Echoes Are All I See
By marcella faustini, for Art Practical
September 10, 2015

“No one lives but me, shadows are my only friends, and ghosts are all I see.”
                                       —Minimal Man, “Loneliness,” from The Shroud Of, 1981.

Despite the gentrifying pressure of high real-estate prices, the history of San Francisco’s underground culture and some of its notorious characters still haunts the city. Such is the case with Minimal Man, an early ’80s band fronted by Patrick Miller. The band, with a blend of post-punk, noise, and industrial music, produced six albums and numerous singles with a rotating cast of members.  Although its output remains semi-obscure, the band has a cult following among enthusiasts of genre-bending music. Great interest is also derived from Miller’s erratic life, which took him to a handful of cities in the United States and Europe, leaving a trail of stories that are recounted and mythologized as part of the subculture of the cities he inhabited.

The documentation of the band’s existence while in San Francisco is scattered. Between previously published articles, phone calls, and email exchanges with members from different incarnations of the band, a semblance of the band’s trajectory can be pieced together.

Minimal Man’s sound is often grouped with industrial music and bands like Chrome, Suicide, and NON, although Miller claimed to have eschewed style categories when making the music. His musical premise was to rely upon synthesizers rather than guitars for the sound.

The first album, The Shroud Of (1981), sounds as if someone is singing from a far room. The lyrics touch on uneasy subjects such as alienation and despair, and the combination of synths and noise creates an ominous atmosphere. The music’s influences of punk and noise gave way to industrial sounds and hints of electronic body music (EBM, a danceable combination of postindustrial music and synth-punk); this last development came about during Miller’s time in Belgium, where EBM first developed.

The course of the band’s musical development is uneven. There are backward nods to arena rock in Safari (1984) and a disparate choice of more conventional instruments for Hunger is All She Has Ever Known (1988). But Minimal Man reached its highest point when it
merged noise, industrial, punk, and cold wave, creating dark and powerful moments conducive to solitary dancing with shut eyes and clenched fists. Both The Shroud Of and Sex with God (1985) are examples of this successful intersection of musical styles.

The San Francisco Uploads...photo of MR tape-up on Market St.

Eclair

fnnch

MR

Yon (just one)

On Haight and Divis

Fishermans Wharf

Valencia St. (just one, photo by Jeremy Novy)

On Geary St.

On Lone Mountain (just one)

Thanks to: Eleni, s/stencils, Brooklyn Street Art (Jaime Rojo), and only_stencil_archive (IG)

>NEW< Kansuke Akaike (JP)

>NEW< Tref (NO)

From Bogota (just one)

Banksy

Postcard stencils from Ha Ha

Albany Bulb in East Bay, Cal

RIP Anthony Huber in Miami

Indiana (just one)

NYC

Shepard Fairey (just one)

Stickman (just one)

We rarely do archive overhauls these days. Since this is a volunteer-run site, there appears to never be enough time to tackle incorrect spellings, generic filenames, and other photo data changes. Over on the s/stencils subreddit, user stopme45 posted and located a protest stencils from Bogota, Colombia. While checking it out, we reviewed the Stencil Archive for Colombia and saw that the city's name had been misspelled. There were only 20 images in this archive, so it was easy to make corrections and changes and reupload all the images from backup files.

We doubt major overhauls will happen any time soon for other archives, especially large ones like Hamburg or Australia. Who knows?! Never say never....

Meanwhile, check out the photos from Colombia dating back to 2005. This post's featured photo is by San Francisco artist Mona Caron. She spreads her weeds seeds all across the globe.

Banksy trademark 'at risk' after street artist loses legal battle
Anonymous artist loses case against greeting card firm over use of Flower Thrower mural

The Guardian UK
Lanre Bakare Arts and culture correspondent
Thu 17 Sep 2020 10.21 BST
Last modified on Thu 17 Sep 2020 11.31 BST

Banksy’s trademark may be at risk after the street artist lost a case that an EU panel said was brought in bad faith and was undermined by a gift shop he set up in London last year.

Banksy lost the case against a greeting card company, Full Colour Black, which argued it should be able to use an image of the Flower Thrower stencil mural, which he painted in Jerusalem, because of the artist’s anonymity.

In 2014, Banksy’s representatives, Pest Control Office, successfully applied for an EU trademark of the Flower Thrower, but this week that was overturned after a two-year dispute.

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) panel said it ruled against the artist because he could not be identified as the unquestionable owner of such works because his identity remained hidden.

“Banksy has chosen to remain anonymous and, for the most part, to paint graffiti on other people’s property without their permission, rather than to paint it on canvases or his own property,” the panel said.

Britain’s Oldest Example of Christian Graffiti Found Near Hadrian’s Wall

By Alex Fox
SMITHSONIANMAG.COM
SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 11:45AM

Some 1,400 years ago, individuals living near Vindolanda, a Roman fort in northern England, inscribed a lead chalice with images of crosses, angels and other Christian symbols. Now, reports Dalya Alberge for the Guardian, archaeologists say that this vessel—unearthed during excavation of a ruined sixth-century church—represents the oldest known example of Christian graffiti ever found in Britain.

Recovered in 14 fragments, the chalice was once the size of a cereal bowl. Inscriptions adorn every inch of its surface, covering both its interior and exterior. Per a statement, symbols seen on the cup include a chi-rho (or monogram said to represent Jesus Christ), a happy bishop, ships, a congregation, a fish and a whale. Latin, Greek and potentially Ogam letters appear alongside the drawings.

Thanks to: Chris C., Josiah, XSacto, r/stencils, r/streetart, and @only_stencil_archive
Music: XTC, Pink Floyd, Bowie, Ozric Tentacles
Photo: @1goodhombre for the win!

>NEW< F CK (IT)

Two from protests in Portland, OR

One from Slovenia

JPS (UK)

In Media, Pete B.

A few in the Mission District

One on Valencia

One near the Bottom of the Hill

One on Market St.

fnnch goes surfin’