Time to change my hat
headset for mortar board
office to classroom
by Scooj
Author: scooj
I am Stephen. I live in Bristol, UK. I decided to shorten my profile...to this: Wildlife, haiku, travel, streetart, psychogeography and my family. Not necessarily in that order.
2914. Stokes Croft
Another archive piece, this time from #DFTE, on the famous wall on the corner of Stokes Croft and City Road. This is one of #DFTE’s framed pieces, and if I am honest, I’m not entirely certain that it is still there.
The words ‘We are all in this together‘ have a certain poignancy about them today as we sit in the midst of a global pandemic. I like the sentiment, but I dislike the way our government have rolled out this slogan (as if it was their invention) to try and inject some patriotism and collective responsibility for the fallout of coronavirus. I feel a monumental rant cominng on, so I will end the post now before I bore the living daylights out of you. In cheerier times I would appreciate the words more. I am a big fan of the artist and his alternative style.
2913. M32 cycle path (58)
This is a gorgeous piece of block lettering on the M32 cycle path from Dott Rotten. I took the photograph on 30 March 2019, and the photo label is ‘Brexit Day’. How my heart still bleeds about the unbelievably bad decision our country has taken, now amplified by the need to work together following the coronavirus outbreak. I suspect our folly (or otherwise) will be scrutinised by our grandchildren, by which time we might have recovered from the economic shock.
Meanwhile, this beautiful piece is expertly sprayed and demonstrates the crossover between graphic design and spray painting. Dott Rotten has used the brick lines to get the proportions of his letters correct, but this piece excels in its 3D letter depth off to the bottom right and the block letter shadow off to the bottom left. Take a good long look to see how this works. A nice clean piece and something a little different.
Late afternoon
Sunlit afternoon
through the blinds dancing patterns
tell a spring story
by Scooj
2912. The Bearpit (187)
Looking back to May last year when The Bearpit was nearing its end as a street art spot, (shame on Bristol City Council) and the visiting French wheatpaster Tian, left us several fabulous pieces in Stokes Croft and the roundabout.
This fabulous piece, printed from a stencil, is of a boxer, I have no idea who, and is one of his larger paste ups at about three-quarters life size. The yellow tones work really well on the red background and the piece is full of life and movement. If and when Tian returns to Bristol he may struggle to find as many spots to paste his work as he has been used to on previous visits as the pace of gentrification accelerates.
2911. Dean Lane skate park (306)
There is no order or plan with which I am going through my archive (during lock down) I am simply skipping from monthly folder to folder, spotting something and thinking, ‘ah yes, this needs posting’. This exact process has happened several times with Slim Pickings (TES) and each time I put the moment back to be returned to another time. Well, enough is enough. Here is a rather lovely TES from March last year, that didn’t get posted first time round.
As I would always expect from Slim Pickings, this is a really tight and clean piece, painted in pillar box red set on a dull bronze background with some green gunge and drips for good measure. The white highlight lines are just enough to give the letters a 3D feel. Clever and consistent. Note to self… high time I did a gallery.
Blur
Difficult to tell
where week ends and weekend starts
and vice versa
by Scooj
2910. M32 Spot (65)
Another piece from January last year, released from the archive, this one is by Minto. My knowledge of Minto is a little bit patchy but I think he used to live in Bristol and then, like so many street artists/designers, moved to London, so pieces here are few and far between.
This is an unusual piece of writing, unlike anything I have seen before really, and I am not certain it is necessarily in Minto’s usual style either. Not really my cup of tea, but it is always great to have a spectrum of art in the city.
2909. Waterloo Street (2)
The journey through my archives continues with this amazing (yes another one) cartoon piece by Deamze. A short while ago I wrote about the Asterix piece on this wall by the same artist, which I photographed in 2018. This one photographed in January 2018 features a similar wildstyle writing mash up of Scooby Doo.
Those pesky kids appear in the writing (spelling out DEAMZ) as recognisable body parts. From left to right we have Velma Dinkley and Shaggy Rogers (is there a hidden adult gag in his name?).
Next in line we have Scooby Doo and thank goodness without the dreadful spin-off Scrappy Doo, with the ’70s hunk Fred Jones next in line – what was that red scarf all about?
Finally the lovely but slightly boring Daphne Blake and to her right the iconic Mystery Machine. As a group the characters were known as Mystery Incorporated. Scooby Doo was required viewing for my generation, and the cartoon series appears to have had an extraordinarily long shelf-life. Amazing really for a story line that is pretty much identical in every episode.
Deamze is utterly amazing in the way he creates these composite pieces with such accuracy and style. An outstanding piece, which might still be there, I haven’t been that way for a while.
An untimely and sad end
Peace interrupted
sickening thud behind me
robin hits the door
instantly falls to the floor
circumstantial accident
by Scooj.
* a terrible thing happened this lunchtime when my children and I were sitting outside the kitchen enjoying the sunshine. Our conversation was interrupted when one of our dear little robins flew into the open kitchen door, the top half of which is glass. This was about a foot behind my head.
The three of us were utterly shocked. The robin died moments later in my hand. It was traumatic to say the least, and I feel so responsible. I keep singing ‘who killed cock robin… I said the sparrow with my bow and arrow’.
The interaction between humankind and nature is so delicate. Our impacts are everywhere, but I suppose in many ways some of our interactions benefit wildlife.
This all feels so much more painful because of the amazing experience of watching a pair of robins raise five chicks successfully in our greenhouse only days ago. Oh dear.
Natural adventures 