Usual Suspects

Shiv getting more outrageous with those colours...

Someone said to me this week they thought this might be Raisin lol!

You can't really see it, but Kwiva has done this flash as crackle effect with the shadowing. And overall, the paint has this real matt rusty type look to it. It's kinda freaky and not what you're used to seeing on a piece...

Three times in the last week I've been down the alley of a morning and seen men closely inspecting the corner by where Kwiva painted this - with one eye not two if you get.
One was that biker looking poet dude with the Mohawk who rants in Cuba Mall, one was a homeless guy I see all the time, but I almost choked on my Offbeat latte yesterday morning when I sprung one of those guys with the trolley that goes around picking up rubbish and emptying bins.
Funny thing was he zipped up, turned around, got out a broom and cheerfully swept up the rubbish along the walls as if it was a small price to pay for his very own free open air urinal with priceless art all over the walls...

STIX

The above window is what Sin refers to as the Sticker Wall (Window?) of Fame. About now you'll be thinking that the bar anyone has to reach for that fame would be, oh lets see...knee high?! Yeah. To an ant ;-(
It used to be worth the effort to go see. And sometimes we'd see the Gen Pub (and Walkwise) browsing over all the different styles but a month or so ago taggers started spraying over the window and no-one's bothered to put anything up since.

The lack of pasteys and stencils has also been noticeable but I'm thinking that's about to change...

BIG TIME ;-)

DR

One of the odd phenomena I noticed when hanging pieces years ago was that sometimes a painting would be slightly muddy or scattered when viewed up close but at a distance, or when photographed, it was stunning.
As strange as it sounds, I worked out that it had something to do with the artists eyesight. When they painted up close, it looked to them like it looks to us from a distance - no different from taking off your glasses to view it from a distance and seeing something completely different.
When I suspected this, I experimented and did a huge painting without my glasses on and it confirmed my suspicions because, with my glasses on, standing way back from it, it then looked like what it looked like when I was painting it.

My reason for sharing that little insight is that that's the feeling I get with a lot of DR's pieces. I think of his style as naive but I've stopped being surprised that his pieces often look way more spectacular when I've taken an image, edited and published them.
The piece above is a classic example. Technically it's shit. As happens on many of his pieces, he used way thin paint on a dense background that was never going to be covered, but then he ends up with a surreal translucent effect.

I know DR's pieces aren't that polished but they're prolific, so through default, like his work or not, like him or not, this guy has a presence.
In his own words "I am wot I am and I do wot I do"...

I've done a first where I've featured DR today on The Street too, so you can see better examples of what I'm on about.

PS: I heard he had a 40ohzee and an armload of cans the other night so it doesn't take a psychic to guess the upshot of that combo ;-)

SILENC

Retro Silenc

Whenever I text Silenc, I know not to expect a reply anytime soon - he's one busy dude - but when I do get one (and he always replies eventually) it's like text rap. Here's his latest...

Stay smilin! cut'n patterns of style'n piling! layers of fabric, over the sadness, good becomes habits, 24 carrots per rabbit that gets stewed! dude there's nothing to hide cept tats so get nude! n eat the best food! Soulshit! on a roll, like guerilla jeeps, when warhips sink mint! swimming for soldiers!

Out of it aye!

To me, unpredictable translates into adventure so unpredictable people are my favourites.
I really like Silenc - he's one of those freaky dudes who's always on a mission either at full speed or no speed at all. You never know what he's going to say or do and if you don't judge him and just roll with the whatev's, you get rewarded time and time again...

Take care of the soul and stroll on a roll sista - kia kaha!

RESIN & ?

The above throwie's had me scratching my number one for a few days...



RESIN (OR Ressin as above) who I wasn't surprised to find out it also GOMANS...

Progress Down The Alley...

So I found out that Erase WAS Erect as I suspected. Someone hit him up for biting them. It was such a vague connection that I put it down to Top Toy pecking order slobber where the Bitee probably felt threatened.
I mean - look up there, then look down here...these were done by the same guy exactly two months apart. That's got to be called stellar progress in anybody's toybox.



My favourite story this week was about Shiv from CFG doing fill for Erase on one of the pieces at the top. Apparently DR (also CFG) wasn't ecstatic about it and told Shiv none too eloquently, but Shiv kept doing it anyway.

Now that's what I'm talking about...

I already liked Shiv but he got a big fat 10 pointer in my blackbook for that deed. Tells me two things - he's not too big for his Vans AND he knows talent when he sees it and isn't too staunch and haterful to support it...

SIN Heaven

Sin being the leftfielder that he is, has been doing nail ups and pasteys this past few weeks. This man's a creative machine. In the last month he's done two VJ gigs, got up in an exhibition, is preparing work for another one and sold a bunch of work. And he still manages to take a zillion images of graf round town and upload to his MySpace place.

His style seems indefinable. He'll hit on an idea, thrash it then, just when you think you can predict what he'll come out with next, he'll backspace into some other totally random direction you didn't see coming. He's been doing a lot of recycling lately so keep an eye out for some more photo freakiness.
Piece of advice - If you believed that rumour that Sinners went Down There, you'll miss this one. He's doing Way Up Highs right now so when you're down the alley - look up.

And by the way - it was DR who sprayed POOS over the lower one of Sins nail-ups. He said he was bored...

Where the only Vests are at the Knitting shop down the other end

This is new for DR - bit of colour experimenting going down




You might think I'm getting a bit vague on it and repeating images but not so. The above Gomans and AK throwies are go overs. Cunning really - they get their spot then just keep going over and over their own goodies. I've seen the AK one done over at least 3 times. I've seen Gomans alien a few times around town this week too.

Had to laugh at the news this week - you might have seen this. Couldn't help but lol at the irony of the Contstables handle - bit unfortunate ;-)
I've heard rumours that he's actually quite a cool cat who recycles the rattlers in a most socially responsible and sustainable way...

YELZ

Not 100% about that one?



We haven't seen YELZ forever so I had to drag these out of my B images. Yelz used to paint with DRYP sometimes.
Hey man - where are you? Or are you of the league of disenfranchised who have withdrawn their GRaf Greatness from LB?...

Leftie Characters

Neo Nate

Cute little pastey on Ghuznee, just along from the alley

Sin and his trippy pasteys - I'm not sure who stuck up the original background clock? Surplus Bargains maybe?

Editor or Dryp?

ERASE

I'd bet my Nokia that Erase used to write as Erect. While I'm at it, I'll make it double or nothing and bet my Ferrari (laptop that is!) that he also did the E I use as my profile pic ;-)

SHIV, CFG

I feel like I've said this before - I'm really enjoying Shiv's progress...

Dusk to Liepzig

Hang in there, there's a point to this novella...

I belong to an organisation called Couch Surfing and I've had over 50 people from all over the world through my house in the past 6 months. Every now and again, someone, or two, will stay for an extended period.
In April I had two (disturbingly mature!) 19 year old German girls in their 'gap year' come to stay who ended up sleeping on my lounge floor until last week (4 months!).
Because they were living in my lounge where I edit, they found out about my little secret (The Street Said) and became quite excited by it. At that time I had just got a decent collection of Dusk images and was posting them. Sarah, in particular, fell in love and was gobsmacked that someone would go to this trouble of creating such exquisite creatures then put them up in the street.

From then on the girls kept an eye out and told me of stuff I might not have seen. They noticed every new sticker or paste up that was added to my personal collection and were getting to know about the writers and artists vicariously and would ask after them.

One of the gorgeous things Sarah and Theresa would do is leave little notes and drawings around the house for me and when they were leaving, they drew a page with everything they were going to miss about living here, they also left little playing cards tucked all over the house with things written on them that I might miss about them.
In short - our relationship was mutually creative and enriching and I had a bedroom wall full of reminders of them.

Theresa went home early but Sarah stayed on for a bit longer.
While she was here by herself, we talked about the future and what we would like to do. She had always been drawn to Film and had won an award with a short film she and a friend made. She was fairly sure she was going back to study to become a Director.

In the week before she left, I was on the lookout for the perfect gift for her but everything seemed so touristy or trite - nothing could say how much it meant to have her here and how much I believed in her and her future.

On one particularly wet morning, I walked past the (above) Dusk girl on Ghuznee St, just along from Lefties, and noticed she had started peeling away. As I stood in my office overlooking her forlornly flapping in the wind and rain, I couldn't bare the thought of her falling apart so later, as I left work, in full view of the GP walking past, I meticulously prised her off. As I rolled her up, I suddenly realised that I had the present I had been looking for for Sarah and striding home, swallowing back tears, I marveled at the significance and symbolism of this 'wall full of reminder' that I was about to give to her. I also hoped desperately that when I eventually told K (Dusk's creator) the story, she would get it.

Over the next few nights I had the soggy, smelly Dusk unrolled over my bed with my hot-water-blanket on, trying to dry her out - having to roll her up carefully each morning before I went to work so Sarah wouldn't see her.

Finally - I couldn't wait any longer and gave Dusk to Sarah. She was beside herself speechless and couldn't believe that the character she had walked past so many times and been affected by was now right there in her hands. She went on to admit that her time in New Zealand had been profoundly life changing and that, now, Dusk would always represent this time. And by the way she carefully laid her out, then came home the next day with a cardboard tube to send her home to Liepzig in, I could tell she meant it.

___________________________

I told you this story (not as eloquently and poetically as I would have liked) to share why I do this. Because it's a trip being into graffiti.
I have graf friends now, who I didn't have 6 months ago, who I couldn't imagine not being in my life and because of the very nature of graffiti's ever changing palette, our life is one big adventure where the layers of complexity and meaning are too intricate to describe.

One of the first lessons I learned many years ago when I started curating was that if I didn't like a piece, it was because I didn't understand it yet. I realised it was about developing a relationship with it.

So - just like what the tatty, faded but devastatingly beautiful Dusk means to Sarah (and what I'm sure she had to have meant to K - I hope I find out), who knows what any of the pieces we see means to the person who took the time and effort to put them up. Sometimes I have to remind myself that the throw up I'm taking an image of might have been a personal best for the writer, or that it might have taken them weeks to get the courage to put it up and it helps me to appreciate every throwie, paste up, sticker, stencil or burner I see...

Sarah's contribution to the Left Bank the night before she left New Zealand

Up This Week Down Lefties

DR writing CFG

Could this be Goman's first frowie? (as an LB writer once wrote ;-)

I don't know if it was the weather, the watchers, me being in their face or just shit happening but man there were some grumpy writers down the alley this week ;-)
Here's hoping for a few gamma's next week...

Editor

Retro Exquisite...

Images robbed off Sin's Mem Stick ;-)

Luckily the Left Bank has it's own charm which lures the likes of Flox from the Cut Collective in Aux. This is a relief of the huge sten I was telling you about, that she did ages ago and lasted months before being messed with.
How does a piece like this fit into Graf land? Would this be classed as a piece or mural - an installation even? I'm not quite sure how to categorise it...

Put it here for TMD!!

I'll let Street Arse tell you the good news...It couldn't come at a better time with Graf acceptance being at an all time low in New Zealand.

Goose bumps aye?!
What a head job for the boys conquering the Everest of the Graf world for the second time no less, with the majority of the vote to come from their own competition even. I imagine the 3,000 hard earned Euros and tankloads of graf booty wouldn't be unpleasant either.
And Deus? What's with Deus?! Man - that guy should have a national holiday named after him!

One thing about having intimate dealings with Lefties is that I see first hand how tough it is just to get up, let alone any cred. And getting out of the alley and doing legit stuff? In art gallery minded New Zealand? How do writers even get out of bed in the morning!

So when I see these home boys tagged the best in the world by their peers - I get it.

Buffing Attitudes...

It's been getting a bit heated up the alley lately so first we're taking a walk around the block...

Sole at Offbeat's Juice Bar

Mleko Gurl and Boi in the loading bay

More retro stuff from the loading bay...


Opposite the knitting store...

Right...

Lest we forget - this is all about the Left Bank - not about who is a better or worse writer, biter, hater, toy, crap capper or Graf God. It's merely a representation of what goes up and the very nature of graf is that no-one has any control over it.

Having been a curator in various forms over many years I've learnt that as tempted as I am to have my favourites, I can't afford to. I must remain impartial therefore there is one thing that I'm staunch about and that is being as supportive as I can to anyone who has the guts to get up.
Can you remember what you wanted more than anything when you were just a runty toy? I can guarantee it wasn't hater hoik you were hoping for.

I've met a shitload of you now and all I've got from you all is respect and meaty hardcore graf convo's - the only convo's my attention span will stick around for.

So lets ditch the hater pissing contest bullshit and get down to graf. I want to hear who's done what around town, if there's any legals we should know about (I've been doing a bit of legwork on that one in the background - I'll let you know when there's something worth knowing).
Know where good deals on paint or caps are? Or how to fix the prematuring ironlaks?
I've heard a few epic recipes for paste. What about the best sticker sheets and ways of printing them?
Posca's vs what?
How do we avoid sten overspray cringe?
Know any writers from out of town who could feat up Lefties?
And anyway - what is Lefties history? Who was the first to get up down the alley? How long ago?
To get where you are, you must have hung out with some cool cats and there's got to be some stories when you got messed up, almost busted, had to do a John Walker or were left dangling - and don't tell us you've never fckd up so what's your most brainless fckup.

If you knew what was going on in the background here, you'd be shamed by all your wahwahing and hating lately so lift the buff line and if you're going to say something, make it worth the www.world listening.

And just one last thing...

Last night I had a dream where I climbed through one of those little windows down the alley - I wasn't the only one, Trust Me was climbing through it too. It was kind of like a doorway or portal we had to go through to get into the alley and when we got through it was sunny and there were funky tattooed, pierced women sitting around on picnic blankets eating and laughing with each other and kids running around and writers getting up everywhere, helping each other, sharing gear.
The feeling of community was overwhelming and sitting grinning in a corner, marvelling proudly at the unity around me, all I could think was "holy shit - who'd have thought?!..."

Some More Graf Words of Wisdom from Banksy

"The time of getting fame for your name on its own is over. Artwork that is only about wanting to be famous will never make you famous. Fame is a by-product of doing something else. You don't go to a restaurant and order a meal because you want to have a shit." Banksy - Wall and Piece

Character either Yelz or Dryp's but image robbed off Sin's mem stick - thanks Man ;-)

Tagging Rant...

Sometimes when I do a scope of the bank, there's dudes hanging out and yarning. Last month it was a photographer taking images of a crowd of off-their-face Goth/Emo's in The Freaks clothing - maybe for advertising? Who knows.
Sin was there painting so him and I just kept talking about graf land and the Freaks posed and danced all around us. We would have moved if they asked. Maybe they were just making the most of the two bonus Freaks?

Yesterday two English dudes were down by the Drypppls.


As I made my way past them I overheard them talking about graffiti but I couldn't pick up the context. I cruised up taking images of stuff that had come out too dark a few nights before. On my way back down past them, one of the guys had a pair of blue plastic gloves on. I couldn't see any kit but I went and had brunch at Offbeat (try eating Bacon and Eggs with plastic utensils - not pretty!) then went back but no dudes and no new stuff. Boo.
With a bigger anticlimax than last christmas, I realised the guy with gloves had merely buffed over the mailbox below...

We've started seeing Gomans go up in all the wrong ways. He's a grom with a marker pen, hanging with all his grom mates, who obviously wouldn't know Ikon from the Eiffel Tower and will tag anything with no respect. Some would say that's tagging all up but even the viral taggers will wait a few days or steer away from decent burners till someone makes the first move.

Apols for the Tagging Police lecture but after all these years of following the haps of graf around town and seeing how different it is in Oz where pieces are sacred, I've worked out that tagging is what gives graf the bad rep. Not only that - cops schmops - tagging is the one thing that will disillusion the hardcore writers and put them off getting up.

And, as always, I'm up for the beef if I've got it all wrong...

Some Not Sures...

Rust?

Editor?


A messed up FKB?

Preo, KKE, GNB, OMF

Haven't seen these three before...any clues?




Unfortunately nothing is sacred down the bank and within minutes a new piece, burner or not, will be tagged or capped so here PREO's done a go-over.


It must rip Writers hoodies when a piece they might have planned and/or worked on gets demoshed before they can even get an image, let alone any cred. I can see why so many comment that it's just pointless making the effort to get up down the alley.

So what's it all about? There's one particular crew & hanger ons that's worse than others. Do they think it makes them or theirs look more hardarse? Is it a cred thing within their crew? Does tagging over others make it look like they've got a presence when they haven't actually done pieces for a while?

I'm not stirring, I'm genuinely curious...

Preo/Editor Role Call

Fresh to you - up Wednesday night...
The guys on this role call are pretty tight. They get up in at least one of their various forms at least once a week.

Someone commented a few days ago that the Leftbank was looking bad (Left Skank?) - well, it's only looking as bad as the writers will allow it. And it's not like there's a shortage of writers.
Even though some writers got busted tagging down Lefties in the weekend, it's still an unofficial free-for-all. Technically speaking, The French Art Shop next door leases the bit of the building the walls belong to, to the left, so go in, introduce yourfineself, get their OK and you're pretty well spik with the law if they give you grief. I've heard they like colour (The French Art Shop, not the Law ;-) and I'm guessing a bit of talent (and respect) goes a long way too...

All I can say is Lefties Needs You

DR, Limo Role Call...

DR is one of the most prolific writers I've seen and if I could get the secret to how he keeps out of the Paddy Wagons, Lefties hit count would go apeshite.





Speaking of paddy wagons...a few nights ago when two of the boys were being (separately) chauffeured down to the Blue Lagoon to give their autographs there was quite a roll call inside the vans.
Do they have cameras inside the vans? Was it a trick to get them to write their tags?
Trick or not, on that piece of real estate, what writer worth his crew wouldn't whip out his Posca?!

And it turns out The Filth isn't an accurate name at all. In an event that would have any Obsessive Compulsive writhing with Pick Me Pick Me - one of the writers had to wash his hands 4 times before they could get his fingerprints...

Ironflak

Ironlak's are getting a bad rap at the moment. Everyone was hanging out cos there was a shortage but once the caps went on, writers started realising there must have been a change in the formula because the paint runs everywhere, getting all over the ground and shoes (and I don't want to hear any Toy bullshit!).
One writer says the new formula smells like Milkshake so maybe if he could find a Posca that smelled like weetbix he could call them breakfast, flag writing for the day and head back to the sack...

Deed poll...

Moral of the story here is that if you get sprung for tagging, and the tags are just a bit too notorious, change your name! Piece of advice #1 - Good idea to change your style too ;-)

Retro Contributors Unknown...

Oct 07

Feb 08

One of the many treats Lefties provides are leftfield visitations! All of these characters just appeared and no-one knows who planted them - never to be seen again...

June 07

Retro DRYPNZ

Yes - I know I feature DRYPNZ more than the average. That's cos he does more than the average and his pieces are getting more outrageous daily.

This was the first character I ever saw of DRYP's.

It was on the back of a sign on Adelaide Road. I remember thinking then, as I still think now, that it was different from everything else I was seeing.
That was two years ago.
In anyones toolbox, that's superhuman progress, and even though he has definite phases, the only thing that's a given with DRYPNZ's work is that it's pointless trying to predict what he'll put up next or where...

SHIV

The only thing to wear out in Wellies this weekend would have been your hardiest 41 below Brass Monkey suit. It was freaking freezing!!
Yesterday Jenny, from Miss Demeanour on Cuba Street, said she was looking out her shop window at the rain but thought Hold on - rain doesn't float down in flakes!
Who ever heard of snow on Cuba St?!
Later on someone else told me they'd seen it too. What's that all about?

So - with not much happening up the alley this past week and because I've got a few images, SHIV's up today. SHIV's throwies are never huge but they're always recognisable and his tags have a wee bit of flourish. I'm interested to see his progression...



(Above is the go over I told you about after he'd been YFY'd)

In the book InForm, PEST5 has this to say about picking his name...

I heard about the approach of picking letters that you like. Originally I had to do a 4 and an H - forget about it! Those are the most horrible letters. So I decided I wanted a name with an e and s and a t. I thought that Pest sounded like a bad-ass graffiti name - as you think when you're a toy. I added a number onto it because it was the buzz in Christchurch at the time to have an old-school sounding name. Also there're heaps of other guys overseas who write Pest and I thought it had a good ring to it with the 5 on the end.

SHIV's got some pretty funky letters to work with which could look sick as a piece... ;-)

Graf Installation?

This Man Who Shall Not Be Named (because he has, as of half an hour ago, been busted tagging down Lefties) genre of choice I would describe as 'Leftfield'

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS?... Bit of irony here huh?

(This was the best I could capture - sorry)

Apologies for being all secret squirrel and not being able to share as per usual...I'd just uploaded these images and had things to say when this artist spookily texted to share the joy of his new best friends...and he'd had such a glorious day ;-(

Update: His day in court was the usual waiting endlessly from 9. Him and his Defence finally got called up at 2 and the Prosecutor said the Law had talked to the French Art Shop, who cleared him, and the Prosecutor let him go saying "It's all a bit of a misunderstanding eh?!"
(M MMmmM MmMMM mmmmmmm - that's E biting tongue mercilessly!!)

Retro Lefties...

Lefties will never make it to 8th wonder of the world status - even 352nd would be a stretch but it could be ranked for its water features. On one of our woolly (notice I didn't say windy) days when the rain is driving into orifices our mother hasn't been responsible for since kindy, you almost need water wings to wade down Left Bank. Today was one of those days.
Translation: It's been shit weather with no action down the alley hence the retro shots ;-)



No action down the alley but a bit of action at Hotel Constabulary. One of the boys got busted tagging (I don't support tagging but his are kinda styley) and spent a few nights enjoying the hospitality of his minimalist hosts. He's been charged with 5 or 6 counts of some kind of wilful damage I hear.
He's the second artist/writer to get taken down in almost as many weeks. His bad habits merely caught up with him but the other one, of no crew known, was just bad luck - he's only been up a few times and his naive colourful characters have been a pleasure to have in the hood.

"When explaining yourself to the Police it's worth being as reasonable as possible. Graffiti writers are not real villains. Real villains consider the idea of breaking in someplace, not stealing anything and then leaving behind a painting of your name in four feet high letters the most retarded thing they ever heard of." Banksy - Wall and Piece

Feat PNTR

A few of these have slapped themselves around the place over the past 24.
I've seen them around before but who are they by? And where are they from? I know I saw them featured on a site lately but do you think I can remember which one?!

Maybe this one's keeping an eye on the mysterious holes that appeared in the ceiling of Lefties above one of the pillars. I was watching them do it the other day. Now there's a pipe hanging down from the bigger one, going nowhere.
With so much talk of camera's being installed, and Beware seeing Walkwise taking pictures on their cellphones and taking down names a month or so back, it's easy to get a bit noidal...

I'll keep you posted...

Update: Paranoia unfounded - just another pipe.
Locals say there's a bit of a leakage problem through the surrounding buildings.
A bit?!
Lets just say WalkWise would be better deployed serving the public of Wellington by placing "SWIM BETWEEN THE TAGS" signs at either end of the alley...

Kwiva

After running errands for work, I cruised up the alley and Shiv and DR were there and someone else with a walking stick who I hadn't met before.
Braincells aren't one of my strong points but as we were yarning, all of a sudden I had a lightbulb moment - I said to the stranger dude You must be Kwiva!!
He smiled and said Yeah - how did you know?

When I was in Oz, J texted me the latest happenings everyday and he told me Kwiva had fallen off a building doing a heaven and was in hospital.

That's the risk you take when trying to reach for Heaven but what I want to know is will he get ACC?!

Image robbed off SIN