make time to design. if only it were that simple.

I’m still on a bit of high after seeing these films yesterday.  Some of the best films I’ve had the pleasure of seeing in a long, long time.

First up we have Inside Outside (Andreas Johnsen and Nis Boye Møller Rasmussen , Denmark 2005,
60 min).  Following various artists from all over the world.  I really liked this film and its intro sequence was great.  The intro is nice and gritty with some great filming which makes it flow really nice.
ZEVS is heavily included in this film and for good reason.  He is really pushing the boundaries and coming up with some new and innovative ways to graf sh*t up.  Apart from spraying red dots on the heads of models on billboards all over Paris, he is also sticking up his own fluorescent tubes with his Z tagged all over them.
There’s some nice footage with swoon and she explains her reasons behind her work well!

Next: A Primer On Urban Painting (Pablo Aravena, Canada/France, 2005, 95 min)
This was introduced by Pablo himself, he gave a nice introduction to the film and the how he came to film it.  The first thing that hit me about this film was the soundtrack which was heavily influenced by hip hop.  I personally think hip hop is a great soundtrack to any film, especially one based around street art. 
Pablo’s filming is awesome and there is a great story going on.  We get a real history of graffiti and not just how it started but also why.
After the film Pablo stayed around for a Q&A session.  It became quite apparent just how passionate and dedicated he really is to this whole scene.  I think his passion for street art is really shown through his filming.

Bomb It (Jon Reiss, USA 2007, 93 min)
If this was a gig, then quite deservedly Bomb It was the headliner. 
This film is f**king awesome and probably the best film I’ve seen for years!  I enjoyed every second of it and would recommend this to anyone.
This film is truly world wide, we go from LA to South Africa to some random stinking tunell in Sao Paulo.  There is a great deal of history and some great artists included in this film.
I’m not going to waffle on about this film, all I can say is make sure you see it!

I’m gonna post a bit more on this in the next few days!

As I’ve posted before, this Saturday and Sunday the Tate be playing the latest films all based on Street Art.

It starts this Saturday 16th at 2pm, I would get there early as it’s seated on a first come basis.

Itinerary for the weekend:

* Street Art Films: Andreas Johnsen and Nis Boye Møller Rasmussen : Inside Outside
Saturday 16 August 2008 free **Starts at 2pm**
* Street Art Films: Pablo Aravena : Next: A Primer On Urban Painting
Saturday 16 August 2008 free **Starts at 4pm**
* Street Art Films: Jon Reiss: Bomb It
Saturday 16 August 2008 free **Starts at 7pm**
* Street Art Films: Marc-Aurèle Vecchione: Writers
Sunday 17 August 2008 free **Starts at 12pm**
* Street Art Films: Nicholas Hansen: Rash
Sunday 17 August 2008 free **Starts at 2pm**
* Street Art Films: Stunnedfilm: Kroonjuwelen
Sunday 17 August 2008 free **Starts at 4pm**

Can’t wait!!

See you on Saturday…

That’s right folks, Secret Wars is back for Series 3!
New Artists will be battling it out against the defending champion Wen for 1000 pounds!

JULY 26TH @ JUNO (SHOREDITCH HIGH ST) - DOORS OPEN @ 6PM / BATTLE STARTS @ 9PM

JIMI CRAYON vs. STIKA

FREE ENTRY – GET THERE EARLY

RULES:
1 LARGE WHITE WALL (SPLIT IN HALF)
90 MINS
BLACK PAINT ONLY (MARKERS AND BRUSHES)
NO SKETCHES / NO PENCILS – FREESTYLE ONLY
2 JUDGES AND CROWD VOTE TO DECIDE WINNER (3 POINT SYSTEM)

For more info check out; WWW.SECRETWARS.CO.UK

The Graniph Desaign Award 2 has now finished and has seen the culmination of works by designers from all over the world. They recieved a staggering 15000 submissions, from these they have selected 1 Gold Prize, 10 Silver Prizes, and 19 Bronze Prizes. Below is the winning ‘yoga rabbits’ design by Cho Jo Tzu from Taipei, Taiwan.

A while back I posted a story about Bomb It, a global graffiti documentary by director John Reiss.

Well I was just scouting around on the Tate Modern site and they are showing the film on August 16th at 7pm.  Check here for more details>>  

Hopefully see you there…

Tate Modern are holding a number of talks & discussions all based around street art.

If you are a fan of street art, or would just like to know more about it, then these can’t be missed, and best of all… THEY ARE FREE!!!

If you are in the area then make sure to check them out, especially the talk from Marc and Sara Schiller, the folks who run the world famous Wooster Collective!

For more info click here>>

There’s a really interesting exhibition running at the Tate Modern at the moment called Street & Studio. It documents the fascinating history of photographic portraiture from early black & white pictures from the late 1800’s to elegant fashion photography of the mid twentieth century. There are over 350 works on display from some of the worlds most famous and respected photographers.

Check out the new flyer for Hip Hop Kemp 2008.

The flyer was designed by Mr Dines (Studio Blup) who has just opened his online doors.. check out his new look website>>

Just got back from seeing Roots Manuva @ Cargo in London.

It was pretty random.  Basically Channel 4 were filming for Independents day and me and misses managed to get some tickets. 
Cargo was empty, I kept on waiting for a huge crowd to arrive but it never happened.  There were only a handful of people there which made it feel really personal.  I shouldn’t say this but at one point my girlfriend turned around and had a tear in her eye, she couldn’t believe that Roots Manuva was right there in front of her playing to a tiny crowd.

He only played 3 songs but the highlight of the evening was when they dropped Movements, which to me is my favourite Roots tune!

We left the place and couldn’t really believe what had just happened, it was strange but VERY good!

Sorry the pics are a bit sh*t but they were funny about people taking pics so I had to do it on the sly… 

Nice view on the way home…

This year the rebranded Brighton Hip Hop Festival (BHHF), Rising Styles (RS), is set to immerse you in ten days of Hip Hop and the wealth of art forms that surround the culture. RS is run as a ‘not for profit’ event with many of the exhibitions and events being FREE! This year the organisers, Kala Phool, have gone all out to setup an outsanding line up of events and artists to peform over the 10 day period, these will include:

• Fresh Styles Hip Hop Film Festival
• Poetry and MC shows
• Youth workshops in music production, MC-ing, DJ-ing, breakdancing and art and design
• Live public art
• Battlejam (a day long breakdance event)
• Exhibition
• Hip Hop Foundation (educational programme)
• Festival CD
• Performances - indoor & outdoor

….and much MUCH more.

This month also see’s a FREE copy of this years Rising Styles CD taped to Hip Hop Connection! Laden with beats and rhymes from:

Blak Twang, Young Kof feat. Rukus, Sonny Jim, Aviation, Blaktrix, Koaste, Jid Sames, Lady Lykez, Chris L, Gentleman’s Club, Diversion Tactics, Multifinish, Scizzahz feat. Dr Syntax & Kosyne, Influx, The Last Skeptik feat. Kashmere, Illustrate and Skrein feat. Micall Parknsun & Smife.

Get your tickets for the 12th July Saturday night event here, artists on the saturday include:

KIDZ IN THE HALL, SWAY, EMMANUAL JAL, THE INFOMATICS, BLAK TWANG, SKINNYMAN, JEHST, SKILF & BAND, SEROCEE, PERCY FILTH, KOSYNE, SOWETO KINCH, FLORIGINAL, MILLION DAN, SPECIAL SCHOOL, DIZRAELI, LONGUSTO, WITHDOCTOR WISE, SOUTHERN SUSPECTS, KOASTE, ENLISH AND MUCH MUCH MORE TO COME….including AERIAL HIP HOP from BANDBAZI.