Bloody massacre
slow hours, minutes and seconds
writhe in agony.
by Scooj
Month: April 2019
2120. Lawrence Hill roundabout (7)
Although I haven’t posted much from Oner for a while, it doesn’t in any mean he hasn’t been productive. On the contrary his work seems to be ubiquitous, and a day barely passes by without seeing something by him.
This is a rather good piece in one of the tunnels of Lawrence Hill roundabout. Real care has been taken with this to create nice clean lines, excellent shadows and clever accents that give the letters a rounded 3D appearance. Oner is an interesting artist who seems to enjoy bombing and quick throw-ups, but when he takes his time he can create works of high class, like this one. Very nice.
2119. North Street
I just don’t get to see enough of Lemak’s wonderful and complex stencils. Much of his work is studio work, but occasionally we get lucky and he takes to the streets. This outstanding piece is painted on the double doors that played host to Dr Love at Upfest 2018, and more recently to the gorgeous lips of Muckrock.
This work features a space scene in which two astronauts, dressed in pink and blue respectively are sharing a rather awkward space hug, in which their helmets kind of get in the way. The rest of the wall is decorated with fabulous starscapes and neon oriental letters.
Zoom in a little closer to the astronauts and you get a sense of just how outstandingly good this stencil is, in which the fabric of the space suits has extraordinary texture.
perhaps this is a projection of our future where the air can no longer sustain us and we’ll all be wearing such suits.
This is a beautiful, beautiful piece.
Thursday doors
Doors 66. Flaine, France, 4 April 2019
No ‘chocolate box’ photographs here I’m afraid.
Flaine is a very high ski resort in the French Alps conceived in 1960 and completed in 1969. The brutalist style of concrete apartment blocks sets up a synergy or contrast with the Alpine landscape, depending on your point of view. An excellent essay on the development of Flaine by Alastair Philip Wiper can be found here and is worth a read if you are interested in architecture.
So my photographs are perhaps not what you’d expect from a skiing trip in the Alps… sorry. There are however doors, you get them everywhere, perhaps just not so quaint.
Enjoy if you can…
So there it is. Flaine doors (part one).
Access to more superb doors can be found at the inspired Norm 2.0 blog (check out the comments section for links)
by Scooj
Bug
Hot cheeks and shivers
body aching all the time;
inconvenience
2118. M32 roundabout J3 (135)
Yet another remarkable Sled One piece that almost got away. This end of the M32 wall is near a tree, and for most of the day, on sunny days, the wall is dappled with sunlight and Shad, which renders it almost impossible to photograph successfully. I had to return a couple of times to catch it on a rather more overcast day to capture it in all its glory.
Sled One appears to churn out these extraordinary pieces with such ease, although I expect that is not the case at all… perhaps the mark of an artist at the top of his game. In Bristol right now, Sled One is probably the greatest story teller through his art, every piece containing a strong visual narrative (is that a thing?). I’m not too sure what the story is here, but the man in the ‘D’ of SLED appears to be running away from something. Always great to find pieces by this gifted artist.
2117. The Arches
As the crow flies, this might just be the nearest mural to my home, although there are one or two others not too far away. For years, this wall has had a rather sad looking old mural on it, which had faded somewhat, so to see this fabulous refresh from local artist Bex Glover was a wonderful surprise.
I have only seen her work at Upfest before, so it is brilliant to come across this commission right in my manor. Her work has this wonderful illustrative style with line drawings of wildlife scenes in her preferred characteristic colours.
In this piece she gives us a Bristol fox which will always go down well with the locals. I will be keeping my eyes peeled for any further commissions she might get on the back of this one as it is in a prominent corner with a whole ton of road and pedestrian traffic passing it daily.
Football pools
Mum used to do them
knowing nothing of football
a seventies thing.
by Scooj
2116. Dean Lane skate park (201)
Decay has become a very, very busy man recently and this is just one of several pieces I will be sharing with you over the coming days/weeks. His transition from abstract works to writing has been seamless and aided by the carry-through of his little ‘Chuck’ character as the ‘E’ in his name.
The colours of this piece in Dean Lane work really well, and it is surprising what a big difference just the tiniest subtle dash of blue tint can do to lift a piece. I am really enjoying his work at the moment and hope you are too.
2115. The Bearpit (180)
Here we have an artist doing what he does best. The passionate and politically active Object… is a champion of all that we should care about; homelessness, fair distribution of wealth and the environment.
This piece in The Bearpit is one of about twenty or so that appeared a week or two back to promote the movement ‘Extinction Rebellion‘. The movement is making three demands of the British government:
- The Government must tell the truth about the climate and wider ecological emergency, reverse inconsistent policies and work alongside the media to communicate with citizens.
- The Government must enact legally binding policy measures to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025 and to reduce consumption levels.
- A national Citizen’s Assembly to oversee the changes, as part of creating a democracy fit for purpose.
I have some sympathy with these demands, but worry that will not land well because of the astonishing mess of Brexit.
We have a divided nation, and broadly speaking environmental activism lands very badly with the Brexit narrative, and we have a Government dominated by the hard right whose interests are never shared with safeguarding the environment. Take for example the ex-Secretary of State for the Environment Owen Patterson who described the environmental movement (and indeed scientists and his own civil servants) as ‘the green blob’ – a derogatory term intended to belittle, mock and bully people who care about their environment, but his words chime for those who are comfortable or self-interested and wish to maintain a status quo (safe middle Britain).
I feel an essay coming on, but I have to make a chocolate panattone bread and butter pudding.
Natural adventures 