Year: 2009

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Stencilada Art Unveiling, March 28

static page here, for all updates/changes and artists bios

Stencil Archive and CELLspace present

Stencilada

Join CELLspace in an unveiling of eight panels of stencil and multi-media works by local and national artists.

The Metal Shop at CELL decided to accent their amazing Metal Mural with smaller panels of art in the open spaces below their existing work. You are invited to come by CELLspace, meet the artists and curators, and see newly the installed works on CELLspace’s Bryant Street facade.

Opening Grill Out
Saturday, March 28
1 to 5 pm
2050 Bryant St.
b/t 18th and 19th Sts.
SF, CA 94110
FREE (one day only, inside CELL if raining)

Food on the grill, bevs in the cooler, music on the boombox, and art on the walls
(some food and beverages will be provided while supplies last)

Featuring eight panels of art by

Melanie Cervantes and Jesus Barraza
Russell Howze with Hugh D’Andrade
John Koleszar (AZ)
James S.
Crystal Townsend
Scott Williams
Peat Wollaeger (MO)

with special stencils on paper by Tiago DeJerk (OR)

Bring your own cut out stencils to add to the ongoing collection of stencil art at CELLspace (some paint provided)

flyer art: John Koleszar ::: flyer photo: Jane Verma

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The FaceBook Re(De)volution

Hitting the End of a Warhead with a Hammer

During my cold, winter travels in the heart and fringes of the European Union, an odd transformation happened to me and my travel mate Pod. We felt immersed in the transmigration of real to digi-real, and overwhelmed by the power of corporate, online social networking tools. Using a term that a philosopher gave me in Prague, Pod and I are digital immigrants, folks from the era of rotary dial phones, pre-1984 Apple, and rabbit ears for TV reception. We have seen the birth of the computer, the cell phone, and now Web 2.0. The latter development sparked Brendan Smith, et al. to surmise in their article Social Movements 2.0 that “the web is increasingly looking like the invention of the printing press, which radically changed the lives of even those who could not read, by spurring the Protestant reformation and scientific revolution.”

I began to realize that I am not that as comfortable with this transformation as the digital natives, those folks who only know a world of digital innovation and seem to celebrate every last bit of it as progress for humanity. Thinking a bit deeper, and noticing that many of my Facebook friends are my age, I realized that the digital immigrants seemed to not mind going online daily to click out status blurbs on sites like FaceBook, Twitter, and MySpace. But, like I mentioned in a mini-essay for Stencil Nation, technology has become easy to use, especially online via the Web 2.0 tools. So, even those who clunked around with floppy disks back in the day could easily create blogs, upload photographs, and type those brief Tweets.

But something still doesn’t feel right. Though the most important invention since the printing press is online and in process, I couldn’t help feel an unease about the rage to social network.
Continue reading “The FaceBook Re(De)volution”

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Some Final Visions of EU

A few more non-stencil pics to share before hopping the pond. Have been experiencing external and internal dialogs about the ease of sharing information on the Netz here in the Euro-Zone so haven’t been feeling like blogging about my experiences here per se. Still trying to think of a way to work out the complex ironies that’ve arisen as a result of being sucked into FaceBook land and whatnot. As Podinski says over on XLt…. more data streams on this TBD…..

bratislava

911! An alien has landed in the outskirts of Bratislava, Slovakia and is sucking the forest into its energy-converter box. No, wait. That’s just a Soviet-era radio tower, like the ones found allover the East.

Wien Bunker

Many WWII-era Nazi bunkers still exist across Austria and Germany. Saw a few in Hamburg, but then saw a huge one in Vienna. A local told Pod and I where some others were, so we visited this one (empty and impossible to destroy) next to its sister bunker, which is an arts facility.

Wien Invaders

911! Invaders have landed in Vienna behind the MuseumsQuartier and are preparing to destroy the planet. No, wait. That’s just some killer tile work by the artist Invader. When is the REAL invastion gonna start?

Continue reading “Some Final Visions of EU”

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Non-Stop Euro Touring

SN vs. XLt Ost Euro Road Tour Notes

Ahoj (pronounced ahoy) from Bratislava’s Next Apache Cafe. Quite a scene here for a Monday Night. As Pod, Dusan, and myself web zombie, a decent blues band plays in the other room. Here in our room, the bar hops and the euros get spent (Slovakia just switched over to the euro, so it has been interesting to see bartenders take a moment to stare at the coins they don’t know that well).

The last five days have mostly been in Dusan’s small Peugeot, looking out the dirty windows at rolling snowy hills, overcast skies (sometimes sunny), and looming small post-Soviet cities along our routes. Was just in Berlin five days ago, comfy at Pod and Dusan’s place, but glad to have jumped into this East/Middle Euro Mini-Tour. Will head West once again to Wien/Vienna in a few days, for the final slide presentation and SN vs XLt DJ/VJ blow out.
Continue reading “Non-Stop Euro Touring”

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Stencil Nation vs. XLt Mini Tour Pics 1.0

Text posting in the works when I have the time. Meanwhile, enjoy tour pix……

stencil nation berlin

The Stencil Nation Presentation Begins! (Neurotitan Gallery, Mitte, Berlin)

Stencil Nation Praha

After a great presentation at Skolska (Old City, Praha), they became an official spot on the Stencil Nation map.

stencil nation on the road

Needing a break from urban networkz, Pod and I took a brief walk behind a gas station we stopped at in Czech Rep. Lots of critter tracks back there.

Continue reading “Stencil Nation vs. XLt Mini Tour Pics 1.0”

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Euro Zone Mini-Tour Begins Tonight!

Stencil Nation vs XLt Ost Euro Zone Jan. Mini-Tour

  • 8 Thu assoonas gallery, Wohlersallee 48, Hamburg, DE (8 pm presentation; Podinski will not be at this stop)
  • 14 Wed Neurotitan, Berlin, DE (9 pm presentation; 10:30 pm after party downstairs @ Eschschloraque with VJ Home Cut, et al)
  • 16 Fri Skolska28, Prague, CZ (7:30 pm presentation; after party follows with guest VJ Home Cut)
  • 18 Sun Stanica, Zilina, SK (8 pm presentation; after party TBA)
  • 22 Thu Zeitvertrieb, Wien, AT (7 pm presentation; after party follows with special guests VJ Home Cut and Dieter Puntigam)

    • The amazing DJ/VJ Podinski will also appear at these presentations, dishing out his multi-kulti treats. DJ/VJ Podinski is a psychomedia analyst with XLTerrestrials.org, an arts + praxis think tank developing radical hybrid organisms for immediate and unmediated fecundity. XLt work has been featured at festivals, conferences and venues such as Next 5 Minutes, Ars Electronica, Transmediale, 24C3, Roxy/NoD, Pergamon Museum, Kulturbrauerei and Club der Polnische Versager.

    Info can change so go here for all the latest news.

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    Hamburg Winter Wanderings

    TXMX and Russell, hanging out while Quasikunst photographs the assoonas Stencil Nation show.
    art on the wall, clockwise from the gas mask: rauwel, huh, jan and js’, and piratos
    photo by quasikunst

    Night 1

    The bus ride from Berlin is quick and on time, arriving around 7:30 PM. TXMX meets me at the station, wearing a hot pink hat like he said he would in the email. “My girlfriend always appreciates it when I meet her at the station with this hat on.” I’ve known TXMX via Stencil Archive for well over five years now. He’d given me hundreds of his photographs to put on the site, and had given me maybe two dozen for the book. He was probably my first email, stencil pen pal. Now he’d offered up a cozy spot in his studio to crash.

    We hop on the subway and go over to the Reeperbahn station. “Up there is the red light district,” TXMX tells me. “You’ll be staying only a few minutes from here in the St. Pauli district.” He takes me to his studio, where he paints, cuts stencils, and “puts his things.” He’s set up a nice, cozy nook for me back by the desk. We have tea, connect for the first time face to face, and then figure out what to do for the evening.

    Continue reading “Hamburg Winter Wanderings”

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    Stencil Nation: Germany Greetz

    stencilnation_hamburg.jpg

    Photo by: TXMX (Taken on a freezing afternoon in the ASA studio courtyard. The tape didn’t work. The black spray can didn’t work. My fingers weren’t working too well! Suffering for the art and getting through it….)

    Just a quick update. I need to go downstairs to the basement storage space here at Flora Bora 2 (Berlin) and lug some coal back up to the flat. Yep, they’re burning coal for heat here in modern Berlin. Guess it’s either that or nuclear/electric and dino gas heat. Anyway, just got back from an amazing visit to Hamburg. The presentation went great and was surrounded by art on the walls from almost all the stencil artists in that city (a first ever exhibit) and some of the artists themselves. Art on the outside walls all over Hamburg. TXMX giving me stories. Squats and leftist cultural centers all over. Good falafal. Beatles history. And the Reeper Bahn and frozen Elbe River. Good times! Spent this morning working on some San Francisco stencil projects in store for 2009. One is the book from Precita Eyes. I’ll have about five photos in there and Stencil Archive is an official “Cultural Partner.” CELLSpace just put up an amazing metal mural to gate the front windows there. They have space for eight panels and Tony Verma and I are curating the panels. Peat Wollaeger and John Selliers are on board. I hope to paint one or two. Other artists TBA with an opening in March most likely. So, off to get some coal! Doing my sad part to kill the planet on these freezing winter days……..

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    Stencil Nation: Da Da Berlin Fun….

    Pod asked me to make a flyer for the upcoming 14 January event(s) here in Berlin. The flyer needed to be low budget for photocopying but fun and eye-catching. I also didn’t want to spend a lot of time working on this because I have many other things to do and take care of. Wandering around Mitte the other day hunting stencils, I came across Da Da Falafal eatery. What a great name for a food joint! Pod loves this place too so I took on some much needed da da influence (stencils are conntected to da da via Duchamp’s mostache cut out) and had a good time working out this two-sided piece. Some text might change and things might get moved around before we print it, but wanted to share anyay. The stencils are by, Ink (Atlanta, GA), el bocho (here in Berlin), and unknown in Florence, IT. The book cover is by Francisco Garcia with the photo by Francis Mariani (Toronto, CA).

    berlinlecture.jpg

    Continue reading “Stencil Nation: Da Da Berlin Fun….”