Is It Really The End? (5)

It is crazy how fast time flies. It felt like a few days ago I started making art, but believe it or not the project is over. Although, the project is over (I think I speak for most of us) we will continue to pursue our passions that we spent countless hours working, refining, and perfecting.

One of the best quotes ever says "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened". I believe I can truly smile because this is a passion, a get away from everything and puts me in a place of relaxation and self achievement. Most importantly, it gets me over the "you're not creative" barrier. It is something that I will continue to work on mainly because of the joy that it brings me. 

My Ted Talk was all about labels and the barriers put in place by our society. It was at times difficult to write and to practice what I had written because of the personal impact of being labelled different things throughout my life. However, getting all on my problems with society down on a paper and presenting my solution to other gave off this wonderful feeling of achievement and one could even say happiness. It is hard to avoid all of the issues in the world, but my talk specifically addressed the need to eliminate a issue that is pure stupidity, labels. I could get in a conversation that would last hours about labels, so let me save you that torture and just say labels SUCK.  

REVENONS À NOS MOUTONS: 

Spray painting has truly been a gift and one that I will often to convey my emotions as well as just generally have fun. I encourage all of you to try it! There is no harm done, unless you spray it on the floor or wall (I cannot control what your parent might do). It is a form of art, and hey it might even be your true calling. 

Although, I am more than likely done posting on this blog check back every once in a while...I might surprise you. 

Anyways, I've got art to paint, lives to inspire, and fun to be had. Peace Out.

On Request...

Every piece of work that I have done has been inspiring and promoted a positive message. Well this time it's different. After sending a video to my brother of me spray painting the words believe, he requested for one that said Roll Gate.

Roll Gate is one of the sayings that they have at his college, Colgate University. At first, I thought that is a lot of work and I don't have the time to invest myself in such a project. However, this is chance to diversify my work and show a different aspect of my creative side. 

The logo of Colgate is seen above and I am going to be incorporating the logo as well as the phrase "Roll Gate". One thing that was suggested to me (thanks Michael) was to use a gate instead of writing the gate in the logo to avoid repetition. Not only will it make the piece differ from itself, but it will give me the chance to expand and use more background devices.

Although, I loved the suggestion and the diversity it would bring, I choose not to use it because it did not fit my style.

Of course, I made a time lapse video of the process. Making these time lapse videos are so much fun because it lets me watch 30+ minutes of work in 45 seconds or less. 

Roll Gate from Josh Chaiken on Vimeo.

Creation of Street Art Vlog (Vlog)

Vlog Genius Project from Josh Chaiken on Vimeo.

Vlogging is way more exciting than regular blog posts. There were a few things that I learned while vlogging and while trying to make an exciting vlog post. It included pay extra attention to detail. Although, small and unnoticeable in my time lapse, I spelled the word believe wrong (Whoops). However, it goes back to the ideas I stated in my speaking section of the vlog. It does not matter what others think as long as you like it. I am still very proud of what I created despite spelling believe wrong. On the other hand, it is refreshing to hear yourself talk and spew all of the knowledge you have on a topic into something. It showed me and I hope the few that see this that dedicating yourself to something actually provides results. 

Enjoy the video, and remember always beleive, I mean believe. 

Complexity=Enjoyable (4)

	Action painting and art burt is the origin of graffiti and street art. They were originally painted with brushes, however everything changed in 1949. The spray can was invented and the history of urban art changed. Pop Art was created because of spray paint and this soon developed into graffiti and street art. The movement of beautiful losers became a driving movement for modern graffiti/street art styles and it…you guessed it, it stemmed from graffiti and pop art. Beautiful losers became artivism, graffuturism, and hybridism which creates every modern form of graffiti and street art. As you can tell the history of graffiti and street art is deeply intertwined and is very confusing, so feel free to take a look at the pictures at the right and try to decipher it. In my pursuit of street art, it was a fun and interesting week. I went into Philly and walked around the city looking for different murals and art along the streets. I was surprise and amazed at all the different murals around the city. The most interesting mural that I found was at a gas station, a GAS STATION. It was amazing to see such amazing art work at a humble gas station. The picture was both visual appealing as well as idea inspiring. It was an amazing week for me in my own pursuit of street art. I had the opportunity/free time to do art three times. The first and second time it was over a two night process of experiments. I got new spray paint as well as learned the newspaper technique (shout out to Daniel). I also tried out a new phrase, it was Creative over (as a fraction bar) Ordinary. It was a fun project because it was a different style and it was straight forward without "extra" bell and whistles. I also got to try something that I never thought I would be able to do….ever. Snow Street Art. Sounds interesting, right? Well let me tell you, it was the best! Every inch of the ground was my canvas and if a mistake was made you used a shovel and scooped out the part that was bad…amazing. The work that I did in the snow in term of quality was shaky at best, but I was really just experimenting and having some fun during my snow day. Overall it was a really cool experience and with the snow stick around I might be able to do it a few more times (and they will be better quality). There is also a timelapse video I made which is super wild and hard to follow, but I will throw it in and let you enjoy! TIME LAPSE VIDEO

Knowledge is Power (3 (Interview))

In the world of street art, it is difficult to find an expert willing to talk. I reached out to a number of people that claim to be graffiti artist and street artist hoping that someone would be willing to give me an inside scope of the world of street art. By a stroke of luck (see what I did there) my dad went to a business convention, where Erik Wahl was speaking.  Any logical person would be thinking, art and business are complete opposites. However, Erik is different.

If that looks like a normal business presentation, I've got news for you! It's not.

That is more along the lines of a normal business presentation about God knows what. Anyway back to Erik Wahl. After the presentation, my dad approached him and asked for his direct contact information and Erik gave it to my dad! It took a sometime to generate the questions I wanted to ask because I needed to get answers that are specific to him as well as general to the whole community.

Questions Asked

• What is your inspiration behind creating the street art you make?

• What is the purpose of your art?

◦      What does it stand for?

• Do you think art is an open book? Or are there any rules you have to follow?

◦      Specifically in graffiti, are there guidelines?

• How did you become a graffiti artist?

• When did you get into graffiti?

• Is there a difference between street art and graffiti art?

◦      If there is a difference, what is the difference?

• Is there specific way you do graffiti art?

◦      Paint Brushes? Spray Cans? Combination of Both?

• When thinking of a new design for a piece, what is your thought process?

• Do you have other connections in the graffiti community?

◦     I am trying to gather as many outside sources to give me perspective

• Once I make my final piece, would you mind looking at it and giving me feedback about it?

I was amazed and thankful for how quickly Erik responded to all my questions. His insight was breathe taking and quite frankly flabbergasting. My favorite two pieces of information that he gave me were in response to the questions "What does it stand for?" in which he said "This is the beauty of street art above all other art forms is that it is dynamic. It can be added to, tagged over or erased all together. It is an art for the people by the people." At first this answer was complex and confusing, but after breaking it down he is revealing that street art is flexible, it can do whatever we want it to because as he states it is art for the people by the people. The other information that struck me was in response to  "Is there a difference between street art and graffiti art?" He says "Ho de gustibus non est disputandum, this means, there is no disputing taste. We all have different preferences and no one has a monopoly on what is right, I love this." In fact, I love this too. One of the main goals I set for myself at the beginning of the project was to create art that provokes thought, good, bad or otherwise. This is essential my green light to say go for it and try to do whatever the hell I want. That freedom is amazing and this allows me to take any path I want: political, educational, inspirational, ANYTHING.

While using spray paint it is difficult to create fine lines and detail, so I looked into ways I could create finer lines as well as add effects of paint speckles. I found two items that would allow for better results. 

The two items are nozzles that either fatten the line produced or it makes its skinnier. This is something that will be very helpful because one of the main issues that I have been experiencing is the paint coming out too fast and messing up the entire painting. The other item was a spray can grip. Essentially you put the front of it around a can and then you are able to spray by pulling the trigger. It is very helpful for adding a fade effect, but it also allows for me to spray for a long time without my hand getting fatigue. All in all these both will be a tremendous help for the future.

        I was able to pursue my street art on a larger scale. I used a cardboard box and unfolded it to gain the largest surface area. I used the sketch I created last week as a reference. I did not take account how big the LIVE LIFE was and ran out of space on the left hand side. On the right hand side the eternal life sign became too small, however I did like the look of the random designs of lines. Most likely the left and right sides will get major revamps however the middle section is clean.

I have also been working on other designs. Some of the messages will be along the lines of how creativity is better than standards or riches. 

The biggest breakthrough I have come across is street art is not always involving spray paint. That is the complete opposite of what I thought all along. Street art can involve brushes which is a huge relief for me. This is relieving  because the small details and brush effect with layering is something that gives a piece true personality. The personality aspect is something my art has been missing and now I will be able to truly give it a unique personality. 

Paint Fired, Rules Originate, and Design Discovered (2)

Oh boy…where do we start. First thing first, the first shot of spray paint was fired. For being my first time designing with spray paint it went pretty well. However, rules about spray painting needed to be established (in my parents eyes). The rules that ended up being put in place were established hard because of a few mishaps in the process.

The Rules (set forth by the Parents)

1. No spray painting in the house
1. Even in the storage space
2. Spray painting is allowed on the driveway or in the yard
3. When spray painting, wear a mask to cover your nose and mouth
4. Always have a tarp under the canvas in case of rogue spray paint

The rules were established because of my first experience spray painting in the storage space. My experience was going great, my letters looked decent for the first time using a spray can. Little did I know the fumes from the spray paint was spreading throughout my house. My family had nagging headaches, while I slaved away designing my art. As I finished my 3rd rough design of street art, I went downstairs to energize up with snacks and water. I was quickly informed that no more street art would be allowed to take place in the house and for a good reason, because the house was full of fumes.

Now back to the actual designing of my street art. Prior to actually using the spray paint cans, I researched different fonts of street art letters. I also looked into artwork done on the street of Philly as well as blogs by graffiti artists to gain inspiration. Although I found letters and numbers that were appealing, I did not follow them to the T. One of the biggest things that I read on graffiti blogs was find your own style. To understand how I could find my style,  I experimented on pad and paper writing the word LEARN. In the beginning, I wrote LEARN in a normal font and then

wrote it again and again adjusting the letters to make it look more like street art. After numerous times simply writing a work I have found a style that fits me well. It is combination of wavy and sharp design also known as Old School in the street art community.

Towards the end of the week I made a breakthrough on my personal design. I thought up the words that I wanted to use on my street art: Live Life. Although, it is a simple and only a two word phrase it has a deeper meaning for many people. However, what really made me want to put the world Live Life on my street art is the way that the two words could be bundled together.

The Beginning (1)

The world of art is constantly changing. Every time I came up with a way to incorporate this evolving subject, it was back to the drawing board. I reached out to my brother, Ben, who went through the same process 4 years earlier. I asked him straight up "What should I do?" He said, "I can't tell you what to do. Think of it this way, this is your one chance to master something strange, unique, something that speaks out to you." With that advice, my mind ran wild. It was not after long I came to the conclusion, I wanted to do street art. The one thought that came to mind was, Josh you have no artistic talent. The way I looked at it was that, I had not found my artistic talent yet. I kept telling myself as I further invested in a street art project, the master at anything was once beginners.

Street art is, to put it plainly, different. I have always had a deep interest in street art. Entering any major city and seeing the murals and even the positive and uplifting graffiti fascinated me. It is all so beautiful and modern, yet 90% of the time it is looked down upon. So why? That is one of the main questions that I hope to find throughout the process of the Genius Project. However, I want my main focus to stay on street art and the how it is changing with the times.

Art can be expressed in any way, but look at the two pieces of art above. One of them was sold for 43.8 million dollars while the other is viewed as toxic. It simply does not make sense. Street artist work hard and create beautiful pieces, meanwhile some "modern" art is something a young child could create. Modern art is disgusting, urban art is amazing. It gives a voice to the people.

At this time, I can see my project going in a number of ways, however I am firm in my idea of the pursuit of street art. I want to enlighten people of what true art is and show people that art just like the rest of the world is able to change with the times and thrive.