HappyFt Travels

I spend a lot of time walking/biking around urban landscapes, looking at space and photographing art. If you’ve followed my travels, you’ve notice that this is something that goes beyond hobby. This search isn’t a job either, but I have been paid for my efforts. For me, walking through a living system where humans work, play, eat, sleep, etc. brings rewards beyond a systematic point of reference. It is hard to label it as work, hobby, etc., when the urge to wander and look for art is a deep way of living for me.

This Saturday, I went for a walk, thinking a bit more about space. I reflected on the potential that space has to present art. The way people relay their feelings in more creative ways. And the lost histories that surrounds us in the neighborhoods we live in.

The following photo essay are the images that made me stop, stare, ponder, and snap. We all live in a world full of many colorful possibilities. We also live in a culture that doesn’t tolerate certain opinions, while letting others flourish. These photos touch on all the ideas I carry with a passion, and might help add context to why I constantly “stencil hunt” in the urban wilds of the USA and beyond.

Tags: murals, photos, stencil, Thoughts
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Andy Blue from the League of Pissed Off Voters called me up yesterday to see if I had any plans last night. None, really. So he told me to stop by Pirate Cat Radio/Cafe before 7pm to sit on a panel and discuss graffiti on the League’s weekly show. All worked out nicely, so I met up with Reyes, Cuba, Chris (who co-created the new local books with Steve Rotman), Eddie, and Eclairacuda to have a one-hour talk about what’s going on in SF with graffiti and street art. The talk mostly discussed spray graffiti, so it was great to hear Chris, Cuba, and Reyes talk about what’s going on in their world. Chris has great thoughts and concepts about what’s happening. Eddie and I got to throw in some angles too. And the writers, including the always entertaining Eclair, kept things real throughout.

You can hear the discussion here. Make sure you scroll half way through the two-hour show to get to the graffiti talk.

Thanks to Andy Blue, a fan and grey-area participant of the scene, for pulling us together in what may become an ongoing dialog about the City’s Zero Graffiti stance, and how absurd that goal truly is.

Tags: cuba, interview, politics, Sound, stencil
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Great presentation tonight at Skylight Books on Vermont St. here in LA. Submit and Ripper1331 showed up, as did a few other local artists (if I surmise from some reactions I got from a few things in the presentation). My friend/hostess Christine Marie took some photos of the event, and was great for support, assistance, and yet another diner visit (this tour is turning into the Diner Orgy Tour). Several people in the audience had a pile of questions, so we spent a good deal of time discussing stencils and elaborating on my small bullets for the presentation. Getting our stencil geek on. woo hoo!

In the big marquee lights in LA. Well, in the chalk on the sidewalk at least.

OK.... No marquee name in lights, but on top of the heap at least!

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Tags: diner, geek, LA, stencil, Stencil Nation, tour
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April 29 I wake up in a quiet Val Verde and feel anxious. I don’t know what’s going on back East this morning, so turn my phone on. No messages. I didn’t sleep well last night and kept waking up, and would say a Buddhist prayer. It soothed me back to a restless sleep. Once up for good, I focused the anxiety into a shower and some more Triffids. Great book, that. Very post-WWII and English. Another dystopian novel for my collection.

Christine gets up and we have a great talk. She’s more exhausted than I am but very present for our conversations. Again, future, family, present, love, and all the poetic themes you’d think a pair of artists would talk about. We both get hungry, and  nervously checking email and text before we leave, I drive us through chain store hell to a diner that had been there since the Route 66 days. Christine tells me that this was the place where James Dean had his last meal before crashing his Porche. I couldn’t find any evidence of this on the reliable internet thingy. Over coffee and eggs, more great talking. It was Christine’s first sorta day off in months and I was glad to be there with her to enjoy it.
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Tags: diner, stencil
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Back on the roads of Stencil Nation tomorrow. Hoping that pigs and birds aren’t allowed or sneezing on the bus down to LA! The tour has been OK so far. Crowds are a bit off it seems, and sales are low, but I am happy to be on the road. Arcata and Sacramento happened last week, to little fanfare. I’m not sure what happened, or if stencils are on the radar that much in that part of California. Only a small turnout in Davis. All enthusiastic people who waited a bit longer than usual before the presentation. I showed them photos of Stencilada at CELLspace to kill time. Only sold a few books. Had an isolated day in Davis the next day, and managed to find a few stencils around the college town. Got to upload pics to Stencil Archive, which was long overdue. Sacramento on Sunday was quite miserable. The highlight was finding what looks like a C215 stencil on a random building in midtown. Found a few more stencils near the book store in the Tower District. But the presentation was a wash! Had one person show up, and we waitied about 30 minutes for more people, killing time looking at a Peter Kuper Spy vs. Spy book and flipping through Stencil Nation. She left and I left soon after, getting stuck in traffic the whole way back to San Francisco. Last Wednesday at Booksmith on Haight St. was a good time. Had about 12 or 15 in attendance. Sold some books. Got to finally meet Eclairacuda Bandersnitch, the current queen of street work in SF. She said that the kissing girl stencils all over the Mission are by Banksy (he’s got a book out from PM here in the Bay Area so was in town). Who knew he painted sidewalks?

Spent Thursday at the SF Zero Graffiti Huddle in China Town. That was disturbing (will post my notes soon). I missed the SF Arts Comission presentation on thier upcoming Street Smart program (artists to paint murals on walls that have permission). CUBA was there, one of the godfather’s of SF spray art. We connected and I think it made both our days. Sunday was the presentation  and skillshare in Oakland. Another small crowd of about five people. Good news is that four of them stayed for the skillshare. The photos of our hanging out and making stencils are at the top of this post. When I showed up to Rock Paper Scissors, the exhibit on the walls was getting painted over and a zine jam was happening. I encouraged them all to hang out and keep working during my presentation. Loved the multiuse aspect of that small space. Ruby from Wisefool was there, dropping great history of stencils in the Bay Area and adding great comments durng the presentation. So, off to the southlands tomorrow. No idea where the next wifi connect will be. Oceanside and San Diego are the next stops. Then LA (tell all your friends!) and Tempe, AZ. Then back up to the Bay Area for about four more stops. I added up all the stops from this tour and the upcoming Middle America leg, and will have done over 50 stops by then. Not sure what else is in store after June. I DID say last June that this was the “year of the stencil” so am not quite sure what next year holds in store. Year of the swine flu? Hope not!!

Tags: banksy, cuba, skillshare, stencil, stencilada, tour
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