Tag Archives: street art
The Whale Story: A Short Animated Film by Tess Martin
Here’s a short animation by Tess Martin. It was animated with paint and a live actor on a public wall in Seattle.
Detective City Angel: A Film by Alessandro Cima
Behind The Wall: The Battle for LA’s Murals
Oliver Riley-Smith made this short documentary about the disappearing mural art of Los Angeles. It features a prominent muralist complaining about how murals have been ‘bludgeoned by graffiti’ and ‘censored by the city.’ Perhaps so. The city does make it difficult to get permits for murals. But I don’t really like murals. They tend to be stiff and unoriginal. I like the murals that have been vandalized by the graffiti artists. Sorry but I do. They are much more interesting than the clean murals which are entirely unimaginative and offer nothing to move art in any direction whatsoever. If muralists want to preserve their images, they should paint indoors. Look at the mural on the highway underpass wall that’s covered with graffiti at the 42 second mark in the film. Beautiful. Much better than the mural ever was. The muralist in the film says, ‘Museums are for the dead. I want life.’
Bullshit.
There’s a guy in this film called ‘Ghost One.’ I like what he says about art. He’s realistic and open to whatever comes along. He says that taggers mark up murals because they assume that their marks will have more longevity that way. That’s a very interesting thought. An artists seeks longevity by making his mark inside the work of another artist. Fascinating. Much more interesting than the murals. Such thinking shows possibility.
But then the film draws the two sides together and our muralist says he ‘hopes our two styles can work together.’ Well, they can’t really, but it’s a nice thought.
Los Angeles to Ease Restrictions on Murals
The Los Angeles Times reports that the City Council is easing its restrictions on outdoor murals. It will no longer classify them the same way it does billboards. Since 2002 it has been illegal to paint a mural on private or public property because the artworks are considered advertisements. But Los Angeles is going to try to do a better job of distinguishing between the two.
Of course this will all get muddled again as soon as an artist paints a figure holding a can of Coke! Is it art or is it an ad? As a rule though, it is never difficult to tell when something is a giant ad and when it’s not. It just takes a little common sense and observation. Surely the City Council can manage this.
But the bottom line is that the murals of L.A. are inspiring and extraordinary. The city needs to reclaim its title as ‘The Mural Capital of the World!’
The photo is a portion of a photo by Al Seib for the Los Angeles Times, April 6, 2011.
The Great Wall of Los Angeles: A Film by Donna Deitch
The Great Wall of Los Angeles is one of the longest murals in the world. It was begun in 1974 and took five summers of work by students to complete. It tells about the history of California. This short film was made by Donna Deitch.