Each and every day I walk by this mural. Its en route to our offices. Peeps better have a good look as it might just be your last chance to see it as demolition work has started …

Update: seems this wall will remain intact till at least September.

Made this Knack Weekend’s black edition nº 4 on Outdoor & Ecoliving which features a part on different ‘communities’. Heard we were asked to enlighten a little something about young scum and love, lots of love it even seems.

At your local paper monger right now. Thanks for the mention Knack as it turned out to be a nice edition.

Seems a few spare hours in Ghent and hooking up with Bue results in the following. Read all about it at Insaland.

Unfamiliar with Insa’s work? Have a look overhere.

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

A new spot opened its doors in Ghent last weekend: nº 13.

A contemporary home which will be open for 13 weekends and this until june 13. Better keep an eye on the planned activities as they promised to do some cool stuff before closing them doors for good. This Saturday a Red Bull Music Academy Q&A [you have to register for this btw] with Morgan Geist, Retro/Grade and Fredo for starters.

We mentioned it before, but a while back the city of Ghent organized a light festival for the very first time and Mr.Beam was part of this.

“The inspiration for this show is mainly based on the huge contrast that the building has in every way. Not only from an architectural point of view – the stunning aged exterior compared with the modern style of the interior -, but also the difference between the overall atmosphere that the building has in day and night. At night time the building gives you a quite dark and spooky feeling, while in broad daylight you will be surrounded by beautiful music that’s being played by students.

We created the content with these main elements as an inspiration point. Also the architecture itself was the foundation for both the audio composition and the animations which are inseparable from each other.”

Licht Festival Gent 2011 from Mr.Beam on Vimeo.

The Subs are dropping a brand new one. As usual a great video to accompany their latest track.

Dj Shadow is coming to Ghent the 25th of May. Yeah, The Outsider wasn’t this and that but the man still has got a whole lot of credit in my neck of the woods. Too many haters if you ask us as the man still got his skills it seems.

Strange we had not picked this up before. A great production showing the city we live & work in from another perspective.

Thursday we found ourselves heading to the Belgian Tron Legacy première in Ghent. The people behind it all were so kind to send us an invite and before we knew it we found ourselves walking up a red laser-beam carpet amongst good company.

Curious to see what all the fuzz was/is about, we took our seats, put on our 3D glasses (the movie is partially 3D, partially 2D), sat back in our seats and waited to get blown away by the sequel to the 1982 film Tron.

First off, you don’t go to see Tron Legacy for the dialogue or story in my opinion, you go for the graphics/visual thunderstorm they blast at you & the already legendary Daft Punk soundtrack.  I also have to add that you must go see the movie in a theatre as I doubt you can have the same experience on a home screen.

That’s what makes it a good movie and I expect that the film savvy people of the interwebs will share their professional opinions the next days/weeks, making my opinion utterly irrelevant

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

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picture by @JCvanGent

Lonely Planet published their top cities to visit in 2011 and (un)surprisingly Ghent found its way into their list:

Here’s a secret within a secret: Ghent might just be the best European city you’ve never thought of visiting, in a country that continues to be criminally overlooked. Ghent hides away in the middle of Belgium’s big three – Brussels, Bruges and Antwerp. Most Belgium-bound visitors rushing between these see nothing more than the stately fortifications of Ghent’s St Pieter’s Station. Those who do hop off the train and stroll along the Leie River to the historic centre will have their eyes out on stalks. Here hides one of Europe’s finest panoramas of water, spires and centuries-old grand houses. But this is no place to simply kick back: Ghent has one of Europe’s most dynamic festival scenes, which vies for visitors’ attention. This year the entire centre will emerge from a major program of rebuilding designed to show off the huge pedestrianised squares.

Come to think off it the city really has a lot to offer whether you are into the classical historical stuff, fashion or more urban sightseeing, and that is one of the reasons I love to live here. Yes, I love Ghent and I suggest we keep this a well kept secret

People, this is a big deal and something you don’t want to miss out on You’ll be able catch live performances by JtotheC & the Bad Mothas, Uphigh Collective & Title at the following venues throughout October & November.

17/10 - De Vooruit, Ghent
06/11 - Atelier210, Brussels
12/11 - De Kreun, Kortrijk

Now I must admit (shame on me) that I have not made it to any of the previous gigs yet, but I will be present in Ghent for sure where they’ll be performing together with Aloe Blacc, bringer of goodness and this summer’s master tune I need a Dollar. See you there and in the meantime stay out of trouble.

visual work : eckelwood.com

 brought to you by : on-point.be

Who is switching off the city lights at night?

Little piece of street art I (finally) spotted in Ghent the passed weeks. Seen several of these switches. Seems they have been around for a while. Need to get some new glasses guess Out.

Hooray! In one weeks time I will be on a train, destinatination… LDN. Together with some fellow BE tweeps I will be attending #youngscum overthere. The first one to be hosted across the channel and the next step in the further expansion of what once started as #jongtuig, a simple get together of young online minded people who love to drink offline beers here and there. Needless to say world domination will follow pretty soon afterwards.

The exact location in London will follow one of these days, but I heard it will be somewhere in/near Shoreditch.

All sightseeing tips are more than welcome and much appreciated in advance. We will be staying in a hotel near brick lane so my street art eyes will be able to eat their heart out.

Hope to see some of the UK cats up in here turn up at #youngscum btw. 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.

The regular followers know I recently switched battle stations to Ghent in Belgium. I had previously lived here about four years while I was studying nothing but fascinating stuff. Four years I say, and never before had I discovered the barbershop around the corner until a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, a barbershop just like in the American movies you watch on a Sunday afternoon. One of those places mainly afro-American men go to for their weekly grooming.

I mainly blame the fact I had not noticed it due to my daily routine which used to mainly be the following. Sleep, wake up in the afternoon, eat, sleep a bit more (either in class or the sofa), grab a beer (or a couple more) and back to sleep. The next day this would repeat itself.

Anyway, I decided to drop by their shop. Ended up walking out satisfied more than ever and have been paying them a visit regularly. Something I can only recommend. Should take some pics the next time I drop by. 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.

The passed week has been a low involvement one when it comes to OOTB. The agenda was flooded with events and I must say it has been one hell of a week with little sleep, lots of running around,  great laughs, but also some disappointments.

Tuesday was Mos Def day, with him showing up in the Vooruit. I had been anticipating his show for a while now and man was I excited to see/hear him do his thing. Lefto warmed up the crowd, together with half a dozen other local acts, and you could feel that there was electricity in the air among a very divers crowd. Great to see Mo & Grazz among them by the way. What a duo! Needless to say, Mos was on a roll and it was way more different then I had expected.

Still do not know what the hell Democrazy was thinking with their extended warm-up though, as they exhausted a huge part of the crowd with their waiting (read lets ca$h some money) game. By the time Mos started I was shattered I must admit.

Yesterday marked the avant-première for Philips’ Parallel Lines. Workrelated event, but pleasant none the less On the agenda, 5 movie shorts which drew our attention as soon as we had seen the trailer.

The project was set up together with the Ridley Scott Association, who selected 5 directors who take part. All of them were asked to make a short film with the only input being a brief which contained 6 scripts lines. The end results could not have been more diverse. So defintely have a look.

On another note we had some great news concerning #youngscum BE. Its starting to get shape and the location will be unveiled somewhere next week I recon. Mark April the 22nd in your agenda and make sure you are in Ghent that evening. 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]

Anyone who has been following me for a while should have picked up somehting about Roa before. I blogged about his work when I visited Doel last year for instance. I mean, his work is marvelous, plain awesomeness, if you ask me and many others, and you have definitely seen pieces of him throughout several cities. The style & technique of this Ghent-based spray-can handler is also so different. Layer upon layer, black, white, grey, black, black,  bit more grey, … Hard to explain (definitely if you are a nitwit like myself) but I suggest you take a look at following time-lapse to get an idea of how it works. All I can say is that Roa is way to modest when it comes to recognizing his talent.

I have known (about) Roa ever since I had the pleasure to meet him at an event I organized almost 2 years back. Its since that day I was fascinated by his work and always wanted to get a piece done by him. An honor I must say as he does not really like to place pieces privately indoors on one hand and on the other his work often does not fit the atmosphere. Surprisingly he was up for it and after having spent some hours talking with Roa I decided not to write a whole lot about it and let the piece speak for itself …

A finished piece. Signed, Roa. Out.

PS: Whoever wants to enjoy it in all its glory can always drop on by!

Last night I found myself at NTGent, spending an evening with Henry, Henry Rollins that is. Now for those of you who are not familiar with this 40-something pissed off tattooed hardcore punk-rock icon on Vans, Google and YouTube him as you might learn a thing or two. You might then find out you know him as the face for Black Flag. Yes, the band that never before sold as many t-shirts as the passed years as hipsters worldwide embraced them

Now I have always been fascinated by Mr Rollins and since he was in the neighborhood I thought I could not miss out on him. Having spent all day painting the new house I definitely was up for some good old fashioned entertainment. Am I glad it was Henry who had the honors to do so, as what I witnessed was a verbal machine like no other. A missile on speed, telling his stories and experiences at such a rate I have never witnessed before, and this for almost 3 straight hours (without even drinking a sip of water!!).

From his experiences traveling the world, to his new acting adventure playing a skinhead in Sons of Anarchy to his involvement in the US presidential elections. It all got a place in his storytelling.

If there is one element that remained stuck in my mind, it was his rant on “Freedom of Speech” and how important this is for him. A pillar of the American institution and the essence of spoken word I might say, although he walked a fine line with certain statements there. Out.