I stepped away for a while. Actually, I got bored of reading the boring shit going on around town. Its mind numbing boredom which lead to diluted enthusiasm regarding posts.
The local newspaper comes out once a week. The snarky (read: MEAN and simple minded nonsense) local blog is busy bashing other businesses that may have any corporate sponsorship which is non-conducive to propelling the creative environment everything thinks Montclair has. I haven't seen anything creative in a long time.
Well - something came up: I found some spray chalk graffiti in town which is a positive step toward creativity. Its also eco-friendly which should make others happy. In case you may not be aware of this, spray chalk washes off after rain and/or can be brushed off with a broom or brush.
There is a whole new concept in graffiti outside of the destructive nature of its original iteration back in the 1980's. Aside from 5Pointz building in Queens, which has become an icon for graffiti, new changes in the medium have materialized. There is now moss graffiti, reverse graffiti and spray chalk graffiti - all of which allow the artist to continue the message while changing the medium.
One of the only mediums to have a evolutionary component, aside from photography, graffiti should be respected for its sense of impermanence and ingenuity. Evolving from basic text into a highly stylized form of art has offered credibility to street artists. If you think its a horrible form of destruction, look back onto Jean Michel Basquiat who was able to move from basic street graffiti into the art world with finesse. His paintings overlapped text, imagery, hidden symbolism and vibrant colors and are some of the most sought after pieces in contemporary art.
Artists are always a catalyst for change. In this case, rather than using canvases, street artists have used public spaces as their canvas. Offering captions such as Banksy's "There's always Hope", the artist allows the viewer for formulate their own opinion of the work based one the viewer's own life experience.
Although the images from Montclair aren't nearly as stylized as the more intricate pieces from around the world, the message is pretty clear.
The local newspaper comes out once a week. The snarky (read: MEAN and simple minded nonsense) local blog is busy bashing other businesses that may have any corporate sponsorship which is non-conducive to propelling the creative environment everything thinks Montclair has. I haven't seen anything creative in a long time.
Well - something came up: I found some spray chalk graffiti in town which is a positive step toward creativity. Its also eco-friendly which should make others happy. In case you may not be aware of this, spray chalk washes off after rain and/or can be brushed off with a broom or brush.
There is a whole new concept in graffiti outside of the destructive nature of its original iteration back in the 1980's. Aside from 5Pointz building in Queens, which has become an icon for graffiti, new changes in the medium have materialized. There is now moss graffiti, reverse graffiti and spray chalk graffiti - all of which allow the artist to continue the message while changing the medium.One of the only mediums to have a evolutionary component, aside from photography, graffiti should be respected for its sense of impermanence and ingenuity. Evolving from basic text into a highly stylized form of art has offered credibility to street artists. If you think its a horrible form of destruction, look back onto Jean Michel Basquiat who was able to move from basic street graffiti into the art world with finesse. His paintings overlapped text, imagery, hidden symbolism and vibrant colors and are some of the most sought after pieces in contemporary art.
Artists are always a catalyst for change. In this case, rather than using canvases, street artists have used public spaces as their canvas. Offering captions such as Banksy's "There's always Hope", the artist allows the viewer for formulate their own opinion of the work based one the viewer's own life experience.
Although the images from Montclair aren't nearly as stylized as the more intricate pieces from around the world, the message is pretty clear.
