Friday 24 June 2011

Really sweet mix

I came across this really sweet mix. No idea who this guy is, but he has ticked all my boxes. I can honestly say I don't know any of the songs on this mix, but I like each one of them. Check it out!

Hallucination Engine mix by Chemikangelo

Sunday 21 November 2010

Street Art under Paris - 3

There's above and there's below! Some shots in the catacombs (La Plage).. Apologies for the date stamp, I was not using my camera and I had no idea it was going to show up on the pictures.


An interesting take..



The main feature, The Wave (repainted in 2007 according to sources).


Met these three.


Met this joker whilst looking for the loo. He didn't help.


A M. Chat, new version (yes, he's back).


Rather miserable looking chick, wouldn't you say?


And Bob's your uncle!

Tuesday 6 April 2010

Street Art in Paris - 2

Here's some more.


A Mesnager and a little Rat-Bastard sprayed on top (that's what I decided to call him). Told you that guy is everywhere. It looks like M. Chat but apparently isn't (the guys on this link are called PhotoGraff Collectif, guess what they do).


All is well, Josh is back. Well, not the best stuff out there but I like the hat and the phallic nose.


Classic Octopus-Invader.


You may not see it but, in pseudo Cyrillic alphabet, it reads Raspouteam. Very clever.


Yep, it's a seahorse.


Adding good humour at the café.


It says: ''let's stop spying on each other''.


Another THTF production, Beaubourg in the background.

That's it for now.

Just to mention one thing I noticed while I was exploring, walking, skating round: Paris is beautiful and has nice street art and all that but if you see enough places you'll notice a lot of people living on the street. Next to some of these pictures there are the beginnings of shanty towns or people sleeping in boxes. It's easier to notice at night because then these people are the only ones left in the street. There you go, just an observation. I don't know any statistics or trends but it's always pretty shocking.

Tuesday 16 March 2010

Street Art in Paris - 1

I've been exploring Paris a little bit and I've decided to document the slightly less common street art out here. By that I mean anything that's sort of interesting and *not* graffiti. Yes, bigotry indeed.

Anyway, here's a fraction of what I've seen. The quality of the pictures isn't great (even when they're not horribly overexposed because I forgot I'd maxed the ISO setting on my camera) but I hope they'll give you an idea.

I guess to be documenting this stuff seriously I should really have the addresses to all these works. But I haven't, so there. Will try to put them in the future.



Well, yes okay, this is graffiti and not particularly great. It sort of looks like a cartoon. Anyhow just put it here for documentary purposes: this guy is having a ball at the moment (beginning 2010). This animal-ting is all over the place.



This I quite liked. The top picture is how the wall looks today. Before it was washed, however, some guy had sprayed four lines which I have attempted to Gimp on the bottom picture. A mix of caveman use of texture and Japanese spareness of lines. I thought it was worth making a digital simulation of this thing! Am feeling like a proper histo-archeo-graffer now!


Hm, poster CCTV now...


Ooh, bigger CCTV there, and some messy shit.


Interesting assortment here: some graffiti, a poster, a little Invader peeking out and also some trompe l'oeil...


A scribble, THTF house and a 2D Rubik's cube.

Man versus meteorite.

Yeah, could be.
Insanely overexposed sorry. I like the head, also THTF.

Quite like this one. There's a few other similar looking things around, will try to document them.

What were they thinking?? And you may not realise from this picture but the whole street was splattered with paint. Better angle on the next picture.

Rough translation: 'posh art is for wankers'...

Funny one here. An Invader hit by lightning.


Detail from the previous picture. Someone added a tasteful slash there.

Hard to see but it's a fish skeleton.

Another cool character in the same area.

That's it for this post.

Wednesday 18 November 2009

Antithesis of Graffiti

I am not sure of their precise motive(s), but these guys crack me up!


I reckon they got fed up with their stuff getting buffed all the time and decided to mock the authorities with an unconventional and paradoxical approach. Or maybe they're just cleaning the surfaces in preparation for bombing them later on!

Oh and if you are wondering what the dope track in the beginning is, allow me to enlighten you - it is "Off the Record" by Promoe of Looptroop.

Friday 13 November 2009

Takin' you back: Calvin & Hobbes

If you enjoyed and cherished Calvin & Hobbes as much as I did, then mosey on over to this here internet web-page, which hosts an archive of the comic strip, collected daily over its entire decade-long existence. Makes me wish I had a free printing facility and copious amounts of time on my hands...



Baloney! No one is too old for Calvin & Hobbes. Seriously, check it out, especially if you haven't laid eyes on these two rascals since you were young, as the strips truly take on a new meaning now that you are older.

Sunday 8 November 2009

VIDEOGIOCO by Donato Sansone

Check out this incredible animation. I like the circularity of it, its 'what goes around, comes around'ness.


Monday 12 October 2009

The Photography of Peter Stanners

I met Peter on an odd occasion or two through the international community of Copenhagen. He recently launched a website, which gives us a glimpse into his photographic adventures.

His subjects I would say are mainly raw people (and rotten animals, as you will see). He also experiments with different and therefore refreshing techniques. I particularly like the series Split and Reminiscences.

My favourite photograph is from the latter; it instantly reminded me of a Magritte universe.


Make sure you check out his site and give him some big time props!

Engrish Entertainment

What is Engrish you ask? According to the Engrish site it "can be simply defined as the humorous English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design", hence the name.

I'd say it's the product of either cynicism, lazy proofreading, terrible software or the inherent difficulty of translation. Most likely a combination of all of these and more. Whatever the case may be: it's hilarious.

Here's a couple from the 'most popular' list:





There's all kinds: obvious spelling mistakes, uncalled for synonyms, bizarre grammar, weird, poetic and transcendentally garbled shit.

And there's a second language game to it: you can caption the pictures. I'm not sure if linguists take Engrish seriously. It's an accidental language really, it's at the frontier between English, advertising, consumerism, globalisation, Japanese (initially), translation software and who knows what else.

But whatever its twisted and mysterious origins I promise it will lift your spirits and rekindle your faith in humanity...

Wednesday 30 September 2009

The Urbanauts hit the streets, episode 1

London is so full of so many oh so wonderful experiences - it's just a question of getting out there and exploring. I hope you enjoy our little adventure and get inspired.












Friday 25 September 2009

Super Parrot

Check out this fascinating creature, the lyre bird.

I think it would, without a doubt, kick a parrot's feathery behind in a mimicry contest.

Monday 21 September 2009

Louis Sclavis feat. Ernest Pignon-Ernest

I was looking for a particular tune by Louis Sclavis that I wanted to share with you. I found it on YouTube. He is a very experimental musician and doesn't seem to obey any rules or see any boundaries between genres. I love the clarinet on this track. Juslisen...




The video that accompanies it turned out to be a slideshow of one of my favourite street artists, Ernest Pignon-Ernest.

Unlike the contemporary street art movement, Ernest makes each artwork a unique masterpiece, meaning he doesn't mass produce or bomb streets. Instead, you can feel that each and every piece was made with so much attention to detail, and the locations picked carefully. Most of his stuff is quite dark and would probably send shivers down my spinal chord if I were to ever encounter one on the street.

Have a look at his website to experience higher quality pics of his works.

Wednesday 16 September 2009

Shara Hughes

This summer, in a secluded summer house on the coast of Denmark, I met Shara and her art.

I think her art is a really raw display of emotions. She uses a plethora of complex, very colourful patterns and lots of symbolism. I feel like every piece is a huge enigma and somehow I think the emotions she wants to convey are so personal that she ended up making the puzzles unsolvable. But I can definitely sense that the answers, truths, and secrets are lurking in there.

Here are my favourite pieces.

"I'm Tired, Harbor Me"

"What a Web You Weave"


She just launched a website, so be sure to check it out for the rest of her work.