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In the midst of an economic crisis in 2001, there were too many ads in public spaces. They seemed to be everywhere. And I didn’t like looking at ads. I saw my artwork as an alternative way of using public space. And then in 2003, during the invasion of Iraq, I was further inspired to use public space to transmit messages. The global political situation — at the time — motivated me to make my own mark.
BÄST, NEW YORK ORIGINAL, IN MEMORIAM
May 6, 2021
Jaime Rojo, Brooklyn Street Art (Original Link)
(Photo: Stencil Archive caught this BÄST tag stencil in Brooklyn, Fall of 2003)
His wit is what we’ll miss the most! BÄST (Stencil Archive LINK) took no statement so seriously that he couldn’t satirize it – including ones that came from your mouth. A sweet-faced wiseguy with sartorial style, his illustrations on the street at once celebrated and skewered popular culture, codes of behavior, and our presumed heroics; His experimental reworkings of images and texts were a charged play on our assumptions and insinuations, an intrinsic, peculiarly bright purveyor of visual communication.
Thoroughly schooled in New York street parlance, BÄST nonetheless toyed with graff culture and its preoccupations. Some OGs of graffiti may have expected a polished vocabulary – a certain Wild Style finesse and layered smooth hand, perhaps. Neu D.I.Y kids were rocking long-handled rollers and beginning to fiddle with uncontrollable extinguishers. BÄST claimed his fame with a full-body gestural fury and indifference – a single color nihilistic splatter tag that nonetheless delivered style and raw energy, well framed by a freight elevator or a doorway.
When BÄST played in concert with duo Faile his compositions set new standards in image-making and manipulation, arguably defining a critical and intelligent street art culture that shook specific New York neighborhoods in the late 90s and early 2000s. Together they mastered new screen-print and stencil techniques on the street in real-time, poking fun at pop and advertising conventions at a scale not seen previously. Here were familiar, sometimes mysterious faces recombined, with messages chopped and collaged and stuttered and glittered, warped and bloated, sprayed and wheat-pasted.
Brooklyn Street Art (BSA) WRITER’S BENCH : “STREET ART AND GRAFFITI: THE ROLE OF COPYRIGHT” BY ENRICO BONADIO
May 4, 2021
DIRECT LINK
PHOTO: Banksy's works are frequently taken off walls, resold, etc. - all with questionable provenance. This original in San Francisco was taken off a wall and its "ownership" is still not clear beyond the fact that the artist will not authenticate the provenance.
Like graffiti writers sharing black books and styles, BSA Writer’s Bench presents today’s greatest thinkers in an OpEd column. Scholars, historians, academics, authors, artists, and cultural workers command this bench. With their opinions and ideas, we expand our collective knowledge and broaden our appreciation of this culture ever-evolving.
by Enrico Bonadio
Stencil Archive disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only. Though Bonadio is an attorney based in London, please seek out a local IP attorney if you need actual legal advice. It is all about the client-attorney relationship, so this re-post is a great start. It is not legal advice.
Street Art and Graffiti: The Role of Copyright
Artists are getting robbed. It is time to give them the legal tools they need. With this spirit, a few years ago, I started researching copyright aspects of street art and graffiti.
These artistic movements have been intriguing me for a while. Living for several years in the East London area of Shoreditch, where creativity has exploded and developed after the new millennium’s arrival, has certainly nurtured my curiosity towards these forms of art.
Walking through Brick Lane, Red Church Street, Hackney Wick, and other London neighborhoods full of free-hand graffiti pieces, stenciled images, myriads of stickers and paste-ups, street poetry and sculptures, abandoned miniatures, and many other artworks – opened my eyes and broadened my knowledge of these artistic movements. Visiting, discovering, and experiencing graffiti-friendly areas around the world – including Stokes Croft in Bristol, Kreuzberg in Berlin, Williamsburg and Bushwick in Brooklyn, Hosier Lane and Fitzroy in Melbourne, Florentin and Nachalat Binyamin in Tel Aviv, La Candelaria and Puente Aranda in Bogota’ – filled me with even more curiosity and willingness to study further and understand these creative subcultures.
While studying and admiring the beautiful art that cityscapes can offer us for free, I could not help thinking about whether and to what extent the branch of law I’ve been researching (and practicing) for many years – i.e., copyright law – may regulate such forms of creativity. So I started wondering about whether the artworks I was admiring could and should be protected by copyright in the very same way works of fine art are, even where the pieces are created illegally, namely, without the consent of the owner of the tangible support upon which the piece is placed, for instance, a wall.
T
hanks to: Lynn Ray, Novy, Brooklyn StreetArt, r/stencils, r/streetart
Spinning: Workingman’s Dead, Farewell to Kings
Photo: Artist: @bobrossofhiphop (meme is all Bernie)
>NEW< Roger Peet
>NEW< Bob Ross of Hip Hop (SF)
>NEW< Miss Fu*k (FR)
Shepard Fairey in Dubai
Xsacto en micro
Western Addition (SF)
Here and There (SF)
Haight-Ashbury (SF)
Financial District and South of Market (SF)
SF Protest Sign (just one)
Thanks to: Novy, Josiah
Spinning: Workingmans Dead
Photo: Art: Tony
Other places around San Francisco
Eclair in the Fisherman’s Wharf, SF
Also: https://www.instagram.com/missfuckart/
Miss Fuck is a French artist, born in 1973.
A self-taught artist, since her childhood, Miss Fuck has felt close to the artistic world in general. She likes to vary her techniques, though most of the time she does stencil and spray-painting.
With time, Miss Fuck likes to evolve her creation techniques, she refuses to take the easy route or banalities, and always tries to renew her work. This is why street has become her favorite playing field, source of inspiration, place of exhibition. The urban space allows her a certain closeness with her public.
All her canvases resemble her and are a direct reflection of her thoughts. Due to her art, she is able to express her joys and sorrows. She uses bright and bold colors like her speech, the slight punk aspect brings in a touch of revolt, an important aspect for Miss Fuck.
It's like a victory for Miss Fuck to see the world of street art and the punk atmosphere mix together, unite as one in the same speech. Even though, she innovates her mediums and techniques, the stage is always the same, public: street.
Thanks to: Novy, Stephen, Josiah, Russell B, Brooklyn Street Art, r/stencils, r/streetart, u/iptrucs, u/Superiluso, u/Everything4Everyone, u/MaraCorvus,
Spinning: KGLW
Photo: Positive! photo: Russell B.
Banksy (just one)
>NEW< Endless (UK)
Guate Mao (just one)
Lapiz (just one)
Pobel (just one)
France (just one)
Amsterdam, NL (just one)
Spain (just one)
UK (just one)
:::::: IN THE USA ::::::
East St. Louis (just one)
NYC (just one)
South Carolina (just one)
BONUS: Stinkfish
Thanks to: Podinski, Jaime Rojo for Brooklyn Street Art, r/stencils, r/streetart, u/MrMcDrew, u/nahmate45, u/Everything4Everyone, u/stopme45, u/44Caliber-LoveLetter, u/Avoqadus
Spinning while we work: Monk, the Superb Owl LV, JGB, Ghost Funk Orchestra
Photo: Protesting against military dictatorship in Mayanmar
:::: FROM AROUND THE WORLD ::::
>NEW< Mayanmar
>NEW< Philippines (PH)
Sydney (just one)
Copenhagen (just one)
Paris (just one)
Chile (just one)
:::: MEANWHILE, IN THE USA :::::
>NEW< MOR (NYC)
John Fekner (just one)
Praxis (just one)
wrdsmth (just one)
A fat stack from Xsacto
