Another DOLK work gone

the original Dolk Stencil

A classical Dolk stencil in the streets of Bergen is gone. The drummer boy marching towards a landmine refers to the traditional children brigades in Bergen marching in the streets of Bergen every spring. Loved by many, but also hated because of the noise they make in the streets on weekend mornings.

The stencil, made illegaly, have stayed for years but recently the owner of the building started to cut the piece out of the wall. The owner claims that the reason was to preserve the work, and everybody else thought it was done for economical reasons.

Vandalized and gone!

However, somebody wanted otherwise and destroyed the work with white paint before the the house owner finnished the extraction. A sad, but understandable action. An action against privatization of street art and economical motives for street art theft. Thats the second Dolk piece that disappears from the streets of Bergen lately. See my earlier post on street art theft.

ESPO: A love letter to Brooklyn

On my trip to New York this time, I planned to spend time in and get to know more about Brooklyn. I started downtown and some of the first things I see are painted words on an old concrete building. I recognize these words as made by Stephen Powers (ESPO).

Powers said ones that a word says more than thousand pictures, and Powers paint words, words that make you think, associate and relate. Earlier on, I've seen his works "Love letter for you" in Dublin.

To media Powers said that the building is “Really one of the ugliest pieces of architecture I’ve ever had the privilege of decorating. It’s just built for vandalism.” Powers got permission to paint the garage. The irony is that Powers have reversed the idea of graffiti as vandalism and says that: 

A neighborhood in decline has always been an ideal place to work. Generally, you are only improving the situation with a little bit of paint, and the work tends to last longer than in the pricey precincts of the city. Now that I’m getting calls to help revitalize areas, it’s not irony; it’s people seeing my work the way I’ve always seen it: as an improvement.

The parking garage belongs to Macy's and the works in Brooklyn was a following up on his A Love Letter for you in Philadelphia and Syracuse. The black and white letters gives the place a vintage and industrial look.

'A love letter to Brooklyn' was largely inspired by conversations he and his team had with people passing by the parking garage. The result are words and small sentences are 'existential' and gives associations to relational issues which is of concern to all of us. In addition to the car garage Powers painted the wall of a sneaker store front on Bond street and Fulton mall, it reads “All I Need Is You And New Shoes”.

Happy New Year!

Argus piece in Vestre Skostredet

"If one asks himself what living individual who gives most of the Bergen population's sense of identity, I think (after Herman Friele who has moved out of the town hall) that is the 80 year old Otto. Otto Fredrik Wollertsen had the street as his home for the most of his adult life. Through his daily hunched walks through the city's streets for decades, by bike, cassette player and harmonica, he's become a part of Bergen's soul. And through his choice of life, he has seen the world from the standpoint almost no other know. Therefore, his story uniquely enriching." - Ole Hamre in 2008

Ottoen strolling by a big wall poster on EU leadership

HAPPY NEW YEAR, GOOD PEOPLE!!

It's warm inside!

It's warm and cousy inside and December offers just a few hours of light a day. Bergen Street Art (BSA) have moved inside. The Gallery at USF (United Sardines Factory) and BSA have curated the largest assembly of street art works from local artists to date. BSA is a collective or assosiation of artists that promote street art and organizes different activities like workshops, discussions and street art happenings. The exhibition this time was a showcase, and the works was not for sale. 

These artists are usually found in the streets outside, in and around Bergen city. Some of them still active vandals. Others haven't done any interesting stuff in the streets for years.

I'm usually critical to street art inside, even if the artist is Dolk (See the blogpost: 'Wildlife'). And I must say that the 'LEGAL' exhibition was no exception. This art inside becomes toothless and misplaced. If the  exhibition is regarded as presenting the status of street art in Bergen today, I think the status is in no good shape. With a few exceptions, the works do not give much hope for the future, regarding creativity, quality and impact.

My personal faviourites (and few exceptions) in BSA are Argus and johnxc. In addition, I like LaStaa, but would have liked to see more new works from the artist out in the streets.

I like Argus for his productivity and variability, always cutting new stuff and presenting original works. I like the relatively new "tile style". His stencil motives, made up of triangulated tiles in different shapes and sizes, are fresh and I've seen nothing like it in the street art world. Argus is a creative force and I regard him as the leading street artist in Bergen today.

Argus Stencil at USF (outside)

Argus have not found reason to present works on "soft" canvas made for livingrooms yet.

 I love the "Strindberg maniacs" of johnxc. His portraits are figurative, but made experimental with, I think, inflicted madness :-). johnxc often us magazine papers as canvas and paste them up on the wall. I think his style is original and distinctive and he's the only street artist contributing to 'LEGAL' that I could concider putting up on my wall.  johnxc have found a way that actually works both outside and inside.

johnxc work inside at 'LEGAL'

Works from the showcase:

johnxc to the left and stencil 'Salome' by Yatzy to the right

The new king of chess: Magnus Carlsen portrayed by LaStaa

Upper left is the 'The Angry Boy' by LaStaa (inspired by the famous statue of Gustav Vigeland), Bottom Left a stencil by Chris Stain and right, stencil and installation by Habitus

Some of the artist made pieces outside in the USF area, and I think those were the best works presented of BSA 'LEGAL'.

Fisherman portrait by Yatzy

David Hasselhoff on duty by LaStaa

Earlier on I wrote about the 'exhibition' in the old paint factory, and found the abandoned buildings great for street art inside. A perfect venue for BSA, but probably did not reach a large audience and sadly destroyed after brief time by other vandals. USF is a major institution for art, film and music in Bergen, and in this respect a very good venue for showing street art when it comes to reaching a larger audience. That's the biggest achievement of 'LEGAL'. And maybe others, talented, will be inspired to do art in the streets. 

The smelting plant

The tag says: 'takk for oss' a norwegian expression for 'good bye from all of us'!

Its about ten years now, since the last workers left the smelting plant in Odda, Norway. The abandoned buildings still stands and reminds us about a tough industrial reality made of concrete and iron. For about hundred years this plant was the cornerstone of a society deep inside the Hardangerfjord, surrounded by high mountains blocking the sunlight.

Destiny, I think, gives me a special relationship with Odda. I've never lived there, but stayed there several times and I think the place is fascinating. The abandoned smelting plant in the middle of town looks like an ancient dark throne of evil forces.

Inside, a carpet of grey sand and dust (probably a mixture of chalk and coal) makes the buildings look like you have entered a colourless post apocalyptic site with dead materials and no life.

   
Once, these buildings where filled with men, dirty and strong men, sweating over melted carbide pouring out of glowing owens. Now, it's cold and hard.

It seems odd to build an industrial smelting plant in Odda, the middle of nowhere, far away from practically everything. In addition there were no lime stone in the area, or coal, the main ingredients in calsium carbide. They shipped the the raw materials to Odda in tankers on the fjord.

In the beginning of the 20th century the reason was an unlimited source of cheap power produced by waterfalls. Calsium Carbide is produced by heating a lime and carbon mixture up to about 2100 degrees celcius. In 1906 the plant in Odda was the biggest Calsium Carbide plant in the world.



Vis større kart

5 pointz is gone, rest in power!

Photo: C.S. Muncy, The Village Voice

5 Pointz street art and graffiti was buffed over by white paint the night of 19 November 2013, without warning to artists and it came as a shock to fans of street art all over the world. The dispute about 5 pointz and the future have been going on for years, but now it seems to be over. The biggest outdoor street art gallery in the world is gone and the huge property and buildings in Long Island City (Queens) is now getting ready for demolition. New stores and luxury condos will be raised. The owner Jerry Wolkoff defended the overnightdestruction in interviews and told that "I know they're upset but it's over with. I can imagine going one piece, one piece, and then going through hell and torture to everybody," He said, and told further: "So I said, 'Let me do it one time, and end this torture one time'" The street art community is upset and called it an act of cruelty. More than 1500 pieces of street art and graffiti works was wiped out over night. I visited 5 pointz in september 2013. I took line 7 from grand central towards Queens and right after crossing east river an amazing view hit my eyes. There it was, the legendary 5 pointz.

5 pointz 19 of september 2013 (photo: o. m. eyra)

Below is how it looked like the the 19th of november 2013. The paintover was really sad news and the media photos showing the white walls were heart breaking.

Photo Wall Street Journal

 I am really happy that I got to see the art works before they dissapeared. Lets go a couple of months back and below is some of my photos from september 2013:

photo o.m.eyra

Work by Toofly photo o.m.eyra

photo o.m.eyra

photo o.m.eyra

 Work by Esteban Del Valle, photo o.m.eyra

photo o.m.eyra

Work by Jimmy C,  photo o.m.eyra

Works by Dis_Satisfied and Adub, photo o.m.eyra

photo o.m.eyra

Work by Dase (morc alvarez) photo o.m.eyra

Work by Onur Dinc, photo o.m.eyra

photo o.m.eyra

Work by Shiro, photo o.m.eyra

And there were so much more........Click on this link to see more of my instagram photos from 5 pointz online.

Artists have been painting on the property since the early 1990s, with permission from the Wolkoffs. In 2010,  the owners decided to demolish the building. Since then, Jonathan Cohen, also known as Meres One, and fellow curator Marie Cecile Flageul have been fighting a battle to save 5 pointz. 5 Pointz launched a lawsuit against the Wolkoffs, but the federal district court ruled in favour of the Wolkoffs and the decision to paint over the murals came just after Banksy held a month-long New York residency in October, which ended with him writing a brief comment on his website to "Save 5 Pointz."

M-city in control

M-city makes big stencil works and I guess he likes Norway. I've enjoyed his street art works in Bergen, Oslo and Stavanger. This year he painted the control tower at Stavanger Airport. What could be cooler? Well, he had permission and took it. I love the work.

M-city is Mariusz Waraz from Gdansk in Poland and have been a street artist for 18 years. His stencils are inspired by machinery, engines, industrial equipment, derelict factories and abandoned spaces. When he is not painting huge murals, he teach graphics at Gdansk's Academy of Fine Arts.

To vreate the the mural on the control tower he used 6 days in his studio,  created the image on the computer and cut out 51 stencil pieces. Then he took the rolls to Norway. It took him another 6 days to paint the 28 m high tower. The result is impressive.

The art work is beautiful and fits really well in the airport environment. The personell must be proud of their new tower and work place.  I wish that M-city could come back every year.