Culture System » Graf

America Is Dying Slowly [Updated]

MikeM — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 14:41:06 +0000


Photo by Tone.

Jersey’s notorious AIDS crew brought their skills indoors for a legal showing of their talents, and they killed it. Simple as that.

The show, which was at Jersey City’s 58 Gallery, was impressive as a whole, rather than on the strength of the individual pieces. It was like one big collaborative installation with solo pieces thrown in for good measure.

Simple graffiti covered the walls, which was then washed over in various spots with different colors of transparent paint. More detailed attention grabbing smaller paintings adorned the walls at different spots on top of the subtle graffiti. Then messy white squares were thrown up, and the paintings were placed within them. This stark border helped emphasize the individual works, allowing the viewer to look at them without being overwhelmed by the paintings around it.

There was so much to look at on the walls that it took me a good twenty minutes to absorb it all.

As for the solo works, Distort’s oil painting of kids playing with guns really burned everybody else. Komar’s electric pole was fire was well. The pole and electric box were painted in the corner, and a wire was stretched from the top of it to the other corner of the gallery. Shoes were then strung over it. Dutch’s stained glass window of Biggie also stood out.

The opening was earlier this month, but it will still be open for viewing for about another week. Unfortunately, somebody took their time sending me photos, or I would have posted this sooner. Check out Photos By Tone for some more shots of the opening. Also peep Distort’s Jokerized City Council member here.

Update: Also, a lot of these dudes make music. Animal Crackas, who are also crew, performed at the opening. This song is called "Spiderweb," and it is on their upcoming album.


Photo by Tone.

Live Life Freshly Dipped

MikeM — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 05:26:01 +0000

Not enough emcees include the lyrics to their songs in the artwork for their music. It makes it easier to get over with lazy lyrics. That’s my guess.

It’s too bad from the visual side of things, too. If I dropped a single, the lyrics would look something like the picture to the left. I wrote the rhymes, and 2Grotesk rocked the handstyle and printed it up on my jacket. Not this Grotesk - this one.

For the graf challenged, it says: "In case we only live life once, don’t waste it. Take it seriously. Fill your plate. Hasten your pace. Take the reins, don’t wait. It’s high stakes, face it. Replace any wasted space with a statement."

Click on the flicks below for larger images.

Dress Up for the End

MikeM — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 22:46:28 +0000

For all my grafitti writin’ familam out there who care about their brain cells and their appearance, today we got designer gas masks! Say word. Whether you’re tryin’ to keep paint outta your nose, or you think the Raelians are gonna rock a Saren gas bomb on the L train, but you just HAVE to go to that Glasslands show - well here. you. go. Just for you. I bet we see HeartsRevolution rockin’ this ish soon! By Diddo Velema.

Core 77>

I Don’t YouTube, I Huff Glue

MikeM — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 22:08:43 +0000

It’s a stark juxtaposition: MySpace, the fashion world, and the inanity those worlds tend to focus on on the one side; the dilapidated state of the Vietnamese landscape on the other. Daps to Filippo Minelli, our protagonist for the day.

Future Rock

MikeM — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 19:48:43 +0000

Eyebeam, a technology and arts center, has explored the future of graffiti through its Graffiti Research Lab.They have lots of cool projects, but the one that seems as if it could actually have serious implications for the future of graffiti - and public art in general - is the Pixel Roller (first video). You upload an image into the roller, and then simply roll that image onto the wall. Also included below is a selection of some of their more interesting projects.Correction: Apparently, the Pixel Roller isn’t an Eyebeam project, I just came accross it on their blog. It’s in fact a rAndom International project, out of London.

Style Wars Doc

MikeM — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 07:38:52 +0000