Welcome to The History & Emergence of Street Art & Graffiti Course 2016
July 11th 2016 – July 22nd 2016 – LIU Post, NY
This is a NY State accredited college level course created by artist and professor Ryan Seslow for the Art Department at LIU Post. Students earn 3 credits towards art history and studio art elective degree requirements.
The History & Emergence of Street Art & Graffiti is one of the first accredited college level courses in the USA where students earn 3 credits in this specific subject while experiencing and learning hands on studio practice and techniques.
This is an active course blog post that will expand, build & archive in real time as the course progresses each day. Dialog will be expressed by the students, guest artists and visitors via the comments section below.
Guest Artists & Lecturers for this term:
H.Veng Smith
CAKE aka Jennifer Caviola
Schedule
Day #1 – 7/11/16
The History & Emergence of Street Art & Graffiti starts off with a class overview, learning outcomes and expectations. A historical presentation on early Graffiti in NYC begins with who the early writers were and how styles developed and evolved. Understanding and identifying the difference between legal and illegal graffiti pieces will be explored. A screening and discussion of Style Wars sets a great tone and leaves students with much to think about, especially a re-definition of what Graffiti is and how it can be defined. Style Wars is an essential part of the re-definition process of understanding graffiti. Will you take the time to check it out?
Day #2 – 7/12/16
The History & Emergence of Street Art & Graffiti continues with a lecture on the earliest forms of tagging and letter forms. Writing on the wall dates back to pre-historic time. We discussed the human need to record and interpret the world and how it has transcended time. A tag and tagging development workshop with graffiti alphabets and markers will take place. We explore various hand-styles, bubble letters and creating a graffiti name. The class examined: “How do graffiti writers create their names?”
VENG aka Herb Smith will present his work and rock an aerosol demonstration. Herb Smith will give a great presentation about his current work and his evolution as an artist. Starting out as a traditional graffiti artist while simultaneously maintaining a career as a fine artist. Heavily influenced by Dutch masters, Herb’s unique style ranges from large scale 40 foot collaborative murals to smaller scale oil paintings of realistic birds, landscapes and portraits.
Blackbooks are introduced and discussed. The students are encouraged to create their own and contribute drawings to each others books. Several of the guest artists will also participate. Online resources will be introduced, discussed and explored featuring Art Crimes & @149th St. After Day #1’s Style Wars screening, we discussed the importance of Henry Chalfant & Tony Silver’s classic documentary as well as Chalfant & Martha Cooper’s book “Subway Art” aka the Graffiti Bible.
Day #3 – 7/13/16
The History & Emergence of Street Art & Graffiti started with a continued tagging workshop in hand style graffiti and solidifying a tag name. The class explored the tools of the trade, working with various sizes of markers. Students learn that aerosol based spray paint can control is not as easy as it may seem to be. Developing spray can control takes many years of practice and dedication. We found out first hand in our first experience. Students will collaborate on a group piece that displays their new identities.
Guest artist presentations and demonstrations working with wheat paste and aerosol paint from CAKE & SEBS.
Identifying wheat pastes and the paste up process. Beginning with a presentation and series of definitions, CAKE aka Jennifer Caviola will present her work. CAKE will also lead the class in a demonstration on her paste up technique. Using works generated specifically for the class students experiment and collaborate on a group installation with CAKE.
SEBS will share both aerosol tagging styles as well as building larger letter forms, fill ins and outlining. Students continue to practice and add contributions to a collaborative wall over the duration of the course.
Day #4 – 7/14/16
The class meets in New York City for a guided walking street art & graffiti tour of downtown with NYC Graff Tours aka Gabe Schoenberg. SOHO, Nolita, & Little Italy will be covered. Guest Artist Leon Reid IV will join us to discuss his site specific installation in Little Italy at the L.I.S.A Project
Day #5 – 7/15/16
Guest Artists Caroline Caldwell and RJ Rushmore will be presenting their work and discussions of the activation and disruption of public space.
Caroline Caldwell – Guest Artist – Caroline is a 23 year old artist and writer based in New York City. She is a contributing writer for the street art blog Vandalog.
Caroline’s artwork deals with themes of home, grief, and rebellion. Her work questions ideas of property, both through surreal architectural illustrations, and interventions in public space. Caroline finds inspiration in hackers, subverters and culture jammers who use art as a tool of empowerment.
RJ Rushmore is the author of VIRAL ART Creator of Vandalog.com and Co-Curator and Co-Creator of ENCRYPTED FILLS – his book Viral Art is emphasized during the course and used as a main resource of investigation. Not only is the book filled with introductions to many artists and their practice, it is a great insight into how the internet has forever changed how artists communicate across the globe. The book is free to read online or download. Each student is required to obtain a copy.
Image ©johnfekner
Day # 6 – 7/18/16
A Stencil Art workshop will be conducted by Ryan Seslow. The class will generate stencil art works and collaborate on a series of new works for the growing class archive. The class archive consists of over 100 student stencil art works that dates back to when the class was started in 2010. The archive resides in the university print-making studio and is available to the LIU Post community and beyond (by appointment.) The class continues exploring street art and street art techniques by identifying legal and illegal versus permission and commission based works. Public murals were discussed. We spoke about and explored the important stencil works of John Fekner and his 2005 exhibition Tawkin’ New York City Walls. We moved on to the works of artist Chris Stain and presented the free public stencil history and technique book he organized for his previous talks at LIU.
Day #7 – 7/19/16
General Howe will present his work and explore an in class series of discussions with the students.
The General explores the impact of war in the United States in the beginning of the 21st century. His notable street art project, the battle of Brooklyn, has been published in The Huffington Post and Street Art New York. He took to the web to produce SUPER Election News, a satirical news blog juxtaposing the 2012 election and the Batman Mythology. In 2013 General Howe began his Animated Disasters of War followed by his first solo installation, Nursery, at Kianga Ellis Projects in New York. General Howe lives in Brooklyn – http://generalhowe.com
Day #8 – 7/20/16
Yoav Litvin Guest Presentation
The History & Emergence of Street Art & Graffiti continued with understanding various Street Art styles, techniques, and motivations. Street art awareness via photography and the Outdoor Gallery book – author & photographer Yoav Litvin gave a great presentation on his work and lead the class discussion. From the streets of NYC to the many locations Yoav documented in South America, students received a clear vision of how commissioned works of street art function in contrast to non-commissioned works both in and out of the USA.
Day #9 – 7/21/16 – Metropolitan Museum of Art – Compare and Contrast
Day #10 – 7/22/16 – Final Class
John Fekner Skype Presentation
In the 70s, John Fekner was ‘anonymously known’ for over three hundred environmental/conceptual works consisting of dates, words, and symbols spray painted throughout the five boroughs of New York. The “Warning Signs” project focused on pointing out hazardous conditions that dominated New York City and its environs in the 1970s. In the spring of 1977, Fekner created word-signs using hand cut cardboard stencils and spray paint. He began a relentless crusade concerned with social and environmental issues. Starting in the industrial streets of Queens and the East River bridges, and later on to the South Bronx in 1980, his messages were seen in areas that were desperately in need of construction, demolition or reconstruction. By labeling structures and emphasizing problems, the objective was to call attention to the accumulated squalor by urging city officials, agencies and local communities to be more responsible and take action.
John sent this compiled list of insights via e-mail ::
John Fekner –
Some thoughts to ponder along the artistic path of life.
16. Creativity is a stream that runs alongside your life. Instinctively, there’s a time & place for the artist to jump in whether it’s calm, fluid or raging.
15. It is to an artist’s advantage to challenge oneself by taking risks – not foolish ones, to discover solutions in unique and unexpected ways.
14. Artists must learn to be fulfilled with an audience of one: to accept the silence of self. Once that stage is realized, vision is limitless.
13. When hope and expectation turn to disappointment, take a break from the actual work and simply refocus your creativity on centering oneself.
12. Good Vibrations: bells, teas, chimes, chanting, humming, spices, herbs and perhaps a pet. It’s all therapeutic for your mind, body and soul.
11. Stay home on either a Friday or a Saturday night. Have fun and make art. Be different.
10. Things that should change; don’t. Things that shouldn’t change; do. Change is inevitable, so be open and accepting, taking a balanced approach on the path of life.
9. Always have some hidden or quirky interest that you enjoy ‘alone’. Just you. Something that someone else might consider ‘odd’. There’s nothing wrong with ‘odd’. It is part of the journey of becoming an artist who is curious to discover new things in order to becoming complete with one self.
8. Read autobiographies of people from various fields. It might provide some advice and insight as to how they survived when they were younger and not yet established in their life’s work.
7. Identify and participate within some other community completely separate from your home and work environment.
6. Beliefs are good. Believe in yourself, your artwork, your family, your friends and some mightier power of your choice.
5. Travel engenders new scenarios in which one meets new people and their cultures providing a learning environment of acceptability, understanding and embracing diversity throughout the world.
4. When a brilliant idea strikes you in the middle of the night or suddenly wakes you up – Never turn on the light. Keep a marker and white paper next to your bed. Write large in the dark and you will capture the true essence of the dream-thought. If you turn on the light, it prevents you from holding the magic; it disappears and you lose the essence of the fleeting thought and you wind up altering the initial idea.
3. Life is constantly changing- don’t be extreme or too rigid in your thinking, your technical process and creative art making. Allowing things to be open and fluid will allow for development, perspective and adaptability.
2. ‘Remembrance of Things Past’ Not to dwell or live in the past, but it is always important to remember the earlier stages of your growth and childhood. If you go back and visit your hometown during the daytime, it will mostly likely be a noisy and chaotic experience. But if you revisit at dawn, you might get a better sense of things really haven’t changed that much; the stillness and quiet in the early morning make it easy to rekindle memories and spark personal creativity.
1. Define your own alternate path of life and commit to it as an artist not as a ‘careerist’. The concept of ‘a career’ has all the social conditioning labels of being measured as a ‘success’ by society’s rules stamped all over it.
A collaborative Door Installation by many past guest artists, students and visitors. 2010 – Present.
The final class assessment, learning outcomes and discussion. Students presented and discussed the works generated in the class. We exchanged how the information learned during the class will influence each student forward? How will you apply the information learned through out the course?
A nice piece of rare history was created at the end of the course as all of the guest artists who came in to lecture added their mark to one single piece of bristol paper. Some added their traditional styles & tags while others signed their names in a unique new way that may only be seen this one time. Many many thanks to the guest artists and lecturers who gave their time and experience to this course, it could not function with out you! Gratitude and Respect!
Leon Reid IV – SEBS – General Howe – H.Veng Smith – CAKE aka Jennifer Caviola – Yoav Litvin –
Caroline Caldwell – RJ Rushmore – John Fekner – Ryan Seslow
LIU Campus Library Book Resources
1. Scrawl : Dirty Graphics & Strange Characters, by Blackshaw, Ric., Farrelly, Liz. London : Booth-Clibborn Editions, 1999.
2. Street Art, by Schwartzman, Allan. Garden City, N.Y. : Dial Press, 1985.
3. Subway Art : 25th Anniversary edition, by Cooper, Martha., Chalfant, Henry. San Francisco, CA : Chronicle Books, 2009.
4. Trespass : A History of Un-Commissioned Urban Art, by McCormick, Carlo, Seno, Ethel, Schiller, Marc., Schiller, Sara, Banksy, Pasternak, Anne, 1964, Serra, J. Tony. Köln : Taschen, c2010.
5. Getting up : Subway Graffiti in New York, by Castleman, Craig, Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, c1982.
6. The History of American Graffiti, by Gastman, Roger , Neelon Caleb, Harper Design , April 5, 2011.
7. Viral Art, by RJ Rushmore, 2013 – download here- http://viralart.vandalog.com
8. Outdoor Gallery, by Litvin, Yoav, Ginko press, 2014.
LIU Campus Library IMA Video Resources
1. Exit Through the Gift Shop by Banksy, Oscilloscope Laboratories (Firm) [New York] : Oscilloscope Laboratories, 2010.
2. Next: A Primer on Urban Painting by Aravena, Pablo, by New Video, 2010.
3. Style Wars by Silver, Tony, Chalfant, Henry, Public Art Films, 1983.
4. Tats Cru: The Mural Kings by Lia, Jonathan, & Kotlinski, Mark, Anthem NYC (Firm) [New York] : Anthem NYC, 2006.
5. Wild Style by Ahearn, Charlie, Rhino Home Video [distributor], 2002.
6. Bomb It – by Reiss, Jon, 2007.
7. Graffiti-Post Graffiti – by Tschinkel, Paul, ART/new york, 1984.
Web Links
Art Crimes – https://www.graffiti.org
149th St. Com – http://www.at149st.com
Concrete to Data Exhibition – https://concretetodata.com
TAWKIN NEW YAWK CITY WALLS – http://streetartmuseum.com
RJ Rushmore’s VIRAL ART Book –http://viralart.vandalog.com/read
LUNA PARK – Flickr Galleries – https://www.flickr.com/photos/lunapark/sets
Wooster Collective – http://woostercollective.com
Brooklyn Street Art – http://brooklynstreetart.com
Vandalog – http://vandalog.com
Encrypted Fills – http://encryptedfills.com
short-link to this post – https://wp.me/p252IX-3xO
How wonderful to see this course being taught I love the work. Great job.
I really enjoyed Herb Smith’s work. His paintings are realistic and highly detailed but his street art is so fun to look at, especially when he works collaboratively. I can see exactly where his inspirations from Dutch artists are applied to his work in either oil paint or street art. With his bird paintings he talked about not using a landscape background and to me that relates to Dutch and Flemish portraits where the focus is really on the individual and the background is only there to emphasize them more. With his street art, I looked at the square face that he uses often and instantly saw the influence with facial expression, style and color palette. I related to to Herb when he said he was struggling to simplify his way of illustrating birds into minimalistic street art. I too can struggle with doing without all the detail and simplifying an idea or image. Though his white bird wheat paste is very flat and minimalistic, I think where he chooses to place them adds texture and depth when looked at as a whole.
I think marker was easier for me to control than spray paint, however I have been using markers since a young age and have never tried to control spray paint before. It was challenging at first but as I played around more, slowed down and got closer to the paper I was able to achieve a little more control and even got some drips. I am excited to see how much I can progress with spray paint and how much more can be done with markers.
Having Herb come speaks to our class was very beneficial and interesting. One thing that I loved about his visit was his demeanor and the way he spoke about his artwork. At one point he stated that he doesn’t really think about his artwork, he ‘just does it’. His artwork has no hidden messages, it is purely for his pleasure and the pleasure of others.
I thought it was funny how many times through out the presentation he was giving himself criticism on his artwork as he spoke about it. I like the fact that even though is a successful artist, he still is able to look at his work and know that not everything is perfect.
Personally, I enjoyed his street art more than his bird paintings. Although all of his artwork was done extremely well and with great skill, I like that his street artwork was more surreal and imaginative. Even though he stated that there is no meaning or message behind any of his work, I feel that the street art gets the viewing thinking and trying to figure out a narrative or the story behind what they are seeing.
It felt great to have a spray paint in my hand and to be taught a skill that was once and still is looked at as “illegal” and “destruction of property.” Surprisingly, it felt like a great way to express and release emotions that I can’t vocally do so otherwise. Looking forward to more. Thank you for the class.
I thought that Herb’s work with straight spray paint was the best and his collaborations with Chris were very cool. It was awesome to get a first hand demonstration on how to write our tags.
I really enjoyed Herb’s presentation. He is a great artist with an unique painting style and still developing what became his distinctive style. In the class, he demonstrated how to use spray paint, how to control the thickness of the line. Well, compared to markers and spray paint, I think spray paint has more attraction and is easy to catch eyeballs. Wow ~ Learned a lot today!
7/13/16 – CAKE and her work are amazing! Her work really inspired me, because we both work with figures. During her presentation I wanted to run out and start wheat pasting my own work all over the place. I love how she chooses her locations to wheat paste. The contrast between the 2D work and the grit, texture and hidden beauty of the real world was really beautiful. I would like to have the instructions to create the wheat paste to try again on my own.
SEBS was great as well. I like how much his work has changed and evolved. He commented on how “his color still sucked, but the flow is coming together,” which says to me that he still thinks that he can grow as an artist and the timeline of his work proved he has. I found some references to his older work in his newer work such as backgrounds being tried again. His demo was so helpful, he seemed fearless up at the paper just doing what he does on a normal basis. He helped me a lot to creating smoother, thinner lines as well as how to fill and blend. I really enjoyed today’s class, it was very inspiring.
Yesterday’s class was a lot of fun! I really love Cake’s work. All of her artwork had more of a fine art feel to me, that was very nicely juxtaposed in the locations where she would put the artwork up. Her style of drawing figures is unique and almost gives her a ‘brand’. I like that some of her figures almost look like continuous contour drawings which is an exercise that I really enjoy.
Sebs was also really fun to listen to. I am a very curious person, so he was intriguing to me because of how secretive he was about certain things. It was interesting seeing the progression from when he first started to where he is at now. When he was doing his demonstration, I was amazed at how quickly he was able to get the letter sketched and started. In my personal work, I am relatively cautious when starting. I like planning, and sketching… starting with pencil. I was envious of how easily he just ‘went for it’.
Yesterday’s was very informative and helpful in teaching me ways on how to create and craft my art. Both of their works were amazing. CAKE’s story on how she started and what she does cause my eye. It was fun wheat pasting little things around the building, especially learning about the different to and not to wheat paste. SEBS was also helpful in taking him time to show myself and everyone else how to create the type of look we wanted. It was interesting to learn how to tell the differences between the caps and how far or close to spray the paint to get the effect that you wanted the most. The demo of how to create the letters and art was also very helpful.
I really enjoyed seeing Herb’s work. Before this point I didn’t really see street art as a true form of art. In a way I looked down on it. But after seeing Herb’s work and his presentation my views have been completely changed. Seeing him and his work really opened my eyes. We see concrete buildings on the daily and don’t think much about it. However Herb sees these everyday surfaces and creates and envisions art for them.
CAKE was inspiring to see. You could see that she’s always looking to expand upon her ideas. She finds the perfect spots to place her work and it’s beautiful.
It’s not easy to find art everywhere for some. These artists have shown people like me who were ignorant to street art how beautiful and complex their work is.
Today during the city trip I saw all kinds of art all over. It almost felt like entering a new world. I learned bits and pieces about the history of street art through the guides that were with us that I wouldn’t have known otherwise. I really had fun today.
When I was in China, I was CAKE’s fan. Since I have been making illustrations, I look for reference as the first thing I do daily. I was unsure I would see her in real life. Her works looks dark at first blush But, since she started to explain the story behind the works, I now understand how she works much deeper. For example, why are the character’s finger red? What is the use of the gold, and for what meaning? She’s a very remarkable artist!
SEBS, he shows the right state for the graffiti artist. Be yourself, do what you want, keep going and enjoy your beer! In the class, I learned how to control the spray paint’s line. Everything looks easier than done!! I need more exercises and practice!
Yesterday’s tour was a great eye opener to the many different styles of street art whether or not the artist did so with permission. Normally when I go to the city, I mostly see the graffiti (tags and throw ups) but rarely do I stop to see and appreciate the art on the walls and around me. Learning the history behind some one the murals and smaller works gave me more of an understanding of who the artist is or was. It was also fun to see one of Herb Smith’s because I felt more connected since I had just personally met him.
It was also very informative to learn how an artist can make their work “pop out” more by using white paint behind it so it wouldn’t fade into the wall.
I was actually sad to learn that the lot was being shit down because there was just great work that I would love to see more of. It’s unfortunate that the art world is not cared for more. With the amount of museums and galleries around the city, some of which are expensive, it’s nice to be able to see works of art being showcased for free around the city for people to admire.
I would like to thank Leon Reid IV and NYC Graff Tour for showing us all these beautiful creations.
The graffiti tour was fantastic!!!! This was the first time I stood right in front of the art works. I have patience to understand the histories and analyze the skills. I actually think that human living is an Art. We always take the subway in a hurry, eat breakfast in a hurry, etc. Very rarely do I stop to notice the art works around me. Here is a big chance! It is not easy to be a street artist. I admire their hard-working spirit. Graffiti is more popular, especially that it’s illegal. But the artist never gives up, they insist on producing a stunning volume of work in the illegal public space.
7/12/16 – VENG Herb
It’s always interesting to see the growing connections between fine art and street art. Especially hearing directly from an artist that has blended the two worlds so seamlessly. I enjoy Herb’s style- where there is an abstract portrait- but it is painted almost realistically. It was also nice to hear him say, “I painted this because I like it.” And, “If you’re into something, then someone else is into it. You just got to find those people.” That really resonated with me. It’s something so simple and obvious, but it was just so great to hear.
Making my own paint has been something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now- although with more //organic// materials…
Months ago I actually reached out to Herb on instagram, asking what kinds of pigments he uses and where he got them– he never replied.
7/13/16 – CAKE + SEBS
I was really looking forward to this day – I’m always enthralled with Cake’s almost eerie paintings- and I was so happy to see some new ones!
I wheat pasted with her two years ago- I was glad she vaguely remembered me haha and that she even asked for one of my prints-!
But that day gave me one of my favorite lines– I remember pasting up several stencils I sprayed that morning- as I was hunched over the bucket of paste, she said something like, “Ryan! We created a monster!” and my friend replied, “She was already a monster…” — I had “I was already a monster” as my instagram bio for almost two years.
“What the fuck does he go by? I’ll remember … I probably won’t remember.”
“I work like I’m on speed but I’m not.”
“If the work is important to you then it’s important.”
SEBS did not disappoint either!! I did feel a little bad though- cause he was so funny, talking about his upbringing and the dumb things he used to do- and I wanted to laugh so badly- but I was still sick and kept wheezing all over the place– but he was so funny.. A great sense of humor..
I even liked the way he talked about his work – He kept saying things like, “I did this one- the colors suck and I hate everything about it, but yeah. I did it.” He just had an overall great attitude towards his work and how to talk to others about it. He also said, “you never know who you can meet and do art work for.” And that stuck with me- I’ve been trying to do that a lot myself- I’ll throw my business card at anyone who will take it.
7/14/16 GRAFF TOUR FEAT. LEON
I don’t know– Can I say that I was a little disappointed? I’m not sure if we just happened to go on the tour when there wasn’t that much work up- but I feel like we didn’t cover that much ground? Or we spent too much time talking about things we already discussed in class- rather than about the work/seeing more work.. I’ve been on the tour in the past and I remember walking so much that we were all exhausted by the end of it. (My coke exploded on me and I met a man named Pasta.) The big finish of the LISA Project installation was awesome, though. I would have liked to seen what the opening was like!! But maybe it was just me- or the timing- but I left wanting more..
7/15/16 DIRT WORSHIP + RJ RUSHMORE
This day… I was most disappointed… But it was 100% my fault.. I should have left home earlier.. But it was so hot– My body was seriously overheating and I was really close to passing out– but I missed so much!! From the parts I heard, Caroline’s presentation was awesome!! Madonna stole her work– like what even is that?! Madness!! I got some new ideas brewing from seeing her ad-takeovers too–
I was so impressed with the way she spoke and how she carried herself- I was ready to listen to her talk the whole rest of the day– ad we’re the same age?! Incredible.
I really enjoy the concept of predicting the future of street art- if we fill the streets, where can it go next? There’s always a next– and to the internet– The video of KATSU tagging the white house is always so satisfying. Even if it was staged– you know some people probably believe it– and maybe years from now it’ll just become accepted as fact in the graffiti timeline.
It was great to listen to RJ talk about his hand in public art- even if it didn’t seem like he had work of his own up, he still played a great role in assisting large installations. And how he said his role is to “constantly be a person of great use,” that was just awesome. Cause that’s how things get done– if someone needs something done, just do it!! I’m sure you have time- I’m sure you have the skill- just do it!!
And when I asked how to start getting walls- “Just knock on the door and ask.” I know it’s that simple– I just have to do it– “the worst that can happen is that they say no.”
7/14/16 – The NYC Graff Tour brought to my attention a lot of pieces of art tucked away or staring at you right in the face throughout a small section of the city. I thought it was great where the tour first started at the Think Coffee where you have a legal wall mural facing illegal tags across the street. It was also fortunate that we got a last chance to see the work done by The Lisa Project in a lot that unfortunately will no longer have the art work. It made me think about how street art can be preserved in photo form but there is nothing like seeing it in person.
7/15/16 – I thought Caroline gave a great presentation on different kinds of street art with advertisement disruptions. She spoke very well about forms of street art that I would never think to call street art, not that I have another name in mind for them. She makes beautiful illustrations but the few works she made replacing ads in the trains interested me the most. It’s unsettling how ads can creep into your unconscious and make you think things you wouldn’t otherwise think about without them.
RJ’s presentation gave a political aspect of street art that I have yet to hear about. I like how that even though he is part of a conference that will be taking place, he doesn’t think that he or the other people going are a enough of a variety of races, cultures and genders to represent all of street art. I liked how he touched upon Tatiana’s work because I met her at her show Stop Telling Women to Smile while representing Women for Change. At the time I didn’t think it was enough for her pieces to be hanging in an art gallery, but rather be placed around the city streets.
I thought they both gave very different perspectives of street art that have expanded my understanding of how broad and varied the artwork can be.
7/13/16 CAKE & SEBS
I was really excited for Jennifer to come and visit our class. I had never done wheatpasting before but I’ve always thought it was interesting. The process in which you can create your image first and then place it quickly is what appeals to me, as I do not necessarily enjoy a rushed immediate satisfaction from my artwork, I prefer to take my time. In addition, I thought that Jennifer’s style of painting figures was also very unique and brought an additional component to her wheatpasting technique. Her presentation was great, I loved hearing about her experience in Germany since I want to do a residency there after I graduate plus she was so genuine and approachable. I can’t wait to create my own images to paste up!
SEBS is definitely an interesting character. I can appreciate his authenticity coming from the graffiti lifestyle. His demonstration was really cool and I have been keeping my eyes pealed for his work.
7/14/16
TOO HOTTT!!! I’m going to start out honest and say, walking around in the heat really encumbered my experience for the Graff tours. Besides that, I think it could be a really interesting experience to repeat in the future. Now that we have had three different street artists come to our class it was cool to be able to identify all the different types of street art-which I couldn’t have done before. I wish that our route was a little more planned but the space we ended at with the Lisa project was awesome!
7/15/16
Caroline and RJ are so awesome. Caroline’s PowerPoint was so well curated and insightful. It’s the only presentation I’ve taken notes on so far to be honest. The subject of Intervention art is still so new and it is so important to have fellow young artists educating people about it! On that same subject, I thought the most interesting part of RJ’s presentation was at the end when he acknowledged that he ponders the impact and perception that he has and will have at the conference he is going to. That self awareness should be an example to all of us. I hope to cross paths with them again in the future.
Insightful indeed! Public intervention, public disruption to expand awareness with art.
7/18/16- So weird how I just logged on Facebook and this was the first sponsored ad https://www.facebook.com/tonionnewyork/videos/10150658879194950/. Loved making a stencil today of a prexisting work in my sketchbook. The style in which I can work with stencils is really similar to the way I make woodcuts and prints by thinking of positive and negative space. I really enjoyed the process.
Awesome! Make more! Funny how that ad works…..
http://u.pw/2a5TPZY
New Banksy piece on a school where the students voted to name a building after him.
Ha! Was a matter of time, but look at this! :)))
General Howe gave me a lot of hope when he explained his path to where he is now, because it sounds a lot like the path I am currently on to become a teacher and continue as an artist. I also like how he felt that as an artist, especially a street artist that he has this platform to talk about important topics. It’s interesting how he brought that into the digital word, another platform for him to spread his thoughts and ideas through his gifs, images and animations. I think as artists it is important for us to express how we feel about the world around us. It’s great to make aesthetically pleasing artwork and all, but when you have the ability to create and grab people’s attention by what you create, it should say something or make people think. I think great art starts a conversation.
Caroline seems to have a very strong character and is very driven to the image that she carries in her mind. Her work is very organized and you can tell how much thought goes into planning out her work. Her presentation was excellent as well. She was very interesting and raised good points while sharing her art and ideas.
Yoav Litvin gave a great perspective from the side of documentation. I currently make most of my income from photography in a very uninteresting way. I love how Yoav stumbled into his path of street art photography and traveling the world in an accident, an unexpected twist that would change how he would invest his time and find a passion in something new. The way he spoke about art, community, where he goes, who he meets and what he sees inspired me to hop on the LIRR (where I am currently writing this) with my camera to document a growing street art movement outside of NYC. I’ll leave it at that for now.
I loved listening to Caroline speak about her work and the messages behind her street art artworks. She is a very well spoken person and is very knowledgable in street artists. It was cool having someone our own age come in and talk to us too.
General Howe was awesome! It was funny noticing all of his ‘teacher’ mannerisms, and I feel like I learned a lot from him. It’s was interesting hearing all of the history background that he has researched which helps him figure out where he wants to install his artworks.
It was really cool seeing street art from a different perspective when listening to Yoav. I want to get his book! I love hearing people ‘back stories’ and figuring out a persons personality and why they are a certain way. Being that his whole book is interviews I think it would be a great way to get to know those stories and hear the different reasons why different people get into doing street art.
I really enjoyed our visit to the MET. We have been so in depth with street art and artist, it was a great contrast to see artworks that were chosen and curated for an exhibit. My favorite artwork of the day was the house on the roof. I was expecting it to be an actual construction of a house. When I went to walk around the back I realized it was only a facade! I was really taken aback by that. But I still love the picture I got of the house. The contrast between the city skyline and the old rickety looking house made for an interesting composition.
The stencil work was a little more complicated than I thought it would be. The only easy part was drawing out what I wanted. Figuring out where to place me bridges and how i wanted the layout the colors was where I has my problems. But all in all it was a great experience and I enjoyed learning a new craft in the world of graffiti and street art.
7/18/16
Our stencil making class was really great! I thought about what my image would be for my stencil and made a rather intricate piece. I had made stencils previously but the demonstration with the Christopher Walken stencil made me realize I could make my stencil so much more interesting with more than one layer.I finished my stencil on wednesday, finally! And it was worth all of the time.
7/19/16
General Howe- it was very interesting to hear about a teachers journey with street art since many of us are aspiring teachers. There is definitely a lot of thought and reasoning behind each of his war based pieces. The piece that captured me the most were the small soldier figures that he placed and photographed. The conversation about how “ephemeral” street art can be and how documentary could be considered part of these pieces made me think.
It is amazing how much we learned and were exposed to in the two short weeks that we had. Many of these experiences were ‘once in a lifetime’, and I am grateful for that. Being able to ask questions and have conversations with each artist in such an intimate setting was amazing. Also, the fact that we had Leon as a tour guide for the NYC walking tour was definitely a treat. It is surprising to me that classes like this are not more welcomed and available across the US. I definitely feel like I learned a tremendous amount. The things that I learned already have, and will continue to have an impact on how I view my surroundings. Thank you for a wonderful two weeks!
Thanks so much Nancy! It was fun and chock full of great learning experiences! Thank you for your consistent participation and insight!
I am upset that this class has already finished. In merely two weeks we compacted a ton of information and great eye opening experiences. During these two weeks I was able to meet a variety of fantastic artists who have done incredible work. Their lectures and demonstrations have given me a whole new perspective of street art and graffiti. I am incredibly lucky to have been able to listen to so many artists speak about their relationship with street art and to able to ask them questions. After these two weeks I am more aware of how to look at public space and how easy it is to disrupt it when you realize you can. I have a whole new understanding of how broad street art is, how it is bettering communities and how it’s disrupting our public space to allow us to think differently. I have been very inspired by the art that I have seen, the techniques I have learned and the artists who spoke. Thank you Ryan for sharing your time, knowledge and resources with us. This was a really great class, I highly recommend others to take it and for classes like this to be more available.
You are very welcome Brianna! It was great fun. So much insight and inspiration was shared and received!
7/18/16
STENCIL DAYYYYYY — The day I was most looking forward to– Recently I’ve been focusing on glass work and it has been way too long since I cut a stencil.. So the weekend before, I made sure to cut a new one!! For a while now, I’ve been cutting stencils from paper- even newsprint- with the mindset of “I’ll only spray one or two and be satisfied,” and every time.. I’m never satisfied. I always end up fighting the stencil to get as many prints as I can before I rip it… But I still enjoy using paper…
And!! According to my Timehop app- it’s been two years exactly since I cut my first stencil.. The first was about 6″x4″, and my latest was 36″x21″.. I’ve grown quite a bit…
https://newhive.com/susankelly/2014-2016
7/19/16
General Howe
I really enjoyed the hacked presidential election works- Especially the lawn signs with Batman and Robin- as if they were actually running for president..
The animated GI Joe gifs and videos were interesting as well- it makes me wonder if he was ever contacted by the creators? That’s something I forgot to ask.
And I tried- I really did- but I couldn’t stop thinking of this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eA3XCvrK90
His presentation was a bit hard to follow- how all his images were small and overlapping- it was hard to actually see the work..
But it was great that he brought in the physical linoleum plate that he printed from!!
7/20/16
Yoav Litvin
I feel like Yoav’s presentation was a great way to start to end the class.
It also completely threw me for a loop.
How do you go from published neuroscientist to street art documentor– Like I can’t even wrap my head around the idea of being a neuroscientist– and at one point he’s explaining the relations between art and some nerve reactions in the brain– like– WHAT IS THAT–
I also loved how much information he gave us- about many, many different artists- but also a look into street art and graffiti from different countries. Especially that he was physically there experiencing and documenting it with his own unique and valuable insight.
7/21/16
Really great time hacking the MET…
https://newhive.com/susankelly/metvideos
https://newhive.com/susankelly/for-matisse
7/22/16
John Fekner
First of all- it’s awesome that a stencil artist with so much history actually taught at Post.. And that he didn’t really talk about his own work that much- even if I’d like to hear about it more..
He talked more about life as an artist- how to live and survive but still constantly create work.
It was great to see that he was still creating works after so many years- and the fact that his most recent works- like his stencils- are completely anonymous- uncaring of who knew who did it- and only in the name of putting work up and out into the world. Just awesome.
Excellent work on this Suzie!
Love the links here, thank for always going the extra distance and being a leader!
In our summer class, I not only learned some graffiti drawing skills, but also I feel exposed to the charm and aesthetics of graffiti. Through the lectures and different artist’s presentations, I saw a lot of different forms of how to make graffiti art, We looked and learned about the different artist’s work. It is a very unforgettable experience for me. I am so happy and I really enjoyed this class. Thanks for your help! Have a nice summer!
Thank you so much Emily!
After these two weeks in our graffiti class, I realized that I have learn a lot of interesting things that I never learned before. The most fun thing was the trip we took to the city. Even though the weather was hot there, I found so many great pieces of street art works. They are huge and gorgeous! I love the way graffiti artists create those pieces both legally and illegally. I really enjoyed the artist Cake and her works, the colors and designs are perfect! Thanks for letting us have a wonderful class to know this amazing technology of graffiti. It is a great summer class!