It's Tea

Banksy Film in Cincy and Bustown

2010-06-11T21:43:00.003-04:00

Exit Through the Gift Shop will be playing at the Esquire in Cincinnati on June 18th... and then coming up to Columbus at the Drexel on June 25th...

Banksyfilm.com has more info.

Public Ad Campaign's new video

2010-06-06T14:16:00.002-04:00

Jordan Seiler talks about public space, NPA and the impact of NYSAT...

My (public) Space from Pilar Haile-Damato on Vimeo.

Shep in Cincy, ETTGS in Indy, AGORA in Bustown

2010-05-20T12:32:00.003-04:00

Shepard Fairey will be spinning records saturday night at the CAC in Cincinnati, while Banksy's Exit Through The Gift Shop Indianapolis screening was pushed back until tomorrow. Hope you can make one of these events... also, Columbus is having the annual AGORA art show this Saturday from noon-midnight.

EVOKE! series by Contra

2010-05-20T12:21:00.002-04:00

I am really in digging some work that I found from London-based street artist Contra. The EVOKE! series of public installations draws interaction and civic participation on several fronts. From make-a-wish boxes, to record-a-message boxes, and dry-erase boards, various public interventions get citizens thinking about their city.

Here's a video from the publis voice box project:

Banksy Film showing in Indy

2010-04-21T11:50:00.002-04:00

Stencil artist Banksy's new film, Exit Through the Gift Shop will be showing in Indianapolis on May 7th at the Keystone Art Cinema. As far as Columbus and Cincinnati are concerned, this will be the closest place to see the film until its leaked on the internet or comes out on DVD.The film will also be in Chicago and Atlanta next Friday, April 30th.

Broken Fingaz stop motion

2010-04-01T18:53:00.002-04:00

While I'm not that iterested in posting anything else... I may throw something new up here randomly when I'm really excited about a piece, event, video, etc.... this is from the Broken Fingaz Crew out of Isreal... I saw it on BrooklynStreetArt.com. The process of painting/working in a way to create a story that is told through the video is great (versus a simple stop motion documentation of the mural process).

Broken Fingaz -Graffiti Stop Motion from Broken Fingaz on Vimeo.

The London Police in Covington/Cincy...

2010-02-08T20:34:00.007-05:00

Don't miss this!

Just read on Vandalog that The London Police (TLP) will be showing work at The BLDG in Covington this coming March... show is on the 19th at 7pm. This will be a major highlight for street art in OH/KY and I'm excited to see how they incorporate the Cincy/Cov imagery into their show (hopefully beyond the Colonel and BGSU). TLP is an amazingly talented street art collective based in Amsterdam and this show is only one of four of their's happening internationally in 2010. Hopefully the streets of Cincinnati will get a little TLP love, as well.

Here's one of their works for the show nabbed from VLog too:

The London Police
“The London Police Ride Again”
Exhibition: March 19, 2010 – April 30, 2010

Opening Reception:
Friday March 19, 2010 8-11 PM
The BLDG Gallery
30 West Pike Street
Covington, KY

Cincinnati: Winter Graff

2010-02-05T11:08:00.006-05:00

Looks like a couple of Bustown cats took a trip to the Nati and got up on 71N with MISERY and HEDAKE. Also, a Christmas production from RAPES and WHEN (including a diss on DEVI)

Pearl Alley Mural

2010-01-18T13:02:00.000-05:00

Done in 2006 by Jeremy Nichols and others, the mural on Pearl Alley (just south of Gay St) appears to be an early predecessor of the current collaborative murals being done in the Short North. The street art feel is definitely there:

New Years in Chi-town: January street pics

2010-01-12T13:09:00.003-05:00

Bustown: January pics

2010-01-11T19:47:00.003-05:00

HEAS; SOHOE, ENDER; DESTO; ENDER, RILA, TOKYO(Stencil), ALOT; SOHOE, HEAS

Fresh pastes from the Bay

2010-01-11T09:34:00.003-05:00

Miss Tint just released a short video illuminating Overunder's process and progress on a new series of pastes done around the Bay Area. Portraits of the band Sleeytime Gorilla Museum, I guess.

Stampede of Paste from Miss Tint on Vimeo.

Buffalo, NY

2009-12-31T13:09:00.004-05:00

I visited some friends in Buffalo recently and decided to go graff hunting one afternoon. These are a few of the bombs and pieces I came across. ATAK and HERT seem to be killin the city.

Corporate Shelter

2009-12-29T20:20:00.001-05:00

Saw this on Vinchen's website. Such a well thought out piece. The accompaying text is great, and I like that when you view it, you have a piece of Columbus's corporate skyline visually shielded by the gov't building. Great placement and photo!

December in Cincy

2009-12-15T10:00:00.000-05:00

(Respectively: Northside wall; WHEN; DEVI; RAPES; NEST; SAINT)

More murals for High St

2009-12-12T14:26:00.000-05:00

Hopefully you've noticed the new murals on High St around 4th and 5th. Having stopped by to check it out and take some pictures, I had the chance to briefly chat with one of the artists/organizers for the mural projects. Jon Stommel has been organizing space(outdoor walls) for artists to collaborate and add their creativity to the city's visual landscape, in a legal way. So far his ideas have realized two stunning murals with help from both graff writers and fine artists. They have a contemporary alternative, urban feel to them. While the new mural production will see a winter-induced hiatus, the artists have already lined up at least one other wall space for the spring of 2010. After that, the plan is to continue adding murals throughout the Short North, slowly working their way towards downtown. GOOD LUCK!

These pictures are from the second mural, which went up in about 5 days around Thanksgiving.

Pictures from the first mural project here and on my flickr account, here.

December in Bustown: pics from the streets

2009-12-05T13:33:00.000-05:00

Greenhouse CD Release Party

2009-12-01T13:28:00.002-05:00

This past Saturday Greenhouse (Blueprint and Illogic) introduced Part 1 of their Electric Purgatory album at Skully's. Opening for them was Kam Moye (aka Supastition) from North Carolina. Props to him for a well-performed set and some feel-good type of music , albeit mostly focusing on how old he is and how much he's disconnected from "the mainstream".

From Blueprint and Illogic, overall I was really happy to hear a good mix of new stuff (including a delayed, but decent verse by Zerostar, and a hallucinogenic-imbued freestyle from The Catalyst) and some older stuff like "Break Bread". The whole thing seemed a little unorganized, with pauses between a lot of songs and some on-stage confusion, but then again it was a CD release party. I picked up a copy of the EP on my way out... good songs with a preference for "Never Gonna Make It", "Boys to Men" and "Cold Out Here."

J Rawls spun some music after the Greenhouse set and the b-boys took over most of the dance floor from that point on. We left Skully's and grabbed a slice of pizza from my new vice on High, somewhere around 3rd... you know, the one that plays episodes of the Chappelle Show and Family Guy on the parking lot wall. Expensive, but delicious after a night of drinks.

Goons remind us to Clean It Up

2009-11-26T12:24:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving! Last night I was perusing some of the street art photostreams on flickr and found this. Chi-town paster, Goons (who recently launched an updated website), has created a new video for Orbit gum.... and if you know me, you know I'm not normally one to stand behind corporate-artistic partnerships, but this video is damn good... and finally the midwest street artrists are getting their well deserved props! Check out their video, Clean It Up:

...and for those who don't know, graffiti k-i-n-g REVOK was arrested in Cali recently... we'll see what charges actually stick when all is said and done, but for now... FREE REVOK!

Evidence and Brother Ali @ Skully's

2009-11-15T16:32:00.003-05:00

Last night's show was great. Illogic and Ill Poetic warmed up the crowd with style and made me even more excited for the Blueprint/Illogic show in two weeks. It was my first time seeing Ill Poetic live and definitely not the last... great skills.

Toki Wright and BK-One had a good set and then Evidence stepped to the stage and brought an intense performance (as usual) mixing his solo stuff with Dilated Peoples tracks. Ali took the stage last. He showcased a good number of songs from his new CD, US, and gave some good new interpretations of his classics, starting the show with one of my all time favorite Ali songs, "Room with a View".

Picture: Illogic
Video (not uploaded for sound, so mute it!): Evidence

Mural on Magnolia Thunderpussy

2009-11-15T14:08:00.005-05:00

Local High St. record shop, Magnolia Thunderpussy, is getting a new mural on its parking lot wall. The mural is an evolving conversation between many contributing artists and has continued to have new elements freestyled into the overall project for the past several weeks. These are the most recent pictures I have of the project:

Fresh in Bustown:

2009-11-10T12:44:00.006-05:00

Respectively: RILA; "SUCK" by Sucko; ENDER; LEVEL; LOAF,??,DESTO

Bustown's November Hip Hop

2009-11-07T13:27:00.003-05:00

Last night Talib Kweli shut it down at Skully's. Even though the show stalled and Kweli didn't take the stage until sometime after midnight, the crowd was PACKED and excited. Energy on both sides of the stage was high and we got all kinds of classics (tracks from Reflection Eternal, Quality, and more) plus a hint of whats to come on his upcoming album with Cincinnati's DJ Hi-Tek (yayeah!)

Opening last night was local group 3RD (pronounced Three Are Dee). Being new to the underground Bustown hip hop, I was glad to see these guys for the first time. Great stage presence and dance-able beats with MCs who know how to hold and use a mic.

While in line to see Talib, I saw flyers for (all happening at Skully's):

- Ghostface Killah, in town tonight!

- Brother Ali and Evidence, who will be here on the 14th (Nov)

- Blueprint and Illogic (collectively Greenhouse)are promoting their new album, Electric Purgatory on the 28th (Nov)

AND... (fingers crossed) there was buzz from the guy who brought Talib in town that De La Soul might be here soon!

DON'T MISS THESE SHOWS!
Also, you can download the new Greenhouse album for free starting on the 24th. Check it out, here.

Worth the Watch: Neozoon

2009-11-04T23:43:00.002-05:00

I know I've posted before about Neozoon's street art - their upcycled installations made from discarded fur coats. Here's an interview with the duo, and some footage of the construction and installation of a series of pieces.

(via Wooster)

More Body Tagging

2009-11-04T11:34:00.002-05:00

Earlier this year I posted a video of WorkmanJones, a duo out of Melbourne (and NYC) who do a performance-based street art, "body tagging." They create interesting shapes using the physical/structural form of the body that engage the built and natural worlds around them. Last spring some of us got together in Cincinnati to try this same concept. Here's the video/post on that.

A couple weeks ago I went down to Cincy for a second go at body tagging. This time the concepts were based around themes, where as the first time we were going for bright colors and random positions. The results were great! Ethan has put together two videos from the experience with his own original music as the soundtracks. Here they are:

soft bodies/hard bodies from Ethan Philbrick on Vimeo.

chiquita headquarters-- cincinnati, ohio from Ethan Philbrick on Vimeo.

Halloween Party at the Mockbee

2009-10-30T16:47:00.003-04:00

Tonight DJ DQ (of Glue) along with a long list of others will be providing the music for the Mockbee's party, Halloween Massacre. The costume of choice... 80's porn star. I figured, since i have the mustache, why not?

Pictures(hopefully) to come.

--oh yeah, and on that note. I recently went down to Cincy for a second round of body tagging with Ethan and others. Pictures/Video of that to come as well.

New Vinchen work

2009-10-18T22:28:00.004-04:00

I was just checking out Columbus-based stencil and installation artist Vinchen's website and stumbled across this new work with the accompanying quote:

"Let us happily clutch the old philosophies that squeeze life from our bodies when simply releasing these notions could ensure our survival"

...really like this!

Finally, a good reason to watch YouTube!

2009-10-18T15:02:00.002-04:00

Marc and Sara Schiller, the SoHo couple behind street art super-website Wooster Collective are YouTube's "Curator's of the Month" and have also started their own YouTube channel, here. Be sure to stop by when your looking for some inspiration or just plain bored.

This is their introductory video for the WC channel:

Worth the Watch: JR Honors Women of the World

2009-10-06T23:02:00.004-04:00

Wooster has an amazing video posted of new work from photographer and street artist, JR. Entitled "Women are Heroes," JR installed in Paris a series of large-scale portraits of women from around the globe, focusing on their captivating (and often telling) eyes.

VernissageTV interviews him in this video about the project:

Wanna see more from JR? Check out his work in Kenya (again, titled "Women are Heroes"). Working on what little infrastructural surface is around, JR puts together some great pieces using the local trains, some residential rooftops, and the hillside.

JR - EXTRAIT "WOMEN ARE HEROES", Kibera, Kenya
Uploaded by JR. - Arts and animation videos.

And for those really interested, here's the a longer clip from the woman interviewed throughout the Kenya video. She is amazing!!

Interview WOMEN in KIBERA
Uploaded by JR. - Watch original web videos.

Daymon Day Parade 2009

2009-09-30T01:50:00.003-04:00

another short video for context... certainly not for sound quality (but the Snoop song in the background... yeayah!).

The parade marching down where campus comes towards the Short North:

Daymon Day 2009

2009-09-30T00:32:00.005-04:00

In Columbus, it's an annual tradition around this time of year to celebrate the life of Daymon Dodson--one who seems to have touched a lot of lives in the local indie and hip hop scenes. 614 Magazine has a great article, A Day for Daymon, that really gives testament to this mans positive impact on his peers and in his communities.

Daymon Day has evolved over the past handful of years to become a day-long event that includes a basketball tournament and barbecue, graffiti writers producing a mural, and one of the most awesome parades I've ever been in.... let me explain:

The parade starts at 8pm on the north end of OSU's campus (mind you something like 56,000 students have just returned from summer break) and turns from Lane Avenue (a major street in the area) onto and down High St (Columbus's busiest stretch of clusterfuck). The streets, even though we're marching on them, aren't blocked off. Our procession holds pushy cars at bay on all sides. Bumping Tupac on full blast the marchers begin to shout "So What!" in conversation with someone singing on a mic. This, I find out, is one of Daymon's nicknames. Which is only less hilarious than us shouting his other nickname "Racist Joe"--which we did, repeatedly. After about 45mins (almost 2 miles) we concluded the parade at Milk Bar on 5th and High Sts.

Really fun to be apart of.

Check out some pics of the graff painted that day, and a short/crappy video of the parade's conclusion with everyone singing in front of Milk Bar (even though you can't understand it) "Bitch! You don't know Shit!" ...

Ab Rude and Busdriver @ Circus

2009-09-11T11:38:00.003-04:00

Last night Rhymesayers rapper Abstract Rude and west-coaster Busdriver stopped through Columbus with a show at Circus. Before making my way to the show I decided to take a late-night stroll through Clintonville, a neighborhood in C-Bus. While walking under a bridge I heard a loud crash, so I went up towards the road where I heard the accident. Two cars hit head on, a crowd had already started to form, and the cars were on fire. Flames were small but smoke was EVERYWHERE.

At the show, Abstract Rude killed the crowd with his unique sound, both soulful and playful... kinda like Michael Franti meets Murs... good stuff. Busdriver's quick tongue had everybody nodding there heads, jaws open from the speed of syllables flying out his mouth. The sound system was acting up at first but after that was fixed, the show turned out awesome and the crowd let the performers know we came to party. Busdriver put on a lengthy encore. I tried to shoot some video, but the sound is horrible. Oh well.

Just for fun, heres a pointless video of the two cars earlier in the night:

Moxy and Lauren Flax @ Wall St, Sept 6

2009-09-10T21:23:00.008-04:00

The night was slow to start out, but what night isn't anymore. The floor got full around 12:30 and NYC's DJ Lauren Flax played a great set. Too bad I can't distinguish Drum-n-Bass from House from Jungle to describe the sound better, but it was definitely keepin me and everyone else in the place moving. Bustown's own DJ Moxy's beasty ass got on stage and spun some good shit, but by that time I was pretty wasted. Pictures for those interested...

Worth the Watch: London Police

2009-09-06T13:00:00.003-04:00

Saw this great video on Wooster. While in LA getting ready for their upcoming gallery show, "Brothers In Arms", street art collective The London Police made this hilarious video that talks about their work and friendship. Reminds me of Tommy Boy: "Brothers don't shake hands! Brothers gotta hug."

Skewville's New Do

2009-09-04T16:29:00.004-04:00

Big time Brooklyn street artists Skewville just launched their new website. Nice gallery-style layout organized chronologically with info and pictures scrolling left-to-right (vs. top-to-bottom). On some of the pictures I wish I could get a closer view, but the site showcases a lot of their work and innovation, including shows at their own Factory Fresh gallery in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

For those who don't know Skewville is a duo of artists that work primarily with installation street art. While stencils, graff, and wheatpastes are well within their repertoire, they are known for their thousands of wood cut-outs placed in cities around the world -- custom designed shoes strung together and hung on telephone lines.

Check it out here

Bustown Factories

2009-09-01T22:33:00.005-04:00

Since moving to Columbus, I've stumbled across a couple old factories (graff havens) teeming with multi-color pieces and productions. The first time finding such a great spot is amazing. Every return trip yields nuanced changes or sheds light on things I hadn't noticed before. For instance, this one building I had explored a handful of times before I realized I was missing more than half of the best stuff in there. That visit I discovered three new rooms and a new set of stairs leading to a separate second floor layout. The time after that I found yet another new room with stairs leading to even more great stuff. The following are from the final room explored:

Respectively: ENDER; DESTO(top) and KAYO(bottom); "LEVSON" by LEVEL; WEBS

And... here's another example of how great these buildings are. From a different building, this is a video of just one of the many rooms/walls painted on the property.

NYC/BK Graff Shots:

2009-08-29T21:07:00.005-04:00

I got to see some nice murals and pieces while up there, including a 2005 AKB (thats a graffiti crew, folks) reunion wall. Here's some of my favorites:

For more ( i mean a lot more) photos from this trip and others, visit the NYC + Brooklyn section of my flickr page.

Brooklyn, kid

2009-08-29T20:15:00.006-04:00

One afternoon Whitney suggested we go to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens (I'd never been). It was a great place to relax, enjoy nature, and for $4 student admissions it seems like a reasonable alternative to the people-heavy Central Park. The grounds were well kept with nice views and other eye candy--a couple shirtless men dotted the open fields--and despite our being there so late in the summer the plants looked fresh and healthy. The Bonsai exhibit there is sweet, too... the close-up shot below is of a bonsai thats 114 yrs old.

That night we walked passed one of the many block parties that seem to pop up nightly on one street or another. The four or five different sound systems playing up and down the block competed for ear space; as we walked the music varied with throwback Michael Jackson hits, Biggie/brooklyn rap, and some latin dance genres. And noooo block party ends until somebody plays the electric slide, damn it!

Good NYC/BK Shots:

2009-08-22T11:47:00.007-04:00

Just got back from my trip to Brooklyn/NYC. Another busy visit, lots of walking, and great street art. Here are a few of my favorite street art shots from the trip. Later in the weekend I'll post two more posts of some graff pics from around BK and other various random things worth sharing.

(Respectively: Shin Shin; Sacer; Swoon; Under Over & Broken Crow; Os Gemeos)
Some notes: Sacer (the purple tag in the second pic) recently past away. RIP.

Swoon's wheatpastes are reliefs made from hand-carved woodcuts. Each one takes nearly two weeks to complete.

The fawns on the Under Over/Broken Crow wall are made from huge stencils.

Os Gemeos are twins from Sao Paulo, Brazil whose style is unique and recognizable. The brightly colored mural took several days to complete.

Worth Your Watch: Gaia

2009-08-03T23:36:00.001-04:00

Found on Wooster Collective, this new video/documentary work, Gaia: Taming Nature, follows NYC street paster Gaia through the process of production and installation.

Good Local Shots:

2009-07-30T21:19:00.002-04:00

(Respectively: EAFR, BRYER, NUSR, WREKS, FAV & HEAS)

Biggie Smalls show @ Junctionview Studios

2009-07-30T20:48:00.008-04:00

Earlier this month I went to the Biggie Smalls show in Grandview's Junctionview Studios. Great urban art in large and small format with some live music accompaniment. Street artists Tokyo and Dick, along with writer CURSE, showed a large wall-size panel piece and stenciled street signs and cinder blocks:

Other artists of note include Adam Brouilette:

Coreroc:

Amy Slebodnik:

More from the show here, on my flickr page. Including a great letter to the city of Columbus, from Tokyo and Dick, shedding light on their work.

Local Feature: TOKYO

2009-07-05T22:51:00.002-04:00

I've found some of TOKYO's work around Bustown and have been really impressed with his layered stencil and other pastes... check 'em out.

TOKYO's work will be shown with other artists at Junctionview Studios. More info here Opening party this friday.

RIP MJ

2009-06-25T21:55:00.002-04:00

The man was a creative, musical genius and a world icon, known for theatrics and his peter-pan lifestyle. He will be missed. My first memories of an introduction to Michael Jackson was when i was 5 or 6. For a summer camp, pot-luck talent show, our class had learned a choreographed routine to Man in the Mirror (i think there were chairs involved somewhere). Thriller's music video scared me back then.

Did anyone else watch his interview with Oprah... that felt big. When Michael and Janet came out with Scream, i had it on single the day it came out (it was a tape, not a CD (and not an mp3, for some of you!)) That video was so "futuristic", and i really wanted to break vases racket-ball style after seeing it. And those of you who knew me well in college remember the looooooooooooong nights in my dorm room with MJ's greatest hits DVD (which I still have!) on repeat. Fuck me, I still can't moonwalk smoothly and wish I could.

Michael-haters: remember the man who wrote about healing the world and breaking down the barriers of racial divides, or the one who sang alongside his older brothers as a member of the Jackson Five. Not the way he acted after a lifetime of social isolation and public scrutiny.

(this album rocked!)

my top three MJ songs:

3)Remember the Time
2)Man in the Mirror
1)The Way You Make Me Feel

New Swoon Video

2009-06-11T10:50:00.003-04:00

Swoon has a great feature interview for Walrus TV series "The Run Up"...
THIS WOMAN IS AMAZING...
aesthetically minded and politically/philosophically-minded peoples will definitely enjoy this video a lot.

New York Street Advertising Takeover

2009-06-08T14:38:00.002-04:00

here are two more great videos of the project and some links to other sites talking about illegal street signage.

websites:

publicadcampaign.com
banbillboardblight.org
illegalsigns.ca
illegalbillboards.org

Neglected Children: New Work in Vancouver

2009-06-08T12:59:00.002-04:00

while I didn't see any sign of who did this or where this was, I'm going to assume it's in Vancouver... great statement! (found on Wooster Collective)

New York Street Advertising Takeover

2009-06-07T15:13:00.000-04:00

This past April some 50 participants took part in the NYSAT where 120 illegal billboards were whitewashed and re-imagined by NYC's street art greats. Here's a video with more info, and below is an interactive map to view where each location is and some pictures of the billboard's transformation with stories from participants.

Interactive map

Late-night Storll

2009-05-07T16:20:00.004-04:00

last night I decided to go for a walk and it ended up being a crazy adventure in the shadows of suburban columbus... when i got home at 3am my shoes, socks, feet, and jeans were soaked and muddied. but it was a fun time lurking between buildings and subdivisions to find some good graf on the rails:

Reasons why I love ABOVE

2009-05-03T23:35:00.002-04:00

~5 pictures and their captions from ABOVE'S website, goabove.com ~

5:
Visualize yourself in ancient medieval war times.
The spray can is your sword and you opponent is the wall.
This tag is the trace of your swift, agile, and fierce power moves.

OSLO, NORWAY
2006

4:
RI >>>CHPOOR
(stealing from the rich and giving to the poor)

The good intention excuses the bad action
-PORTUGUESE PROVERB

LISBON, PORTUGAL
2008

3:
When I was 17 I would skateboard with my friend Larry.
He swore that I had Tourette's Syndrome because I used the 4-letter word a lot.
I didn't believe him then, but now I see what he was talking about.
"GENIUS IS 1% INSPIRATION, AND 99% PERSPIRATION."
-Thomas A. Edison
*WATCH THE VIDEO*
BARCELONA, SPAIN

2:
"HIT/MISS"
Warsaw Poland has an unfortunate history of being devastated by war.
In 1945 Warsaw was about 85% demolished by bombings.
HIT/MISS is a comment on the thousands of Bombshells that had been aimed at Warsaw.

WARSAW, POLAND
2006

... and #1, a series of photos exploring one particular project:
Writing on walls dates back to pre-historic cave men. Every race of humans have the innate tendency to write on walls. Even our very first learning experiences as children in school train and teach us to write on walls.

Can you blame us as we get older that we keep doing it?

LISBON, PORTUGAL
2008

"The skool of easy knocks"

"The skool of hard knocks"
Undeserved punishment is better than that which is deserved
-CLASSROOM PROVERB

"Laws alone can not secure freedom of expression: in order that every man present his views without penalty there must be spirit of tolerance in the entire population."
-Albert Einstein

"PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT"

Public Art in Grand Rapids: Chalk Flood

2009-05-03T20:05:00.000-04:00

PSFK recently highlighted a public art project in Grand Rapids Michigan, where "thousands of participants used 30,000 multicolored sidewalk chalk sticks to draw all over several blocks of the city’s downtown."

I like the idea! Kudos to organizer Rob Bliss.

Titi Freak's Koi Fish

2009-04-23T12:35:00.004-04:00

Found at NOTCOT, this is fresh work from Brazil's Titi Freak. "Hamilton Yokota (aka Titi Freak) is a São Paulo native with Japanese ancestry, resulting in a mixture of personal qualities that stem from his combined cultural backgrounds" (taken from here). Apparently staying in Osaka, Japan for the past three months, he has painted some amazing koi fish on the streets:

Good Local Shots

2009-04-23T11:33:00.002-04:00

...around Columbus:

The Cape Of Good Hope

2009-04-17T10:04:00.001-04:00

Amazing work by South African street artist Faith47:

Faith47-The Cape Of Good Hope from Rowan on Vimeo.

Good Local Shots

2009-04-14T10:47:00.004-04:00

More shots from around Columbus...

(Left:factory entrance; Right: CARMA, DUB)

(Left:BREM; Right: SAYER)

(Left: SUBAR(?); Right: ELMER)

Easter Fun

2009-04-12T18:29:00.001-04:00

from this year's easter festivities...

Easter AIG Hunt

2009-04-11T15:54:00.003-04:00

I saw this on Wooster Collective and I had to pass this on... new stenciling and street art by ABOVE, speaking to the current economic crisis and the AIG scandal...

EASTER AIG HUNT from ABOVE on Vimeo.

Urban Astronomy: New from ENESS

2009-04-08T22:53:00.005-04:00

The latest project from Melbourne-based ENESS, a design/public installation/software development group, is The Humble Telescope:

Taken from their website:

Many of us are curious about the universe around us,
however for most of us the task of star gazing is out
of reach. Light pollution in our cities prevents us from
seeing the marvel that is the night sky.

The Humble Telescope is designed as an interactive
civic sculpture that brings the wonders of space down
to earth and into our cities, to encourage us learn more
about the universe and perhaps appreciate our own
world a little more.

Inside the telescope exists a 3D simulation of our entire
known universe. Pointing the telescope in any direction
immediately shows us what exists in that area of space,
so now we can get a greater understanding of where
the planets are and where we live in the Milky Way

Day 4 and 5 in NYC: Poetics

2009-04-01T17:31:00.007-04:00

Sunday was a great day of relaxing. We got brunch from Park Slope's V-Spot and watched a documentary, Dark Days, about a community of homeless people who lived near Penn Station in the tunnels of the NYC subway system. One of the men living in the community was a graf writer, MentOne.

Monday we walked around Alphabet City/the East Village and stumbled on these (the first one made me think of Cincy, the second one is called "Abraham Obama" by Ron English):

That night was the open mic and slam poetry competition at Bar 13. Start tried out two new pieces and took third. Two of his friends read poetry as well, Victoria went in the open mic session along with a host of other great poets/performers, and Jared took second in the slam. After the show was over we went to Reservoir Bar and acted a fool in the back corner of the place until late into the night... the pictures are dark 'cause I didn't want to use a flash.

It was also a special evening because it was renowned poet Marty McConnell's last night in New York. Tuesday she and a friend drove to Chicago where she will continue doing poetry. Marty will be in Columbus in the spring (not sure when but I'm sure I'll post it when I find out). If you're close enough to make it up here you should, she's worth your time and any minimal cover there might be. Here's a video of her on HBO's (or is sit Showtime's?) Def Poetry Jam:

Work To Do: Day 3 in NYC

2009-03-31T02:34:00.012-04:00

Saturday I got a chance to walk around the city on my own. Start had to meet with an academic colleague, so I loitered around SoHo soaking up the street art and popping my head in to some galleries... lots of walking. I stopped by the 112 Greene St Studio for their "Work To Do" exhibition. Wow! Lots of artists came together for this collaborative show. Here are some of the pictures I got:

After the Green Street Studio, I found some great street art around the area. While I was admiring the work I got into a conversation with another street art enthusiast who hipped me to Ryan McGinness's work at the Deitch Project's 18 Wooster Street gallery. Taken from the artist's statement I grabbed: "[McGinness's] work combines all-over composition, inspired by Jackson Pollock and the mechanical silkscreen process inspired by Andy Warhol....McGinness's paintings reflect his own mental landscapes. His compositions reflect the infinite, ever-flowing continuum of the universe." Pics:

And, there are pics from my walk around SoHo/LES:

The Land of Tall Bldgs (Day 2 in NYC)

2009-03-28T12:34:00.009-04:00

Friday Start and I walked around Williamsburg (neighborhood in Brooklyn) to do a little street art hunting. We got some energy for the day at the Bliss Cafe, a small spot on Bedford Ave. Cheap and healthy vegan sandwiches are their game. The food was good (I had the BBQ tempeh) but I was quite annoyed after the same damn Alicia Keys song played for the third time in fifteen minutes... no joke.

Here are some pictures from the Williamsburg walk.

Faile:

Imminent Disaster (click on these to see the large view and check out the detail):

Know Hope:

Nohj Coley (yes, the woman's top is intricately cut out... wow):

RIME:

Zoso:

...and there's more on my flickr page... LOTS more!

Friday night was a fun night that turned into a pub crawl of sorts through the East Village dive bars:

First we met two friends at ACE... typical dive bar, except THEY HAVE SKEE-BALL (how cool is that?)! AND you can play in their skee-ball league. After a couple beers we went to 7B to wait for some more people to join the flock. 7B seems to be well liked, but I kinda thought it was a bust... choches to spare, not room to move at all. Once the others arrived we headed over to Botanica (the former location of the Knitting Factory) to meet up with another group of people. This was a great spot! Low ceilings and cleanned-up exposed brick walls made for comfy quarters, but with enough room to breathe and move about freely. An awesome DJ spinning old funk, and a laid back indy/artsy crowd. When our group began to dissipate, we went across the street for some subs to soak up a bit of the alcohol and then went to another bar (I don't remember this one so well) for a few more drinks before calling it a night.

Trip to NYC + Day 1

2009-03-27T10:55:00.013-04:00

Wednesday I went up to Brooklyn to visit Start, an AMAZINGLY gifted poet and also one of my closest friends for the past 5+ years (here's his myspace and wordpress websites).

On my first full day in the city we went to The Tenement Museum . The museum educates the greater masses about immigrant life in NYC, roughly between the mid-to-late 1800s up through the economic hard times of the Great Depression, through guided tours. The tours take place in an old tenement building on the Lower East Side (Orchard St) where former residences have been designed to period. You can choose from several tours: you can take a guided neighborhood walk, listen to a Jewish family's stories of getting by during the Great Depression, learn about immigrants in the old garment industry, or hear the stories of Irish immigrants.

(I snagged this from the museum's website)

We did the tour called "Getting By" about an Italian and a Jewish family living on 97 Orchard St during the tenement heyday and then during the Great Depression. There were a couple of audio tapes featuring a quirky-yet-adorable woman reminiscing on her younger days in the tenement; singing songs on her mother's bedroom chest and listening to Italian music on the radio... over-all a good time. Only $13 for the tour.

Thursday night, Start was a featured poet for a Brooklyn College event. I'm including a short bio that I asked him to email me. Please look him up (websites above) and see his shows if you're in NYC.

Start is a poet/performer/grad student who believes that these 3 roles have a symbiotic relationship in his life. After being raised in the biggest city in the great bluegrass state of Kentucky and spending years around the greater Cincinnati area, start relocated to Brooklyn to pursue dreams of better, more efficient poetry as well as a master’s degree in psychology. He believes in the power of tattoos, dictionaries, and thesauruses, and is working for the day he and friends set up an incredibly multi-purpose non-profit organization.

Also present at the event were Mahogany Browne and Jive Poetic, Friday and Wednesday night slam hosts respectively at the famous Nuyorican Poets Cafe... good poetry and and free pizza. I was a happy camper!

Body Tagging Video!

2009-03-27T10:52:00.002-04:00

Ethan has finished the Body Tagging video and it looks great... you can find out more information at his blog: ethandancesinpublic.blogspot.com

Sunday Body Tagging in the Nati

2009-03-23T16:34:00.006-04:00

KEEP AN EYE ON ETHAN'S BLOG FOR THE VIDEO COMING SOON:

SUCH A GREAT TIME!

This Sunday Ethan Philbrick organized a group to go body tagging. I was very happy to be apart of this.

Photo credits go to Chris Breeden. Participants include:

dan davidson
kenneth wright
ashley hollingsworth
michael reece
kim burgas
claire timmerman
william lohr
ethan philbrick
justine ludwig
jeff elrod
eli braun
chelsea varnum
julianna bloodgood

Saturday Night at the Kingsgate Marriott

2009-03-23T15:33:00.003-04:00

Saturday night, a group of friends had a post Rat-a-Tat(who played at Bogarts) party at the Kingsgate Marriott in Cincinnati... what looked like a party bound for being busted turned out to be one of the best times I've had at a hotel in a long time. After a couple of complaints by the neighbors, the night concierge offered us the first floor lobby to have our party. We were escorted to a deserted lounge/lobby area with tvs, hallways to explore, and a back plaza to smoke and play on. They brought us trash cans and a rolling bucket with ice for our beers. We were never asked to keep it down, and we were treated amazingly!!

We found a pitcher full of spoons and created our own symphony (inspired by Ethan's "Playing Spaces"). Debauchery all around and great times. At another point we created our own version of hotel jousting: picture kneeling on the seat of a rolling office chair while someone else propels you towards your opponent, your shield is a large wait-staff serving tray, and your sword is a pair of spatula-shaped tongs.

City Swings: Interactive Street Art in Sweden

2009-03-19T21:54:00.002-04:00

Akay and Peter installed 65 swings throughout Stockholm's urban environment. Swings + Public Engagement = AWESOME!

Sheep Art?

2009-03-18T23:46:00.001-04:00

Hmm...

..any thoughts?

Good Local Shots:

2009-03-17T13:48:00.005-04:00

I really enjoy these walks...

(FAUS, RASKOE, CHRIS2)

(CURS DESTO PBJ)

(SENT RUMS NUS ???)

Now you can leave comments!

2009-03-17T02:01:00.003-04:00

I fixed the settings. Try it out and see for yourself! Find your favorite old post and leave a comment, then comment on someone else's comment. Let's get conversations flowing.

Space Invader video

2009-03-16T12:17:00.002-04:00

London-based street artist, Space Invader uses tiles to create hyper-pixelated mosaic characters from the video games of old. Amazing stuff... this guy is up all over the world, and is one of street arts greats.

SPACE INVADER #763
by extermitent

The Periodic Table of Typefaces...

2009-03-12T18:00:00.004-04:00

Taken from Behance.net:

The Periodic Table of Typefaces is obviously in the style of all the thousands of over-sized Periodic Table of Elements posters hanging in schools and homes around the world. This particular table lists 100 of the most popular, influential and notorious typefaces today.

As with traditional periodic tables, this table presents the subject matter grouped categorically. The Table of Typefaces groups by families and classes of typefaces: sans-serif, serif, script, blackletter, glyphic, display, grotesque, realist, didone, garalde, geometric, humanist, slab-serif and mixed.

Behold, the Pentaminx

2009-03-10T13:33:00.002-04:00

And you thought the Rubik's Cube would drive you crazy...

Wow... this is an all around exercise in meticulousness.

More here.

Worth the Watch:

2009-03-09T15:19:00.005-04:00

Next: A Primer on Urban Painting is a well documented look at the global street art scene that has been unavoidably exploding across urban landscapes throughout the world. Produced, researched and directed by Pablo Aravena, this film covers the top dogs of London, Tel Aviv, Berlin, Montreal, Sao Paulo, Japan and more. Artist reflect on the process, products, and philosophies of their art forms. Interviews with amazing artists like pioneer Lee Quinones, Swoon, Kami & Sasu, Os Gemeos and Mode 2. Action clips of The London Police and too many more to name.

WANNA KNOW MORE? Check out SubmarineChannel's interview with Pablo Aravena.

"...I believe that Hip Hop culture and by extension graffiti have created a new way for us to relate that breaks barriers of class, race and sex. If you think about the origins of this culture it was created by young people in New York who had no means to express themselves. They created their own tools (i.e. breakdancing, graffiti, mcing, DJ-ing) to express their situation and their lives and empower themselves in a society that did not validate their existence. Other people in different parts of the world, with different realities and problems, related to the original New York experience and then took these tools and strategies and started to use them to express their reality."
(taken from SubmarineChannel's interview)

Get a copy and watch this inspiring look at the worldwide graffiti phenomenon's most innovative contributors... you could even buy it on iTunes.

Who's Who in the Street Art Scene

2009-03-08T13:46:00.002-04:00

Take a look at this article from Streetsy.com, 40+ Street Artists You Should Know Besides Banksy.

Great Stuff from graffiti to stncils to wheatpastes and posters... its all in there and some of the most innovative and prolific heads in the street art scene are featured. Some pictures from the article:

(c215)

(Thundercut)

(Swoon)

Ron Mueck, Hyperrealist Sculptor

2009-03-05T20:57:00.002-05:00

I was amazed to see Ron Mueck's sculptures and had to pass this along...

("A Girl")

Ron Mueck is an Australian-born hyperrealist who used to work in the burgeoning animatronics field of the 80s and 90s, most notably working with Jim Henson and on the movie, The Labrynth.

("Mask II")

Check out more pictures of his work at the Washington Post.

More Digital Projections

2009-03-05T18:30:00.003-05:00

Here's another recent video about digital projections as public art, this time from French design and 3D video mapping group EasyWeb. EasyWeb's creators have more of an architectural focus, playing with the forms and volumes of the buildings onto which the images are projected. Great stuff...

(video found at NotCot)

Good Local Shots

2009-03-04T23:33:00.006-05:00

(Left to Right, Top to Bottom: MERJE ENDS; MERJE ENDS; "You love me so much its ridiculous"; NEM NUS WREKS; Door tags; GRAMS)

JUE | MUSIC | ART: Asia's Cultural Scene

2009-03-03T10:58:00.005-05:00

Check out what the indie art and music scenes in Shanghai and Beijing are up to... this is a video recap of the JUE Festival, which happened recently in both cities. The festival intentionally mixes art, music and fashion into an exciting atmosphere in the hopes that a broader cultural appreciation might develop. 2 CITIES 10 DAYS 25 EVENTS 57 MUSICIANS 34 ARTISTS 12.600 ATTENDEES:

...wanna know more? Check out Shanghaiist.com's articles on the event.

(photos taken from Shanghaiist.com, video is from PSFK)

Final Friday in Cincy

2009-03-01T11:05:00.009-05:00

Friday night was Cincinnati's Final Friday Gallery Walk. I decided to check out the galleries along Main St. in stead of going to the Pendleton Arts Center. Jake Constantine 's "A Comma in the Sky" exhibition at the Creative Gallery was playful, exploring the media's influence on life, culture and art. His show hangs until March 25 and the Creative Gallery is at 1315 Main St... check it out.

(I laughed out loud when I saw the VHS in a casket... maybe it was the wine, but I still think its pretty fun)

Just a couple doors down, Andrew Neyer showed his "Pick a Pocket" series of large cut-out figures painted with acrylic at the 1305 Gallery. Each figure has an over-sized pocket with a wallet inside for you to rummage through.

At the Chamber offices, Visionaries and Voices artist Kevin White showed his work, "Life on Canvas"... intense color palettes, patterns of lines and dots.

And at Peaslee Neighborhood Center, Tim Freeman has his photography up in the main lobby. I didn't get any pictures, but think grainy inner-city portraits and cityscapes on textured paper.

After the galleries, some friends and I went down to the Contemporary Arts Center, who has rejoined the event line-up for final fridays. CAC presents CAC Contemporary Fridays, a post-gallery walk event with DJs spinning tracks, drinks and dancing. It was a fun time with a decent turn out, but we walked in on a series of older rock ballad-type songs that (to me) was quite off-putting. Once some Michael Jackson remixes came on, I was a happy camper :) Not quite sure how the event is profitable, seeing as though I watched a number of people come in without paying a cover (myself included) and the amount of staff on hand seemed like over-kill. But oh well, not my problem.

Around 11:30 we headed over to Gypsy Hut in Northside to see GLUE... great live performance as always. If you can check them out.

Altermodernism: A Global Approach to Art

2009-02-26T14:02:00.003-05:00

French cultural theorist Nicholas Bourriaud declares the death of postmodernism and the rise of altermodernism at the Tate Triennial. In contrast to modernism and postmodernism which are grounded in specific cultures or specific multi-culturalisms, altermodernist style creates art from a global foundation inspired by exponentially-advanced communication and information tools. Listen to his insights in this video:

...any thoughts?

Good Local Shots

2009-02-25T15:54:00.004-05:00

I found this playground for writers today... I was giddy.

Graffiti Goes... Green?

2009-02-25T00:48:00.007-05:00

Recently, there has been a noticeable amount of blog coverage for a newer trend in streetart: digital projections. Of course we all remember the laser light shows from our childhood, and that's been around for a long time. But check out what its subversive contemporary counterparts are up to today...

.
(from Graffiti Research Lab, GRL)

Beautiful Crime posted this video, highlighting a software program from GRL:

Wooster Collective posted this picture from French graffiti artist Mr. A (aka Monsieur A, Andre or Mr. Andre):

and PSFK blogged about HeHe's award-winning work, Nuage Vert. The green projection was a commentary on energy dependence, waste and pollution, using the emissions from a Helsinki power plant as its canvas:
.

In addition to this trend in digital projection, BC, also calls attention to "a growing artistic trend, up-cycling." Not too long ago, Neozoon's up-cycled fur coats showed up on flickr pools and blogs:

Not only is Neozoon's work making a statement about ethical treatment for animals, but also--through its process of creation--about reusing materials. These two trends of digitally-produced projections and upcycling point to a discussion about "green graffiti." A lot of times, the art itself is environmentally-based propaganda or takes its visual reference from nature in the first place.

The process of making and executing streetart and graffiti is exploring the green terrain. Sure aerosol is a big hurdle, but we've got some good inspiration to keep going: Low-VOC paints, organic dyes, upcycled/recycled/local materials, flour-based paste...

Miss Great Lakes EOY 2009 (2nd Night)

2009-02-23T10:58:00.024-05:00

My friend Brian came up for the final night of the pageant, and more of the Columbus gays were there as well. Erica Andrews (National EOY 2006) co-hosted the evening... she looked flawless, and as the dozen or so drinks she had sank in, rants of sexually-explicit scenarios in Spanish were frequent. Here's a picture of Erica (left) and Nina West (right) addressing the crowd from the MC podium.

The night's performances were highlighted by numbers from Kitty Litter, Savion Simpson Black, D'Andre, Paige Passion, Dee Ranged, Nina West, Erica Andrews, Amber Stone, Hershae' Chocolate', and the four contestants. These pics are from the non-contestant talent of the evening:

Erica:

Nina:

Kitty:
(w/ Brian)

Dee:

Amber Stone:

Nickki Stevens:

Hershae Chocolate:

Savion Simpson Black:

THE CONTESTANTS:

Dashae(?) Desmond-Rose

Sashay Love

Trinity Taylor

AND THE WINNER IS (what a great time for my camera batteries to die)... TRINITY TAYLOR!

Miss Great Lakes EOY 2009 (1st Night)

2009-02-22T11:15:00.012-05:00

Last night was bittersweet. Great entertainment with a lackluster attendance. My question: where was the big Columbus gay scene for the pageant? Thursday night you were out in force. And if the pageant would've happened at 11pm in stead of 8:30, you'd probably make it for the last half.

I'll be up front in admitting that I didn't stay for the cabaret that followed on the second floor, but the attendance from the local community for the pageant was obviously absent. The owner of the National EOY Pageant made it in. So did Missouri EOY 2008 Kitty Litter from St. Louis; Mr. EOY 2003 D'Andre from Houston; Mr. EOY 2008 Savion Simpson-Black; Nickki Stevens from Detroit; National EOY 2007 Dee Ranged; the Toronto EOY representative; queens from all over the state; and your hometown hero Miss Nina West, current National EOY title holder. But Columbus queers.... nope.

Oh well... the performances were great. Trinity Taylor's Trinspa Commercial was hilarious (a little too reminiscent of the I Love Lucy Vitameatavegamin routine, but still funny). Dee Ranged did the madonna/baby routine I blogged about recently (except apparently it was Whintey Houston's "I'm Every Woman"). Nina did her Beauty and the Beast number, and Kitty killed it with a dance that ended night one of the pageant. Here are my pics...

Nina West:

Kitty Litter:

Trinity Taylor:

Dee Ranged:

D'Andre:

Queer Cincinnati

2009-02-21T10:57:00.005-05:00

For those of you who don't know, my good friend Barry has an awesome blog - QueerCincinnati.com - to keep all of the Cincinnati queers (and queers from all over) up to speed with the world of the LGBT community. Also, here's his twitter feed. Check it out regularly as his posts are frequent and worth the read. On a late night perusal of the interwebs I found this commercial posted on his blog. The commercial comes from the website wv4marriage.com ...AAAND ITS A DOOZY! WATCH OUT, BREEDERS... WE'RE ON THE ATTACK!!

Ruby, Freesia, and Nina

2009-02-20T15:26:00.003-05:00

Last night was a fun night that started at Ruby Tuesday (the bar, not the chain restaurant). I was invited to go see Ethan (this is his blog about doing dances/movement in public places) perform with his friend Issac. The show opened with a performance piece by Micah: He was hilarious... made the half of the bar that was playing pool feel EXTREMELY AWKWARD (yay!). Ethan and Issac played a set together that captured everyone's attention and moved from upbeat to melancholy and ended with a fast-paced plucking piece. Ethan plays cello and Issac plays guitar. Good stuff... they're playing this Saturday at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati if you wanna check it out (and I suggest you do).

After the show, Ethan, his partner Will and I went to Union for a couple drinks. Still being new to the city, I was happily surprised to see a full house, $3 Long Islands (made shot for shot. no mix crap), and Nina West performing with other queens (of which we only caught Freesia Balls and Nina).

Thanks for the free shots! ...And here's another plug that this Saturday and Sunday is the Miss Great Lakes EOY 2009 Pageant.

It's at Axis.

ANSER: A Torontoist Interview

2009-02-18T20:12:00.006-05:00

Torontoist recently posted an interview with graffiti and street artist ANSER....wow! It's good. Really good! ANSER's perspective on street art and graffiti is mutually respectable and insightful.
Taken from the interview:

Torontoist: I almost think of street art and graffiti not as two separate things but as sort of the same...

ANSER: Oh, they're totally separate, they're totally separate. I mean you look at the mediums that they use. Street art to me is the more artistic, the more easy-to-access side of graffiti. Graffiti really is a totally different cultural phenomenon that people are participating in.

T: Like having a huge tag on a wall is more graffiti...

A: Oh, that is graffiti. And someone who does an amazing image and puts it on a poster and posts it up—that's street art. It's having a dialogue with a total different medium, total different people, total different space. And to be honest, I agree more with street art.

T: And that's why you moved a bit from graffiti to street art...

A: But I love graffiti. So that's why I'm in between these two boundaries. Personally, I do do some postering, I do do some other forms of street art. But really, I think the thing that attracts me so much to graffiti is that it's a moment in time that is a moment of creation, where you have to step to this spot, you have no time to think... And that is why I think a lot of graffiti artists can't appreciate street art—because you're removing that instantaneous creation.

---end quote
THIS INTERVIEW IS WORTH THE READ! Here's the link.

...and thanks to Wooster Collective for cluing in those of us who missed the post early yesterday morning.

Worth the look: Friends We Love and Poster Boy

2009-02-18T10:19:00.004-05:00

Friends We Love is an amazing video series where cutting-edge artists and creators from across the spectrum of contemporary life share their connection to the creative process. Everyone from musicians and producers to fashion designers, street artists, and other awesome people are showcased in these short features. The second video below is one example of Friends We Love's work, an intimate 2 minutes with Poster Boy. I've added the first video as an introduction to Poster Boy's art.

Body Tagging in Melbourne

2009-02-17T02:08:00.001-05:00

This is great... thanks Ethan.

Tag from Patrick Jones on Vimeo.

POS at Skully's

2009-02-16T16:40:00.008-05:00

Rapper P.O.S. (of the Rhymesayers label) will be at Skully's. P.O.S. (with Plain Ole Bill and others) are performing in Columbus this Wednesday and are sure to put on a good show. The performance is part of a CD launch tour for his latest album, Never Better, which came out on the 3rd of this month. Don't expect this to be your typical hip hop show. POS's musical style borrows heavily from punk and rock, and transcends the idea of genre. Check out his video "Drumroll" off the new album.

Seen on the streets of...

2009-02-16T15:50:00.003-05:00

Sao Paulo:

London:

Melbourne:

SanFran:

Toronto:

Berlin:

New York:

Ethan and Kim on Vimeo

2009-02-14T13:11:00.004-05:00

This is a video made by former co-workers of mine... great stuff exploring movement and public space in downtown Cincinnati. Read the description on the linked webpage and take a look at Ethan's other videos... or better yet, here's his blog. Oh how I miss the Smoked Gouda sandwich from Coffee Emporium!

coffee shop exploration from Ethan Philbrick on Vimeo.

A Second Look: C'bus Graf

2009-02-14T12:39:00.007-05:00

Yesterday I went out on my second excursion to find more graf in Columbus. I was more impressed with what I found on this trip than the first one. Just like the ATL graf pics below, these are only a few of the ones I snapped. See the rest of the flicks here.

ATL Graff:

2009-02-12T10:31:00.005-05:00

Just got my pictures back from a trip to Atlanta. This past labor day (and black pride) I spent the long weekend in ATL and found A TON of graf in Little Five Points. I met one of the store owner's of Bazaar, an amalgamation of indie vendors selling everything from incense and soaps, to CDs, design tees, handbags and a lot more. He schooled me to the LIES piece below. My cousin took me to the krog street bridge and cabbage town. Below are a few of my favorites... the rest are on my flickr page.

Nice Style: WREKS Throwie

2009-02-11T15:04:00.007-05:00

Found this picture on Hahn Concker's flickr page. Great graf pics from around Columbus. I personally LOVE the one above. This "WREKS" by REKS is killin' it!

Was Shepard Fairey's Arrest the Boston Cops' Political "Fuck You" to Mayor Menino?

2009-02-10T20:44:00.001-05:00

Street artist Shepard Fairey--known mostly for his OBEY giant campaign in 1989 and the early '90s, and his Obama HOPE poster of late (pictured above)-- was arrested in Boston this past friday as he was pulling into his show opening at the Institute of Contemporary Art. Wooster Collective received a letter from Dave Combs, who was in the cab with Fairey when police officers arrested him, that suggests Boston piggies were attempting to insight a riot as political revenge on their Mayor, Thomas Menino. Apparently Mayor Menino strong-armed the police force into wage freezes this year and the officers were not happy about it.Read Comb's account here and decide for yourself what the fuzz is up to.

On a related note... check out the NY Times' update on the battle between Fairey and the Associated Press. The AP originally went after Fairey, claiming copyright infringement for use of their photography in the making of the Obama HOPE poster, and now Fairey's attacking back with his own lawsuit claiming "fair use."

Worth your time: Andy Warhol, drag queens, and hip hop

2009-02-10T09:21:00.000-05:00

Here are some upcoming events that will be worth your time:

Happening in Columbus:

ANDY WARHOL: OTHER VOICES, OTHER ROOMS @ The Wexner Center

Sept 13, 2008 - Feb 15, 2009 (its the last week to see it!)
Sure, I'm behind on this one, but I just moved back. This thursday from 4-8pm its free to get in and they'll have alcohol for purchase. Adult admission (outside of Thurs evening): $8

GREAT LAKES EOY 2009 @ Axis

Feb. 21, 8pm & Feb. 22, 9p
General admission: $8 (call for tables)
This will be a pageant worth seeing so get there early. The doors open an hour before it begins. It's an official pre-lim for the National Entertainer of the Year Pageant. Dee Ranged (national EOY 2007) will obviously be there (yay!). I'm excited to see her living up here in Columbus... I can remember her Spicy Diva days at Pipline (former Cincy gay bar) back in '03. Her performance to Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" killed it.

Happening in Cincinnati:

GLUE @ Gypsy Hut

Feb. 27, they say it'll start at 10, but i'd guess most likely 11ish
Admission: $3-5
I always love when Glue stops by Cincinnati for one of their regular shows at Gypsy Hut. This three part hip hop group (DjDQ, Adeem, & Maker) always put on a great show and make great music. Who knows... maybe Mr. Dibbs will be there too?! Now that the Northslice pizza window is open in the back of the bar you can soak up some of the alcohol and satisfy your munchies before you call it a night.

Worth the look: ENESS

2009-02-09T10:40:00.001-05:00

ENESS is an interactive design group out of Melbourne, Australia. They create electronic and interactive-based installations. Here's one from Earlier in the winter.

Here's their website. Take a look at the "Latest Creations" tab for details on their work.

Columbus... first impressions

2009-02-08T21:05:00.001-05:00

Friday was my first full day back in Columbus. I decided to walk the OSU campus, Short North, and Arena District) to see if I could blindly find some good stickers, pastes, or graf... this is what I found on day one:

Saturday night was the monthly gallery hop on High St. I was glad to see some great work. The Kiaca Gallery (Contemporary African Art)exhibited Andre Coleman's work: large-scale portraits of jazz's legends done with graphite... very nice.

Maggie Hardin and Trish Lander's show was another great stop at the Sean Christopher Gallery at Health Perspectives. Here's a quick pic i took of Maggie's mask-inspired sculptures:

After the gallery hop, we got a bite to eat at Press Grill and then went over to Axis for Virginia West Presents: FREAKSHOW. Great performances by most of the queens, plus I got to see Penny Tration... looks like we both made the trip up from Cincy!

Over-all... a good first weekend back.

Best of Cincinnati

2009-02-06T22:05:00.000-05:00

Update: I'm moving back to Columbus... well... ok I've already moved, but I do have my place in Cincy for the next week. Leaving the Nati has made me reflect on all the great places it has to offer. And with all of these memories bottling up in my head, I decided to compile my own "Best of." So here are my 50 favorite food- and entertainment-centered places not to miss in the 513.

~The Gay Bars~
... if its "not your scene" then get over it
Bronz's Hip Hop Night (Thursdays at the northside gay bar)
Friday night drag shows at The Dock
Saturdays at Adonis
Bullfishes
Below Zero Lounge
Golden Lion Lounge
Serpent (Check out their sex shop, 77 Leather )

~The Northside Stuff~
...for the out-of-towners, this is a great neighborhood known for social activism, cincy's indie scene (okay, hipsterville if you wanna be a dick about it)
Gypsy Hut (while you're there, grab some pizza at Northslice)
Northside Tavern
Blue Rock Tavern
Melt
The Hideaway
Portofino's
NYPD Pizza
Boswell Alley
Shake It Records
Bughouse Video

~Gas Light District~
...nice walkable neighborhood off of UC's campus
Matthew O'Brien Diggs III Plaza (Nice sculpture/fountain, Jazz in the summer)
Esquire Theatre
Ambar India
Habanero
Thai Cafe

~OTR~
...Cincinnati's controversial ghetto-turned-artsy-turned-gentrified neighborhood adjacent to the central business district. still good times to be had despite the influx of assholes.
Elementz (non-profit hip hop youth center!)
Final Friday Gallery Walk
Peaslee Center (great early child development program and innovative preschool gardening curriculum)
Venice On Vine (good pizza with an inspiring reason to eat it)
Know Theatre (indie theater company)
Grammer's (lots of board games, free popcorn(!), friday dance parties)
Mr. Pitiful's
Kaldi's (RIP... come back soon)
Mixx
Lucy Blue pizza window (Walnut St location)
Coffee Emporium (good sandwiches, too!)
Courtyard Cafe
Tucker's (I prefer the one on Vine St)

~Downtown~
...go forth... make your city
Paul Brown Stadium (Go Bengals!)
Fountain Square
Rock Bottom (sit on the patio and have the beer sampler after work)
Via Vite
Palomino's (great view of the square)
Ingredients (good lunches)
Akash India
Diner on Elm (formerly the Marrakech Cafe... GREAT falafel)
Arnold's
Madonna's
The Beer Sellar (good view of the city from the riverfront)

~Other~
Mt. Echo Park (good view of the city from the west. plus, who doesn't love swings?!
Bellevue Hill Park (in Clifton... good view of OTR and the city from the north)
Annie's (home of Scribble Jam... here's a pic of Anna and I at the 2008 event)
Cincy Graf (Annie's; highways 71, 75, and 562; rooftops of OTR and Northside)
Contemporary Arts Center (its free on mondays, 5-9pm)
Saturday's at OTRCH (affordable housing non-profit)