“Uprock is an all day Aerosol Art and Hip Hop event. Featuring legends of the UK graffiti scene Fuel, Prime, Cry, Doze and Merc with sounds from Kane FM.
It is at the Boileroom in Guildford just off the A3.
The artists will be painting on boards outside the venue while inside will be an old skool hip hop fest! Uprock is family friendly with all ages welcome!
The event stars at 11am and is free to get in throughout the day up till 8pm when it is then £6. Check us out on Facebook or the Uprock Website.
See you on Sunday!”
Fuel
Prime
Doze
Merc
To get those oldskool vibes flowing in here’s a video panorama I made of last years Olds Kool hall of fame bash, featuring work by Merc, Doze and Prime who will be painting at the event….
…aswell as pieces by Etch, Rage, Robbo, Choci-Roc, Jet, Shades, Keen One, Insane, Me, Disk, PIC, Rage, Shuto, Drax, Don, Part 2, Skore, Kilo, Daze and many more…
I made it a few months ago but never got around to posting it anywhere so here it is…..all power and strength to Robbo 484 -get well soon mate.
My apologies for not updating my blog for a few months but I have had more ‘computer problems’.
I have yet again been the victim of a targeted hacking attack by representatives of the “urban art cartel” those heroic, freedom loving, anti surveillance, pro human rights, pro individualist, champions of the outsider, the dispossessed and downtrodden yes those guys, who this time even sent me a “greeting card”.
However this has proved to be yet another, albeit significant milestone in a catalogue of Pyrric Victories in the cartel’s campaign of monopolist domination through intimidation, censorship, hacking, threats, mismanagement, smears and stalking against myself and other artists, webmasters and dissenters, in total diametric opposition to their carefully crafted projected personas.
They accessed files detailing the full extent of all events, which I have methodically accumulated and set down, and as such, would seem to indicate people’s involvement, directly and indirectly, in the campaign against our intended gallery in Brick Lane showing visionary fine painting by oldskool London train writers.
As a result certain key players in this campaign have since taken significant steps to distance themselves and attempted to forge alliances via a charm offensive. Others have continued the threats, re-enforcing a hundredfold the resolve of myself and my allies.
Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. Buddha
They also accessed material I had been preparing for LSD magazine and attempted to negate the value of its’ content ……I withdrew the piece from the magazine.
You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.
Abraham Lincoln, (attributed)16th president of US (1809 – 1865)
On that note I’ll hand over to the stunning intro written by the publishers, those wily wordsmiths and enlightened empaths, those pioneers of freedom in deed and thought, Wayne Anthony (Class of 88) and Sirius 23; to the current issue of the planet’s finest mag, which you will find embedded below for your reading pleasure…..
As the creaking autocracies of the Middle East and North Africa rumble, stumble and begin to tumble, we are assured by breathless commentators worldwide that the internet has finally come of age as a political weapon, and that social networking channelled through the prism of protest has heralded a glinting, nascent dawn in people power, connectivity and a new egalitarianism in which traditional hierarchies dissolve into the digital.
There can be no doubt that we are entering a new paradigm in human interaction and the chemical bonds that held 20th century conceptions of society together are slowly turning liquid in the virtual flame. Formal institutions, unions, and rigid organisational frameworks are being relentlessly subsumed by the underlying laws of physics – that a cloud of cosmic matter will inexorably and exponentially begin to self organise into an ever more complex organic system. And thus we see the chaotic platform, the medium, the base elements of the internet attract into ripples of order so sophisticated, we’d tip our hats to God for such intricate design if we weren’t already kneeling before the empowerment of the Enlightenment.
The tiniest act can start a revolution or end up valued at $25 billion with virtually no investment, no permission and no control. In the biting irony of our times, the most resolute, sophisticated and well funded control structures in the world have given birth to an open source reality where physical dominion is all but vaporised and individuals have a potential power never before witnessed in history. Geography is looking like a dated relic of a clumsy 3 dimensional age, sub cultures coalesce in a quantum vortex of cyberspace, magazines like this are possible, artists and musicians go viral and local expression suddenly has global reach.
And yet we have to be more vigilant than ever before. It is certainly true that in the recent sweeping seismic shifts in the Arab world, social networking has been used to an extraordinarily powerful end, and the internet has been used to turn heavy handed censorship and 20thcentury bullying tactics on their head. But can we really say the same for the West?
The online profile most of us hold so dear may be the triumph of the world according to advertising. We may deplore the numb acquiescence that has seen the hysterical corporatisation of our public spaces and claim to despise the capitalist constructs of aspirational advertising, but whether we like it or not, our egos have in many ways seized the day. The sudden ability to control public perceptions of our identity have encouraged us to see the world through the spectrum of advertising and present who we would like to be to the outside world far more effectively than many of us can manage in person. Of course we have always advertised in some sense – fashion alone wins that argument, but as we encounter the multi dimensional realities of information and connectivity, are we missing out on new, non linear, synapse shattering angles of perception through which to hone our interpretations of reality.
The internet was once seen as the absolute victory of the individual and the subculture over the vertical structures of ‘old’ society, and even now, the war being spoken of is the power of corporations and governments to pressure threats such as Wikileaks by terminating access to digital funding and host servers. But it is critically important never to underestimate the shifting nature of control, and the real threat that faces us all. Repression, oppression and the ham fisted simplicity of shutting down organisations and banning dissent may be losing the battle against the virtual in the old school militaristic regimes of the Middle East, but in the West, that kind of identifiable enemy is the least of our worries. Infinitely more ingenious is the new, equally virtual form of mass manipulation….unrestrained freedom.
Take one part sense of security and blend vigorously with the skin deep sincerity of advertising culture and you have an endless stream of freely shared subversive opinion that results in very little beyond self congratulation within the subculture.
We can Save the Whales, Support the Myanmar Monks, protest against local gentrification and register our disapproval of swingeing budget cuts all in 5 minutes on Facebook. We’ve made a difference, we’ve presented a gleaming hologram of our better selves and as the armchair militancy of the comments come rolling in, we can all bask in the glow of our own power without ever actually doing anything. As long as we can talk about it and let the world know where we stand – that’s us done for the day – let’s get some youtube vids on the go. There’s nothing quite like the sense of being free to render you completely ineffective.
None of this is to dismiss the awesome power of the internet and social networking – this magazine would be a hollow idea and nothing more without them. And obviously there is nothing wrong with defining your online identity through what you wish for yourself rather than who you actually are at work on a rainy Tuesday.
Support the Whales – great – not everyone can fight pitched naval battles with Greenpeace. There is no conclusion, there is no answer…just an awful lot of questions that it’s so tempting to forget we should ask.
And the overriding, fundamental aspect of this and any social and political debate is summed up by Faust’s greatest biographer, Goethe… ‘None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.’
Control is a serpentine, shape shifting force that defies categorization and often exists as a self organizing system itself – almost as a form of social gravity rather than necessarily within nefarious individuals, and it is never, ever as visceral as when we surrender to it unknowingly and voluntarily.
The might of a thousand invading armies will never have the same raw, magnetic, all conquering hypnosis as a dose of consumerism and the expression of your own personal consciousness through a colonial language you always assumed was your own.
See my article on CENSORSHIP on page 232 and I interview anarcho punk legends the Disrupters and Prem Nick on page 380, plus there’s the usual array underground talent from around the globe…….
Here’s a trailer for a major new documentary coming out soon about Street Art and graffiti in Brick Lane, looks to be interesting, featuring a broad array of artists.
I will be talking about lots of different stuff, providing an alternative point of view and doing some painting too…..a certain old school King of London train pieces will be making a unique appearance and ranting also, and will feature his current canvases which are actual portals to other realms, as the best art often is, so really don’t miss this one…..
The people behind it are Six Oranges who usually make films about human rights issues and have just released a wonderful documentary called ‘Tres Tristes Tigres’ (Three Sad Tigers) about poor Bangladeshi construction workers who get ripped off, which is absolutely excellent, if heartbreaking. I’m lucky enough to have a preview copy, its doing the rounds of the festivals at the moment and has already been nominated for a Goya award (the Spanish Oscars) good luck guys.It’s also been awarded the Best Short Documentary at the VII Certamen Documental e Video Secuencia Cero (Vigo, Spain).
“Construction boom in Middle East brought 832,000 workers from Bangladesh. The labor abuse and illegal contracting, accepted by Bangladeshi government with tolerance of International Labor Organization, has brought thousands of broken families and hopes of workers destroyed for good.”
This is a portrait of a street and an area – as seen by artists, particularly street artists, and others who live and work or even just visit here. I wanted to shoot a social documentary which would frame the street, its life, and the complex web in which it operates. I wanted to hear the area’s "official" stories. And of course the other side of those stories.
I started filming in the fall of 2009. Seems a long time ago. And so this little trailer is a quiet announcement that we are serious about the final edit now…Watch this space I guess. Filmed in London, Paris, Berlin and Madrid. Yeah.. Brick Lane is a long street.
Thanks to all the artists. For your participation and most importantly for your art.
I’m late posting this news as I’ve been rather busy on stuff…….
…….so I only just found out that my outline for my Elate tumbling stone blockbuster on Brick Lane got published in the brilliant ‘London Blackbook ‘, wahey!
London Blackbook features “194 pages jam packed full of sketches, outlines and characters from 200 of London’s most diverse and influentual graffiti artists from the last 3 decades.” shucks, I’m very honoured!
I’m humbled for my original drawing to get published in amongst the work of the real legends, pioneers and heroes of the London graffiti scene!! Cheers Blackbook people!
2010 has been a great Summer for underground painting events…..now London’s brand new ‘old’s kool’ hall of fame was given a baptism of fire this Sunday just gone in the heat of the end of London’s summer….Instigated and organised by Insane and Choci Roc, WRH/AWE/RocStars the first ever UK writer to have painted the NY Subway trains starting in 1985 alongside Kase 2 and Mare 139 from ‘Style Wars’ and many others……
Passing through or painting were…..
Prime, Doze, Robbo, Drax, Elk, Dase IL, Choci Roc, Rage, Insane,Skore, PIC ,Krash151, Shuto, Cane, Part2, Shade, Shazer, Merc, Time, Keen One, Letty Lions, Kilo, Disk, Rage, Demon, Steam156, Oker, PIC, Dev666, Krash151, Etch, Kilo, Don, Jet (WRH juniors) Jenny who took the shots and many more…….. including a film crew from an internationally acclaimed TV network who filmed the day and interviewed many of us for a major new documentary that’s in production…..
At last…. a major UK graffiti/art documentary that’s independently produced…..should be interesting!
I can’t wait to see it, they certainly seemed to have done their homework, and seemed fully aware of the history of the movement in light of current events……
An early start meant we were on the wall by around 9 and I started to get my outline up…
We couldn’t have hoped for better weather or a better spot….oh yeah and there was a few legends there too….
Rage and Skore
It’s great to see Part 2 writing again…
My piece finished
Jet WRH juniors
Prime WRH….and at last the place is returned to it’s true use…the locals certainly seemed grateful for our efforts.
News of broadcast dates will be coming when I hear them, massive thanks to all involved especially Insane and Choci Roc/ We Roc Hard Crew and Jenny for taking most of the photos.
Magic Window Studios is a concept for a new London art gallery that I’ve been working hard to put together over the last year as anyone who follows this blog will know.
Due to interference and a campaign of intimidation, (related in my previous post) it has not seen the light of day.
I have also encountered other adverse reactions that I have not recorded here.
My intentions were not to make a pot of cash, (though a humble living would have been nice for myself and the other artists).
Instead my dreams were of an aesthetic aspiration, giving exposure to ignored, untrained visionaries and first generation London graffiti pioneers from the roots of our rich urban culture; exploring typography, symbolism, social commentary and archetypes, free from the restrictions of graffiti but freed by it’s energy to explore new dimensions.
I have made a reluctant decision to cancel forthcoming events.
I apologise to those who were to be involved in this project, including artists who have been preparing work and individuals and agencies I had engaged to help. I find it hard to believe that we have faced this level of opposition to something so authentic, and of such interest but this has unfortunately been the case.
……………….
“For better it is to do mighty things, to dream of glorious triumph, even though checked by defeats, than to take part with those poor souls who neither do much, nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory or defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt- January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945
It is with this wisdom in mind and in a spirit of peace that I relate this news.
We kick off part two of this post with the golden age train writer Cazbee 53 from DSS Crew Da Sure Shots, from Ladbroke Grove piecing the outer wall of the MuTate Britain mechanical zoo….Many of Cazbees pieces rolled past this spot on trains,or were under the Westway itself.
Now he’s back 20 years later, along with oldskool steel writers Fuel, Skore, Mear, Crok, Don myself and a few of London’s more new skool to take the vibe back to the raw, enabling a potent and complementary mix of the hardcore underground vibes and tribes….
and back inside for another shot of me and Vibes….
……and onto the wild, diverse art within, here’s Jimmy South of War Boutique
Lyle Doghead, LRRY and friend
Elate, Obey
Anarchist Crockery by Carrie Reichart
In Dog We Trust by Jolly Good, made with real dollar bills…
Vera Bong
Dotmaster
The toilets…
New Arrivals…
What I have posted is a fraction of what is there, you really have to get down to this 12,000 foot space and experience the most revolutionary art happening London, probably even the world has ever seen.
Here’s some more pictures from the MuTate Britain Winter Show. I’m going to be adding a whole load more as a separate post at the weekend at some point as I need to rephotograph stuff to a half decent standard.
This has to be one of the best art exhibitions anywhere ever in my humble opinion and I’m very glad to have had a hand in it….If you like your surrealism apocalyptic your graffiti groundbreaking your grime genuine and your people straight up this is the place for you…..We kick of with Rubbish Fairy and House of Doll
Mear
Skore TRC
Crok
Achy
Towns
Fuel
Joe Rush
Elate Vibes Lyle Doghead and LRRY and Pakka
Lyle Doghead and LRRY and Pakka with plane by Sam Haggerty and Dotmasters
Teddy Baden
Joe Rush
Wreckage International
Joe Rush and others
Sam Haggerty
War Boutique
Joe Rush
Sam Haggerty and Joe Rush
Obey Giant
Wolf and PXL
Andy Seize
Elate Vibes
Dotmasters aka Bagsy
Sam Hagarty and Dotmasters
Liam Cordy
Joe Rush
Mutoid Dave and others…
Elate Cazbee
Pure Indulgence
Families are welcome to this multisensory extravaganza!.
Full dates and opening times below. We look forwarding to seeing you!
Opening times:
Opens December 4th to December 20th – FRI / SAT / SUN
Fri – 2pm -10pm Sat-1pm – 10pm Sun – 12pm-9pm
We are also open 2 Wednesdays for the Portobello Winter Festival on the 9th & 16th December – 6pm -10pm
‘One Foot in the Grove’ is back from the 4th of December.
‘Our festival of underground art provides a welcoming, inclusive and visually astounding experience for all ages in an atmospheric 12,000 square foot setting just off Portobello Road. Walk amongst giant sculptures, installations and unique artwork and hang out for good times at our licensed bar with proper music and delicious grub.
We are featuring loads of new work including an epic wall by Elate, Vibes and Obey Giant that cracks and crumbles the Westway to rubble before your eyes!
There’s new work by Joe Rush, a giant collaboration by Sam Haggerty and Dotmasters, new pieces by Teddy Baden, Wreckage, Seize, Code FC, Bleach, Best Ever, Zadok, Fuel, Skore, Crok, Mear, Towns, K-Guy, to name but a few, also light installations, lasers, stalls, bric a brac, curios, and anarchist crockery.
We have rehung our gallery room that offers exclusive posters, prints, originals, sculptures, photography, clothing and object d’art that make perfect prezzies for you and your discerning friends and family.
We provide that much needed alternative to the Xmas chaos of Oxford Street – so don’t miss out on the best show in town.
See giant fire-breathing robots walking, drink at our licensed bar, see and hear film shows, trains thundering past and experience an authentic friendly festival vibe in the heart of London.
This promises to be London’s biggest, most inclusive, interactive and underground street art event this Christmas.
Families are welcome to this multisensory extravaganza!.
Full dates and opening times below. We look forwarding to seeing you!
Opening times:
Opens December 4th to December 20th – FRI / SAT / SUN
Fri – 2pm -10pm Sat-1pm – 10pm Sun – 12pm-9pm
We are also open 2 Wednesdays for the Portobello Winter Festival on the 9th & 16th December – 6pm -10pm
‘One Foot in the Grove’ is back from the 4th of December.
Mutate Britain opens once again for the festive season with loads of new exhibits, new artists and a selection of favourite pieces from past shows.
See weird and wonderful sculptures from The Mutoid Waste Company. Marvel at screen-prints, stencil art, paintings street art and photographs from some of the UK’s finest accepted and unaccepted artists.
Browse the objecs d’art, bric a brac and anarchist crockery all on view and for sale.
Our festival of underground art provides a welcoming, inclusive and visually astounding experience for all ages in an atmospheric 12,000 square foot setting just off Portobello Road.
Walk amongst giant sculptures, installations and unique artwork and hang out for good times at our licensed bar with proper music and delicious grub.
The gallery room offers exclusive posters, prints, originals, sculptures, photography, clothing and object d’art that make perfect prezzies for you and your discerning friends and family. We provide that much needed alternative to the Xmas chaos of Oxford Street – so don’t miss out on the best show in town.
Full dates and opening times below. We look forwarding to seeing you in December!
Opening times:
Opens December 4th to December 20th – FRI / SAT / SUN
