Wall Dogs and Ghost Signs

When we think about the history of painting giant words on walls, let’s not forget the wall dogs. They may be almost extinct here in North America, but in other parts of the world they’re thriving. You can still see evidence of their craft in the ghost signs in your own town or on the web. In some cases you can even see old layers showing through under new ones. (all links via MetaFilter.)

Review: Street Art panel at RESFEST-SF

Saturday’s panel at RESFEST, “Street Art or Not”, was sparsely attended, which is a shame, because a lot of interesting things were said. I hope the organizers will podcast this one like they did last week’s one in New York. I took a few notes though, so if you can’t wait for the podcast, read on…

Continue reading Review: Street Art panel at RESFEST-SF…

Quality of Life

Quality of Life, a new independent feature film about two young San Francisco graffiti writers, is finally coming to theaters. It opens October 12 at the United Artists Galaxy 4 Theatre (at Van Ness and Sutter) in San Francisco. This low-budget film was shot in SF’s Mission district, but it looks like it will have more than just local interest. Ben Morgan, the director, was a very thoughtful and reasonable voice at the recent Commonwealth Club panel (which you can listen to here in RealAudio format). I haven’t seen the movie yet, but it’s been getting some great reviews, so I’m really looking forward to checking it out. See you there, opening night!

paint fragment from Belmont Art Park

This is an extreme closeup scan of a paint chip retrieved from the ruins of Belmont Art Park by Amy McKenzie earlier this year. This fragment consists of about 150-200 separate layers of paint, the product of a ridiculous amount of work laid down over the decades.

Graffiti events at RESFEST 2005

RESFEST 2005 hits San Francisco next week, and it looks like there will be plenty of interest for Bay Area graffiti heads. If you’re not already planning to be dancing your ass off at the Love Parade, be sure to check these two events on Saturday, September 24th:

2:15pm: Street Art or Not, a roundtable discussion featuring Jeff Chang (Can’t Stop Won’t Stop), Doug Pray (Infamy), John Trippe (Fecalface), plus more TBA.

8pm: Infamy, a feature documentary about graffiti, directed by the same Doug Pray who brought us the great turntablism doc Scratch a few years back.

So if you’re in SF, swing by the Palace of Fine Arts to check this all out. Maybe I’ll see you there. (I’ll be the dorky looking guy with the camera.)