Team Farang is a group of freerunners from around the world that each year gather together in Thailand to explore the unique cities and breath taking country sides. Seeking out new challenges and adventures, and having a ridiculously good time in the process. 

By the way, Farang is the bastardization of the English word Foreign; the generic thai word for your average Westerner.

Yesterday RedBull Belgium premiered The Art of Flight in Brussels. The movie has been on a world tour throughout this fall (after having been released earlier in September) and yesterday Travis Rice & co found their way to Brussels. The ‘sold out’ (ticket were up for grabs through RedBull’s site) venue was Studio 4 in Flagey, a great location that was for this event.

The movie/documentary itself follows Travis Rice, John Jackson, Mark Landvik, Scotty Lago, Jake Blauvelt, Nicolas Müller, Gigi Rüf, DCP and Pat Moore as they dream up new global adventures and progress the sport to unimaginable levels. For this, production company Brain Farm gathered an arsenal of the most advanced and progressive filmmaking technology to bring the masses a snowboarding adventure of epic proportions. Filmed on location in Jackson Hole, Alaska, Chile, Aspen, Patagonia, British Columbia, … the movie brings viewers along for the perfect blend of adventure/travel drama and high-energy snowboarding action.

Overall the verdict was that its a great (and I really mean GREAT) snowboard movie if not the most epic of them all. Everything about the movie was super-sized, from the budget (read it was around $2 million) to the riding. A mix of sweeping landscape shots of enormous mountains and huge rides/jumps. Even the run time of an hour and a half is more than twice that of your average snowboard films. The sheer size of everything just blows you away and I reckon anyone will appreciate watching it.

The screening tour continues to Amsterdam, Paris, Stockholm & Moscow throughout the week. If you can attend one of the dates I suggest you do or get your hands on a copy  of the DVD. Besides impressive the footage the movie also has a great soundtrack worth checking out.

Thanks to the guys over at RedBull Belgium for the invites. Can’t wait to hit the slopes this winter myself although I will keep it more real(istic) & amateur

Spent past weekend in the Ardennes, a bank holiday in a sunny autumn setting with great/longtime friends.

Chalet Suisse life mainly existed of good food, drinks & little sleep.

It usually also involves maps, guides, walking …

and sometimes people who rather wear their trousers in their sock.

It also means not being allowed in certain areas, I blame the 1% for this personally.

Did I mention ‘a weekend amongst good company’ already?

Fitting club to come along as Volvo was so kind to lend me my horse and carriage for the weekend: V60 R design DRIVe by Volvo A great driving experience overall, with brakes that work like a charm, I can testify after having tested them intensively during a wild bore vs car stand off.

You can see me and the V60 here btw, sporting a green winter jacket and a bordeaux sweater by an unknown brand. Shoes: from the walking type with fancy red laces and stuff. Oh, I’m such a personal blogger … watchout LookBook here I come!

“We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists“ is an upcoming documentary on Anonymous and the history of hacktivism. Expect this.

Still owed you this post:

Couple of weeks ago I spent a weekend in Hasselt for the Street Art Festival surrounded by a great line-up. Coincidence has it that I happened to help out Mymo with here massive piece. Operating the bucket, painting where possible. Besides that some other great pieces got shape. Full set overhere but thought I should share a couple of them here …

A first for me and a great festival overall.

Mymo

Resto

Oli-B x Billy x Resto x Bue the Warrior

Polak x Locatelli

DinDin

Aryz

Also, as I have been getting questions/requests over the past 2 weeks I thought I should enlighten everyone that I did leave the StreetArtBelgium.com thing. Our paths were clearly going other ways. Several people had warned me for certain elements while starting our efforts, and in the end it seems they were right on this from the start.

Stuff has been done, stuff has been said, a story which has several sides to it, so I wish not to get strangled in between. Besides that I could not find myself within the way things turned out, kicking someone off a mutual project without discussing this amongst everyone does not float here.For that reason I decided to quit all efforts within the project and for what its worth, I regret it had to turn out this way as we had something nice going as a team. Personal side of the story available offline for the those interested.

For those of you who wish to support the festival and see it return once again, please join the facebook page which will keep you up to date on what happens in the future.

Also, on a final note, Oemebamo shot a great overview/recap of the festival. Hope this will return next year or the near future.

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

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.

 One of the strangest subcultures I have ever read about is that of the Juggalos. Juggalo or Juggalette (the latter being feminine) is a name given to fans of Insane Clown Posse or any other Psychopathic Records hip hop group. Juggalos have developed their own idioms, slang, and characteristics.

Urban dictionary even goes further and defines a Juggalo as “A greasy, fat, teenager with a kool aid mustache and no friends who listens to songs about clowns in his step mother’s double wide mobile home when he isn’t hanging out at the mall food court.”

American Juggalo is a documentary that gives us a look at this often mocked and misunderstood group of hardcore Insane Clown Posse fans who meet once a year for four days at The Gathering of the Juggalos. The makers went to The Gathering of the Juggalos and let the Juggalos speak their minds. A nice look into this freak subculture, one I do not seem to understand yet

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.

Went to my very first Brussels Girl Geek Dinner yesterday as sakoche for the ma’am (yes but no, our previous big day out did not count as a real BGGD I reckon). Something about cyberpads at Samsung’s dig I was said and so we head out to Vilvoorde.

Seems they’re launching a new tablet, a bigger one than their previous tab because size does matter in this case. What else did I remember about it all: it runs flash and basically does everything you expect it to do.

Girl geek dinners are awkward in a way, not because you are surrounded by cute girl geeks, but because just like at #youngscum and other online/offline gatherings you know certain people are there but you just can’t put a face to their name (although you really want to say “hello”) or you happen not to really bump into eachother.

Leaves me with an awkward feeling time and time again :s ans yes, I am no hero when it comes to strangers. Its one of the reasons I love living in the city, the anonymity.

As my mother always thought me to thank people: cheers Samsung and the other sponsors for a nice evening.

[Picture taken & sent with a Samsung 'Galaxy 10.1' Cyberpad]

The sweat dripping from your face. The exhaustion after giving it your all. We have mentioned it before.

The following short film by Dave is a great caption of how the behaviour of fans at a gig is a key part of the relation between them, the band, and the music. Crowd surfing, along with pogoing and moshing, is an act of rock’n'roll defiance, a demonstration that you are there in the thick of it, lost in the music.

The fifth entry in the 2011 Short Stories film competition fuelled by Relentless Energy Drink, “The Pit,” takes viewers into a world of bodies and bouncers. Depares introduces us to the fans who risk ejection from the venue, the musicians who live it every night (including Liam Cormier of Cancer Bats and Lee Spielman of Trash Talk) and the bouncers who try to keep everyone safe. The film contrasts the focused energy of the band with the seeming chaos of the pit.

The Pool was more than a BMX comp, it was one of the most extra-ordinary gatherings of the BMX community this century.

From the draining of a soon to be demolished local authority swimming pool in Dagenham, East London, into a world class park in less than two weeks was a feat in itself, but to see the diversity and level or riding on display at the launch event was truly remarkable.

40 international riders with a brand new team format saw non-comp riders, veterans, street destroyers and park animals all throw down into something far better than we could have dreamt of.

Be part of something.

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

We’ve mentioned this one before, but fixed gears keep on turnin’ and right now we got the full feature which has clearly turned out to become a nice piece documenting the trip from London to Paris which 10 riders took on as a challenge in 2009 in order to meet Lance Armstrong as the Tour De France came to a close. It takes a while to load in vimeo, so be patient

The project was created by Joris Debeij, a European currently residing in LA, who wants to document the city through portraits of intriguing and unique personalities living there. Each single one on people who found a specific niche for themselves in a city of millions.

Enjoy the selected clips, we know we did.

Salvador Preciado has lived in East LA for most of his life. Growing up, he always was impressed by the tattoos worn by local gang members and he later decided to become a full-time tattoo artist. Sal is now the proud owner of El Clasico Tattoo, a tattoo shop in Echo Park.

Sean Martin has been riding bikes for over ten years. He started out on a BMX and now feels “one” with his fixed-gear bike while riding through the streets of LA.

Imagine this: There are mature fruit trees planted and cared for all over your neighborhood, so you can just pick fresh fruit and enjoy it as you walk down the street, without ever needing to go hungry. The guys of Fallen Fruit started 7 years ago as a one-time project that involved mapping out the locations of public fruit trees.

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!

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

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.

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)

Last week (and yesterday once again) Haïti got hit hard by an earthquake. The images and stories went global in no time and the consequences are shocking. As I heard the news my first thoughts went straight to Jeannine De Beleyr, the aunt of good friends of mine, who for the passed 20 years has been working hard over there to improve peoples lives.

She lives and works in the village of Akil Samdi, where life already wasn’t that easy for the locals (some of the poorest people in the northern hemisphere). She has been helping them in all ways possible, starting education and social projects with Ti Solèy Leve. The village, which isn’t easy accessible, has experienced (political) violence and chaos throughout the years, hurricanes & floods, hunger, … Now they get hit by this. A sad moment which will need a lot of time to get over.

Communicating with the other side of the world is not easy, but she has been able to write some firsthand experiences over here (Dutch). I taught I’d share them with you all as it gives you another side of the story other than the one the media broadcasts. Bare in minde that up untill now the main media coverage often hasn’t gone further than the capitol of Port Au Prince. Read it, let it sink in and see what you can do to help. Its the smaller projects that often get neglected in these times and its especially the long term vision which one may not lose his sight on.

Show your support by donating to this or other projects and if you can help in any other way just give us a shout. Money transfers can be made over to the following bank account and you will be provided with a fiscal note for the taxman!

000-0901974-68  (SOS Scheut) Ninoofsesteenweg 548   1070 Brussel
and mention 02.509.018:O.V.S.C.I. Akil Samdi-Ha  J. De Beleyr

“Skateboarding permeates global culture. From Gus Van Sant’s film, Paranoid Park, to the success of MTV’s Rob & Big and national ad campaigns around the world that use skateboarding as a way to connect with the youth culture, skateboarding continues to serve as a creative launching pad for aspiring actors, graphic designers, and filmmakers alike. In many cases it is the common thread that unites – their source of passion.”

This August the first ever Skateboard Film Festival will be held in Seattle, as a collaborative effort by some of the industry’s most respected entrepreneurs, filmers, photographers, and skateboarders in an effort  to enable, nurture, promote and encourage the next generation of skateboard filmmakers as they have to inspire, lead and entertain the world with their stories and creativity.

The festival is open to the public and anyone can submit their videos, which will be judged within several categories. Wether its a short or full-length movie, it doesn’t mather and some 40-60 videos will be shown during the film festival weekend itself.

Now all this talk of skateboard flicks has fuelled my appetite for some good trailers. I suggest you check out the festivals spot. It features a sh*tload of great trailers & footage. The one I picked to feature is: SOUR “Skateboarding for Peace in the Middle East“. SOUR is the first urban skate documentary to be filmed in the middle east; offering a fresh, fast-paced and inspiring perspective of peace building and Middle Eastern urban youth culture. Filmed during the Lebanon/Israel War back in 2006, SOUR brings us a youthful ensemble of top Arab and Israeli skaters jumping borders and culture barriers to share a united passion for skating and life.

The second clip is a teaser for Isenseven’s upcoming euro shred extravaganza “Let’s Go Get Lost.” Its a snowboarding dvd that will be released soon and I just had to feature somewhere soon as its looking to become one hell of a flick. Especially check out the light graffiti which is featured at the end of the clip. Music to the trailer is “Sushi” by Kyle Andrews btw. Out.

But now we have MC Hammer, “Can’t touch this”

Through Boskabout. Check out his blog.

Now what is this botellon all about? Botellon is an offline happening which starts online, initiated on social networks as Facebook. I told you before that 2009  for me will be the year off synergie between offline and online. This happening is a perfect illustration of this. We’ve had Young Scum and Twunches. We know these, but what is now botellon? Apparently the word botellón is an augmentative of botella (bottle) so the literal translation would be “big bottle”. In the ’90s this phenomena arose in Spain where people got out and drank there big bottles on the street. In Spain it is an integral part of their nightlife where on Saturday night people gather before going to nightclubs and discos. In 2004 a botellón in Sevilla attracted 70.000 people.

The event is spread by word of mouth and through social networks. Now we’ll have our own botellon in Ghent on the 24th of June. Offcourse Ghent has always had a tradition with nightlife gathering. The infamous Graslei will remain one of the most fascinating places from may till october, as it is a place where students and young people meet on warm evenings to have a drink and ocassionally to take a dive in the water. Now the Sint-Pietersplein will be the center of Ghent for nightlife gathering.

Out of the Blog will be attending and hopes to meet you on the Sint-Pietersplein, so give a us a hands-up if you’re going and we’ll have a botellon.

“Your daily dose of inspiring photography from around the globe”

The Black Snapper promises to become a great project, based from Amsterdam. Its is the brainchild of Frank Kloos, an interactive media designer, and  Diederik Meijer, a documentary photographer. (One of his projects, amongst many other, was a photo documentary on Dutch women working in the adult film industry by the way.)

Now, their concept might sound simple, but it ain’t when wanting to implement is. The Black Snapper wants to become an online magazine for young talented photographers from all over the world, but at the same time it “aims at creating an online community that will inspire photography professionals and photography enthusiasts worldwide.“ the guys state. Their scope is to stage a new young and talented artist each and every day of the year. “Presenting one photographer each day sets our project aside from many others, it is a unique feature and one, we believe, is very important to younger viewers.”

These photographers work will be presented in a slideshow comprising of no more than 8 to 14 images and caption text. On the other hand weekly selections will also be made by guest curators who “will motivate/explain their selections  and will present themselves in seven questions and answers. They will discuss their taste, trends important to them and the kind of photo talent they are interested in.“

The project has already been picked up by a wide and yet expanding community of photography professionals (photographers, photo editors, museum curators, art gallery curators, photo festival curators and commercial art buyers) throughout the world. I’ll spare you the entire list, but the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts (Japan) and the Photo Museum Antwerpen (Belgium) are just a few amonst others.

As I said, this project is like music to our ears. It can become a stage for emerging talent from around the world and as it is just starting to get shape we thought it was the right time to put The Black Snapper in the picture. (got some play on words goin’ on overhere).

photo: Diederik Meijer

OOTB: Where did the idea & name for ‘the black snapper’ originate from?

For some time we sensed that there is room for an online photomagazine that is released on a daily basis. From the start we wanted it to be truly international. From this came the idea to invite guest curators from all over the world. These people have excellent networks and very good knowledge about what photographers are up to in their countries. Much better than we would have. In addition, to have so many people participate in selecting content helps the magazine to stay objective. Nobody is president or editor in chief, at least not for longer than seven days

As to our name: Snapper is a slang word for photographer, the black snapper is a fish. We wanted a name that has a ring to it, that stands out in a sentence and immediately attract a reader’s attention. In addition, it should stick when you hear it spoken. The Black Snapper has these features.

OOTB: How did you manage to get the support of such an extensive global community?

We are still building the community. We believe that the Black Snapper is based on strong and positive ideas. To create a daily photo magazine that brings creative work from all over the world to global viewers is one of them. To emancipate artists from developing countries (allowing photography developments in Africa, Asia and South America to be seen) is another, as is our aim to support young talent. We believe people are supporting us because they sense we are creating this out of genuine passion and curiosity. We somehow manage to infect most people we talk to with our enthusiam.

OOTB: When should the website be up and running?

We will go live on August 1, 2009. We will then be running at full force immediately.

OOTB: Where do you see yourself and the black snapper in a years time? What are the short & long term goals?

In a year’s time, the Black Snapper will be recognized as a professional photography medium and will be seen daily by thousands of photography professionals and photo-lovers worldwide.

OOTB: Any other worthwile photographers, artists, phenomenons… you wish to share with us? Things you spotted passed months?

Diederik: I like http://mediastorm.org a lot for their mix of photo, audio & video, and their contributors always telling a good story! And Natascha Libbert, a student graduation from the Arts Academy of The Hague. She has kindly allowed us to post her work on our preview homepage while we are building our website. Natascha graduates with a beautiful book and exhibition. She is a rising star.

Frank: I just discovered Fotodok which was a nice surprise to me, and I always have some nice discoveries via http://triangletriangle.com, but then again, my list can go on and on.

OOTB: We wish you both & The Black Snapper all the luck. Keep us posted. Out.

To get back on track (get it, little wordplay goin’ on over here ), I read today that the European Cycle Messenger Chamionships started over in Berlin. This is like the freakin’ olympics for fixed gearheads as they’ve got different disciplines going on next to a main race. They’ll be holding team, sprint, uphill,…  races but also host a specific fixed gear track with a best trick, a skid battle (I read helmets are mandatory for this one ) and a bike polo competition next to many others.

The first ever championship was held in Berlin back in 1993. At that point it still consisted of a small community but throughout the years it emerged as a real hardcore sport it seems and this years edition will once again bring hundreds of professional bike messengers, with their unique profession and lifestyle, from across the globe together for three days of races and crazy battles. The organisers state that: “Non-messengers are as always tolerated at this event, although leave the excessive posing to the professionals, thanks.“.

If you’re interested in more info check out the events website and pay some special attention to their “German for Beginners” section  where you can find classic expressions such as “Ich bin in der mood für love” which they state “might just get you laid“.

If you’ve got some time and digg good docu’s check the clips I added. The first one is the documentary On-Point featured. This is a must see, as the bicycle messenger’s life has been captured in a wonderful way. The second clip is the trailer for what seems to be a full length documentary called ‘Murder of Couriers’. I stumbled upon this trailer couple of weeks ago and taught the time was right to share it with you all.

Messenger from Kalim Armstrong on Vimeo.

All I can say is that its great to see how the whole culture is spreading throughout Europe and with the popularity of fixed gear bikes being on the rise I’m curious to see if it will get picked up in BE and turn into its own scene.

Let us know what your thoughts are on fixed gear bikes, the vids and our blog in general. Out.

(post inspired through bigup.)