INSPIRATION IN THE CRACKS AND SCRATCHES: OAKOAK

You know I am a sucker for clever street art (check these out) and these pieces by OakOak, a French "artist who likes to play with urban elements" are no exception. I love how he sees the hidden potential in every crack and scuff in the street, bringing in our favorite characters (Calvin & Hobbes!) for new adventures.Check out more cool things from OakOak here.
(Thanks to TwistedSifter for the tip.)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: THE BEST

For the next three weeks I am off on an adventure—the best adventure possible! I am getting hitched, an amazing event and process that has inspired my ongoing series of posts called The Wedding Files. While I am on my honeymoon I will be featuring some of my favorite posts from past years (including this one from way back in March 2008) to tide you over until I return. Hope you enjoy them!

Amazing.  Not only is the stencil perfectly cut and perfectly placed, the photo aptly captures the wonder passersby feel when they are confronted with truly clever street art.  Work like this is like a little gift to anyone who comes across it.  Many people think of graffiti as the work of a moment.  I think this piece proves that great street art is carefully considered, created and composed.

Photo via Wooster Collective.

TINY STREET ART

I have long been enamored with the work of street artist Slinkachu. Slinkachu situates the tiny figurines he has made in cleverly constructed vignettes in public places. A drain pipe becomes a secret lair, a bottle cap becomes a jacuzzi, a soda can becomes a place of great worship . . . and al of it becomes fabulous! His website (here) shows readers the mini installation and its larger location, reminding us just how easy it would be walk past one of these little wonders.

This morning I came across this sweet video, by Vimeo user 'Yo Man', which also uses little figurines in the manner of Slinkachu. The plot line is simple, but the movement of the cars and figures is superb. Hope you like it!

More videos by 'Yo Man' here.

(p.s. I knew I had posted about Slinkachu before! Check out my previous post here.)

SIR X

Wooster Collective always brings us the best stuff.  This stencil piece, by Sir X, was spotted in Gijon, Spain.  I think it captures the spirit of our times just perfectly, no?  We all want to get away . . . 

Check out the Wooster post here and more from Sir X here.

UPDATE ON FAIREY ARREST

In case you are still interested in the Sherpard Fairey-Boston arrest boondoggle, check out a very detailed story of his police encounter, the subsequent ICA event, and a general conspiracy about the arrest's underlying reasoning here, at Wooster Collective.

HOW FAIR IS BOSTON BEING TO FAIREY?

It seems that the famous graffiti artist Shepard Fairey (his claims to fame of late: designing the infamous Obama Hope poster, being featured on the tv network USA as a "Character to Watch" and being the feature artist of a large ICA show in Boston) is rubbing the Boston bourgeois the wrong way.  Remembering tags created nearly ten years ago, it seems that so many Boston residents complained about the welcome this "criminal" (since graffiti is still a crime) was receiving in accordance with the opening of his ICA show.  It apparently was so overwhelming that the Boston police arrested Fairey for an outstanding warrant from 2000 for a graffiti crime that carried a fine of all of $100.

So what do you think?  Should he been held accountable for his tags or should the boston police be spending more time solving violent crimes, stopping drunk drivers and avoiding the Boston snobbery in Back Bay and Brookline?  Drop me a comment or read more about the issue at the boston.com article here.

PET SHOP BOY: BANKSY

NOTCOT: Banksy's Village Petstore & Charcoal Grill from Jean Aw on Vimeo.

Today, with my intrepid friend Courtney, I am going to see the Banksy exhibit down on 7th Avenue (to be specific: 89 7th Avenue South, near Bleecker).  If you haven't seen it yet, it is only open until Friday!  And it's free! You have no excuses.  It is not very often you get to see the work of Banksy, the infamous stencil art graffiti artist, in live action.  For more information visit the official webpage of the "shop" here.

SPEAKING OF BANKSY . . .

 . . . I just noticed the "shop" section of Banksy's website.  Hilarious.  I like his cheeky tone announcing that nothing has been endorsed by Banksy, yet you are free to "download and process" it . . . except, oh wait, the subtext says "Please note" this shop is for personal amusement only.  Please don't use it to start a business.  Thanks."  Haha.  Apparently we are in the age of required disclaimers for our sarcastic remarks.  No matter, Banksy does it well.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: BANKSY RAT?

When I was in New York I also stumbled this incredible wall of graffiti, gleefully noting this little stenciled rat.  Is this a Banksy rat?  Or is that wishful thinking?  It may only be a copycat (or copyrat, haha!), but it got my heart pounding with graffiti fandom anyway . . . 

Besides this Banksy (?) piece there were countless other tags and stickers that more than caught my attention nearby (on the corner of Grand and Wooster in Soho).  I can't wait to start noticing the work of certain artists like I did in Boston with Golden 'Stash!

GOLDENSTACH IS MY CHICKEN SOUP

  
  
  

So I am home sick today (stupid sore throat ruining my food service) and am contenting myself with researching "GoldenStash": a street artist here in Boston that I have recently seen everywhere!  The first photo (top left) was taken by me at the corner of Commonwealth and Fordham St. in Allston.  The remaining photos I found in the GoldenStash Flickr album here.  Interested in finding out more?  I also found a video piece on GoldenStash, done by the Boston Pheonix, here.  Since I have long wanted to start stickering myself, I am using GoldenStash as my Boston inspiration and will keep photographing his work whenever I come across it.

I have recently encountered a couple of really great pieces of street art and have decided to post a semi-regular "Boston Underground" segment.  Consider this volume 1.