Stencil Archive just got an upgrade!

Woah. Do things look different around here? Can I now bookmark Stencil Archive on my mobile browser home screen and click anytime to enjoy the latest and greatest in negative space? Has everything changed?

Many questions with a few easy answers. Welcome to the latest version of the Stencil Archive, including all the fresh content you've grown to love over the years but with a new look. The site is now responsive, which is techy speak for "you can open in up on your iOS or Android device and flick around the site." Try it horizontal or vertical! Only the look and response to where you're looking has changed.

Yes you can bookmark the site to your mobile home screen. The site even has a new version of the logo for the icon. For iOS just follow these steps: 

1. Go to the page you want to save. 
2. Click on the bottom middlemost button, the one with the arrow shooting out of the box
3. Click on "ADD TO HOME SCREEN" on the popup box

And NO NO NO.... there won't be any pop up/drop down pages asking for your email (or showing ads), kickstarters, indigogos, personal info collecting and sales, mbedded/wiggly ads, useless clickbait, or other crappy money-making schemes. If you wish to support the site, a simple donation will do (see the s/tour page for ways to contribute). 

And YES YES YES.... please submit photos, links, videos, gallery openings and anything stencil-related. Here's to another 12 years of stencil fun.

Third World Press Collective just had a great talk with sometimes-stencil artist Melanie Cervantes. Melanie and her husband Jesus Barraza crank out amazing political posters for many great causes. Years ago, Jesus told me that he learned how to screen print from old school printers who called the screens "stencils" (and acutally used stencils to occasionally put the image on the screen). I first met Melanie while photographing her stencils at the old Counterpulse space.

"Brown & Proud" by Melanie Cervantes and Jesus Barraza (Stencilada 2009)

Feminist Fistbumps: Artist Melanie Cervantes Discusses Art as Decolonial Activism

Happy Monday! This week we move the arts conversation from the East coast (remember Maribel and Cristy, who are living in Brooklyn?) back to the West coast! Here is our latest interview with California-based artist Melanie Cervantes, who donated a fierce piece to the online art auction that was curated by Chris Davila in December.   

Third Woman Press Collective (TWPC): Melanie, we know you’re really busy, and we thank you for joining us this week. Let’s start off by talking about your group, Dignidad Rebelde. Can you tell us a little more about it?

Melanie Cervantes (MC):  Sure! Dignidad Rebelde is a collaborative space for building community and producing art. We believe that art can be an empowering reflection of community struggles, dreams and visions. Following principles of Xicanisma and Zapatismo, we create work that translates people’s stories into art that can be put back into the hands of the communities who inspire it.

Photo: Haight Street, San Francisco. Artist unknown.

Woah now! Years in the making, since 2002, Stencil Archive takes a slow and steady approach to the photos it archives and presents. Practically hand curated in an attempt to not post a second photo of the same stencil, this site strives to not judge any skill level, content (unless racist or pornographic), or other qualities. When it comes to street art, off and on the white walls, the stencil tool is open source, for the people, and for anyone who has an idea to cut out and paint. 

Thanks for the first 20,000 photos and onwards to thousands more!

The Mission, SF, CA
http://www.stencilarchive.org/archives/index.php/San_Francisco/The_Miss…

Valencia St., SF, CA
http://www.stencilarchive.org/archives/index.php/San_Francisco/Valencia…

Western Addition, SF, CA
http://www.stencilarchive.org/archives/index.php/San_Francisco/Western_…

Financial District, SF, CA
http://www.stencilarchive.org/archives/index.php/San_Francisco/SoMa_Fin…

Haight St., Divisadero St., SF, CA
http://www.stencilarchive.org/archives/index.php/San_Francisco/Haight_D…

And the photo is, from Northeast Los Angeles:

As always, thanks for your support, submissions, feedback, and general stencil vibes....

Onwards to 30,000 :P

“It's going to get better and better. As it does, it's not just the FBI, CIA, and government agencies, but also every shopping mall you go into, potentially sports arenas,” Crockford says. “It's going to look a lot like dystopian scenes in the mall in the film Minority Report.”

http://noisey.vice.com/blog/beantowns-big-brother

BEANTOWN'S BIG BROTHER: HOW BOSTON POLICE USED FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY TO SPY ON THOUSANDS OF MUSIC FESTIVAL ATTENDEES

By Luke O'Neil

Although we look back on it now through a mournful or angry lens, it's easy to forget just how downright disorienting the days and weeks following the Boston Marathon bombing in April of 2013 were. Adding to the surrealism of the drama for me was a night spent on lockdown in my Watertown home while the gun fight between authorities and the alleged bomber raged on blocks away, and the intrusion of heavily armed law enforcement trampling through my front yard during the next morning's manhunt. For weeks after in the city, riding the subway or at any sort of big event, a sense of unease would sneak up on me from time to time when I realized just how easy it would be for something like the bombing to happen again. You might forgive someone attending the Boston Calling music festival at Government Center about a month later, a now twice-yearly, extremely successful event, for feeling somewhat apprehensive. It was, after all, the first large gathering of thousands of spectators since the bombing. But, as a recent investigation published in the alt-weekly Dig Boston has uncovered, perhaps concertgoers like myself needn't have worried so much; after all, the city was watching our every movement.

We salute you!

for more BRC negative space:

Nevada stencils

Black Rock City stencils

>NEW< Bambi (UK)
http://www.stencilarchive.org/archives/index.php/Europe/European_Artist…

>NEW< ABC Art Attack (NV)
http://www.stencilarchive.org/archives/index.php/USA/Artists_USA/ABC-Ar…

>NEW< Pau Tonnesen (AZ)
http://www.stencilarchive.org/archives/index.php/USA/Artists_USA/Pau-To…

>NEW< SIRES (NV)
http://www.stencilarchive.org/archives/index.php/USA/Artists_USA/SIRES

Peat Wollaeger (MO)
http://www.stencilarchive.org/archives/index.php/USA/Artists_USA/Peat_W…

Logan Hicks (NYC)
http://www.stencilarchive.org/archives/index.php/USA/Artists_USA/Logan_…

Artist Series - #2 Peat Wollaeger from steadyfilm on Vimeo.