Video: Björk – “Mutual Core”

News on artists seems to come in pairs now days as the trend has been I post something and not 24 hours later something new and relevant appears from the very same artist. Today’s example comes from Björk who’s remix album was shared in full yesterday only to see a brand new video from the Icelandic singer pop up today.  The visuals for Biophilia's "Mutual Core" were directed by Andrew Thomas Huang (who also did the artwork for the Biophilia remix album) and see’s Björk in a sand pit, surrounded by colorful rocky creature’s shape-shifting and exploding around her.

Video: True Vulture (Death Grips & Galen Perhrson)

True Vulture is a unique collaboration between director and animator Galen Pehrson and experimental rap outfit Death Grips for the Museum of Contemporary Art. The soundtrack stays true to the unruly rhymes and frenzied instrumentation that we have come to expect from Death Grips and are complemented perfectly by Pehrson’s digitally colored hand drawn animations.

Video: "Outside In: The Story Of Art In The Streets”

The Art in the Streets exhibition has long come to a close but a new documentary has popped up by Alex Stapleton entitled Outside In: The Story Of Art In The Streets.  The 30 minute short features interviews with a huge portion of the artists who took part in the show including Mode 2, Risk, Revok, Ben Eine, Swoon, Shepard Fairey, Futura, Ed Templeton, Espo, Invader, Neck Face, Saber, Martha Cooper, RETNA and more. There are a lot of choice quotes buried throughout so if you are a fan of any of the above-mentioned names this is pretty much the definitive video I’ve seen on the show, and I’ve seen a whole lot of them.

OUTSIDE IN: The Story of Art in the Streets from Patrick Simpson on Vimeo.

Video: “Art in the Streets” @ MOCA

The Art in the Streets exhibition is coming to a close August 8th. If you  are street art or graffiti fan that couldn’t make it out to L.A. perhaps this new video by Juan Enriquez will give serve as a small substitute. The footage includes interview with CornBread, Freedom, Mr. Cartoon, and Shepard Fairey.

Art in The Streets : Los Angeles from Juan Enriquez on Vimeo.

Shepard Fairey - Levis Mocca collaboration

The latest drop in the Levi’s x MOCA trucker jacket collab will be released this Saturday July 2, 2011, just in time for Fourth of July weekend. “Art in the Streets” exhibitor Shepard Fairey’s patriotic design is limited to 50 pieces and will be available via mocastore.org.

You’re a part of the artist series of Trucker jackets that “Art in the Streets” sponsor Levi’s produced for sale at the show. In your opinion, what cultural significance does the Levi’s trucker jacket hold and why was this an important collaboration?

"The Trucker jacket is a significant piece in that it’s one of the few fashion icons that has managed to mean something important to almost every demographic and ideology of youth culture movement since it was first introduced. It’s very rare that a single garment can mean so much to kids in the graffiti, hip-hop, punk rock, heavy metal, and skate worlds simultaneously without undergoing any significant changes along the way. The Levi’s jackets made for this show really track that relevance, tracing the evolution from people like Crash and Lady Pink who were some of the OG graffiti artists who painted on jackets in the 1970s & 80s to people like Kenny Scharf and Keith Haring who were the pioneers of the artistic brand collaborations we see today, up to people like myself and Neck Face who both represent different factions of art and pop culture, but have close ties to the jacket’s aesthetic and connection to music culture. Most importantly, Levi’s donated these jackets to the museum, and all profits from the sales go directly to MoCA to fund the show."

 Full interview here.

"Art in The Streets" controversy

On April 17th 2011 The Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles opened its show “Art In The Streets” the first major U.S. survey of graffiti and street art.

“The exhibition traces the development of graffiti and street art from the 1970s to the global movement it has become today, concentrating on key cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, and Sao Paulo, where a unique visual language or attitude has evolved. The exhibition features paintings, mixed media sculptures, and interactive installations by 50 of the most dynamic artists(Barry Mcgee, Banksy, Futura, Os Gêmeos, Saber, Neckface, Kaws, Shepard Fairey..) and emphasizes Los Angeles's role in the evolution of graffiti and street art, with special sections dedicated to seminal local movements such as cholo graffiti and Dogtown skateboard culture.

A comprehensive timeline illustrated with artwork, photos, video, and ephemera provides a historical context for the work.”

The exhibition has been extremely successful for the museum, although the official numbers have not been released yet since the show runs till August 8th 2011.

Of course with success comes criticism and Jeffrey Deitch, the museums director and former gallery owner of the highly influential Dietch Projects along side with MOCA’s board of directors have received their fair share. As a fan of all kinds of art first and a collector second I have been following the show from early inception to its opening and on and with great enthusiasm. I have read many reports and reviews, both positive and negative, and have always felt like I could relate to both sides of the spectrum, even learning a thing or two along the way.

One review in particular really rubbed me the wrong way though, Heather Mac Donald’s “Radical Graffiti Chic” for City Journal. While Heather’s credentials can certainly not be disputed, Yale, University Of Cambridge, Stanford Law, Fellow at the Manhattan Institute etc..Heather chooses to make the piece a platform for personally insulting many of the artist by name. Her point of view on graffiti is out dated and in my opinion detrimental to art as a whole. She also applies the same rules and reality to everything and as we all know not everything in life is equal. I can enjoy something in one context and not in another but she seems to believe it’s all or nothing.

 I like to equate it to attending a concert of a band I enjoy this doesn’t mean I would want them playing outside my home every night. I suppose in her eyes the traditional work displayed in such institutions is drama free, as if the masters weren’t drunks, drug addicts, pedophiles etc.. who were commissioned by rich aristocracy guilty of the same things if not worse.

Well it would seem that Heather is back with a follow up article, this time from the L.A. Times, and I felt like it was important enough to address and share along side with artist Saber’s open response  to Heather.

Continue...

Banksy's provides free tickets for all to L.A. MOCA's "Art in the Streets"

Banksy has announced a gesture that really puts other successful artists to shame: admission to L.A. MOCA's blockbuster "Art in the Streets" show will be free on Mondays, courtesy of a gift from the street artist.

"I don't think you should have to pay to look at graffiti," Banksy quipped in a statement. "You should only pay if you want to get rid of it."

Tickets to the exhibition — which includes work by Banksy, and dozens of other prominent street artists — normally costs $10, but thanks to what MOCA director Jeffrey Deitch called an "unprecedented" donation, it will be free every Monday this summer.

Neck Face + Isaiah Seret - Born Under a Bad Sign

Trailer for the Neckface super-villain movie - Born Under a Bad Sign. Not sure what to make of this but I love Neckface so...

STARRING

Neck Face

Mindy Kelly

Wayne Dalglish (Stunt Double)

DIRECTOR

Isaiah Seret

SCREENPLAY BY

Isaiah Seret & Neck Face

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS

Candice Ouaknine, Jonathan Wells, Aaron Ginsberg & Danielle Hinde

PRODUCER

Jett Steiger

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Matthew J. Lloyd

PRODUCTION DESIGNER

Neckface, Ashley Fenton

COSTUME DESIGN

Diana Contreras & Mindy LeBrock

FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHERS

Wayne Dalglish & Mindy Kelly

SPECIAL EFFECTS

Synapse Effects, Josh Foster and Joe Cornell

EDITOR

Luke Lynch

VISUAL EFFECTS

Graham Zeller

SPECIAL THANKS

Atlas Entertainment, Panavision Hollywood, Rik DeLisle, Quixote, The Foundry, Synapse Special Effects, Unbridled Sound, MOCA, Rebecca Roven, Jeffrey Deitch, Lyn Winter, The Levi’s Film Workshop

Filmed at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) in conjunction with the exhibition Art in the Streets - moca.org

Neck Face + Isaiah Seret - Born Under a Bad Sign from Levi's Film Workshop on Vimeo.