Comments on: Graffiti stencils as art

Graffiti stencils as art

Orange Goblin — Tue, 25 Mar 2003 15:56:04 -0800

By: arto

arto — Tue, 25 Mar 2003 16:23:37 -0800

And the award for most consecutive splash pages goes to... Seriously, I've seen this guy's work before, in magazines like Straight, No Chaser. Pretty impressive stuff, and the stencil thing gives him a whole different feel than the usual letterform-based hip hop graff style.

By: specialk420

specialk420 — Tue, 25 Mar 2003 16:26:37 -0800

great link! thank you. http://www.stencilrevolution.com/

By: boogah

boogah — Tue, 25 Mar 2003 17:23:55 -0800

i've gotta say that he's got some interesting views on life. my favorite quote has to be: "the time of getting fame for your name on its own is over. artwork that is only about wanting to be famous will never make you famous. any fame is a bi-product of making something that means something. you don't go to a restaurant and order a meal because you want to have a shit."

By: pinto

pinto — Tue, 25 Mar 2003 18:22:09 -0800

"The key to good graffitti is economy. A simple splash of paint in the right place at the right time is all it takes. An old lady with a pencil can bring down a government by drawing an X on a ballot paper. A single letter H when painted on the floor is powerful enough to attract helicopters. A few licks of white pain transformed the donkey into the zebra. And scribbles from a spraycan can concert a slum into an art gallery, but then you would ask yourself "How fucking useful is that exactly?" This is some brilliant stuff. (Not solely the words, either.)Purposefully self-aware, pastiche-laden, political, and suitably ironic. But it also manages to be insightful. This is the best explication of artistic justification of graffitti that I've ever seen. Thanks for the link.

By: pinto

pinto — Tue, 25 Mar 2003 18:23:22 -0800

:: going now, to make stencils ::

By: hama7

hama7 — Tue, 25 Mar 2003 18:47:15 -0800

The only thing I dislike more than vandalism is pretentious leftist vandalism. In all fairness, the images themselves were not bad, but the message is the same old pretentious political marxist nonsense that Robbie Conal has been wringing into self-parody for the last fifteen years.

By: grabbingsand

grabbingsand — Tue, 25 Mar 2003 19:11:32 -0800

ah... so that is what i saw last year in london: here, here and here.

By: dogwalker

dogwalker — Tue, 25 Mar 2003 19:51:00 -0800

I picked up one of Banksy's books, flipped through it, and saw a photo of a bridge a block from my school that I recognized. Ended up buying it and hunting down some of the images, or just coming across some on my own. Honestly, I've thought about posting a link to his site, but figured it had been done before I got here. Glad to see it's well-received. Anyways, check out his books if you're interested, they're worth it. hama: He is an obvious pretentious lefty, but I think most of his best work is not political. My favorite was a huge "X BURIED TREASURE" spray painted in red on the beach. On the actual sand. [sorry, can't find a web image] also, thanks for the extra link specialk420

By: ig

ig — Tue, 25 Mar 2003 23:29:15 -0800

I highly recommend Tristan Manco's Stencil Graffiti book.

By: asok

asok — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 02:34:52 -0800

'last March, the Electoral Commission, apparently unaware of the irony of aping one of the UK's foremost (illegal) graffiti artists, launched a poster campaign, which borrowed his authoritative, powerful style to encourage young people to vote. And, naturally, he has been approached by multinationals keen to harness his powerful visuals into their marketing plans. 'I've got a great list of people I've turned down,' he grins. 'Nike, Coke and Microsoft. Which is probably more impressive than the things I have done.' Fans - who include Massive Attack, Coldplay and Orbital - would disagree' The one I saw most recently read 'This is not a photo opportunity', by Borough Market. hama7, how do you explain defining Banksy (or Robbie Connal), or the work, as 'Marxist'? I really am interested. Do you see any form of parody as being Marxist? Or just parodies that target government figures?

By: hama7

hama7 — Wed, 26 Mar 2003 03:23:16 -0800

Do you see any form of parody as being Marxist? I love the Onion, but it doesn't advocate anti-capitalist, anti-corporate violent government overthrow or "sophisticated social discourse" through leftist vandalism, which is, uh, Marxist. The proles wresting power from their bourgeois opressors and all that crap = marxist. Frankly, the imagery created from the stencils is pretty damned impressive, and as dogwalker mentioned, it's not all political. I'd like to see what the stencilmakers could do if they dialed down the "statements" and dailed up the creativity, of which there seems to be plenty. Also, the vandalism thing isn't all that great. It's illegal (ethically iffy, and necessarily hasty), but heck, think what they could do with a public space without time constraints and permission! Lots of people would be happy to pay them for their mural work.