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.)

Ambidextrous Magazine

Graffiti Archaeology just got a nice writeup in Issue One of Ambidextrous Magazine, the journal of Stanford University’s new design school. They don’t have an online version yet, but the printed magazine is definitely worth checking out: it’s got a warm, hands-on feeling that’s refreshingly different from the usual fare. So go get yourself a hard copy! It’s currently on sale at Books Inc. in Mountain View, and no doubt coming soon to a bookstore near you. (Check the Ambidextrous home page for future updates.)

Update: The editors were kind enough to send me a PDF of the article to share with you. Click here to read the article.

Graffiti panel at the Commonwealth Club

Jim Prigoff shows an early Futura tag

Originally uploaded by otherthings.

Last night’s panel at the Commonwealth Club was pretty interesting. The topic was “Graffiti: Urban Scrawl or Artistic Freedom?”. There was an introduction and slide show by Jim Prigoff, street art historian and coauthor of Spraycan Art. The panelists were: APEX BA of San Francisco street art fame; Ben Morgan, Director of Quality of Life; John Doffing, Founder of Start Soma Gallery; Machaela M. Hoctor, San Francisco Deputy City Attorney; and Mohammed Nuru, Chair of San Francisco’s Graffiti Advisory Board. It was moderated by Jonathon Keats, an Art Critic for San Francisco Magazine.

Continue reading Graffiti panel at the Commonwealth Club…

new location: cove

After just six months of shooting pictures and trawling the web, I’ve gathered enough layers to do a thorough treatment of one of my current favorite San Francisco spots, which I’ll call cove. Many thanks to Claudine and Del for contributing their bright, shiny photos!

This is just one of several walls. Look for more from this spot in the coming months…

large pure oh action!

Graffiti Archaeology just got a nice writeup in Spiegel Online. If you can’t read German, there’s always the Babelfish autotranslation: “If one decreases/goes back the years, one becomes a witness a large pure oh action.”

Update: we now have a much better translation, thanks to Gisela Rodenbeck (Eric’s mom!)

Continue reading large pure oh action!…

Help save Belmont Art Park

Belmont Art Park, site of the famous tunnel featured on the cover of the recent New York Times article, is still in danger of being destroyed. The culprit: a housing developer who has repeatedly demonstrated disrespect for both the law and the local community’s wishes.

Belmont Art Park United is preparing a letter from the community to the local government board with authority over the site. If you’d like to add your name to the signature list, please send an email to belmontartproject@yahoo.com with your name and the group you represent. Better yet, write your own letter, and send it to this address:

CalEPA, California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region

320 W. 4th Street, Suite 200

Los Angeles, CA 90013

Attn: Yue Rong, PhD

213-576-6710

For more details, read on:

Continue reading Help save Belmont Art Park…