December 12, 2008
Give Em Props!: Pablo Aravena on "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac
"A book that continues to inspire me is "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac. After reading it at 17 I worked for a whole year to save up to go to Europe. I wanted to do the same thing Sal did but Eurailing. Ever since then I travel as much as possible to experience the thrill of discovery and life on the move. I am fascinated with the life and type of people the book depicted. Bohemians, musicians, artists, criminals, drug addicts, outsiders who are so alive creating, living on the edge. I guess what the characters in the book were doing, the whole idea of living life in certain way in order to create, play music, write, paint, it was inspirational to me."... Pablo Aravena
Note from Wooster: Pablo's terrific documentary, NEXT: A Primer on Urban Painting, is finally out on DVD. The DVD extras include Live Painting in Miami w/ Barnstormers, HVW8 & Inkheads, Live Painting in Miami featuring Lee, Doze & Dzine, Tony Alva in Paris. You can get it by clicking here.
Posted by marc at 6:38 AM in Give 'Em Props! | Recommend this! (1) |
| Give Em Props!: King Adz on Hunter Thompson
"I discovered the work of Dr Hunter S. Thompson twenty years ago and it has inspired my writing and film-making activities on a daily basis ever since. The book that turned me on to him was Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and there has never been anything to touch him since. He has a unique voice and a fearless attitude to all things authoritarian, and it is this that keeps me motivated and working. I am currently in the final stages of production of my street art doc/feature An Illegal Film about Street Art that I have spent the last 10 years of my life and own money on, and it is Hunter's attitude that keeps me going..."... King Adz
King Adz new book, The Urban Cookbook is out now by Thames and Hudson. You can learn more about it here.
The Urban Cookbook Film from king adz on Vimeo.
Posted by marc at 1:05 AM in Give 'Em Props! | Recommend this! (1) |
November 28, 2008
"Give 'Em Props!": Christofer Chin on Katharina Grosse's Double Floor Painting
"Is there ONE painting, book, stencil, sculpture, or piece of architecture that truly inspires you in your daily work?"
"Katharina Grosse's "Double Floor Painting"... Christofer Chin (aka Tofer)
Posted by marc at 8:22 AM in Give 'Em Props! | Recommend this! (17) |
November 26, 2008
"Give 'Em Props!": Ji Lee on "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus"
"Is there ONE painting, book, stencil, sculpture, or piece of architecture that truly inspires you in your daily work?"
"Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" c. 1554-55, oil on canvas
by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Netherlands (1525-1569)
In Ancient Greek mythology by Ovid, Icarus, succeeded in flying, with wings made of feathers secured with wax, but he flew too close to the sun (metaphor for god), melting the wax, and fell into the sea and drowned. His legs can be seen in the water, just below the ship. It's a tragic story of human greed and arrogance.
What I like about this painting is that the main subject of the painting is barely shown. It's a tiny little detail on the bottom right. While the hero drowns, the life goes on: The farmer is plowing the earth, the shepherd is daydreaming and it's just another beautiful and warm day. It's pretty revolutionary for any artist (specially for a 16th century artist) to place his main subject so physically insignificant on the canvas. Once you notice the dangling legs, it's impossible not to look at them again and again. There's so much psychological tension and drama in such a small detail. The painting itself is beautiful with seductive, round shapes and the red shirt of the farmer stands out to wake up the viewer. I was very fortunate to see this painting live in Brussels. It's absolutely hypnotic and seductive. It inspires me to think outside the box each time I look at it. I believe some of my work, specially the "Parallel World" installation was somehow influenced by this painting.""... Ji Lee
Posted by marc at 7:08 AM in Give 'Em Props! | Recommend this! (13) |
November 25, 2008
"Give 'Em Props!": Adam Neate on "West Coast" featuring Mark Gonzales.
"the main art form that inspires me daily to get up and paint is music. my tastes in music change over the years like most people. So i´ll leave a link to one song/music video i saw about 10 years ago. I must have watched it about 300 times. The music is great, the lyrics are strong, the video is of one of my all time heroes in action. When i first saw him make this performance I didn´t really get it as much as i do now. I guess that´s the key to most geniouses, they are way ahead of their time in what they do."... Adam Neate
Posted by marc at 7:49 AM in Give 'Em Props! | Recommend this! (42) |
"Give 'Em Props!": Ephameron on "De Baadster" (The Bathing Girl) by Léon Spilliaert
"Is there ONE painting, book, stencil, sculpture, or piece of architecture that truly inspires you in your daily work?"
"De Baadster" (The Bathing Girl) by Léon Spilliaert
Ever since I can remember, I've had this poster in my old bedroom at my parents' house. Flemish artist Léon Spilliaert (1881-1946) was the first one ever whose works spoke to me in a special way and made me want to create art myself, as a little girl. The colours and composition captivate a feeling that can't be described in words. Spilliaert was a master in valuing the silence of an image and the desperateness of emotions. The way he puts down lines and shades is mesmerising... Nowadays, I still have a clipped picture of the image on my "wall of inspiration" that I look at daily, and I truly still feel his artistic influence on my own work every day"... Ephameron
Posted by marc at 7:29 AM in Give 'Em Props! | Recommend this! (8) |
November 24, 2008
"Give 'Em Props!": Dan Witz on the Baghdad Posters
"Is there ONE painting, sticker, stencil, sculpture, or piece of architecture that truly inspires you in your daily work?"
Throughout the long nightmare of the Bush regime and its seemingly limitless ability to exploit fear to promote its evil agenda, there was little effective organized resistance, and even smaller hope for any. For me it's been excruciating, an age of powerlessness, eight years of sorrow and frustration the depth of which I never fully understood until the moment I heard the words, "BARACK OBAMA IS PRESIDENT", and the tears flowed and hope flooded back in. I have to say, throughout these dark days, no significant art of rebellion stands out for me, my own work included, except for one thing: the piece below which I first saw on the Wooster Collective site on February 14th. 2003.
in 2003, the week before the US started bombing Baghdad, these posters began appearing in cities throughout the world. These pictures of daily life in Iraq were taken by artist Paul Chan, who had recently returned from Baghdad as a member of the Iraq Peace Team. He posted them on the web as a way of introducing Americans to the people who we were about to be bombing. In New York City, the Baghdad Snapshot Action Crew printed out the photos and put them up around the city with tape or wheatpaste.
From Wooster: "We woke up this morning to find hundreds of posters on lamposts, walls, and mailboxes. Wedding photos, birthday parties, dinner parties -- all with smiling faces. The photos include a small line on the bottom of the snapshot -"Baghdad" and then the date the photo was taken (most all of them in the last four weeks). They are very, very reminiscent of all the family photos placed in Manhattan in the days following September 11th.
Walking around lower Manhattan this morning, very close to Ground Zero, and seeing all of these posters, was a surreal experience. You can`t help but feel the impact of this campaign.
The "Future Lost".
.... Dan Witz
Posted by marc at 6:41 AM in Give 'Em Props! | Recommend this! (11) |
November 23, 2008
"Give 'Em Props!": Peat Wolleager on Eaeo Saarinen's Gateway Arch
"Is there ONE painting, sticker, stencil, sculpture, or piece of architecture that truly inspires you in your daily work?"
"My wife and I currently live in St. Louis to raise our kids and take advantage of the affordable living/studio spaces this city has to offer artists. It may be very Cliché to the average STLien...but The Gateway Arch is seriously an amazing piece of architecture/public art. I think one of the most amazing things about this 630 foot stainless steel sculpture is that Architect Eero Saarinen convinced the city to spend $13 million to build this in first place back in 1947. I gotta give him props in creating this massive shiny piece of art for the STL!...I am just waiting for them to commission me to create the worlds largest stencil (bigger than Beardy McGreen pictured above)!"... Peat Wolleager
Posted by marc at 7:58 AM in Give 'Em Props! | Recommend this! (11) |
November 22, 2008
"Give 'Em Props!": Filippo Minelli on David Shrigley
"Is there ONE painting, sticker, stencil, sculpture, or piece of architecture that truly inspires you in your daily work?"
"This is an old and public artwork from David Shrigley. All his production is very funny and inspiring, i could watch his illustrations for the whole day, but i think this pic is probably the most innocent and visionary one. The first time i saw it was years ago and i got shocked by the energy it spreads. It can be the perfect example of what i believe art should be, something shocking, powerful, deep but simple. I also think that behind the vision it creates in your mind it's a good message: don't trust reality for what it seems and always go deep into things before judging or putting trust in something." ... Filippo Minelli
Posted by marc at 9:58 PM in Give 'Em Props! | Recommend this! (27) |
"Give 'Em Props!": Patrick Winfield on Romare Bearden and Peter Beard
"Is there ONE painting, sticker, stencil, sculpture, or piece of architecture that truly inspires you in your daily work?"
Several works came to mind... but Romare Bearden's 'The Block' and Peter Beard's 'Elephants Memory' have always sparked me.
Both have the quality of looking further into an event or time, gaining a deeper experience. The rawness, immediacy and juxtaposition of scale with the materials creates a tension that requires investigation into the piece. You can move in and see the tiny elements and sub stories but also pull back and see the whole. Beardens layering of images from various sources and repetition plays on the way we see the world. Beards use of hand writing and treatment of the piece as if it is a diary entry, a clustering of memories from an adventure... Patrick Winfield
Posted by marc at 2:18 AM in Give 'Em Props! | Recommend this! (5) |
"Give 'Em Props!": Zak Smith on Adrian Smith
"Is there ONE painting, sticker, stencil, sculpture, or piece of architecture that truly inspires you in your daily work?"
"Right now, today, the picture that inspires me most is this amazing drawing by Adrian Smith. It'll probably be something else in a week"... Zak Smith
Posted by marc at 2:11 AM in Give 'Em Props! | Recommend this! (11) |