"Art school flyer chumps die!"
You may have seen the prints of food (bread, meat, eggs) wheatpasted around town lately. Evidently these public artists have stepped on the toes of Austin's taggers. Here's a thrice-defaced billboard at the corner of 43rd and Guadalupe (click for larger pic):
If you look closely you'll see a large-format tag in blue and yellow with the wheatpasted prints on top of it, followed by a spray-painted message to the wheatpasters.
Personally I find the guerrilla art tradition of wheatpasting posters in public places much more interesting than tagging (and with fewer pesky "broken windows" associations as well). But I've gotta admit, when you cover up somebody else's stuff you should expect an angry response.
Update: Here are some of the food prints, these around the coffeeshop at 26th and Red River.
i'm a big fan of shepard fairey's obey giant phenomenon. back in boulder, a few of the more snaggletoothed police officers thought the andre the giant wheatpasted stickers around town were part of some sort of anarchist-satantic-cult thing. which i guess is an unsurprising reaction from people who probably consider "art" as something to be purchased at michael's or hobby lobby.
melanie [mojomariposa cxe yahoo punkto com] • 2003.06.22
Does Austin have ordinances against poster-pasting? In Philadelphia and New York, you faced a fine if they caught you, so wheatpaste was pretty much the province of anarchists and artists with a situationist streak. Of course Microsoft was semi-famously busted under these ordinances in New York.
In Philly, I'd see a lot of posters from Ben Woodward and other members of the Space 1026 crew. The memorable for me was poster that went up while the 2000 Republican national convention went on in Philly. It featured a red-white-and-blue elephant who snaked its trunk between its legs to smell its own dung.
In Philly, I'd see a lot of posters from Ben Woodward and other members of the Space 1026 crew. The memorable for me was poster that went up while the 2000 Republican national convention went on in Philly. It featured a red-white-and-blue elephant who snaked its trunk between its legs to smell its own dung.
chris mcconnell [chris cxe infobong punkto com] • 2003.06.22
Yes, Melanie, Obey Giant is tres cool. I've seen spinoffs of the "has a posse" version -- wasn't there one with a cute picture of somebody's cat?
Yes, Chris, I'm pretty sure Austin has an anti-postering ordinance. It's intended to cut down on street spam but of course hits desirable postering, too (whatever your version of "desirable" may be).
A while back they passed an anti-postering ordinance which would have fined businesses for the posters which advertised them. I thought I remembered that they had withdrawn it on constitutional grounds, but nothing having to do with free speech, rather that there's no way to be sure that the advertised business is actually responsible for putting up the poster. I believe I've heard that under the present ordinance they have to catch you in the act to bust you. (Note that I'm repeating rumors here and don't know for a fact.)
Yes, Chris, I'm pretty sure Austin has an anti-postering ordinance. It's intended to cut down on street spam but of course hits desirable postering, too (whatever your version of "desirable" may be).
A while back they passed an anti-postering ordinance which would have fined businesses for the posters which advertised them. I thought I remembered that they had withdrawn it on constitutional grounds, but nothing having to do with free speech, rather that there's no way to be sure that the advertised business is actually responsible for putting up the poster. I believe I've heard that under the present ordinance they have to catch you in the act to bust you. (Note that I'm repeating rumors here and don't know for a fact.)
Prentiss Riddle [riddle cxe io punkto com] • 2003.06.30
The funny thing about the Obey Giant stuff is, I was at Brown/RISD when those stickers started appearing, so when they made their way to other cities I subsequently lived in, it was like something familiar popping up on the streets. Shepard (I didn't know him he was pointed out to me at a party once) started the Obey stickering about a year or two before I left school.
I forgot about that... for a long time I just thought those stickers had been around all over the place forever, but then I remembered how neat it was when they first appeared. Must be why I like the work of the art school flyer chumps. It's a piece of my artistic history.
Gag, I can't believe I typed that!
I forgot about that... for a long time I just thought those stickers had been around all over the place forever, but then I remembered how neat it was when they first appeared. Must be why I like the work of the art school flyer chumps. It's a piece of my artistic history.
Gag, I can't believe I typed that!
christina [ataraxy cxe jeskey punkto com] • 2003.09.06
I have it on good authority that these guys are printmaking undergrads at UT-Austin & they'll be showing their work in the more formal context of an AMODA showcase in January. Keep yer eyes peeled.
McChris [chris cxe infobong punkto com] • 2003.10.30
Another update: There's an extensive gallery devoted to the work of the Food Crew, as they're apparently called. Thanks to Yardgnome for the link.
Prentiss Riddle [riddle cxe io punkto com] • 2004.03.30
McChris has found a site that's collecting documentation of things like this: Streetmemes.com.
Prentiss Riddle [riddle cxe io punkto com] • 2004.06.26
I suspect this link will rot in the near term, but here is another Foodcrew page.
McChris [chris cxe infobong punkto com] • 2004.06.27
Hey, there is an image of the anti-RNC poster I mentioned earlier in the comments here. I guess they made a new batch for New York. I'm pretty sure the artist is Jim Houser, but I'm not sure if I should say that here.
McChris [chris cxe infobong punkto com] • 2004.08.27
Thanks for the retro-commenting, Chris. That autocoprophagic elephant is a gem. I also like the "not just a statistic" posters of Bush's casualties, although I suspect they will go over the heads of most of the delegates.
Prentiss Riddle [riddle cxe io punkto com] • 2004.08.28
On a related subject, Camp Fig is hosting a street art show at the moment. There's even a loose Philadelphia connection, Chris.
Prentiss Riddle [riddle cxe io punkto com] • 2004.08.28
I used to live in Philly and I know a few 1026ers, and I'm reasonably certain that the elephant was by Andrew Jeffery Wright. He makes lots o' great stuff, I especially love The Manipulators: http://www.illegal-art.org/print/images/manipulators.jpg
whitney [whitney cxe madewithsweetlove punkto com] • 2005.07.22
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