i work a lot with stickers, wheatpaste, paint, aerosol and whatever i can get my hands on. i recognise what i'm doing could be labelled as urban art and that's okay with me. i still consider myself a toy. hell, i'll always be one. cos as soon as i get my head thinking that i'm any good, i'm just gonna stop pushing myself. satisfaction is the death of desire, i guess. but call me whatever you want, but what i am not, is a graffiti writer. i do however recognise the importance and the history of graffiti. cos urban art would not exist without it. and that's why i love looking at the tags, the throw ups and the pieces on walls...be it legal or not. i absolutely love it. anyway, here are a couple of videos i found on my favourite site, youtube. haha.

from the fx crew from new york.



and a lil graff vocab lesson from the legendary cope2.



mad love,
s.c

first and foremost, who am i to judge what people do and what they say about themselves. heck, i shouldn't be saying anything in the first place. but there's this current trend that's been going on and it's fucking getting on my nerves.

some people are just way too liberal when it comes to the term, "urban artist". it's fine with me, you know....but fuck...you can't call yourself an urban artist if you're not doing anything on the streets. you can't say that "i've been doing graffiti since..." whenever...and then do work that is completely non related to graffiti. it's the same thing as someone calling themselves a chef but is nothing more than a waiter. not that i have anything against waiters and all, but why would you wanna call yourself something that you're obviously not.

and this just doesn't apply within our local street art community. the thing is, i'm sick and tired of how people choose to label themselves as something just because it's hip and cool. it's bullshit.

fuck the trend.

-s.c
cos only a rat can win a rat race

the first time i caught sight of an urban zombie piece was in 1998 near the old nafa in selegie road. and it was huge. and awesome. and a couple of years later, they showed up at the back streets of arab street,singapore. the thing is, they aren't a prolific bunch, but when they do their shit on the street, you can always bet that they're gonna go big.

and i got a pleasant surprise when i went down to haji lane today. the urban zombies never fail to disappoint.







fucking ace.

-s.c

haven't updated in a long ass time. been busy with school and working on my dissertation. it's been taking up all my time. can't even get some decent shit up on the streets even. which is fucked up cos all i've been doing are lil paste ups here and there which is kinda boring and i'm not exactly proud of it. but i'm still getting up, i guess...which is okay. but still...the stickers are totally fucked up. hah.

anyway, to those who have not seen the facade of the national youth council...please do yourself a favour and go see it. it's amazing. PB and ZNC did an awesome job. and i absolutely love it. clog is off the hook.

and check out evoke. the piece he did with the killer gerbil, syco03 and astro at the youth park is definately one of my faves. you can see the wall at gerbil's blog. it's dated the 11th of october.

-s.c

i've been checking out a couple of videos over at youtube and here are a couple of my faves. you've probably seen these but, oh well.

Fear the Ripper



Logan Hicks



Hop Louie



Jean Michel Basquiat AKA SAMO




not only do these videos inspire me, but it also acts as a good swift kick in the butt.

talk to you soon. gotta keep workin.

the question of the difference between graffiti/urban art and vandalism isn't exactly a new one. i've been asked that so many times before. and i've always answered that it is one of the same. some appear to be shocked and surprised as i'm guessing they were expecting me to defend what i'm doing, and would leave it as that and not probe any further. there was once or twice however, when i was asked to elaborate.

the action of spraying or making any marks on the surface of a public space without permission is vandalism. that is according to the law.

so when is vandalism art?

well, everything is subjective as i strongly believe that one has the right to say if something they see can be labelled as art or just a load of crap. and that kind of conclusion would usually be left to the individual's personal taste.

so does that mean everything could be considered as art? well, no.

for many years, there has been many arguments on what exactly could and should be considered as art. and out of that many ways, many have agreed that for it to be considered as art in the first place, it has to have some sort of an aesthetic value.

"Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics or æsthetics) is a branch of value theory which studies sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment or taste. What makes something beautiful, sublime, disgusting, fun, cute, silly, entertaining, pretentious, discordant, harmonious, boring, humorous, or tragic. Aesthetics is closely allied with, or perhaps synonymous with, the philosophy of art."
-from wikipedia.org

and for a person to make art, he or she has to be fully aware of what they are doing and why they are doing it. yes, explanations can be boring but unfortunately art is not just eye candy.

and in this matter, it's not just about putting up stickers, spraying on walls, etc etc and going home without knowing why you're doing it in the first place.

graffiti/urban art is based on a very revolutionary idea. and that is to bring art to the masses. the fact that it has somehow become a cultural phenomenon is due to how accessible and easy it is to become an instant street artist. so much so that stickers, which used to be a brilliant way in getting your message across, has been watered down into well....nothing.

so is that what street art is turning into?

the fact that the street art movement, especially here, is very young, we still have a chance to take it to the next level. we have to constantly challenge and re-invent ourselves to bring it to a whole new plane. we can't just sit back and not use what we know and our talent to our advantage. because if we make a concious effort to know what we're doing and to challenge the idea of what street art is, we can break down so many walls.

street art has always been about reclaiming the public space.

so get out there and take back what is yours.

-s.c

THE KAISAHAN GROUP (1976)

"we realize that our search will be meaningless if it does not become a collective experience, an experience that is understood and shared by the broadest number of people. in its beginnings, art was not the isolated act that it is now, it was as necessary, as integral, a part of the people's lives as the knowledge of when to plant.

for us, therefore, the question "for whom is art?" is a crucial and significant one. and our experiences leads us to answer that art is for the masses. it must not exist simply for the pleasures of the few who can afford it. it must not degenerate into the pastime of a few cultists."