOn”. Setting will be the Ghent harbour for this one time event. Who knows it might be the first BGGD I attend if someone asks me to tag along Do not really want to miss out on it to say the least.

So keep you eyes open when strolling through Ghent the coming months I guess. Out.

[twitter hashtag for this hacking frenzy is #HPS]

Strolling through Nerdcore a while back, I came across a great photo set by Niall O’Brien. This photographer (and indeed I had never heard of him) has been able to capture punks in a great set of pictures it seems. An ongoing project he finds himself in as you will read further on.

Right now some are even featurd in an exhibition entitled ‘GOOD RATS’, which opened on February 1st 2010 (at ART WORK SPACE – a new independent gallery, recently launched in The Hempel Hotel, London). This marks the first substantial exposition of work from the ‘Superheroes’ series – an ongoing project that has seen O’Brien living alongside, and observing the lives of, a group of young punks from South-West London over the last three years.

During this time, the artist has seen the group begin to grow from adolescents to young men, following them on their adventures from Brighton to Berlin and documenting their exploits. O’Brien has created a series of photographs so strikingly beautiful that, at first glance, they might belie their raw, uninhibited and primal content. Gradually earning the trust of the group, who to others may seem entirely impenetrable, has enabled him to gain access to some particularly personal and poignant moments in the lives of his subjects.

I could not have said it any better So, if you find yourself in London I guess you should have a look. Out.

(pictures through CreativeReview)

Might have mentioned it before, but A Love Letter for You is a great art project. The fact being its this time of year again one must admit there can never be enough love. Having said that, I taught I would share this one de nouveau.

Love Letter is a public art project which Stephen Powers together with the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. It consist of a series of 50 rooftop murals throughout the city. Together they express a love letter from a guy to a girl, from an artist to his hometown, and from local residents to their West Philadelphia neighborhood. A project which touches anyone who has loved.

I added some of my favorites, but there are many more murals which you can check overhere and here and there. Out.