Berling: Clean Graffiti

Clean graffiti and reverse graffiti are two forms of expression that are innovative and slyly efficient for the streets. Most urban art that I have been researching and discovering within the urbanscapes follow the trend of an additional application of various media onto buildings, streets, billboards, automobiles etc. But this version of 'clean graffiti' in Berlin, a city that is notorious for it's abundance of street art, is a form of graffiti that utilizes only water and stencils to produce the work. High pressure power washing techniques sprayed through stencils scrape and clean the filthy surfaces around Berlin that are clean-tagged. The outcome is super cool!! Watch this video to see how these artists produce their work.

Art&Culture Magazine

Monday was dreary and rainy but relaxing for me. My good pal Sandy and I lazyed up the perfect rainy monday morning and bummed ourselves over to barnes and noble to kill some time. i made my way over to the magazines and took my chances at a russian roullette random grab from the shelves. well i was interested in my grabs so i was pretty pumped--especially because the magazine i picked up was an Art & Culture Magazine that had some way cool looking images of graffiti murals plus page after page of original illustations, plenty of cool articles, and all sorts of neat graphic design and classic media. So to all who are down, check out Juxtapoz online and peep some of their blogs. i hope im not the only nerd who thinks this is cool.

Or if you dare go overseas, search around for any graffiti from the UK. Dopeee

Urban Art- graffiti art? OR spray can vandalism?

Twelve weeks, a dozen drives through the Lincoln and Holland Tunnel, hundreds of images, and a hand full of contact sheets later:

This body of work is coming together quite nicely as I am pleased to broadcast. The graffiti art-photography that I have been working with within urban landscapes has been broadly sensuous, unexpectedly informative, and most importantly, really really fun. Throughout all of the shooting, I have been asking myself questions about this street expressionism, its status within the visual arts, the skills and dexterity of its artists, and whether or not this medium may be considered art, OR spray can vandalism? On what degree can we deem this procedure a genre of art? Or is it solely illegitimate and illegal?

Well my friends, I now consider myself a spray can advocate thanks to all of the time I have spent exploring the streets and investigating the graffiti culture. What I have learned during the creation of this body of work is more than impressive. From taggers, to bombers, to muralists, to abstract expressionists, and every inconceivably precise label of spray-paint practitioner in between, there is a level of respect and admiration undoubtedly due across the board.
Certain spray-canned works that I visited were so scrupulously painted that I was seriously speechless. The time and precision that was so clearly applied to create certain walls is awesomely stunning and totally respected in my eyes. In zee near future (like later today) I am going to be scanning some images to publish on this bloggy. Take a close peep at what I publish and maybe you will understand why I am so ardently in support for this genre of street art. Stay tuned!



--withopenEyes.walktheStreets--

new final proposal

i am fusing my final portfolio concept from a final portfolio that i am producing from my digital photography class based on documenting graffiti and street art. my intention is to create an awareness of the skills and talent that are entailed in creating certain types of graffiti. also, i am making an availability for the viewer to have the opportunity to discern the contrasting elements of spray can vandalism versus graffiti art. On the digital-photo-blog i have provided several references which relate to graffiti, spray-can art, genres of art that resemble similar visual aspects of the street graffiti i have been shooting, and links to several relevant websites. the blogs that i am posting will be forwarded to my digital photography blog: BiancaRusso's Digital Photography Blog.


dalek.a.r.t.
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please check out biancarusso.blogspot.com for any additional posts

recycled materials

--reduce, reuse, recycle--

our world is full of STUFF. things. tangible objects. there are so many materials everywhere that are being used for an infinite amount of purposes but they usually meet the end of their life cycle and end up in a garbage heap. many types of materials that are absent-mindedly discarded can be recycled but are not--meeting the death of their period of usefulness. when certain synthetic materials are discarded into a general trash receptacle the non-degradable objects find their way to garbage dumps, bodies of water, vulnerable land, or even in streets...becoming litter, garbage, and trash that is not only displeasing to the beauty of our environment, but also harmful to our world. so why, if we are so knowledgable abou recylcing, do so many of us discard recyclables poorly when they can be reused, or have a reinvented intention? One man's trash is another man's treasure! A transformation from recyclables may potentially provide a rebirth for the materials. one can make are out of anything. as martin kippenburger does, make are out of hings already there. make "useless" things useful. use recyclables. "garbage art"...NOTHING is useless. in order for a plastic bottle to avoid reaching it's ultimatum, one can utitlize that materials to create a new use for that plastic bottle, and to begin a new cycle of life for it. if we re use all the STUFF we have lying around, garbage volume can be significantly reduced and most importantly, we can find the fun in our garbage...this concept brings a whole new meaning to the idea of 'renewable resources.'

check out this website. Trash to Treasures to see several different types of materials that may be used to create any sort of visual art.

Timelessness

http://www.ted.com/talks/miru_kim_s_underground_art.html

Miru Kim's speech perfectly exemplifies an instance where a nude model portrays timelessness within her art. The lack of labels or notable styles from a period of time helps to reinforce the idea of a complete inclusive significance of anything in a photograph; had she been clothed the image may have easily alluded to a time period due to obvious fashions, styles, or labels. Kim's lack of clothing however assists the viewer to be able to focus more broadly on the image. The total message is not blurred at all because there are no distractions. It was clear to me that a message that Kim may have been trying to communicate was that however seemingly unoccupied or dead a structure may seem, the opposite just may be true. The spaces where she made her art were alive with living creatures, living people, and functional shelters for plants as well. But the point that I am referring to again is the accommodation of appropriate signifiers within a photograph because everything is potentially significant.

art photography and post moderism

reaction and reflection upon abigail solmon-godea's essay:

godea's passage ardently references sherry levine's notorious case where appropriation was approached at an extremely inventive, yet unorthodox manner. this approach however, is most simplistically described as reconsideration of an art in order to birth a new art form. of course the visuals are nearly, or exactly the same, but the intention, symbolism, represenation, and inspiration, may be completely autonomous. "making the invisible visible,(160)" by resconsidering, and reconsidering [the subject] again and again to further question the finished work- to conjure thoughts, questions and ideas about the art-- not to dilute, but to readdress and strengthen the potential of the art. some may argue this is embellishing by fabrication but instead, it stresses a lesson that explains it is, "most important, to see how a complex, theatrical, and new-feeling art can be made from ideas and materials already there." Referencing Martin Kippenberger's grand demonstration of this phenomenon is the installation called “The Happy End of Franz Kafka’s ‘Amerika,’ ” which fills the MoMA atrium. (NY Times. Clotter, Holland). I am going to the city on sunday march 1, to see this exhibit. how coincidental and convenient?

ludak, mark

Mark Ludak's images fall nothing shore of stunning, and yet a rotten message is subliminally whispered due to a potential failure of the land preservation that is being addressed. Of course, the images are aesthetically appealing, especially since there is no apparent manipulation which heightens my awe. Compositionally the images are attractive and draw me further into the photographs. There are subtle similarities that remind me of Suigimoto's style; serene, peaceful but also mystery and fear, but what else? What is seemingly beautiful may rather be achingly sad and overflowing with misfortune.
When I look at Mark's images-- which document gorgeous lines, shadows, light, blah, blah, etc-- the unstated under-layer of ideas is what reels me in while viewing his work. My mind digested the natural beauty as if it were crying for help and bidding farewell as a means of making peace with the failure of many attempts at land preservation. The land that is growing full of imperanence is shrouded by a implicit ticking of time, fading slowly, becoming more dim ( which was rendered by the gloomy shadows ) . The presence of this misfortune instilled a sadness within myself.
As a resident of New Jersey I understand how congested and overly occupied some areas are, so having viewed the naturally beautiful landscapes that Mark made available for this exhibitions, my mindfulness and appreciation has been dusted off and re-recognized. I know that I must walk with my head up and eyes open to the available unmanipulated bare beauty that surrounds me, before it is bulldozed and cemented merely into memories.

Another Final Proposal Option

Photographs capture instances of the countless moments of life that we exist within. Such documentation is a, “witness [of] ‘events’… [or] ‘traces’ or ‘stencils’ imprinted from actuality,” (14). Moments in time swiftly occur but are forever gone without delay. These continuously fleeting junctures pass indefinitely. The accumulation and consideration of moments are essential constituents in defining and recognizing ‘time.’ Omitting the awareness of ‘moments ago’ would equate to the exclusive actuality of the ‘now.’ What differentiates the awareness of the ‘now’ and the ‘past’ is that there are features that are seemingly unimportant within a photograph, but on the contrary, the details of the subject of a photograph are what may specifically define an era or a period. Whether the background, or the subject is being considered, there are likely to be components of a photograph that signify a specific period.
Accessories, labels, styles and actions are a few things that may denote a time. Timelessness within a photograph is an entity that I have a great curiosity about because I am interested in both the concept of time and the metaphysical philosophy of the unit. The magnificence of capturing that instance with a camera- that moment which appears to be timeless- is an incredible attainment because so many components must be perfectly so, because “everything in the photo is potentially significant,” (6). Capturing an ageless, immutable appearing moment of time is an idea that I intend to explore.
When it comes to simplistic ontological observations that deviate from the concept of time - which influences culture and society- the focus on the nature of being should be reflected upon. The human mind still feels emotions, still thinks thoughts, and still expresses feelings or actions from the physical body regardless of what generation he is birthed. The nature of the human body is the same as it was 500 years ago. The expressions of a human being are the same as they were 500 years ago. Men and women have legs with which they walk, and ears with which they hear, and mouths with which they sing or laugh—no matter which month or day or hour it is…because what is time really? Life is now…ever changing…but it is always “now”. There was a then, but it is gone and it is now; and I want to capture an indistinguishable moment.

Anna Palakunnathu Matthew

Annu Palakunnathu Matthew 's exhibition was engaging and visually interesting. The movement neccessary from myself as viewer not only symbolized a gripping metaphor, but also provided an uncommon participatory aspect that I had never experienced prior to having viewed Annu's work. The connection and dedication is unmistakably represented through Annu's art. Her work is representing a main ingredient in where she comes from, which paradoxically does and does not define who she is as an artist because--as communicated through her work-- the modifications ardently sought after by many Indians (from India) forces them to straddle their inherent ethnic values and traditions versus their intended American adaptations.
The opportunity given to speak with Annu so closely was very special; sometimes I feel that there is a superior-barrier separating the exhibiting artist from the viewers, but the intimidation was effortlessly defeated thanks to Annu's refreshingly welcoming composure. To all who were not able to attend on opening night when Annu was present, you missed out...BUT be sure to catch the exhibit before it comes down--and ESPECIALLY listen to the audio tracks!!!! After viewing the images, listening to the audio tracks was the grand slam that clinched my captivation... VERY interesting to hear what American "ideals" are interpretted as by peoples foreign-born.

words about starn twins

"mark & doug starn, american artists, born new jersey 1961. indentical twins, they work collaboratively with photography and continue defying categorization, effectively combining traditionally separate disciples such as sculpture, painting, video, and installation," [http://www.starnstudio.com/career_narrative.htm].


I am focusing on the series of carbon prints that the starn twins created in 2005.

The assemblage of carbon prints of the Guan-Yin sculpture coincidentally parallel a visualization I have from my proposal for my final portfolio. The carbon prints of the Guan Yin piece are separate 18" square prints arranged 3 x 3 that collectively create a 55"x55" piece. Each of these individual pieces are crucial to the completion of the image, but the signification behind the composition of this creation is where my interest revolves around.

A controversy with Guan Yin is based on uncertainty of its origin and indefinable complexities in regard to gender identifications. The skepticism about Guan Yin's sex seems to be because this mythological being is believed ( in certain cultures) to become any form of life through supernatural powers ( for irrelevent reasons from my point which I shall not elaborate on). Accordingly, Guan Yin is an exponentially complex and multifarious being...The composition of the carbon prints are therefore appropriate, respective to the manner in which the separate square prints are displayed and arranged; there are many pieces that are neccessary in order to complete a "whole."

As far as my current intentions for the final portfolio my ideas share a similar concept. Characteristics for individual people are so unique and diverse yet dependent on the other characteristics in order to complete a person’s complete collection of mental and moral qualities; a complete, whole being. In short, the numerous features (physical, emotional, spiritual) of a human being summed together yield a single, intricate unit, similarly to Quan Yin's embodiment. And the creation to my final portfolio will be based on these foundational constructive principles; an arrangement of multiple images that are all taken separetly which collaboratively attempt to speak a "whole" person.