.
Disassembling
is as infuriating
as assembling.
.
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.
1473. Lower Lamb Street
Three cheers for the toucan – in what is probably the closest graffiti spot to my work. Imagine how delighted I was to see this recent adition of one of Touc’s beautiful birds. A simple idea, but nicely done and eminently collectable.
Somehow, bringing an exotic bird like a toucan into the urban environment achieves more than simply a splash of colour, it brings with it the magic of rainforests and of hope. It certainly worked for Guiness.
1472. Frogmore Street (6)
I have been aware of the work of this Bristol artist for some while now, but didn’t know much else about him. Well a little stroke of luck…a delay to my usual bus…encouraged me to walk home after work and I decided to take a slightly different route. As I dropped down the steps from Park Street into Frogmore Street I saw this beautiful display of foil butterflies pressed into the road tarmac.
The gentleman in the pictute is actually the artist, Duncan McKellar, who likes to bring a smile to the citizens of Bristol with his unusual artistic displays that appear from time to time. I guess one might describe him as an installation artist, but what he does brilliantly is bring to life many of the things we fail to see around us, such as statues and trees and puts them front and centre of our consciousness with his art.
I particularly like this foil piece because it is an unusual experimental technique which Duncan was trialling. We stopped for a lengthy chat, and I will certainly be following his artistic adventures with great interest. More from Duncan to come soon.
Free range
.
Penned in by green fields
neat rows of cloche-like dwellings;
mud pigs on a hill.
.
by Scooj
1471. Upfest 2017 (170)
Rounding off this batch of Upfest 2017 posts is this wonderful collaboration in a comic-strip style from artists Size Two and Laura Schindler. I think it is a rather special piece that was a little bit tucked away on the periphery of South Street park.
I am not fmiliar with either artist, but believe that both of them are form Austria and now live and work in Berlin.
The collaboration works so well for me, there is a good story going on, a fight against crime by a human and a robot – detective partners? The main characters are set on a washed out urban background of some dystopian future. I simply love it.
Irritation
.
Sweet wrapper crackle
impolite in extremis
when I’m in this mood.
.
by Scooj
1470. Upfest 2017 (169)
What an extraordinary piece by Title at the Ashton Gate site. The character to those of you not familiar with Marvel comics is Thanos, who I believe makes an appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – a film I haven’t seen yet, but will do when the DVD arrives.
The detail in the face and expression bring this ‘photorealistic’ piece to life. Title, from Birmingham is a full time artist, taking commissions around the country. He enjoys festivals, which he can focus on while trying to balance a busy work schedule and family life.
Would be good to see him again at Upfest, but I don’t see his name down for 2018, so mnaybe another time.
Nuthatch
Atop a tall ash
against a backdrop of blue
I catch a nuthatch.
by Scooj
1469. Upfest 2017 (168)
I think the prize for the busiest artists of Upfest 2017 goes to Pahnl who were not only the featured Festival artists for the year, but who also painted two walls with their intricate stencil work.
Actually, it was some days after the festival that they finally managed to finish this wall, but it was worth the wait. Their style of work has the look and feel of corporate identy and logos, with ‘toilet door man’ setting about various tasks and activities.
The partnership certainly produced something out of the ordinary with their work, unlike anything else at the festival. there is more about this duo from Birmingham on their fine website.
1468. Upfest 2017 (167)
Some of the collaborations at Upfest 2017 were almost acidental or improvised. Others like this one were calculated and beautifully worked out. The artists, Carleen de Soza (left) and Dreph (right) painted portraits of each other, and in doing so switched colours for the skin tones and background.
I think both artists, who do a lot of portraits fgound it challenging being the subject of the artwork, but the final collaboration was outstanding and eye-catching.
The wall was a difficult one to photograph, because the light managed to shine down the back wall and bleached out the top of the frame. Also there were beams in the way, which didn’t quite fall centrally – probably not the best spot for a collaboration.
This piece was definitely one of the more memorable collaborations at the festival and I guess ther artists were relieved at having the partial cover to protect them from the rain showers.
Natural adventures 