Meeting the Taliban

Extreme actuality footage from Sean Langan.

This is the first part of a documentary made for Chanel 4's Dispatches series. The whole prog can be viewed via YouTube. Langan works alone with a handheld camera and a local interpreter/driver and his films are an object lesson in what can be acheived with a low-tech people-centred approach.



Read more about Sean Langan in Documentary in the Digital Age by Maxine Baker available in the college library.

Street Art Links

Here are the links I promised. They take you to a range of sites which include either information, images or both about a number of the artists I talked about at last weeks lecture.

WK Interact
http://www.wkinteract.com/

Judith Supine
http://www.flickr.com/photos/judithsupine/

Banksy
http://www.banksy.co.uk/

Freeway Blogger
http://www.freewayblogger.com/

Arofish
http://www.arofish.org.uk/

Made you think (Bush-Poop flags)
http://www.madeyouthink.org/

Keith Haring (a good biog)
http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/har/har01.html

Steve Lambert (Puppet St.)
http://www.budgetgallery.org/slambert/

Mohammed Ali (Islamic Graffiti)
http://www.aerosolarabic.com/

Jim Power / Mosaic Man
http://askanewyorker.com/newyorker.php?page=Jan05

De La Vega
http://www.delavegaart.com/
http://www.virtualboricua.org/Docs/de_la_vega8.htm

The Schmoozes
http://www.woostercollective.com/2004/07/schmoozes-explanation.html
http://www.woostercollective.com/2004/07/schmoozes-hit-union-square.html

Billboard Liberation
http://www.billboardliberation.com/

Culture Jamming
http://www.adbusters.org/home/

Street Art Blog (the daily paper for all street artists)
http://www.woostercollective.com/

Steve Bradley - Rubbish Reportage

Just found this site about an artist who works exclusively with rubbish. Collecting, collating and exhibiting it. There are also some nice, simple interactive visuals. Look at the eco-practice section for most of the work. Warning there were some broken links when I looked at it.

http://www.research.umbc.edu/~sbradley/projects/index.html

The Hello Project (photo-reportage)

Another goody from the WoosterCollective site. I think it's a great example of concept-led photo-reportage. Be sure to look at the Gallery and Exhibition sections.

The following is from the site

"How did this project begin? What was the basic idea?

There are a lot of homeless people in Venice, CA. I walked past one guy in particular to and from work every day. It wasn't until I learned his name, Robertson, that I stopped looking at him as a panhandler, but a person that I wanted to know more about and help. I wondered if my experience could work on a larger scale.

Originally, the idea was to distribute 5,000 of these giant nametags to homeless in Los Angeles over the course of one weekend. We thought it would be great if the homeless started a movement, or a sort of uprising, and every street corner was occupied by people holding up a sign, demanding that they be seen as human beings and not trash. We wanted the homeless issue to be front-page news, simply build awareness by giving the homeless a voice, and give homeless organizations a platform to offer solutions.

After months of mostly positive meetings with local homeless organizations to help with the distribution of signs, a unified effort proved to be impossible due to religious, political, or selfish motivations. Rather than let the idea die, we thought the idea could even have more impact if we distributed them to hundreds of photographers around the world and let them photograph homeless people in their community. Then compile the images for a website, an exhibition, a book, and whatever else presents itself along the way."

http://www.projecthello.org/

Video Graffiti in Berlin Subway

This is a wonderful idea and well worth waiting a few minutes for the video to download.

“…Parasite is a projection-system that can be attached to subways and other trains. Using the speed of the vehicle as parameter for the projected content, the projection starts with the train moving inside a tunnel. All along their journey, travellers see images mysteriously appearing through the train windows: words, aquatic animals, etc. Confusing the routine of your train-travelling-journey, your habits and perception Parallel allows you a glimpse into a different world full of surrealist imagery….”

http://www.gunnargreen.de/udk_projects/parasite_large.mov

Store Wars - a Pro Organic Spoof Movie

http://www.storewars.org/flash/index.html

Banksy Hits the West Bank

Suddenly Palestine seems to be the resort of choice for street artists (see previous post). Have a look at some evocative and very large peices by Bristol's finest:




http://www.woostercollective.com/2005/08/wooster-exclusive-banksys-travel.html

The Scrawls of War - AROFISH's Graffiti from Bhagdad and Palastine

In the Winter of 2003-4 graffiti artist Arofish spent six weeks in Bhagdad and Palastine. You can see his work and more importantly read his incredable stories on his site:

http://www.arofish.org.uk/arofish/Baghdad

Have you met the Schmoozes

Here's another great street art project this time involving hundreds of tiny foam figures and a bicycle



Look at both these entries on Wooster Collective

http://www.woostercollective.com/2004/07/schmoozes-explanation.html

http://www.woostercollective.com/2004/07/schmoozes-hit-union-square.html

Roadworth's New Cycle Route

Checkout this new legal street art by Roadworth at the WoosterCollective site.



http://www.woostercollective.com/2005/08/return-of-roadworth.html

My New Project at St. George's Crypt in Leeds

The Crypt is a haven for homeless and generally disposessed people in Leeds. It provides food, community and a limited number of beds. I have been commissioned by the Crypt and Leeds City Art Gallery to create art works which will be exhibited in the gallery during autumn as part of a much larger collection of shows linked by the theme "Something of the Night"

Possible Starting Points and Outcomes

I tend to start by talking with people and then fairly quickly introduce elements of digital photography, writing, video and drawing. In this instance I will probably get people to work with me to make temporary artworks and interventions around the Crypt itself as a way of building confidence and developing an understanding of how an audience might react to what we make. From these foundations we would go on to visit Leeds City Art Gallery and start to consider different ways in which we could convey our ideas in that more flexible environment. End products might include video projections, hanging banners, combinations of photography and text, wall drawings/paintings, exhibitions of objects or quite possibly something entirely unexpected. In addition to the exhibition at the gallery it is possible that – time allowing – I would also create a simple website showing some of the work, which could be directly linked to the St George’s Crypt site.

So What Kind of Artist am I?

I often call myself a ‘public artist’ as virtually all the work I create is shown within some form of public space. The work I make is generally site-specific, in that it is created specifically (both physically and conceptually) for the place in which it is shown. Sites have included shopping centers, churches, buses, beaches, websites, billboards and in one case a TV program.

My work is primarily a method for exploring issues and ideas. I do this by working with individuals and groups of people most of whom have very different opinions and life experiences to mine. Generally the only clear point of connection between us is the subject of the work.
The work starts as a process - a large conversation - and becomes concrete through a shared desire to extend this conversation to include a wider audience.