you are here

here

You are here. Where the accumulation of everything ended in keeping nothing.

This piece of street art is particularly site-specific and serves as a pointed reminder of the false value of "things." Look for it when walking on Pike or waiting for the bus near the intersection with Bellevue Ave.

More about the site and the sad story of what happened here one early morning in late October.

a few line drawings for me

Creative and sweet Starhead made a few simple line drawings for me last week. (Some of you may have an idea of why I asked for this subject in particular! Just you wait.)

When we met up last week for beers and artwork pickup, Starhead told me the story of his [brave little] toaster.

Last year Starhead joined up with Static Invasion to install big-ass static clings around the city. The clings were mobile: people could remove them and install them in new places around town. (peel and stick. over and over.) Starhead's contribution to the project was a toaster. Months later the toaster was spotted in an apartment window in a south city neighborhood. When Starhead learned of its location, he created a bunch of small toaster stickers. He placed them on the block where the big toaster cling was installed so it wouldn't be so lonely.

Starhead didn't hang around to see what the toaster's caretakers thought of his follow up. He hopes they found it entertaining that the artist randomly located the mobile artwork and then added to it for quiet public amusement.

Good times!

Five Belltown Gallery Openings on Friday 7/11

I am SO looking forward to hitting Belltown Friday night and catching the opening of five new gallery shows. I am particularly excited about the shows at the Roq, the BLVD, and the new Free Sheep Foundation space. All spaces open at 6 pm and have varying closing hours (as early as 9 pm at the Roq.)

Roq La Rue: 10th Anniversary Group Show
Showing work from 24 artists, including Mark Ryden, Femke Hiemstra, Brian Despain, Travis Louis, Scott Musgrove, Liz McGrath and Shag. I'm curious to see who will show up at this anniversary show. The sport of people-watching can get interesting here. Of course the art is always mad fab interesting too.

BLVD Gallery: “Pneumonia, Isolation, and Disorder” by Deuce 7
Deuce 7 is a graffiti artist from Minneapolis who is also part of a burgeoning underground subculture of Freight train hoppers. In 2007 Deuce7 made a trip to NYC to do graffiti and experience the Mecca of Street Art. After 2 short weeks he had taken the city by storm and was profiled in the Village Voice with the tagline “Is a guy from Minnesota the new king of New York street art?” A very impressive achievement for a previously unknown graffiti artist from the midwest in a city renowned for it’s dislike of intruding outsiders.This will be his first solo show of drawings and paintings on the West Coast.

Stylus Salon and Gallery: Group Art Show curated by Ghost Gallery
2321 Second Avenue
Five local artists are showing works here. I am not familiar with this space or any of the artists, so I can't vouch for whether this will be worth crossing the street from an art appreciation standpoint. However, the announcement for Friday's show opening promises a full bar, food, and music so if the art isn't great you can at least get a little somethin' somethin' (nosh or drink) while you stroll around the salon.

Free Sheep Foundation
3rd and Battery (24oo 3rd ave)
Friday is the first opening of this temporary space leased by the Free Sheep Foundation. The FSF(?) is headed up by the mastermind behind the Bridge Motel project and The Belmont wake: D.K Pan.

The show includes installations from ntg, garek druss, dk pan, static invasion & scntfc, karn junkinsmith, and nko, as well as a collection of "exquisite corpse" works created during a collaborative art-in of street artists and their peeps. Friday's show opening will also include musical performances by Aubrey Birdwell, Locate, and Heavy Teeth. ( Sorry, I have no idea what style of tunes to expect.)

Suite 100 Gallery: Oceanic
Suite 100 Gallery specializes in themed group shows. Expect to see a variety of artists and styles and media when you check out their monthly show. July's Oceanic show is subtitled "nautical adventures and underwater realms" and is curated by the popular artist Ninjagrl.

This gallery stays open late so I usually make it my last Belltown gallery stop of the evening before eating some yummy goodness at the Buddha Bar Thai restaurant next door. However, now that the McLeod Residence is open to all, their lounge may be the new final stop in Belltown before tripping and skipping my way home.

Dalai Lama on the streets

Inspirational quotes from the Dalai Lama are chalked onto the sidewalks and street corners in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. The Dalai Lama is in Seattle through April 15th for the Seeds of Compassion gathering.



"Take into account that great love and great achievement involves great risk."

"Sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck."

"Open your arms to change but do not let loose your values."

Wander the Pike/Pine corridor for more inspirational phrases from the Dalai Lama (and others).

Update: chalk + rain = ephemeral. all washed away.

Uffie and graff artist Monsieur Andre are engaged

Uffie, the tiny powerhouse performer on the Ed Banger label, and French graffiti artist Monsieur Andre are engaged. Andre proposed after the couple spent 10 days together in Tokyo.

Uffie and most of the Ed Banger crew will be at the Coachella Music Festival later this month. Here's hoping Mr. A goes as well and gets his sharpie on.

Hat tip to Hella for the scoop.

Candid pics and more details here.

Shephard Fairey's street cred

Shephard Fairey a sell out? I don't think so.

Nylon Magazine interviews the man behind the hot-as-shit Obama Change poster and gets him talking about the street.

[NM] You started on a grass roots level, stenciling, screenprinting… Do you think young artists today are focusing too much on commercial galleries and have their eye on fame?

[SF] There is a purity that is punk rock that I love about street art. But what I don’t like about what’s happening is the recent phenomena of street artists wanting to transition into the gallery really quickly. And I think that is catalyzed by the Internet; it is really easy to manipulate perception if you are shrewd about how you present yourself on the Internet. That bums me out because a lot of the time I liked people’s stuff, but I just as much liked their spirit, their tenacity. Like Neck Face—first of all he’s my friend—did a shitload on the street before he made his transition into the gallery in a rapid amount of time. It took me like five-six years before I got a gallery show and 10 years before I was making any money. I’m 38 years old, I have two kids, I run a design business, a magazine, a gallery, a clothing line, and my fine art career…and I still go out on the street more than people who have nothing on their plate at all. The street is important to me.

Read the full interview.

Fairey's street stuff gets around. I spotted an "Andre the Giant has a posse" sticker in the Shimokitazawa neighborhood in Tokyo.

Animated short from street artist Sam3

The following short video was produced by Sam3 and features music by Aphex Twin. Titled Radiographia Urbana (Urban Radiography), it is a re-edit of a 2006 film projected onto the side a building near San Cristobal Church in Murcia, Spain.


[via Wooster Collective]

Sam3 is a Madrid-based street artist who specializes in silhouettes and shadows. Several of his works were included in Banksy's Santa's Ghetto project in Jerusalem in December 2007. (#) Sam3's web site Agency of the Urban Subconcious has examples of his street work including provocative, political, and polarizing street art. (Uh...alliteration gone mad.)

Paper Monster offers for purchase three fairly tame Sam3 prints (signed). (Paper Monster also has a couple of signed Kozyndan prints, too!)

Seattle street art valentines in The Stranger

awwww.
little bird is so sweet.
and who is crushing on chicken kid?
(or rather, who isn't?)

Tokyo Photo: Connected

Seen at The Ghetto. More on that to come.

Stalker Opportunities Feb 1 - 15: Updates!

I'll be eating my (and your) share of sushi over the next two weeks in the land of the rising sun.
Sayonara, peeps. Represent, and carry on without me!

new! Friday, Feb 1: DJ Steve Aoki at War Room for Sing Sing night. Premier LA party man and producer, Mr Dim Mak brings it fo' sho'.

new! Friday, Feb 1: Shameless' My Bloody Valentine party (not the band), Hengst Studio. Check Donte's write up in The Stranger.

update! Saturday, Feb 2nd: Closing night party for the Free Art Seattle Exhibition @ the Wayward Cafe, 6 - 9 pm. Art in the exhibition will be given away (limit of one per person). First come, first serve. Imagine Best Buy on Black Friday: street artists and fans queuing up on the sidewalk starting at 6 am. Ha! I've called dibs on one but won't be there to collect. Poor me. If you go, please be sure to wish Kinoko a very happy birthday.

update! Saturday, Feb 2nd: Inner Flight vs. Danger Inc. NW djs collab to bring you all-night dance. Location: Church of Bass, 920 Elliot Ave W

Thursday, Feb 7th: First Thursday art walk. Check 619 Western. I promise you'll see something interesting.

Friday, Feb 8th: New gallery show openings @ BLVD Gallery, Roq La Rue, Suite 100 Gallery.

Friday Feb 8th: Broken Disco @ Chop Suey. Friendly monthly dance party. Always a variety of styles and skilz. Check local chicas Kris Moon and Jenn Woolfe.

Friday Feb 8th: Uberzone and Bassbin Twins @ Last Supper Club. Check Bassbin Twins' remix of Evil Nine's Crooked for a taste of what Pete brings to the table. Plus, he's a street art guy so + + + to him.

new! Saturday, Feb 9th: BLVD Project Room at TRIPLE - opening reception, with performance by The Saturday Knights. BLVD Gallery owner Damion opens a new work/project space in Ballard, featuring artists in residence. First up is "Arterial Lines" by Nhon Nguyen, a Seattle-based artist who is using the opportunity to create a mural that reflects his experience living in Osaka Japan.

Sunday, Feb 10th: DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist in Hard Sell tour, plus Kid Koala @ Showbox Market. Powerhouse lineup. Get ready to get sweaty.

update! Tuesday Feb 12th: Holy Fuck @ Neumos with Super Furry Animals. Holy F*ck rocks my world with Super Inuit, The Pulse, and other tracks from their 2007 LP Young Turks. SFA is the headliner, so don't go too late. Pssssst: the "very special guest" expected at Chop Suey on 2/26 with A Place to Bury Strangers is very likely to be a band whose name rhymes with "rolly duck."

Wednesday Feb 13th: Los Amigos Invisibles @ Neumos. "A blend of disco, acid jazz, and funk mixed with Latin rhythms." [wikipedia]

new! Friday, February 15th: Artifakt show @ Neumos. Fresh spotlight on board culture. Includes custom skateboards and snowboards, photography, premiers of two videos, and DJ spinnin' action. Mingle with luminaries in nw boarding.

Fab Friday Art Show Openings 01.11.08

If you like low-brow, street, and/or non-traditional art works, you don't want to miss two art show openings Friday, January 10th.

Left Behind

Suite 100 Gallery (2222 2nd Ave, Sea)

6p - 10p

2' x 2' SeattleStreetArt

Anne Bonny (1355 East Olive Way, Sea)

8p - 11p

Safety on the Capitol Hill streets

cuddle
Originally uploaded by JeanineAnderson

Plenty has already been written on the inter-blogs about the new year's eve murder of Shannon Harps in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, so I won't rehash what you can find elsewhere around town.

I'll just share this photo from the block where the attack occurred, and declare that my affection for where I live is as strong as ever. Cuddles to you, Capitol Hill!

And send thanks to the Seattle police for their fierce attention to solving the crime.

Superheroes at the art walk

whatcha got there?
Originally uploaded by JeanineAnderson

My sister and I had the good fortune to chat with Writers Union artist Jeff Jacobson at the 619 Western January art walk. He has an amazing portfolio of commissioned works around the Puget Sound area including Mad Pizza and the recruiting office of Microsoft.
The Writers Union contribution to the Georgetown wall was featured in the Seattle Times. The picture to the right is the front of Snowboard Connection store on Alaskan. Jeff did this work and it features villians and superheroes.

Jeff was to have an opening at Marcus' Martini Heaven last night as part of artwalk but unfortunately that rad space was suddenly and severely flooded. The new opening date of his show is TBD but they are hoping for next week.

Jeff's girlfriend Jen is a photographer of street art (Rio Pacific Photography) and just wrapped up a show at Marcus'. Her works were spared damage from the flooding, thankfully. Jen shoots street art and is a jewel of a sweetheart. We three girlies swapped a few stories. (My sister had a photo show at Marcus' last year.) We may have a chica photo show in our 2008 future.

No Donkey in Bethlehem

A piece of Banksy artwork in Bethlehem has been painted over by a group of residents who were offended by the ironic image. [more] Highly controversial was the stencil of a soldier checking the ID of a donkey.

The work was part of the annual Santa’s Ghetto exhibition and sale of art by street artists. Santa’s Ghetto has previously been held in London. This year it was moved to Bethlehem to bring greater visibility to the challenges faced by the town’s residents.

Now that the official Santa’s Ghetto website is closed, you'll need to use secondary sources to view pics and video of the Santa’s Ghetto in Bethlehem works.

Although it’s a shame the valuable Banksy work was covered, by doing so the residents have contributed to the exhibit’s goal: to increase visibility of the situation in Bethlehem. As a result of their action, a second round of news stories spread around the globe. That can’t be all bad.

New Mural in Georgetown

The new graffiti mural in Georgetown is worth checking out if you are in the industrial heart of Seattle. The mural is located on the south west corner of 4th Ave S and Michigan Ave S, next to I Luv Teriyaki. This newspaper article has the deets.
You'll see lots of different art styles. The mural is primarily images/art, with some graff writing. I'm not practiced in reading highly-stylized letters but I was eventually able to make out part of this section:



Do you see "keep it fresh" in the lower part? I still can't figure out the upper part. Zip it K? Zip II K?

Next is a close up of a section done by NKO, titled "the problem of architecture." The title is possibly in memorium to his former home, the Belmont, and what that building came to represent in its last days. I like the boxed heart detail.

I'll close out with one more image because that last one was a bit of a downer, yeah? Next up: friendly koi swimming around the city.

Funeral @ The Belmont

What.

frickin’ off the chain. themes. performances. friendly people. (yes, really.) creativity. three-fingers of whiskey. (a bargain.) Slats. fortunes. triangle of broken window glass impaled in the dirt. (lucky no one was standing there.) no tickie, no roofie. (quite firm.) smoke. statements. dada. missed much. (despite lots of wandering around.) doors that were not. birds. adopted sandwich boards. cameras.

Demographics: ½ boys, ½ girls. Average age: 22. Attire: Most dressed in black. Accessorized with hats, smokes, boots, glasses.



Other reports here, here, and here. And in comment to post below.
Belmont Flickr search.
More Seattle street art on Flickr.

Friday's hot ticket

morning / mourning
Originally uploaded by JeanineAnderson

tix to The Belmont were gone in hours.
tix for the limited 1:30 am performance? gone in 45 (minutes, not seconds)

Props from the Wooster Collective

Seattle street art receives props from the respected Wooster Collective: twice!

Magnetic Poetry
Static Invasion’s cling-ons turned the ConWorks wall into magnetic poetry writ large.


The cling words can be arranged at will, by anyone. Words include nods to the local street scene, such as “toy-ass,” nko,“ and “starhead.”
I love the interactive nature of this piece, which draws participation from incidental passers by as well as from those who arrive with deliberate intent.

Read the Wooster write up on the magnetic poetry wall.

The Owl Tree
Roughly two miles from ConWorks a tree was planted. It grew and blossomed into an intriguing collective work.


Mutual respect and the desire to collaborate prompted a discussion amongst Seattle street artists via the Flickr photo sharing group. Connected folks asked around and a location was secured: the wall of a building slated for demolition. At least 21 artists/collectives have contributed to the Owl Tree wall so far.

The cooperation, collaboration, creativity, and evolution of the Owl Tree have been a joy to observe.

Read the Wooster write up on the Owl Tree.