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ARTJOURNAL FOR GRAPHIC DESIGNERS AND .

APRIL-JUNE JAARGANG 1

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW IN PREWITH METRO STATION ‘HORTA’ STEVE LOCATELLI FRAMING & BALLOON ???????? ART ????????

After 22 januari 2012, a discussion was spread over the country, on where graffiti becomes vandalism instead of art. The direct reason for this discussion were the actions that took place at the ‘Horta’-station in Bruxelles.

ligraffiti. His work is defined by the use of brushes instead of a spraycans to spread out his message. Thus resulting in calligraffiti: traditional handwriting with a metropolitan attitude.

Niels ‘Shoe’ Meulman revolutionized the art of writing with Calligraffiti, an art form that fuses calligraphy and graffiti. He launched this movement in 2007 with a successful solo exhibition in Amsterdam. Since then, his Calligraffiti pieces (signed NSM) have been shown in various international exhibitions and are part of several museum collections.

His more recent painting style can be described as Abstract Expressionism with a calligraphic origin.

About the ‘Aha!’-moments of D. Billy and the new self declared ‘streetart’ fenomena of framing and streethypes. A story of possibilities within the public area, with small intake on the public eye.

READ MORE PG. 2

Reverse graffiti, proper graffiti, dusting, inverse pollution art, clean tagging, grime writing, negative space working - the list of names for this form of art is long. Still, whatever it is called, it reverses the idea that everything has to be built out of adding up material and continues the thought of generating new things by subtracting, in this specific case, by cleaning.

In a world of sensory overload, with an overflow of pictures and sounds, we should reconsider if we really want to pollute the world with even more auditory and visual stimuli.

This entails more than just a request for a responsible interaction of ideas, resources, and messages – it is an appeal to question and redesign the concepts of their realisation. Here lies the enormous potential of reverse graffiti. Because of the way they are done – something is created through means of reduction – they aren’t adding further visual “noise” to an environment polluted by sensory input, but use this noise as their raw material and gives it a new shape. Through the idea of taking something away in order to create something new, reverse graffiti are able to communicate on many kinds of elvels. It’s inspiring and thought- provoking for the beholder as well as perplexing and puzzling to the official authorities. It is easy to make and probably leads to a nicer and cleaner urban environment.

READ MORE PG. 6-7

Masked artists or vandals, either way you like it, stormed into the station; armed with balloons filled with paint and threw the projectiles through the entire station. It took police and the cleaningteams untill monday morning to clean the station and reopen it for public use.

To reopen the discussion concidering the artistic value of these action, we remember and review the work of NIELS ‘SHOE’ MEULMAN, also known as the man who invented cal-

‘MR.LEENKNECHT’

READ MORE AT PG. 4-5

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PG.3

Tilt is an internationally recognised traditional graffiti artist, originating from Toulouse in South France. A self declared “graffiti fetishist”, he learned his trade in the streets and on trains as a youngster. In the time since he did his first tags on a skateboard ramp back in

ZEVS ANDY SMITH

First of all we interviewed Mr.Leenknecht, a multidisciplined artist as a DJ, graffiti artist and graphic designer. We met him at the graffiti-jam in New Ghent on the 25th of March.

He has a calligraphic style in his typo-graphy which he uses to spread short possitive messages to the public.

The goal of these interviews is to find the true meaning of public typo-graphy in his many forms, and find out if the two worlds of graffiti and graphic design work together or try to eliminate eachother. If the visions and motivations are the same, …

‘TILT’GRAFFITI FETISH BUBBLE GIRL

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

’88, his ensuing career has been nourished and influenced by extensive travel. Inspirational journeys have seen Tilt exhibit and leave his mark as far and wide as the U.S.A, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Laos, Taiwan, China, Canada, Philippines, Indonnesia, Maldivians and in excess of 12 countries throughout Europe. Tilt loves demonstrating that basic, primitive graffiti can be as strong as complicated 3D lettering, wildstyles and characters. His focus on fun, high impact shapes and strong colours is a reflection of his history as a true graffiti writer, trained on the streets and in the train yards. Similarly, his extensive use of bubbly, curvaceous forms relates to

PARA AUGOR HOUSE INDUSTRIES BEN EINE STEVE LOCATELLI

his obsession with beautiful females. Following classic hip-hop graffiti ideology, his individual styled name is the focal point in the majority of his paintings, in Tilt’s case a bubble letter “throw-up”.

Tilt published three books of his art and photography title “Egodrips”, “PhotoGraffiTiltism” and “Fetish Bubble Girls”.

He is now working a lot on this project, shooting girls all around the world and painting on them. He is planing heading on more tours and of course painting murals and wallpieces.

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APRIL-JUNE | JAARGANG 1 |

HOW TO BE THE BEST BUBBLE WRITER IN THE WORLD EVER!

DAVID BILLY

BALLOON TYPOGRAPHY Gebruik eens wat feestartikelen om een ruimte te doen herleven, moet David Billy gedacht hebben. Met balonnen, artist tape, en party streamers geeft hij vanzelfsprekende dingen een verassende wending.

Do you remember the first time, back in third grade or so, that you realized you could draw the outline of letters and make them look more awesome?

It was a glorious moment, and this handbook immortalizes the art of bubble letters. With 70 alphabets inspired by everything from hairy monsters to butterflies, insects to ice cream - across fully illustrated twopage spreads, this book will make anyone a superior bubblewriter.

Aha!-momenten

http://www.fredflare.com/

THE NEW HYPE

FRAMING AND BALLOON ART

D. Billy, (David William is zijn echte naam) had nood aan een directe interactie tussen zijn werk en het ruimere publiek. Dit lukte niet met zijn vroegere (2D) tekeningen dus ging hij op zoek naar een andere manier. En wie zoekt, die vindt want de straten van Brooklyn, waar hij sinds eind vorig jaar woont, gaven hem inspiratie. Sommige plaatsen smeekten als het ware om terug gereactiveerd te worden. “There

was all of this evidence of people having been there in the past, but it had become a still life.”

Dendermondsesteenweg 275 www.arrec.be 9040 Sint-Amandsberg 09.343.89.69 Ar-Rec zorgt voor het verwijderen van graffiti op alle gevels. Ook delicate gevels en andere materialen krijgen we weer in de oorspronkelijke staat. Steeds gebruik van juiste middelen door de juiste personen garanderen een deskundig resultaat, altijd en overal.

Bovendien zijn de materialen die hij gebruikt makkelijk te verwijderen in tegenstelling tot de traditionele graffiti, wat hem ongewtijfeld populair maakt bij de cleanup crews in Brooklyn. En nog meer: hij werkt steeds met latex ballonnen en deze vergaan even snel als een eikenblad. Dus niet enkel inventief maar ook milieu bewuste jongen, die D. Billy!

tekst Ruud Boeckx

Marking the exhibition from Brazilian duo Os Gemeos entitled ”Viva La Revolucion: A Dialogue with the Urban Landscape” at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego here is a great poster. This great piece of work has been printed by ‘Iconoclast Editions’ and is printed in limited quantities making this a great pick up for any fan.

LEGE FOTOKADERS IN STRAAT

Onze mobiele schoonmaakploeg komt altijd eerst ter plaatse om de zien welke aanpak tot het verwijderen van de graffiti vereist wordt. Cibo Cleaning Uw partner in professioneel verwijderen van Graffiti in Vlaanderen.

De ambitie om zijn werk voor eeuwig (of toch voor een langere tijd) te aanschouwen,

“Especially the red ones pop more easily than any of the other colors.”

!!

ADVERTS

09.228.27.28 www.cibocleaning.be

Geliefd bij de poetsploeg!

heeft D. Billy niet. Integendeel, het korstondige van zijn street art trekt hem net aan. Wanneer de zon schijnt, ploffen de ballonnen zeer snel.

OTHER “ALTERNATIVE” STREETART ON PAGE 4 / NEGATIVE SPACE WORKING

OS GEMEOS SAYS:

Stapelplein70 9000 Gent

Het nieuwe en onverwachte karakter van 3D graffiti doet mensen er aandacht aan besteden, en dat is net wat D. Billy wil bereiken. Bovendien balonnen, artist tape en party streamers meestal nogal kleurrijk, fel en blinkend, wat dan weer in contrast staat met de grijze en ietwat trieste ruimtes die hij wederom in de spotlight wil zetten. Een werk van D. Billy zal je nooit vinden op een drukbezochte plaats, hij zoekt liever plekken op waar minder mensen komen. er is natuurlijk het risico dat niemand het ooit zal zien, maar de impact zal groter zijn op diegene die het werk toch ontdekt. Op deze manier wil hij kleine ‘Aha!’momentjes in het dagelijkse leven van mensen brengen, of toch minstens een glimlach op hun gezicht toveren.

Ze duiken her en der in Vlaanderen op: lege fotokaders aan muren, gevels, bruggen en elektriciteitshokjes. Framing – letterlijk ‘kaderen’ – is een nieuwe vorm van street art die wordt beoefend door de anonieme Belgische straatkunstenaars ‘Frame Family’.

‘Frame Family’ liet zijn visitekaartje onder andere al achter in Antwerpen, Gent, Leuven, Hasselt, Tongeren en Vilvoorde. Schepen van cultuur Karolien Mondelaers heeft er een dubbel gevoel bij. “Het is fijn dat iedereen in Hasselt de laatste dagen over de kadertjes praat, maar anderzijs is het niet wenselijk dat iedereen eender wat op een openbare plaats gaat hangen. Zo kunnen gevels of monumenten beschadigd raken, en dat kan niet de bedoeling zijn.”

Björn Van Poucke, oprichter van ‘Street Art Belgium’, is enthousiaster: “Ik vind straatkunst van ‘Frame Family’ geen vandalisme. Ik ben zelf al een fotokadertje gaan bekijken in Hasselt, en dat was aan een gevel gekleefd, niet met een grove spijker in de muur geslagen. Framing is een originele vorm van street art die in deze vorm nog nergens anders in de wereld verschenen is.”

Wie zich afvraagt wat de boodschap van ‘Frame Family’ is: met hun lege kaders willen ze de aandacht afleiden van grote reclamepanelen die het straatbeeld volgens hen ontsieren. Voorbijgangers kijken dus niet tegen een lege fotokader aan, maar naar een protest tegen schreeuwerige reclame.

(EVH/KJH)

Making their mark on the city of San Deigo, the Brazilian twins create this stunning 5 story piece.

Incorporating some of their familiar characters, the piece is concluded with the caption at the very top, “Don’t Believe the Hype”.

The artwork is located at the rear of Horton Plaza (G Street between 2nd and 3rd).

WRECK THIS JOURNAL

Finally, something we’re supposed to destroy! Not too many journals come with a warning label (which we totally suggest reading), so you know you’re about to get adventurous, and in some cases a little messy, with this completely unorthodox notebook of dares! You’ll be poking holes in one page and then licking another; you never know what’s a page-turn away. http://www.fredflare.com/

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APRIL-JUNE | JAARGANG 1 |

NEGATIVE SPACE WORKING In a world of sensory overload, with an overflow of pictures and sounds, we should reconsider if we really want to pollute the world with even more auditory and visual stimuli. This entails more than just a request for a responsible interaction of ideas, resources, and messages – it is an appeal to question and redesign the concepts of their realisation. Here lies the enormous potential of reverse graffiti. Because of the way they are done – something is created through means of re-

duction – they aren’t adding further visual “noise” to an environment polluted by sensory input, but use this noise as their raw meterial and gives it a new shape. Through the idea of taking something away in order to create something new, reverse graffiti are able to communicate on many kinds of levels. It’s inspiring and thought- provoking for the beholder as well as perplexing and puzzling to the official authorities. It is easy to make and probably leads to a nicer and cleaner urban environment.

THE IDEA, THE BEGINNINGS AND THE TECHNIQUES

The basic idea of reverse graffiti is something everybody knows from their childhood days. Who has never painted a smiley face and a dirty windshield or never written a mesage on a steamy window simply by using their finger as a brush? apparently we forget this technique of creating something by reasing something else when we learn to think like grownups. Instead we focus on creating new things with new materials. Reverse graffiti, proper graffiti, dusting, inverse pollution art, clean tagging, grime writing, negative space working – the list of names for this form of art is long. Still, whatever it is called, it reverses the idea that everything has to be built out of adding up material and continues the thought of generating new things by subtracting, in this specific case, by cleaning. Scott Wade made an occupation of his childhood experience of drawing in the dust. He used to live near a dirt road made of fine white limestone where he fount out how he could turn a car’s dusty rear window into a canvas for his art.

Using paintbrushes, a rubber-tipped shaping- tool and his fingers, Scott carefully removes the dust in layers from the glass to create what he calls ‘inverse pollution art’. The results are very detailed two coloured paintings with as much contrast as a standard blackand-white graphic. The only difference lies in its permanence – or lack thereof.

“I would say that there are two main thrusts to this art form,” Scott Wade explains, “I love how these drawings change over time and

eventually (sometimes very quickly dissapear altogether. So the impermanence of it helps me to remember that everything is impermament, including me. The second thing is that art can exist anywhere, at anytime.”

Anywhere and anytime, that certainly includes walls and surfaces in an urban environment. Artists like ZEVS from Paris, Alexandre Orion from Soa Paolo, Or Moose from Leeds have managed to create visual experiences painted in dirt with brushes, pressure washers, or dirty socks. Who really invented the concept is unclear. ZEVS recalls that he had the idea when he watched workmen remove graffiti in Paris.

“It was quite a sight, all these crews of two, three people cleaning walls everywhere in Paris around the turn of the century,” ZEVS remembers, “I used to watch them and take pictures. One day I thought: ‘What if I did what they did, but with more creativity?’”

ZEVS’ first works (he calls them “proper graffiti”) were mostly tags, done with a pressure washer. Nowadays they also contain graphical elements and he also developed a special cleaning spray that ads further versatility to his style. This cleaning spray technique is more silent on a visual level, as the result is not visible right away. After he sprayed a wall with it, it takes about ten days and some rain before the dirt comes off, revealing the artwork in the process. Although ZEVS likes to use his mysterious cleaning spray, reverse graffiti can also be realised without large amounts of chemical cleaners. The Leeds-based artist Moose simply works with water and old rags most of the times or uses stencils in conjunction with a pressure washer. For his famous work ‘Ossario’, artist Alexander Orion only used moistened rags to wipe the dust off a metal wall inside a car tunnel in Soa Paolo, drawing over 3500 skulls in 17days this way.

THE PHILOSOPHY, BACKGROUND AND “The main outcome for me is seeing that my work has CONTENT triggered the discussion of environmental and artistic

issues in the media, the university and among the people,” he says. “A public discussion gets people thinking, it makes them more aware of things. Yet, Nothing has really been achieved, because rather than cleaning up the mess, it would be better if we stopped polluting everything in the first place. If I had drawn flowers, the story would be different. But “Ossario’s” message is a reference to archeological sites. I wanted to use the pollution to create a catacomb. I wanted to transport a catacomb from the near future to the present, to Reverse graffiti is a very truthful art form, because show people that the tragedy of pollution is happening it is a reference to a world of facts. In the same way right now and these skulls are skulls.” the sky is blue, the city is dirty. “Creative cleaning” cannot but make a statement ad thus transports and artistic signifance. The reason lies in the paradox nature of the graffiti that reveals a paradox situation of our time. Through the process of creative cleaning, the dirt that was blended into the urban environment becomes visible again.

By painting graffiti in the dust in the first place.

Additionally, the act of removing dirt to create a piece of art often has a further effect — grime, a pollutant, is removed from our environment as well. The transience of the artwork is an important element of the whole piece, As ZEVS puts it, “It’s ZEVS thinks that the way he dresses when he works happened before that my work was washed off by is one reason why he has never been in trouble. someone who cleaned the entire wall. I don’t mind that, Thanks to a bright yellow jumpsuit and his weapon because I gave them the impulse to do it. My graffiti of choice, the pressure washer, he seems to be invisis aimed at making the city cleaner. When I switched ible in the urban landscape as people take him for around the process for making graffiti, I didn’t do it an “official worker” chared with cleaning the streets. with the inention to make it stay.”

Reverse graffiti is an art form that cannot be separated from the streets. They are the place where it happens as well as the place to view them. It seems very improbable that a dirt graffito will ever make it into a gallery as an actual piece. Dirty surfaces are what give reverse graffiti it’s magic and they are not available in galleries. Maybe this is also why Paul Curtis, aka Moose decided ot make some money out of his idea of “grime writing”, as he calls it. He commercialised the idea and “cleaned” entire campaings We are just used to seeing the dirt. So no matter for companies such as Smirnoff or Xbox onto walls what symbol or slogan is written on the walls, it and sidewalks. This course of action didn’t always makes a statement - the dirty and the clean surface find praise. Advertising is still advertising, even if it are commenting each other. This interaction shows is sprayed on dirty sidewalks or not, and then there that there is a subversive element to reverse graffiti. is the aspect of commercialising a new and fresh Nevertheless the actual image still carries meaning. street art idea right from the start. Still, Moose has Alexandre Orion’s skulls were cleaned up by the also expressed his artistic side in noncommercial authorities, but the artist himself was never projects, but he is not really known for them. accused. So Alexandre just continued his work on the other side of the road. Eventually, the whole “I can tell you I wish I’d never done the commercial tunnel was cleaned too. Seen from ZEVS’ perspec- thing, but when I started, I didn’t have a message for tive one could say: ‘Mission accomplished, the walls the public. I thought and do think they are stupid, are clean.’ and thought it was funny that big corporations would But a few questions remain unanswered: Would the pay me to write their names in their ‘own dirt’. I was tunnels also have been cleaned if Alexandre had cho- happy to take dirty money off them,” Moose recalls. sen a less subversive image, says, flowers maybe? Did “I see it as a perfectly viable alternative of creating imthe authority choose to take action against the visual ages for advertising as it makes it possible to make an content or against what was revealed in the way the advert that is purely harmless in its making. I really artwork was realised? What has the project really enjoyed exploring all the angles of this idea and one of accomplished? Alexandre has his own ideas about this. them was using it commercially.”

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‘POLITICS IS IN THE STREETS.’ BEAT THE SYSTEM?

The way the official authorities treat the subject varies from country to country. It seems pretty ideal to actually be able do something so utterly subversive in it’s core through means that the system must legally and morally approve of. As mentioned before, ZEVS never got into any trouble and Alexandre Orion’s work was cleaned up with the dirt it was painted in. Moose however was severly ticked off for his grime writings. The City of Leeds ordered him to remove his pieces under the Anti Social Behaviour Act. However, one of the characteristics of reversew graffiti is that it is very difficult to clean. If you merely remove the motif, a “clean stain” remains on the wall, which looks bad.

But what goes further, it draws attention to the fact someone maybe just wanted to subdue an uncomfortable message, as in the case of “Ossario”. So, to properly clean up a reverse graffti you have to wash down the whole wall. Still, it is a good thing that Moose cannot be reprimanded further because his form of creative cleaning is hard to compare with any act of vandalism or standard graffiti. But his case raises another important question: Who owns the dirt? If you consider the dust on a wall as a part of the material tha wall is made of, it is legally possible to claim that any reverse graffiti constitutes damage to the property. But if the dirt doesn’t belong to anyone, it cannot be illegal to wipe it off. The British environmental charity ENCAMS, which runs the ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ campaign and considers standard graffiti as sheer vandalism, has released the following information concerning the legality of reverse graffiti: “The government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural

Affairs (Defra) defines graffiti as: any informal or illegal marks, drawings or paintings that have been deliberately made by a person or persons on an physical element comprising the outdoor environment, with a view to communicate some message or symbol etc. to others.” (* read illegal graffiti removal with paint - on the right)

With this definition in mind reverse graffiti would have to be classified as a standard graffiti because of their intentional nature. Since standard graffiti are a form of vandalism it could be concluded that reverse graffiti are vandalism, too. But so far reverse graffiti have not been mentioned in anyenvironmental legislation, which makes it difficult to prosecute anyone for it.

However, the content of the reverse graffito in question has to be considered too. This means, if it depicts something offensive, it is clearly illegal. This is also ture when the piece contains unanounced advertising, because it contraveness advertising laws.

Right now the authorities are confused and don’t know how to deal with the new concept. But if the idea spreads it will be just a matter of time untill the law reacts to it.

http://www.vigilantefilm.com/

ILLEGAL GRAFFITI REMOVAL WITH PAINT

In august 12, 2011 in a small selection of theaters the movie ‘Vigilante Vigilante’ came out, a movie by Max Good, a production of Open Ranch Productions. The movie is about a new breed of crime-fighter whom now stalk the urban landscape: the anti-graffiti vigilante.

These dedicated blight warriors stop at nothing to rid their neighborhoods and cities of street art, stickers, tags, and posters. Yet several of these vigilantes have become the very menace they set out to eliminate. In their relentless attempt to stamp out graffiti, they have turned to illegally and destructively painting other people’s property.

VIGILANTE VIGILANTE is the story of two filmmakers who set out to expose these mysterious characters and discover a battle of expression that stretches from the streets to academia. The question is if the act of spraying silver to eliminate graffiti is actually a crime? This in relation to negative graffiti.

UPCOMING EVENTS • 24 MARCH – 21 APRIL

• 7 SEPT - 9 SEPT

more info at: www.calligraffiti.com

preorder tickets at: www.inkfestlive.com

SAN FRANCISCO (US) 941 GEARY GALLERY NIELS ‘SHOE’ MEULMAN SOLO EXHIBITION

• 22 APRIL

GENT (BE) KIKVORSSTRAAT OPENING GRAFFITI GALLERY

more info: samenlevingsopbouw Gent vzw 0473 76 36 89

• 17-19 MAY

PETALUMA (CA) PETALUMA’S SALUTE TO AMERICAN GRAFFITI

ATHENS (GA) CLASSIC CTR INKFESTLIVE TATTOO EXPO

• 18 MAY - 20 MAY

CHICAGO (US) ODEUM EXPO CTR

• 8 JUNE - 10 JUNE

MODESTO (CA) JUNIOR COLLEGE WEST CAMPUS 14TH ANNUAL MODESTO AMERICAN GRAFFITI CARSHOW AND FESTIVAL more info at: www.northmodestokiwanis.org/

• 20 JULY - 22 JULY

CHARLOTTE, NC METROLINA EXPO CTR

• 7 AUGUST - 12 AUGUST

NEVADA (US) RENO-SPARKS HOT AUGUSTNIGHTS 2012

• 20 APRIL 2012

WORLDWIDE YOUR CITY ‘COVER THE NIGHT’ KONY 2012

more info at: www.invisiblechildren.com and http://www.kony2012.com/ video at: http://vimeo.com/37119711

SNEAKIEST USES FOR EVERYDAY THINGS

“I wanted to use the law against the system that dictates it,” Alexandre Orion explains, “my work created a legal problem in the space

between freedom of speech and crime. Reverse graffiti is a new possiblity.

But I’m sure governments will change the laws to criminalise this kind of graffiti too.”

CONCLUSION?

MORE ABOUT ZEVS? GO TO PAGE 8

“I like to infiltrate the system,” says ZEVS, “since I’m wearing the yellow

suit when I do my graffiti, it’s more like a performance. I infiltrate the system and disturb it at the same time.”

Because reverse graffiti work on a very subtle aesthical elvel, they are almost like Trojan horses, undermining the system with its own weapons. In times of social conformity, maybe these delicate works of art are capable of communicating an appeal for more inconformity, for change as well as for a kind of intelligent “counterviolence”. Maybe we should be much more thankful for an art form that creates something new and inspiring from something as momentary as dirt. Reverse graffiti has the potential just like sprayed graffiti once had, to create an artistic and cultural alteration and even more, to infiltrate and undermine the system in order to shape society.

YOUTUBE > “THE

REVERSE GRAFFITI PROJECT”

http://www.thinkgeek.com/

VISUAL GUIDE TO LOCK “ ” … AND 50 GID-TAPE PICKING (3 RD EDITION) OTHER RIDICULOUS DESIGN RULES

Discover the secret methods of lock picking and master your techniques. Garantued to be a master in lockpicking in no time!

These three books by Anneloes van Gaalen just have it all! ‘The Medium is the message’, ‘never use more than two different typefaces’ and ‘Never use a white type on a black background’ are a collection of the most talked-about rules and the viewpoints of designers and thought leaders who live by them or hate them.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/

http://www.amazon.com/

words by Sören Siebel

AS SEEN ON

From making boomerang businesscards ‘till making your own gasmask by using a balloon. These books by Andrews McMeel are guides you just can’t miss!

For the nightworkers, so you won’t ever have to search for the unfindable lightswitches in the dark. Here is the easy way out to find your gear back before hurting yourself! This glow in the dark tape of 2 cm wide and 2 metres long will be your homecoming friend from now on! http://www.igadgets.be/nl/

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APRIL-JUNE | JAARGANG 1 | VANDALISM AT PRE-METRO STATION ‘HORTA’ Volgens het Brusselse parket hadden de vandalen ballonnen met verf gevuld en die daarna in het rond gegooid. De schade is aanzienlijk. De ondergrondse tramlijnen die er normaal halt houden, stopten er tot maandagmiddag niet.

De daders zouden de toegangspoorten geblokkeerd hebben met houten blokken om op die manier het station binnen en buiten te glippen.

Ook maandagochtend bleef het station nog gesloten omdat er schoongemaakt moest worden. Pas tegen de middag mochten passagiers weer binnen.

Het is niet de eerste keer dat vandalen huishouden op het MIVB-net. In september 2010 namen gemaskerde bendes bijvoorbeeld de ticketautomaten in drie verschillende haltes onder handen.

“Maar dit is toch van een heel andere omvang. Het hele station is beklad,” aldus Van hamme. Het is momenteel onduidelijk of het om puur vandalisme of een vorm van activisme gaat.

‘Extra agenten nodig’

Minister-president Charles Picqué (PS) zegt dat het incident aantoont dat “het absoluut noodzake-

lijk is snel iets te ondernemen tegen het bestaande tekort aan personeel bij de metrobrigade”. Hij pleitte eerder al om 200 à 300 agenten aan te nemen om die te versterken. “Een versterking van de politiediensten is daarom meer dan ooit noodzakelijk om de orde op het openbare vervoersnetwerk te handhaven,” vindt Picqué. “Des te meer daar de MIVB aangekondigd heeft dat het aantal reizigers tussen 2010 en 2011 met 5% gestegen is.”

Opschudding

In de nasleep van het Horta-incident zorgde MRparlementslid Alain Destexhe voor wat opschudding op de sociale netwerksite facebook. “Marion, je Noorse vrienden hebben weer toegeslagen,” schreef hij op het profiel van Marion Lemesre, MRgemeenteraardslid van Brussel.

Het bericht van Destexhe zorgde snel voor commotie, en ook de reactie van hemzelf liet niet lang op zich wachten. “Ik heb er spijt van als mijn

woorden sommige mensen gekwetst hebben. Laat mij evenwel verder met rust. Het is een private joke tussen mijzelf en een vriendin. En dan nog, als ik wil denken dat er Noren verantwoordelijk zijn voor de vandalisme, dan is dat mijn zaak.” De comment werd ondertussen van de facebookpagina van Lemesre verwijderd.

In sommige kringen is ‘Noors’ synoniem voor ‘Noord-Afrikaans’, laten enkele waarnemers weten.

JOSEPH KONY IS THE WORST LIVING CRIMINAL. HE HAS ABDUCTED OVER 30,000 CHILDREN AND FORCED THEM TO BE CHILD SOLDIERS IN CENTRAL AFRICA. HE REMAINS AT LARGE BECAUSE HE IS INVISIBLE TO THE WORLD. FEW KNOW HIS NAME, EVEN FEWER KNOW HIS CRIMES. THIS YEAR WE ARE MAKING JOSEPH KONY FAMOUS. BECAUSE WHEN HE IS, THE WORLD WILL UNITE FOR JUSTICE AND DEMAND HIS ARREST WWW.KONY2012.COM 619.562.2799

the press release pictures of the incident at the Horta pre-subway station, Sint-Gillis, Bruxelles. © belga

‘POLITICS IS IN THE STREETS.’

CALLIGRAFFITI AND BOMBING

ART OR CRIME? After 22 januari 2012, a discussion was spread over the country, on where graffiti becomes vandalism instead of art. The direct reason for this discussion were the actions that took place at the ‘Horta’-station in Bruxelles.

Masked artists or vandals, either way you like it, stormed into the station; armed with balloons filled with paint and threw the projectiles through the entire station. It took police and the cleaningteams untill monday morning to clean the station and reopen it for public use. (see article pg. 6)

To reopen the discussion concidering the artistic value of these action, we remember and review the work of NIELS ‘SHOE’ MEULMAN, also known as the man who invented calligraffiti. His work is defined by the use of brushes instead of a spraycans to spread out his message. Thus resulting in calligraffiti: traditional handwriting with a metropolitan attitude. –

short biography Niels ‘Shoe’ Meulman (also known as ‘Shoe’) is an internationally known artist and graphic designer. He is born, raised and based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Meulman began tagging ‘Shoe’ in 1979 and became a graffiti legend by the time he was 18. In the eighties he met New York artists like Dondi, Rammellzee, Haze, Quik and Keith Haring. He then formed the Crime Time Kings with Bando from Paris and Mode2 from London.

Together they gave graffiti in Europe its own distinctive style.

In the Nineties he furthered his technique by apprenticing under the Dutch graphic design master Anthon Beeke. In the years after, he ran his own design company, Caulfield & Tensing and was partner in advertising agency Unruly, which he later turned into brand for silk scarves and a gallery.

VOCABULARY

BOMBING

to throw up a huge grafitti piece...also know as tagging a lot of areas in one night. also can mean majorly beating someone up in a fast manner. also can mean heavily and throughly droppin caps on someone in a M.C. battle.

THROW-UP

a quick freestyle graffiti bomb

TAGGING

Much like, but not to be confused with graffiti. Tagging is signing your name or other representation of yourself on anywhere public. (walls, bus-stops, alleyways, paved streets, etc.)

Unlike graffiti, tagging usually takes less time and skill as it is done in one color with a single can of spray paint or thick marker.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/

One of his projects are the “cocktails”. For these he gives shape to the paint, by pooring the paint inside christmas ornaments and launching these onto the paper or wall. This action is the literally visualisation of the urban terms ‘bombing’ and ‘throw-up’. The result is an aggressive, uncontrolled paintsplatter, which can be the underlayer for a unique ‘tag’ or message.

Niels Shoe Meulman revolutionized the art of writing with Calligraffiti, an art form that fuses calligraphy and graffiti. He launched this movement in 2007 with a successful solo exhibition in Amsterdam. Since then, his Calligraffiti pieces (signed NSM) have been shown in various international exhibitions and are part of several museum collections. His more recent painting style can be described as Abstract The debat is now back on the table. Art or vanExpressionism with a calligraphic origin. dalism? Or does it really matter?

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APRIL-JUNE | JAARGANG 1 |

ZEVS (US) In 2009, Zevs has his first solo show, Liquidated Logos, in Asia at Hong Kong-based gallery Art Statements, documenting how ZEVS cleverly distorts the logos of big brands. He kickstarted the exhibition by daubbing a dripping, black Chanel logo on the outer wall above the window of a Giorgio Armani boutique in central Hong Kong.

… is an (not so) anonymous French street artist. He was an early and influential graffiti artist and active as a tagger in Paris in the 1990s. He is named after a regional train, Zeus, that almost ran him over one day he was down in the metro. Working with other French artists in the second half of the 1990s like André and Invader, Zevs has been among the prominent figures who pioneered the French street art scene.

By the end of the 90’s he became known for his poetic drawings of shadows in Paris, shortly after the departure of Facundo Newbery from Paris. Later he ‘bombed’ models on the billboards between the eyes.

Though his inter-ventions have been very popular, it has been discussed in France whether it is vandalism or art.

In 2008 Zevs had his first major survey exhibition at the classical art museum the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, Denmark.

His work was displayed alongside masterpieces in the museum’s permanent collections such as Edouard Manet’s ‘The Absinthe Drinker’ and Auguste Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’.

In 2011 Zevs launched his first solo exhibition in New York, titled “Liquidated Version” (*), in which he continued his artistic commentary on various corporations. Some of the subject matter included many well-known entities such as Coca-Cola, Louis Vuitton and several financial institutions including Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs.

Many of the works utilize Zevs’ trademark liquidation technique, which seems to dissolve the various logos in front of viewers’ eyes, creating an overall drippy aesthetic. In addition to these paintings, Zevs also used various other media in this show to present his agenda and create an environment. http://www.gzzglz.com/images01.htm

“Of course, there is a graffiti aesthetic to my art but I primarily play with the visual effect. I use the original colours and re-paint the logo with excess. By pouring paint over them, the logo dissolves in front of the viewer’s eyes, drawing attention to, and visually disturbing the recognisable and omnipresent trademark. By doing so, I try to investigate the logo’s visual power.

It’s a simple gesture, just as in Interview with PingMag Aikido when you reverse the power 11 August 2008 and change the flow of energy.”

Visual Kidnapping in Berlin - Interview with PingMag, 11 In 2002 he cut out a model of Zevs has been doing what he August 2008 a gigantic Lavazza-poster at calls ‘proper graffiti’ since the Alexanderplatz in Berlin. Above beginning of the 00s, where the hole in the poster he wrote: he writes on dirty walls with a high pressure jet.

‘VISUAL KIDNAPPING – PAY NOW!’ This intervention not only struck “In the logic of walls made dirty a chord with art lovers and peo- by graffiti, Zevs, the graffiti writer ple in Berlin. It has also inspired political activists. Stealing an end author of painted shadows has image from a poster in Germany executed proper graffiti. It is about is now spoken of in the media as graffiti painted by use of a high pressure jet on walls.” a visual kidnapping.

- Alain Milon in Prétentaine, 16/17

ADVERTS

FUTURA

Futura continues to define the direction of streetwear with new releases that are just as iconic as his art. Keeping the streets looking fresh with his imagery, the drops don’t stop as futura rolls out with new realeases from his influential label. futura2000.com

WORLD’S LARGEST COFFEE CUP

“Visual kidnapping is like entering an interactive game: If the brand on the billboard kidnaps the attention of the public with the purpose of consumer demand, I reverse the situation and I kidnap the model on the poster and I demand a ransom of 500,000€ from the brand.

This sum represents the symbolic price of an advertising campaign for the brand.”

(*)Liquidated Logos Since the mid-00’s Zevs has become famous for his work with dripping brand logos. A beautiful illusion is created by the dripping paint from the logos, giving them an appearance of dissolving. www.crookedbrains.net

LIQUIDATED LOGO’S

Sometimes one cup of coffee just isn’t enough. Sometimes you just feel like you need 2 or 5 or 20. So why not make it easy on yourself and just put all of those cups into one giant mug? This coffee mug can hold up to twenty cups of coffee Though we advise against actually drinking 20 cups at once, it’s nice to know you could if you wanted, right? http://www.fredflare.com/

SPRADIØ

How it might have begun.

When one finds out copyright infringments they should dragg the thieves to court, where normally a court should decide on how much the artist suffered from this theft - based on how much the other party gained money with the idea. As ZEVS wanted to stay anonymous, the liquidated logo against McDonalds as a brand, might have been his way of “showing them” that you can’t steal ones ideas without getting what you had coming.

When ZEVS got the idea of painting a half-rainbow in a busshelter, he could create an intire rainbow due the reflection in the glass. McDonalds jumped on this idea and made a poster with half of the “M”cDonalds logo, mirroring it in the busshelter glass so it would be visually completed. Copyrights, don’t mess with them!

(…) I began liquidating logos on the streets of Berlin in 2005. The first was a huge nike swoosh painted in black on the wall of a Nike park. I choose a logo for its symbolic and graphic force. I primarily play with and explore visual effect. I use the original colors and repaint te logo with excess. By pouring paint over them, the logo dissolves in front of the viewer’s eyes, drawing attention to and visually disturbing the recognizable and omnipresent trademark. By doing so I try to investigate the logo’s visual power. It’s a simple gesture, just as in Aikido, when you reverse the power and change the flow of energy. (…)

- ZEVS

The coolest radio you’ll ever see.

Fits perfectly with your collection of spraycans! The nozzle of the can works as a powerbutton and volume button! Limited edition and handmade radio that works entirely with original parts. unfortunatly you won’t be able to buy it any more!

- by Cept148

‘POLITICS IS IN THE STREETS.’

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APRIL-JUNE | JAARGANG 1 |

ANDY SMITH (UK)

HOUSE INDUSTRIES is known throughout the world as a prolific type foundry, House Industries has made a considerable impact on the world of design. House Industries fonts scream from billboards, wish happy whatever from tens of thousands of greeting cards, serve as the basis for consumer product logos and add elements of style to a wide range of mainstream media. In their illustrious career, House artists have mastered a large crosssection of design disciplines.

Their typography deftly melds cultural, musical and graphic elements. From early forays into distressed digital alphabets to sophisticated type and lettering systems, House Industries’ work transcends graphic conventions and reaches out to a broad audience. What ultimately shines in the House Industries oeuvre is what always conquers mediocrity: a genuine love for their subject matter. http://www.houseind.com/

Letters and ligatures November 8 - December 5 Subliminal Projects Los Angeles, California Graphic designers love their fonts. They know them all by name, and they can identify each when spotted through public usage. Various font characteristics are often subconsciously spouted in a casual breath like need-to-know facts. As a writer’s customary modus operandi is word nerd, graphic designers are genuine letter lovers. But the fundamental necessities of syntax and lexigraphy are not to be overlooked. Visual nomenclature grabs everyone’s attention. Period. How? Billboards.

Advertisements. Greeting cards.

Logos. Slogans.

House Industries is a pioneer of this alphabet-based business, and guaranteed they’re behind more products you’ve purchased or used than you realize. Their department of artists have made indelible and considerable impact on the world of design. So a show was in order, and Subliminal Projects Gallery hailed as host. Letters and Ligatures consists of prints, patterns, installations and sculptures based

on House Industries’ 15-year journey into the world of, well, letters and ligatures. I mean, knowingthat the best work is the pleasurable variety, House’s dedicated artists agree the harmonious arrangement of symbol parts and the art of sentence structures are so authoritative, hell, “they might as well look good.” And that they did. These artists understand the time, energy, and creative commitment required on every design, thus a strengthened bond between artist and font is inevitable.

“The two work closely together, first coming to an understanding of the project’s origins and meaning, then translating that abstraction into something that compliments but doesn’t distract from the main idea. In essence, in Letters and Ligatures, House Industries invites us to share in that close bond and is proof of House’s instrumental role as innovators and directors in the multifaceted communications of our society.” Told you. They love their fonts so much they dedicated a whole show to ‘em.

AUGOR (US) / MSKcrew / AKA - REVOK … is one of the many unidentified legends of the graffitiworld, who mastered the art of typography in all it’s shapes and forms. From calligraphic tags to bubbly throw-ups; from colourfull wildstyles to single colored pieces. His art speaks for itself: getting up a name. http://www.fatcap.com/artist/augor

Erin Dyer

… born and raised in Norfolk, Andy Smith studied illustration at the University of Brighton and the Royal College of Art, London. Graduating in 1998 he quickly established a client list of advertising, publishing and editorial clients including Orange, Mercedes, McDonalds, The Guardian, Expedia, Sony, Vodafone, Random House and Penguin Books, directing Run London a commercial for Nike in 2000.

His work combines illustration and typography to create images that have humour, energy and optimism and all are executed with a handmade, hand-printed, tactile feel. Quirky characters find themselves in absurd situations, often with a large piece of lettering nearby. When not producing commercial work for clients Andy can be found in the studio screen printing books and posters about Fatty, the Target People and the Hot Dog. He has exhibited in the UK, USA, France and Australia.

He lives and pretends to work by the sea in Hastings, East Sussex. His favourite colour is blue.

asmithillustration.com

‘POLITICS IS IN THE STREETS.’

THE INTERVIEW

PARRA

N So it seems like you’ve done tons of product stuff. I had no idea. So how long have you been at it?

P Oh wow. Like quite a while. Umm I’m 31 now and think I started working in Amsterdam like 10 years ago.

N Oh, you’re not from Amsterdam.

Where’re you from?

P I’m from the south.

N Dirty.

Recently Nate Hooper had the pleasure of visiting the Amsterdam studio of Dutch graphic designer, illustrator, artist, art director, clothing company owner Parra.

Recently my friend Lili and I had the pleasure of visiting the Amsterdam studio of Dutch graphic designer, illustrator, artist, art director, clothing company owner Parra. For a guy as mellow as he is, he definitely gets a lot done. He is currently art directing for several companies such as Colorblind Skateboards and Ben G as well as his own cut and sew clothing brand Rockwell Clothing. His client list for illustration and design work includes companies like Nike, Etnies, Zoo York and Heineken. In the last few months he has had a sold out show at the Reed Space in New York and another at HVW8 in Los Angeles. He also plays in a couple of bands (the names of which I have forgotten). Oh, and he used to skate for Think and Venture in the ‘90s. Not bad for a guy who wakes up at noon everyday.

After spending a bit of time in Amsterdam, you start to notice that this guy’s work is everywhere. On any given day, you’ll see kids wearing his shirts or shoes, ads and fliers he’s graced and his paintings /prints hanging at shops all over the place. Its pretty rad to see how much support he gets out there.

We did an interview that turned into more of a loose conversation about commercial illustration that had far too many “likes” and “ums” and “dudes” in it to really do anyone justice, so instead of posting the entire thing, I’ll just put up a few of the better sections from it.

P Haha. Deep deep south. I was born there but never lived there. It was Nijmegen I think I lived last.

N Awe dude. I went to Nijmegen.

P Neimeg is really a place I hardly ever visit now.

N There were tons of thugs there with huge gelled mullets. Next level mullets.

P That’s crazy. Yeah. Ha ha...

L So did you go to Art school here in the Netherlands or did you just start designing and stuff?

P Ah no. Well of course I wanted to go to art school, ‘cause my father’s a painter and I wanted to follow in his footsteps, but then I was too young. I wanted to enroll when I was like 17, not the Rietveld, but in Arnhem, and they said well you’re too young, come back next year, your works not good enough... which it wasn’t. So I was like really pissed off. I was like fuck you. I’ll do it myself. But then I had to learn quickly. I had to figure a way ‘cause I had to do something. Cause if your 17 you can’t really work.

N Oh that’s right. In Holland there’s weird laws.

P Yeah the only thing you can do is like work in a grocery store or something.

L Weird.

P It was an internet company. But an exskater, an older guy who worked there.

It was funny. He brought me there and I couldn’t even switch on a computer.

N Yeah.

P I was like uh oh. But the guy taught me Illustrator and I kind of went from there.

N Yeah, that’s the story that goes down a lot...

P Yeah, you have to kind of do it yourself man.

N Is this is an Illustration for the New Yorker?

P No that’s not the New Yorker. It’s a crap magazine I think. ‘Cause in the end there are all these ads to buy condos for 6 million. If I knew this... It’s my agent you know. He’s like oh yeah it’s a good magazine and I’m like OK. It’s like some crappy free thing.

11

every artist he has is like a complete different style. So he has no doubles.

L Yeah.

P So that really helps the work. In a week I’d say 50% is on commercial work, nice stuff like book covers and stuff.

N That’s awesome.

P And the other 50% is just making drawings.

L So do you have like a set schedule like you wake up and treat it like a regular job?

N So you have like an agent that like gets you jobs and everything?

P Yeah, without that I’d be... I wouldn’t have this house. Nothing. He saved my, basically my life. I didn’t know what to do and then he like, he made me an Illustrator. I thought I was a graphic designer and he said “Oh you’re and Illustrator” and I said “OK cool”. We shook hands and then a week later I arrived home and he’s got my first client and it just went on and on and never stopped for two years. They’re called Big Active.

They’re in London. They print big. This guy is with them as well. Jody Barton. I bought that piece from him.

N Penis god meets scrotum.

P It’s called Cock versus Balls.

N Haha L So does he have mostly Illustrator and designers?

P Just Illustrators and he’s pretty high end because he only has 11 Illustrators and they usually have like a bunch.

N Does he take like a ridiculous fee?

P No. Not really. No. 25% and I called around and that’s pretty usual.

L Well if your at a gallery they take like 50.

P Yeah. This is the Big Active site. I’ll show you this ‘cause it’s basically what I live off of. It kind of boosted me into the commercial illustration culture.

L So did he come to you or...?

P Yeah he came to me. That’s the dope part. He found out. I had a solo show in London, my first ever. I had cheap prints.

They were like 2 bucks to make and I sold them for 20 pounds and the whole P Yeah so then umm what’d I do? I went city had a laugh about it. You serious? to some stupid school where they taught 20 pounds? Ok I’ll take 5. But it sold out drawing to be a teacher. Drawing teacher. because it was so cheap. He heard about Did that for like one year and then this idea prior and he wanted to have a switched the course to free art, and then private view the day before. basically did nothing for 2 years. I just skated. I never visited the place. And then N So did he buy tons of stuff too?

The collabo logo for the three brands. they said well you have to intern now, P Yeah. He was like “Wow. How long does well cool, so I called a lot of people from it take because you hand paint all this skateboarding and eventually got work at stuff?” I’m like “No Dude.” He’s quick. a web place in the center of Amsterdam.

His eyes lit up because he was like L Nice.

“Damn he can work fast too”. He’s got a P Early internet stages. And then they let me intern there for 3 months and then lot of people and they all have like difthey kept me there and I never went back. ferent styles. I was really honoured to be N Really? Where was this? a part of that ‘cause it’s like a family. So

P Yeah I try too. Yeah. Definitely. The day’s a bit shit for me... I cannot get up that early. I do not function you know. So I said Ok I’ll go to sleep late and I’ll work late. That’s the whole deal. But usually I work at 12 and I stop at 6. I do half days!

N Ha!! ha!!

P Because I had a bit of a pain in my wrist from drawing all day...

N Well even sitting in front of the computer all day is like...

P It’s horrible man.

P My father is a really big inspiration to me in the beginning but like now he’s copying me.

N Oh yeah?

L This is your dad’s work? It’s awesome!

P Yeah this is my dads stuff. He sends me things in the mail. He makes copies and “Look, I draw them” Its sick like a morph.

This one I did a version of. He sent me this and I made this. So that’s like, really nice. I call him every week to see what he’s doing and tell him what I’m doing.

N That’s cool you work off one another...

P Well he’s really productive. You know I’m productive but he’s like insane. He can draw a whole book in a day. He’ll fill it up, one of those dummies. These are copies from that. Basically what I want, what I made for the Jeff Staple show, is a little movie where you see me actually hand drawing something. But they didn’t use it.

N Oh really?

P ‘Cause I think a lot of people think I just draw it straight on the computer, which is impossible.

http://www.rockwellclothing.com/parra/

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APRIL-JUNE | JAARGANG 1 |

WHAT MAKES A TOY, A TOY? I've been painting for about 5 years now. I've dealt with kids who've wanted to start bombing, and shown them how to not be toy... so I think I have a pretty good idea what makes a toy a toy. Let me start off by saying, age doesn't matter. You can command a lot of respect from even experienced writers if you have a decent style and the right attitude. Please read the paragraphs, and not just the titles. Now lets begin:

1. Dedication.

Ever wondered why writers say, 'stay up?' Its because everyone knows that the majority of kids painting walls only do it because they think its 'cool' or 'it might be fun'. With that attitude to begin with, you're probably going to quit in a few months.

To be honest, every writer starts off thinking exactly this way.

But you're hands down, a toy, if you can't keep your passion for bombing or you got into if you the wrong reasons to begin with.

2. Style

Yes. Its about style too. If others think its whack, then it probably is. I don't need to spend any more time on this. Writing is about developing your style as you go on.

3. How you get your supplies

You rack when you can, you don't steal from your local graff store and you don't get caught.

4. You can't keep your name up

Just as a rule of thumb for me; if you can't bomb at least once a month, you're toy.

5. Know Da Rules

There are quite a few unspoken rules that most writers know of.

Theres the chain of 'what-goes-over-what': Tags - Bombs - Throwies - Burners - Pieces - Murals What not to bomb e.g; churches, houses etc. You DO NOT go over pieces or even tags that have been around for decades. Learn to respect other writers.

6. Street Smarts

VOCABULARY

TOY

A person who doesn’t have can control, no style, not even up anywhere. does really crappy pieces. all graffit art done by a toy look like it is mocking graffiti art. http://www.urbandictionary.com/

As a writer you do not want to get caught or in trouble. You want to paint, vandalize and do what you love to do. If you're stupid and you don't know how to survive through common sense, then you're a toy. You want to: Run from the police, (unless theres no chance of running away). Run from gangs, those retards are crazy-insane. They don't know what you're doing and will look for any excuse to fire their gun. You don't want to: Pull a weapon on the police. Show your face to cameras.

7. Know your history

There are dozens of documentaries out there explaining the foundations and beginnings of graffiti. If you're truly looking to understand this sub-culture, take your time to watch some of these. My favorite is INFAMY. It talks mainly about LA, but talks a lot about the graffiti lifestyle too. (I think there are links to all of them somewhere on this site)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db8fGH4DUvk

20-21 April 12 – Athens (Greece) 29-30 June 12 – Wiesbaden (Germany) 07-08 July 12 – Belgrade (Serbia) 21-22 July 12 – Perpignan (France) St. Petersburg (Russia)

25-26 August 12 – Lublin (Poland) 08-09 September 12 – East Coast (USA) 14-16 September 12 – Chicago (USA) 21-23 September 12 – West Coast (USA)

29-30 September 12 – Mexico 20-21 Ocotber 12 – China 26-28 Ocotber 12 – Caracas (Venezuela) 09-11 November 12 – Buenos Aires (Argentina)

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‘POLITICS IS IN THE STREETS.’

DIY!

BIG ASS MARKER

VISUAL GUIDE #1

ON ADVERTISING People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you.

You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.

Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours.

It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.

You owe the companies nothing.

Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy.

They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs.

- Banksy

TERROR! Wherever you look – acts of terrorism, gun rampages, assaults and ambushes everywhere. Yes, my friends, we are living in dangerous times. Every suitcase is a bomb, every plane is a missile, every trip to the supermarket could end tragically, and even the safe return of your kids from school has become a thing of uncertainty, too. Our cities have turned into extended combat zones and we are right in the middle of it. So, what can you do? You could

So you want to experiment with tagging and getting your name up, but you see things bigger then ever and want to stick out of everything else on the walls.

Then here comes your opportunity to get crackin’ and start writing like hell.

INGREDIENTS -

assorted tubes

(depending on the size of marker) with fitting tops or

lids from colour containers - various sponges

(also see > tips) - polishing cotton wool - polyyrethane foam - paint (colour of your choice) - a cheap alcohol

i.e. ethyl alcohol TIPS - duct tape Get various sponges in different sizes - knife and shapes in order to make your - a little bit of silicone individual marker. These can be (just to be on the safe side) cleaning sponges, sponge rubber, or even thick felt – the firmer the material the clearer your streak.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. attach the sponge to the inside of the upper end of the tube with duct tape 2. fill up the space in between with polyurethane foam (let dry for approx. 30 min) 3. cut away any excess foam with the knife 4. put a lid on 5. entirely fill up with cotton wool 6. pour in self-mixed paint (also see “paint”) 7. seal the lid with silicone 8. pump and start bombing

DIY-GUIDE BY PULPANEK & POPINSKI

NIGHT VISION GOGGLES lock yourselves up at home and watch all episodes of 24 on endless repeat. You could try to get through the day soaked in cold sweat. You could pack your bags and move to Canada to become self-supporting farmers – but honestly, are these options realistic?

There is one other option, though – to be prepared! To always be one step ahead of the danger.

To scout out your surroundings, keep your espace routes open, find out what your neighbors are up to, to not leave anything to chance. You think this is a little bit too paranoid? Then you haven’t arrived in reality yet. It’s time to help yourselves because nobody else will. Well, almost nobody else. There’s still us and we can at least help you out with the necessary equipment. This is why we are dedicating this edition’s DIY column to a device no home spyware kit can do without. – DIY night vision goggles.

This is how it’s done…

PAINT

Since we require large amounts of paint it is better to mix it yourself (less expensive). You will have to experiment a little. When the paint is too thin it doesn’t cover well, when is it too thick it doesn’t run well. The best thing is to mix paint with a resolvent (i.e. ethyl alcohol) at a ratio of 1:3, then carefully thicken it back up again with paint. You can add further colour pigments to the mix at your own discretion or even a little bit of break fluid (hard to buff).

CAUTION: ALL OF THIS IS HIGLY COMBUSTIBLE - SO DON’T SMOKE!

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED You’re ready for your first night- torchlight - colour filters (in congo blue

and primary red) - old digital camera (can be

antique but the display

must work ok) - duct tape - cutter knife - hot glue gun - pair of transparent safety goggles - baseball hat

INSTRUCTIONS

1. cut out the colour filters to fit on the lens of the torchlight. You need six in red and four in blue.

2. glue the filters over the lens of your torchlight in alternate order. Start with red.

3. attach the safety goggles to the hat’s visor. Be generous with the hot glue.

4. glue the camera to the safety goggles. Make sure you can see the display ok when you’re wearing the hat.

5. seal off all the gaps with duct tape.

6. attach the torchlight firmly to the side of your night vision device with plenty of tape.

time recon mission. The ten layers of different colored film in front of your torch filter out most of the light except the infrared spectrum.

Since your old digicam software doesn’t have a built-in infrared filter it interprets the infrared light from your torch as normal light. That’s why you can still see everything going on around you on your display, even if it’s completely dark.

TUTORIAL BY TILL PULPANEK

VISUAL GUIDE #2

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APRIL-JUNE | JAARGANG 1 |

SHORT INTRO First of all we interviewed Mr.Leenknecht, a multidisciplined artist as a DJ, graffiti artist and graphic designer. We met him at the graffiti-jam in New Ghent on the 25th of March. He has a calligraphic style in his typography which he uses to

spread short possitive messages to the public. Working with Mr.Leenknecht at this jam was Steve Locatelli, an Antwerp based artist who is known for his big murals and especially for his realistic paintings by the use of a spraycan. He is one of the artists who make publicity for carbrand “Nissan”, for whom he made a 80 metres long wall (5 metres high) with

six of of their carmodels painted for the carsalon in Bruxelles. – The goal of these interviews is to find the true meaning of public typography in his many forms, and find out if the two worlds of graffiti and graphic design work together or try to eliminate eachother. If the visions and motivations are the same, …

Hoe vind u dat typografie zich moet manifesteren in het straatbeeld/openbare ruimte. Dit op vlak van inhoud(boodschap), vorm en formaat. Is er een regel voor?

Zelf vind ik dat typografie gewoon ‘aanspreekt’. Het is een boeiend onderzoek om letters te brengen op een originele manier, zodat men niet constant letters ziet in hun klassieke vorm of stijl. Zelf ben ik begonnen, binnen de graffiti wereld, door de ‘tag’. Een ‘tag’ moet gebracht worden om een unieke wijze, eer ze van de andere onderscheiden wordt, dus hiervoor moet je echt je handschrift onderzoeken – en uiteraard ook het handschrift van andere artiest voor ‘hun’ lekkere ‘flow’ of stijl! De interactie tussen kunstenaars, maar vooral ook met het publiek is het leukst van allemaal. Men is in staat een echte boodschap te verkondigen, of gewoon je eigen naam bekend te maken.

Hoe vind u dat typografie zich moet manifesteren in het straatbeeld/openbare ruimte. Dit op vlak van inhoud(boodschap), vorm en formaat. Is er een regel voor?

Ik denk direct aan de stencils van een graffitikunstenaar hier uit het Gentse die als boodschap overal een stencil spoot: “Are you part of the solution”, met hieronder een aanvinkmogelijkheid. Vorm is belangrijk, maar sowieso is de boodschap ‘zeer’ belangrijk. Het lokt een interactie uit waardoor het gezien wordt. Zelf zoek ik altijd naar een korte, positieve boodschap om de wereld in te sturen. Hier op de graffiti jam heb ik gekozen, zoals vaker, voor een quote. Voor deze plek heb ik gekozen voor een quote van de Beastie Boys:

“Be true to yourself and you will never fall”

Hoe staat grafisch ontwerp ten opzichte van graffiti (en andersom) binnen het straatgebeuren? Is er een bepaalde werking tussen beide?

Hoe staat grafisch ontwerp ten opzichte van graffiti (en andersom) binnen het straatgebeuren? Is er een bepaalde werking tussen beide?

Mijn inziens is het samenvloeien van grafisch ontwerp en graffiti, een zegen voor de mensen (en vooral kunstenaars) die er dagelijks op een creatieve, vernieuwende manier mee willen omgaan.

Zelf zie ik graag hoe dit meer en meer aanvaard wordt als een waardige kunst en niet als een kinderspel of vandalisme! Het stimuleert me om zelf creatief aan de slag te gaan als ik zie hoe iemand een geweldige boodschap of boeiende typografische oplossing publiek maakt. Voor mij mag – nee moet – er dus bijgewerkt worden in plaats van weggewerkt! Het is noodzakelijk dat de boodschappen blijven verspreid worden.

Beide werelden staan niet in een dialoog, maar ze spelen zich gewoon af in dezelfde omgeving. Persoonlijk heb ik vooral problemen met de samenwerking tussen de twee laat ons zeggen “werelden”, omdat de grafische sector vaak ideeën haalt (zelfs regelrecht steelt) zonder dat de graffitikunstenaars er iets aan te zeggen hebben. Ik denk hierbij aan verscheidene logo’s die gemaakt zijn op basis van enkele graffito’s hun characters of ZEVS’ idee om te werken met de weerspiegeling in een bushok – waar McDonalds gretig gebruik van gemaakt heeft.

(zie artikel pg.8 - ‘Liquidated Logo’s’)

Denkt u dat de uitvoering van zowel grafisch ontwerp en graffiti van elkaar kunnen leren en leven in een gedeelde (straat)cultuur - of werken ze elkaar tegen?

Sowieso kunnen beide werelden van elkaar blijven leren! Men kan op verscheidene vlakken bijleren van elkaar, zowel qua inzichten als structuur. Mijn werk is bijvoorbeeld vaak geïnspireerd van mijn dagelijkse Grafische prikkelingen en interesses in de straat. Deze verwerk in dan binnen mijn eigen stijl, en zo zoek ik naar een antwoord op andere kunstenaars hun creaties. Als ik opnieuw zou kunnen beginnen zou ik graag een grafische studie gevolgt, maar ik was nooit goed op school. Dus heb ik het op mezelf onderzocht – en nu nog!

Denkt u dat de uitvoering van zowel grafisch ontwerp en graffiti van elkaar kunnen leren en leven in een gedeelde (straat)cultuur - of werken ze elkaar tegen?

Zoals eerder gezegd is er een gemeenschappelijke omgeving en hierdoor zullen beide volgens mij vanuit dezelfde invloeden ontstaan. Zelf zit ik tussen beide werelden dus is het moeilijk om te spreken over een verschillende aanpak qua uitvoering.

Picture of the work in progress at the Graffiti Jam in New Ghent, kikvorsstraat at the 25th of March. © Sam Van Royen

‘POLITICS IS IN THE STREETS.’

15

Wat zijn voor u de twee (of meer) duidelijkste verschillen en gelijkenissen tussen de twee werelden?

Er is maar één groot verschil volgens mij, en dat de origine van de boodschap en zo ook het doel van die boodschap. In de reclamewereld en grafische sector gaat men proberen denken vanuit een klant, bedrijf, evenement dat georganiseerd word en welke gepromoot moet worden. In de graffiti is men vrij om boodschappen te verspreiden, afhankelijk van het idee van de kunstenaar zelf. Graffiti kunstenaars zullen dus niet proberen om mensen een vettige hamburger te doen kopen in een McDonals, maar kunnen een culturele of levensboodschap brengen.

Wat zijn voor u de twee (of meer) duidelijkste verschillen en gelijkenissen tussen de twee werelden?

Ik ben er van overtuigt dat graffiti meer expressie en structuur heeft.

Dit is een voordeel omdat we op een groter formaat werken en zo op indrukwekkendere manieren kunnen opvallen – er zijn hier geen regels voor!

Bij grafisch ontwerp daarentegen zit je maar al te vaak relax en proper achter je computer, wat veel verfijnder is en gepaard gaat met een hoop regels waar je continu rekening mee moet houden.

Zijn grafisch ontwerp en graffiti gedoemd om in een bepaald stramien/gedachtegang/uitvoering te belanden en zo op artistiek vlak hun eigenheid en waarde te verliezen?

Sowieso ga je als kunstenaar een evolutie door die nooit stopt. Je kan volgens mij niet vastraken in een bepaalde stijl of jezelf verliezen in vaste oplossingen omdat je altijd bijleert en andere dingen uitprobeert. Kijk naar Bue the Warrior – zijn werken blijven eigen aan zichzelf maar er is altijd een vernieuwend element gaande van een andere soort lijnvoering of een nieuwe manier van outlines te zetten. Toch blijven zijn karakters een eigenheid behouden die men aan hem kan linken. Enkele jaren geleden werkte Steve Locatelli ook nog niet met zijn ruwe verfrolstreken die nu zo dominant zijn binnen zijn werk. maar ook hier is een evolutie in de aanpak van het werk bepalend om jezelf niet te verliezen in bepaalde trucs, toch je eigenheid te behouden.

Zijn grafisch ontwerp en graffiti gedoemd om in een bepaald stramien/gedachtegang/uitvoering te belanden en zo op artistiek vlak hun eigenheid en waarde te verliezen?

Picture of the work in progress at the Graffiti Jam in New Ghent, kikvorsstraat at the 25th of March. © Sam Van Royen

MAKING AND BREAKING THE GRID

You’ve heard it! It’s time to get some order in the chaos. This book by Timothy Samara will guide you to be an excellent (dis-)placer of typography in your books, magazines and other artworks. Making and Breaking the Grid is a comprehensive layout design workshop that assumes that in order to effectively break the rules of grid-based design, one must first understand those rules and see them applies to real-world projects. http://www.amazon.com/

Uit persoonlijke ervaring weet ik dat bij commercieel werk, vooral bij grotere merken, de artistieke kant van het kunstenaarsleven achteruit wordt geschoven en enkel beroep wordt gedaan op technische ‘skills’. Je moet altijd werken in de stijl van de klant en aan hun eisen voldoen, wat zeer jammer is. Als de kunstenaar zijn hand wat meer zou kunnen leggen in het werk zou er potentieel veel beter werk kunnen ontstaan. Ik heb liever dat mensen mij boeken voor een opdracht voor mijn stijl of manier van werken – zodat ze vertrouwen tonen in mij en mijn oeuvre. Interessant wordt het dan als er een samenwerking ontstaat in de opdracht met een andere opdracht, zoals hier vandaag met Mr.Leenknecht!

‘TILL THE END