Historical Item

Where Wombats Roved, and Aborigines Sketched

Submitted by russell on Sat, 08/07/2004 - 00:48

By Jane Perlez, New York Times
Dateline: SYDNEY, Australia

In a cave in rugged wilderness not far from the luxurious country resorts of this city's well-to-do, a leading anthropologist has found an unusually rare and pristine cache of ancient Aboriginal rock art.

In all, 11 layers of images of Australian animals ‚ kangaroos, wombats and monitor lizards, which Australians call goannas ‚ as well as drawings of boomerangs and half-human, half-animal creatures are scattered across the back wall of the cave in a giant mural.

The more than 200 images ‚ in faint reds and yellows, stark white and black ‚ stretch from 4,000 years ago to the late 18th century when white settlers first ventured onto Australian soil, said Paul S. C. Tacon, the chief research scientist in anthropology at the Australian Museum, who visited the site with Aboriginal consultants in May.

"I have been to thousands of places with rock art and only a few have…

Stencil Art: A Revolutionary Meme

Submitted by russell on Sat, 08/07/2004 - 00:33

This essay was originally written for Josh MacPhee's Stencil Pirates book. Parts of the text were used in the book's final run, but here it is in its entirety. Note: this is in no way a comprehensive history of stencil art. Hopefully it is the beginning of the artform's history.

"We need to learn how to spread the vision of liberation and life everywhere in humble, small, invisible ways. Like grass slowly growing up through the cracks in the concrete, perhaps our counterinformation can eventually sneak up on the mighty machine and topple it."
- PB Floyd, Slingshot, Summer 2003

"Street stencils are beautiful little booby-traps of information lying in wait, aesthetic gifts left behind as urban folk art, simultaneously revealing and concealing their purposes."
- Peter Walsh, Mapping Social and Cultural Space: the Ramifications of the Street Stencil(1)

Stencil art is a unique art form. Its humble beginnings as ancient art helped… Read more

Books about Stencils from 1986 to 2004

Submitted by russell on Fri, 08/06/2004 - 14:35

Pre- and Early Street Art Books about Stencils

Paris Graffiti; James Huber; Thames and Hudson, publisher, 1986.

Pochoir a la Une; Solange Pierson, Kriki, et al; Editions Paralleles, publisher, 1986.

Soho Walls; David Robinson; Thames and Hudson, publisher, 1990.

Pound the Pavement (zine series); Josh MacPhee (with Nicolas Lampert and Colin Matthes), Just Seeds, publisher, 2000-2008.

Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall; Banksy; Weapons of Mass Distraction, publisher, 2001.

Existencilism; Banksy; Weapons of Mass Distraction, publisher, 2002.

Stencil Graffiti; Tristan Manco; Thames and Hudson, publisher, 2002.

Stencil Pirates; Josh MacPhee; Soft Skull Press, publisher, 2004.

Cut it Out; Banksy; Weapons of Mass Distraction, publisher, 2004.

Stencil Project - Paris 2004 (with DVD);…