Love on the streets...

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Just been pointed out to me that 2 of the pics on my flickr site are remarkably similar. The blue image is from Old Street in '07, and is a stenciled paste-up. The B&W is from Berlin in '08, and is a stencil. Different artists, but similar styles. Nice. Thanks for the observation Matt.

The revolution continues: New art from China at Saatchi Gallery

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Ok, so not street art this time, but got a bit of kulcha in on Sunday. Visited the Saatchi Gallery with the lovely Fiona, and checked out the new art from China exhibition. Some fantastic and creative work from across the ocean, and well worth checking out if you're down Chelsea way.

Cang Xin's 'Communication' at Saatchi Gallery, London

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Cang Xin is a bona fide shaman; he holds the profound belief that all things have spirit – both animate and inanimate objects – and is a member of an order of enlightened holy men who have the ability to enter various forms at will. As one of China’s most celebrated performance artists, Cang approaches his work as a means to promote harmonious communication with nature. His works have included bathing with lizards, adorning the clothing of strangers, and prostrating himself on icy glaciers: each act representing a ritual of becoming the other.

Cang’s Communication is an ongoing piece, begun in 1996. Engaging with the world at large with his tongue – one of the most intimate and sensitive parts of the body – Cang’s performance represents an internalising of knowledge and a religious communion with place/person/thing. Sites for this performance have included Tiananmen Square and The Coliseum. In the work presented here, Cang recreates this performance in the gallery with a realer-than-real sculpture of himself. Cang minimises the concept of representation, creating an engaging ‘environment’ in life scale. The realer-than-realism freaked a few of the people at the exhibition out tho!

Piercing gone horribly extreme

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My Lord, the things some peeps are doing to themselves!
When is too much enough? I have a friend who owns a piercing studio in Wellington (Fleshwound, in Cuba Street), and he has the biggest holes in his ears that I have ever seen, until I saw this guy that is...

Nice little Sydney graffiti microsite

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Came across an interesting little website from Sydney today. If you love street art as much as me check out his site. Some of the photos are a bit ropey quality-wise, but well worth a looksee...

www.pastemodernism.com

Website weirdness of the week...

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Ok, so this guy has taken photoshop comping to the next level. Some downright twisted images and some of his advertising comps. Well worth checking out...

http://www.salamagica.com/

Alternative Berlin - streets, squats, subculture

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Explore the gritty, grungy, underground of the city that Berliners love. Witness the clash between corporate expansion and counter-culture. Get off the tired tourist trail and see what makes this city the underground envy of other European capitals.

The tour starts daily at 2pm from the corner of Oranienburger Strasse & Tucholsky Strasse. Nearest transport stop: S-Bahn line (S1) : Oranienburger.

Tour guide: MATTI. Born in Berlin when it was still divided into an eastern and a western part – coming into the world on the communist side of the iron curtain. Fortunately the situation changed when he was one year old, so he was able to grow up in this city when it went through some of its craziest years – he saw Berlin growing together, changing its face rapidly, and fell in love with it. Now he’s eager to tell the people about the city he spent most of his life in and help them understand why Berlin is such an exciting and interesting place to live in.

As seen in Berlin...

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Ok, so the first batch of graf and street art (including this beautiful style from an unknown artist) from our recent trip to Berlin are up. Check www.flickr.com/photos/hamstar/sets

Lifelounge 89 - The Moral of the Story Edition

After Mr Bouncy Bunnykins finished reading the children The Ugly Duckling, he asked them what the moral of the story was.
"Being pretty is more important than anything!" said Frank.
"Ducks are crap but swans rule!" said Jemima.
"Peer pressure and mob mentality are dangerous weapons!" said Marky.
"Oh children," said Mr Bouncy Bunnykins, "they're all good answers, but the moral of the story is: It's what's inside that counts."
The children looked confused.
"I'll show you."
And with that, Mr Bouncy Bunnykins took off his mask, pulled out a knife and gutted the lot of them. "Get it, dumb-dumbs?" he asked.

Street art is alive and kickin' in Berlin

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I have just returned from a week in Berlin. The biggest surprise of the trip, for me, was to find out how in debt the city is.

An unbelievable €60 billion!

But for a city of just under 3.5 million people there still seems to be a feeling of optimism. This optimism is certainly reflected in the amount of street art that is going on there. Obviously street canvases are abundant in the form a considerable number of empty and disused buildings from a city in such financial turmoil. Add to this 17-25% unemployment, a community that actively supports squatters rights, and a high level of creativity and you have any graffiti artists nirvana.

I will be posting up some of the shots I took soon. Check www.flickr.com/photos/hamstar/sets

I will also post up info on where the best graf areas are there, and contact details for Matti, a native Berliner who runs a daily 3 hour walk that showcases the predominant street art areas, some famous squats, part of the Berlin wall and a generally alternative Berlin city walk (he's a great guy, and it’s free!).