An acquaintance sent me this yesterday and I was enthralled. A flash mob fully realized and then enacted a back story to a very well known painting, Guards of the
Night byRembrandt in 1642. This past April this "flash mob" or guerilla theater event was a project of the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands to advertise with their slogan; "Our Heroes Are Back" that after an absence of one
decade, all major pieces in the Rijksmuseum’s collection are back where
they belong.
It helps to have the backing of a major multinational corporation when you want to document this intricate a staging. It looks like they had a dozen cameras and at least 2 dozen actors and free range of the mall to plan, rehearse and set props before the performance. When one desires to bring art to the people, a healthy budget makes smooth the way. Still the really amazing part of the project, in my mind, was to inject a clear story into the staging. A gorgeous tableau would have been very effective but...the story, acted out in real time? Sheer brilliance. Imagine all the viewers talking to each other about the part of the story they actually were witness too.
And I wonder - did this elaborate staging work to get people to come to the actual art in
the museum? Seems likely that it did since the prank itself garnered over 3 million views on youtube.
Guards of the
Night Rembrandt 1642, Rijksmuseum, Netherlands
The videos show how they took one painting, a Rembrandt from 1642, Guards of the Night (above), and brought to life the characters in it, placed them throughout a busy mall and you can see for yourself how it all fell (literally) out.
Imagine what a group of storytellers with a lots of imagination or the backing of anybody or entity with deep pockets might be able to do? My mind is swimming with fun ideas.
Chalk-Le-chat: Like Banksy or Blek Le rat (only 1/100th as talented)
A different kind of chalking
By Norah Dooley
Last month I compared my work to Jenny Holzer and this week I am thinking about Banksy and his predecessor, Blek le Rat, (born Xavier Prou,1952) who was one of the first graffiti artists in Paris, and has been described as the “Father of Stencil Graffiti”. Lest you think I am totally out of my mind - I
Mon petit signature
shall clarify. I do not believe myself to be in anyway comparable to these world-class artists. I only mention them as examples of the inspiration for my work and to give some point of reference for what I am doing. Deciding I needed a "nome de plume" like my heroes ( my heroine, Jenny Holzer, is simply herself) and knowing that imitation is the sincerest form of mimicry I have, for now, settled on Chalk le Chat.
Cool, right? It is like Blek Le rat, only I am 1/100th as talented or prolific. I am also considering the moniker "Pastore Fata" after Shephard Fairey but he gets into a lot of trouble so it ma be a bit risky. Running with the Chalk Le-chat idea allowed me to designed myself a little signature
( see left ). Mostly, I create really simple chalk drawings about the stories I have just told to surprise and I hope delight the children who stumble upon them. If they mystify and inspire those who have not heard my stories - that is great. The fact that the act is noncommercial and intends a democratic inclusiveness. I sometimes draw with my audience, teaching them how to use simple shapes to draw some of the animals that feature as characters in my stories. And other times I leave chalk beside or nearby the drawings, inside a chalk circle of words saying "Express Yourself".
Artists have challenged art by situating it in non-art contexts.
‘Street’ artists do not aspire to change the definition of an artwork,
but rather to question the existing environment with its own language.
They attempt to have their work communicate with everyday people about
socially relevant themes in ways that are informed by esthetic values
without being imprisoned by them.John Fekner defines street art as "all art on the street that’s not graffiti".
Whereas traditional graffiti artists have primarily used free-hand aerosol paints to produce their works,"street art" encompasses many other media and techniques, including: LED art, mosaic tiling, murals, stencil art, sticker art, "Lock On" street sculptures, street installations, wheatpasting, woodblocking, video projection, and yarn bombing. New media forms of graffiti, such as projection onto large city
buildings, are an increasingly popular tool for street artists—and the
availability of cheap hardware and software allows street artists to
become more competitive with corporate advertisements. Much like open
source software, artists are able to create art for the public realm
from their personal computers, similarly creating things for free which
compete with companies making things for profit.
Traditional graffiti also has increasingly been adopted as a method
for advertising; its trajectory has even in some cases led its artists
to work on contract as graphic artists for corporations.Nevertheless, street art is a label often adopted by artists who wish
to keep their work unaffiliated and strongly political. Street artists
are those whose work is still largely done without official approval in
public areas. For these reasons street art is sometimes considered "post-graffiti" and sometimes even "neo-graffiti.St reet art can be found around the world and street artists often
travel to other countries foreign to them so they can spread their
designs.
Children join Chalk le Chat at Honan Librar
The motivations and objectives that drive street artists are as varied as the artists themselves. There is a strong current of activism and subversion in urban art. Street art can be a powerful platform for reaching the public, and frequent themes include adbusting, subvertising and other culture jamming, the abolishment of private property and reclaiming the streets. Some street artists use "smart vandalism" as a way to raise awareness of social and political issues.Other street artists simply see urban space as an untapped format for
personal artwork, while others may appreciate the challenges and risks
that are associated with installing illicit artwork in public places.
However the universal theme in most, if not all street art, is that
adapting visual artwork into a format which utilizes public space,
allows artists who may otherwise feel disenfranchised, to reach a much
broader audience than traditional artwork and galleries normally allow.
Street art can also be a form of political expression used by the
oppressed and people with little resources to create change.
Banksy’s latest street pieces which appeared in London over the Easter bank holiday reworks an old anarchist slogan coined by Emma Goldman “If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.” The piece seems to be a reference to a spate of recent arrests in LA of street artists such as Invader and Revok who are involved with the MOCA show. — New Banksy street piece in London references arrests in LA.
Blek recognized the great ability of street art to address the populace in ways other art could not. Through stencils often centered on social observation, Blek involved his viewers in a guerrilla war against complacency and conformity, highlighting the strength of the individual and inspiring a reflection upon the status quo. The guerrilla art we are familiar with now has much to thank Blek le Rat for, a point driven home with impact when looking at the work of notorious British-graffiti artist Banksy, whose style is not only based on that of Blek but whose subject matter (including soldiers, rebels and even rats taking over the streets) is inarguably influenced by Blek as well.
Now that we have had some rain the sidewalk is mostly clear of the chalk. Except where there were leafy brnches or a bench that interfered with the rain showeer, most of the chalk is gone. People have asked me what the reaction was to my project. I have recorded it all faithfully and share it here:
8:08AM July 22, 2013
Reaction #1 6:03AM Taxi driver: I see you are decorating my cab stand.
Me: Yes I am beautifying and edifying (he walks from one end to the other ) Taxi driver: That's good. I like what you say. ( A fare gets in his cab and he is gone) Reaction #2 6:45 AM Young Woman: Did you have to get a permit to do this ?
Me: Yes, I have my permit right here, if you 'd like to see. Young woman: I wasn't trying to cause trouble - just curious.
Me: No worries. I'm kinda bummed I needed a permit at all. (she checks her phone, then looks at writing from both sides of bus stop bench) Young woman: Are you a hippie or a radical?
Me: A radical. Definitely. Young woman: I thought so.
Me: Kinda cool that you know the difference. Young woman: There is 30% chance of thunderstorm this afternoon - what are you going to do?
Me: Nothing. Those are the breaks with chalk art! ( The #66 bus comes and she is gone)
Reaction #3 7:49 AM Thirtysomething woman: Excuse me - there's a typo.
Me: Sorry? Thirtysomething woman: : There's a typo*. You have an apostrophe in its - there shouldn't be.
Me: O dear! I will fix it immediately. Thank you. Thirtysomething woman: It is such a good quote - why spoil it with a mistake.
Me: True. Thanks again. ( The #66 bus comes and she is gone)
And that's the end of public engagement with this art as I was creating it. This afternoon's rain should be the end of the visual installment. I want to complete the project so I may reapply.
* Not to be picky but shouldn't we say a "chalko" instead of "typo"?
