The Not Art Stencil is Meant to Inspire Wonder

The ‘Not Art’ Stencil Project Is Meant to Inspire ‘Wonder’
The tagger responsible for one of the most prominent outdoor art stencils talks about his motivation behind the paint.

By Steve Annear  | Arts & Entertainment  | January 20, 2014 3:01 pm

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/arts-entertainment/blog/2014/01/20/not-ar…

Some people view it as a message that calls attention to bland, often ignored objects in plain public view, while others have said that it’s pointless tagging that merely defaces local property.

But it’s that conversation between two sides of the argument, and the confusion that leaves people wondering what it means, that the creator of the “Not Art…

Stencil graffiti practically legal in NYC - if you're white and wearing a suit

 

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/12/i-got-myself-arrest…

Ten years ago, when I started my career as an assistant district attorney in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, I viewed the American criminal justice system as a vital institution that protected society…

Stencils in the Shadows: Two Artists on a Mission

Stencils in the Shadows: Two Artists on a Mission
Devin Holt, SF Weekly
link: http://blogs.sfweekly.com/exhibitionist/2013/11/stencils_in_the_shadows…

The house on San Jose Avenue was perfect. There was plenty of sidewalk out front, and enough light to see clearly from the streetlamps overhead. With a couple of quick glances up and down the block, the pair set to work. They laid their handmade outlines down on the sidewalk, adjusted them to assure proper alignment, and then pulled out a spray can. The stencils were painted with a few quick hisses, and everything was packed back up in less than a minute.
Three messages now looked up from the sidewalk. "Tu Casa es Mi Casa," "The New Mission: Haute yet Edgy!" and "Tenants Here Forced Out."

The house wasn't chosen because of its ample…

Exclusive: An Interview with Banksy

By Keegan Hamilton Wednesday, Oct 9 2013

http://www.villagevoice.com/2013-10-09/art/banksy-better-out-than-in-ne…

"Confidential."

That was the beguiling subject of an e-mail seemingly randomly addressed to the Village Voice in mid-September.

"I represent the artist Banksy," the message began, "and I would like to talk to you at your earliest convenience." The name and phone number of a British publicist followed. There were no further details or explanation. It was mysterious and intriguing. The secretive graffiti artist had been silent since last year, when his distinctive stencils appeared in London during the Olympics.…

Elusive graffiti artist accessorizes for work

Original (with photos) here: http://blog.sfgate.com/cityexposed/2013/10/06/elusive-graffiti-artist-a…

“She found us. She came in here and asked for permission. She’s taken over,” said Anissa Malady, the center’s librarian, who has watched the artist’s work evolve for the past two years.

“She is definitely a San Francisco eccentric,” Malady said. “I’ve never seen any other street artist in high heels.”

She’s known as Eclair Bandersnatch – the last name is a fictional creature in several Lewis Carroll works, elusive and hard to catch. They’re traits that San Francisco’s Bandersnatch also possesses.

She won’t tell you how old she is, where she’s from or where she lives now. Her stencil-art pieces pop up all over town – up and down Market Street, on Haight and throughout the Mission. Some of the largest examples are on display at the Grace…

1,000s of Stencils Mark Peace Day on Normandy Beach

Haunting reminder of millions of lives lost in war as artists stencil 9,000 bodies onto Normandy beach to mark Peace Day

British led project covered the famous coastline in poignant silhouettes
A team of 500 artists and volunteers contributed the moving installation
The 'fallen' were left to be washed away by the tide at the end of the day
By Aaron Sharp

PUBLISHED: 08:05 EST, 23 September 2013 | UPDATED: 12:20 EST, 23 September 2013

Source (and more photos): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2429903/Peace-Day-Reminder-mill…

A pair of British artists have created this stunning installation of 9,000 silhouettes on a D-Day Landings beach to mark…

Graffiti Conference Seeks Public's Help

Graffiti conference seeks public's help
S.F. CRIME
Neal J. Riley
Published 4:51 pm, Thursday, January 17, 2013

Graffiti is a more than $20 million-a-year problem in San Francisco, and though city officials put out a call Thursday to eradicate graffiti blight, there's still disagreement on how vandals should be punished.

At the first Zero Graffiti International Conference, hundreds of people from around the world gathered at St. Mary's Cathedral to discuss fighting graffiti and browse products to take spray paint and markers off any surface.

"Graffiti vandalism is a drain on our city's resources, impacting our neighborhoods and quality of life," said George Gascón, San Francisco's district attorney. "We ask the public to help out by reporting graffiti crime."

Split over penalties

Mohammed Nuru, the Department of Public Works director, said his agency takes an average of 3,000 calls a month about graffiti and has seen an…

Alcatraz Historical Graffiti Restored

Alcatraz pays tribute to Indian occupation
Carl Nolte
Updated 1:48 pm, Monday, January 14, 2013

The National Park Service does not usually approve of graffiti. "It's a federal offense," said Marcus Koenen, site supervisor for Alcatraz, the former prison that is now part of a national park.

However, the government has made an exception for graffiti left behind during the Indian occupation of the island - and it helped restore signs painted by hand on a landmark water tower.

"PEACE AND FREEDOM WELCOME HOME OF THE FREE INDIAN LAND," the writing says in red letters 4 and 5 feet high.

"We restored it because it has a social significance," Koenen said recently. "It is part of what this park is all about."

Most of the 1.5 million people who visit Alcatraz are drawn to the island by tales of its dark past as America's most feared prison, the dead end of the American justice system.

But Alcatraz has more than one story - and one part of…

Banksy's Haight St. Rat Turns Up in Miami

I sell a rat

By caitlin
Created 12/18/2012 - 6:02pm
Public street art as private purchase? Banksy's Haight Street rat turns up in Miami

STREET SEEN Like many of his Bay Area art world peers, the beret-wearing rat that Banksy stenciled on the side of Haight Street's Red Victorian hotel in 2010 was in Miami for Art Basel week.

But sadly, our stenciled friend wasn't available for air-kisses. The rodent-adorned chunk of wall hung behind a velvet rope and its own security guard in the VIP lounge at Context, a new-this-year contemporary wing of the sprawling Art Miami art fair.

The rodent was one of five reappropriated Banksy walls being shown in an exhibition that was controversial even by the standards of Basel week's art-star-big-money whirligig. A local weekly newspaper helpfully pointed out that the wheelings-and-dealings in Miami during Basel involve art worth roughly the GDP of Guyana. (Check out the Guardian's Pixel Vision blog for our full report on…

Knoxville, TN: AC Stencils DIY Bike Route Arrows

http://www.metropulse.com/news/2012/may/30/anonymous-cyclist-blazes-bik…

EXCERPT

Earlier this spring a small stenciled image of a bike appeared on the pavement at the intersection of Glenwood Avenue and Luttrell Street. An arrow painted beside the bike pointed to the right. What’s this? I thought.

Later, I noticed more of the small stenciled bikes zigzagging through North Knoxville, leading the way down quiet neighborhood streets and little-used roads near industrial parts of town. They perfectly matched the route my husband takes when he bikes our child to school in the bike trailer.

“You did this!” I said.

He denied it.

Still, it must be a personal route, I thought, marked by a cycling…