Tag Archives: grafitti

Taking it to the Streets – Vienna

Posted on by
Reply

“Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing. And even if you don’t come up with a picture to cure world poverty you can make someone smile while they’re having a piss.”
― Banksy, Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall

UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_3a90

The Daily Post’s Collage challenge got me to thinking about my recent trip to Vienna and the beautiful collages I found while walking the waterways. Once again I am taking it to the streets.. one of my favorite blog themes.  Yahoo.. street art!!!

After visiting Krakow, Poland and Budapest, Hungary, I was sort of meh with Vienna, Austria.. UNTIL.. my friend convinced me to walk down towards the water and where we just happened to run into a little street fair and a ton of amazing street art.  Sometimes the road more travelled ends up being the best road to be on.  Of course there were many more examples, but these were really my favorite.  Threw a couple of musicians in just for fun.  I hope you enjoy.

 

 

 

 

Other blogs on street art and more –

Unique Walls, Street Art Istanbul, Tatts like street art, Peruvian Style Street Art, addiction, just for funStreet Art; Wide Walls; atgofion; akebild; acttwosite; David; Southhampton; 4otomo; kjmusings; mostly monochrome; notesbynatalie; Baltimore Opens Its Walls To Street Art ; Wynwood Walls ; 76 Unbelievable Street And Wall Art Illusions, insellos; 

And yet more..

 

Tatts like Street Art

Posted on by
9

“Ink to paper is thoughtful
Ink to flesh, hard-core.
If Shakespeare were a tattooist
We’d appreciate body art more.” 
― Terri Guillemets

Not a lot to say on this one.  I’m as fascinated with tattoos as I am with graffiti or street art. I may one day get a tattoo.. or not.. but I love looking at them and watching others get them. Lucky for me I found out by accident that the 4th Annual Nepal Tattoo Convention was going to be in town.  I might have even finally found that tattoo that I will have put on my body someplace.. or not..

Enjoy.

Tattoos are like stories – they’re symbolic of the important moments in your life. Sitting down, talking about where you got each tattoo and what it symbolizes, is really beautiful.

Pamela Anderson

Though many photos are not as close-up as the theme intends, it was as close as I have been to this art form as I have ever been.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

“The human body is the best work of art.” 
― Jess C. Scott

Some of the other close-up themes I enjoyed.

  1. TT: Close up – Across the Bored
  2. Spring Macro | Canoe Communications
  3. Travel Theme: Close Up (Far Away) | The Quotidian Hudson
  4. Myopically | Le Drake Noir
  5. Don-Key! | Beyond the Brush Photography
  6. Weekly travel theme- Close-up (Tasmania) | pdjpix
  7. Trucks and Cranes | Monochrome
  8. Weekly Travel theme- Close-up Venice | pdjpix
  9. Close Encounters of the Animal Kind’ | anotherdayinparadise
  10. Weekly Photo Challenge – close up | Third Person Travel
  11. Travel Theme: Close-Up | Taking One Day At A Time
  12. Up Close with a Ghost | The Wanderlust Gene
  13. Weekly Travel Theme: Close-up « Leya
  14. Travel theme:Close up | So where’s the snow?
  15. Travel Theme: Close-Up | Tim Wolverson – Photography
  16. WPC (Spring) and Travel Theme (Close-Up) | alien shores
  17. Travel Theme : Close-up/Jarak Dekat | bambangpriantono
  18. Travel Theme: Close-up | Never Nothing Going On
  19. Closeness provides intimacy | Le Drake Noir
  20. Travel Theme: Close-Up | Shoot ‘N Go

Weekly Photo Challenge: Unique Walls – a combined obsession

Posted on by
8

Oh where to go with this one?  So many places so little time. I’ve decided to play a small game of catch up and combine 2 different photo challenges from 2 different sources.  Let’s begin.

UNIQUE – I loved this first photo challenge from the Daily Post on Feb 1 and Walls– from Where’s My Backpack on Jan 25.  As I have reflected in a few of my past posts, I really love street art.  I do understand there is a fine line between street art and destructive graffiti. I would say that there are many who only understand street art as a negligent form of graffiti and relate it only to poverty, disrespect of property and criminal activities. There is that and it cannot be denied. However, when connected to a project and when an attempt is made to include the opinions and participation a community it can turn into an amazing array of artistic expression.

Street art can be a manner and means to draw attention to a specific topic and raise awareness around political issues? It can be the start of a community based arts program that supports young minds, especially since many arts programs have been removed from schools.  It can also just be an amazing means for communities or groups to express themselves.

Included in the following photos are some of my favorite walls and graffiti-like advertising signs.  I hope you enjoy.

Colour is fun, colour is just plain gorgeous, a gourmet meal for the eye, the window of the soul. – Rachel Wolf

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. – Pablo Picasso

White Walls Say Nothing -This film is about empowerment through urban art & activism, and how the walls of Buenos Aires became the voice of its people. The link above was produced when the project was still trying to raise money the below video is a preview of the documentary.

Related articles

Baltimore Opens Its Walls To Street Art ; Wynwood Walls ; 76 Unbelievable Street And Wall Art Illusions

Some of my favorite themes from these two challenges:

Addiction – Taking art to the street

Posted on by
7

As I reviewed my newest post I realized that I do have more than just one obsessive photo shot addiction..

Street Grafitti or Street Art?

I was inspired to go through all of my graf/street art pictures after reading Monkeymuesli’s blog Friday fun: art trail blog. The blog as a whole is a fun read with some very interesting photos but the art trail blog was especially interesting as I have an absolute love of street art and graffiti (even if I don’t know how to spell graffiti.. it took me 3 times, thank goodness for spellcheck.)  Painted walls have been a fascination of mine for quite some time.  I love the rawness of graffiti and street art and so I decided to post some of my favorites from Venezuela, New York, San Francisco, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia and I’m sure a few other places will pop up as I move through this blog.  I hope you enjoy.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

monkeymuesli (monkeymuesli.wordpress.com)

The argument rages:

From graffiti to galleries:  street vs. Public (cnn.com)                                                           Street art vs graffiti on the streets of LA(globalgraffmag.wordpress.com)                        What is Street Art? Vandalism, graffiti or public art (artadarjournal.com)                              Art vs. Vandalism (portlandmercury.com)

Related articles

America – California

Posted on by
6

“It’s [Los Angeles] mostly full of nonsense and delusion and egomania. They think they’ll be young and beautiful forever, even though most of them aren’t even young and beautiful now.”
― Christopher Hitchens

Californians oh California. When family or friends from California would come up to Washington for a visit my dad would say, “Hey, how’s the land of the fruits and nuts going?” It seemed to be a common sentiment.  To  some, California and it’s people can seem eccentric and  bizarre in comparison to the rest of the states.  The common misconception that surrounds California is: everyone has plastic surgery, fake tans and everyone is fake and a bit loony.  I would have to disagree.  I think Northerners were just jealous of Californians for years of good weather, open minded attitudes and having the ability to retire up North.

In the words of others:

“In Los Angeles, all the loose objects in the country were collected as if America had been tilted and everything that wasn’t tightly screwed down had slid into Southern California.” – Saul Bellow

“Everything is just better in California – the wine, the food, fruits and vegetables, the comforts of living. Even the instrumentalists are generous and curious. Everything is wonderful.” – Beth Anderson

“Growing up in northern California has had a big influence on my love and respect for the outdoors. When I lived in Oakland, we would think nothing of driving to Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz one day and then driving to the foothills of the Sierras the next day.” – Tom Hanks

From its majestic mountain and ocean vistas and amazing beaches to it’s constant striving to be just a little more than any other place in the world, California is the most eclectic state in the United States  and for this I love it because it makes it one of the most unique states to visit.

“Best way to live in California is to be from somewheres else.”
― Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men

I had the great opportunity of teaching 1st and 2nd grade in an elementary school in San Bernardino back in 2003-2005.  My two years of living there taught me how much more it can be if given the chance.  I was able to really explore Southern Cal. I made a multitude of friends and had some really great times from Los Angeles to San Diego to San Francisco.  So here began the final stages of my cross country travels.  (June 4-15)

“It seemed like a matter of minutes when we began rolling in the foothills before Oakland and suddenly reached a height and saw stretched out ahead of us the fabulous white city of San Francisco on her eleven mystic hills with the blue Pacific and its advancing wall of potato-patch fog beyond, and smoke and goldenness in the late afternoon of time.”
― Jack Kerouac, On the Road

I started in San Francisco.  I had been to San Francisco previously but only for very short trips and I felt that I had not had the chance to really explore this amazing city.   San Francisco is huge and there is just a ton to do and so I decided to spend a few days there just walking around with my friend from high school and a day with a well-researched private tour company called “Carried Away”.  These ladies were amazing and we were able to put together a special wine and dine tour which brought us to nearly all corners of the city in a private vehicle which allowed us to stop, go or change our plans as we saw fit.  They were fantastic.

I was able to explore alone and with a friend, by foot and tour company the Castro District, Fisherman’s Wharf, Coit Towers, Haight-Ashbury, Sausalito, China Town, Mission District and Union Square just to name a few areas. (Links to all the areas I visited and more)

I spent the last couple days in Los Angeles hanging out with friends in Pasadena and North Hollywood.  Both very cool districts with tons of history as well as being up and coming areas.  Which is an excellent way to explain California as a whole.

Californians oh California.  From naked runners and bikers, street performers and graffiti to reunions with friends and dental appointments.   All in all it was a great way to end my travels and yes I did leave my heart in San Francisco as well as all of the other cities I visited on this month long trip.  Enjoy.

“It was a splendid population – for all the slow, sleepy, sluggish-brained sloths stayed at home – you never find that sort of people among pioneers – you cannot build pioneers out of that sort of material. It was that population that gave to California a name for getting up astounding enterprises and rushing them through with a magnificent dash and daring and a recklessness of cost or consequences, which she bears unto this day – and when she projects a new surprise the grave world smiles as usual and says, “Well, that is California all over.”
― Mark Twain, Roughing It

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Related articles