Back in New York

I brought a couple alien fairies and a satyr with me to NYC. The satyr below is located just off Layfette which is a decently pedestrian heavy street and I love that lurking just around the corner is an alien satyr playing his pan flute as unsuspecting pedestrians hustle past. I also like that a restaurant called "puck fair" is across the street.

































This posting isn't as suceessful, it was actually the first one I did this time around, and after it was up I realized it was a poor choice in terms of visibility, but on the plus side it will probably have good longevity due to it being in a derlict doorway that's blocked by some scaffolding. It's on Elizabeth between Prince and Spring.












Below is my belated addition to 11 spring street. Unfortunately the whole place looks like a royal mess now. I almost didn't post anything but decided what the hell...Violet spent about 2 to 3 hours on that Sunday waiting to get in and never did. For anyone who doesn't know what 11 spring is, check out www.woostercollective.com to learn more.

New Alien Fairy Sightings (and Alien Satyrs too)

This is a wide of the alien fairy from above. You can just barely see it at the bottom right of the valet booth.

Found Word Drawings

This is an ongoing series of "found word" drawings. The sentences/sentiments are culled from different sources (one being craig's list missed connection postings). They are all 11"x 14" and done in charcoal and/or pencil, except for the last two which are drypoint prints (both 4"x 31/4").

Attack of the Alien Fairies

Here's the latest project that I'm calling Alien Fairies. The idea is that way back in the day (way back) when there was more superstition than science people believed in fairies, leprechauns, elves, nymphs, satyrs, (you get the picture) but as science slowly gained ground it explained away all these creatures. However we still had a need for them to exist so we turned instead to the science-proof alien as our new form of supernatural being. So with Alien Fairies I've combined the two images to express that linkage from past to present.

Each one is hand drawn and painted on newsprint and then cut out, so they are all original pieces of art. This one is at the corner of Larchmont and Melrose (and is right above one of my "goal" alphabet cards.) I am going to place only a couple alien fairies out in the open on busy streets, and the rest will go up in alleyways and odd corners.

This is because real aliens or fairies would never be seen in broad daylight, as they are always hidden away. Plus when a person stumbles across one it will be (hopefully) a nice little surprise to brighten their day.

On another tip, so much of so-called street art is really terrible visual clutter that actually adds exponentially to the problem they say they are trying to address. I feel like it's mostly male dogs trying to mark as much territory as possible. The street art I admire the most actually has a point of view/something to say and is visually interesting to look at and improves the spaces it is put up in.

Now 4 Times Bigger and Better

I supersized the images so they are now easier to see by drivers whipping past.



















I like the juxtaposition of the goal image and the 20mb bomb image, which by the way I think is a nice twist on his (or her?) brand. As I was pasting it up I kinda wished I had a sharpie 'cause I would have left a note saying so. I dig these phone boxes, they have become a kind community bulletin board.




And as you can see I got some direct feedback.

















This is a new idea I'm working on.

New Ups

Routine stop & Goal post

First Ups In La La Land

It took me going on strike from my job to get me up and out and posting in Los Angeles. This is because a) I'm stressed out and not sleeping well and b) I really don't need the same brain power to walk the picket line as I do on my job, so getting up at 3am to post isn't a big deal.

This is the street debut of "unity"

You can see a close up of "Unity" and "Trap" in the April '06 archives.




"Trap" is the perfect image for Los Angeles. I like that the business in the background is a car repair shop.

In NYC I was using a raw wheatpaste (Violet's stove doesn't really work and she hasn't any pots either) but here in LA I'm using a cooked wheatpaste (now with sugar too) and it's much nicer.













I think my images are a little small and busy for people going 40 mph so I need to concentrate my postings in areas with foot traffic (Melrose) and targeting intersections where people are stopped and forced to examine the environment around them.

A New Series of Paintings

These are some of the new series of paintings I've been working on. They all use "found words" mostly stuff culled from the missed connections pages of craig's list. Done very quickly they are meant to have a sort of impromtu feeling that matches the immediacy of the sentence fragments.










They would look great as posters put up along side movie and record advertisments on construction site hoardings.

Second Strike

Shy Mob strikes again! This time it's the unhip UWS where little art is on the streets.

They say street art is all about the juxtaposition of the image and it's surrounding and I thought putting the "goal" image on the same corner as a funeral home was an interesting contrast. Maybe people arriving for services or waiting to travel to the cemetary will see it and reflect on why they are there and what they are doing in life. (as well as literally their objective [goal] that day is to go from the funeral home to the cemetary). Violet doesn't think as much of it as I do.

Yes, I know that my presentation skills need improvement and I'm working on my posting technique.


Here is another posting from the same night.

First Strike

Last night I put up my first piece of street art! It's at West 4th and 8th Ave right outside S'nice (delicious lesbian health food). I'm mad now that I was nervous and rushed through the job so that one corner is folded over.










"Bully" is one of my favorite pieces. I created it when I was slaving away for a particularly vacuous entertainment cable network and my cash was being budgeted down to the dollar. It was a point where I felt especially pushed around by money. Granted this has a lot to do with one's personal relationship/philosophy with money but in this country's hyper-consumer environment it's hard not to feel a little intimidated by it.

Beyond the personal level "Bully" works on the street level too. I think it'd be cool to use this image more in so called "transitional neighborhoods" (i.e. gentrification) where "money" is blatantly pushing people around.