Category Archives: Photo
Aeon Oner
Aeon is one of Europe‘s emerging Street Art talents. His styles range from blockbuster through wildstyle and the abstract. This Belgian-based graffiti artist has joined the ranks of those giving hard evidence to INFX about their exploits and endeavours:
INFX: Quelle est la force de la scène graff en Belgique?
Aeon: She is very diverse, we may as well hold back the [old] school, new school, the organic or wild style. Given its industrial past, Belgium has many abandoned buildings, which allows us to move on surfaces diversified and come to the frescoes of [many] sizes. Many more urban festivals are based on the graffiti which allows us to showcase our style.
INFX: Je suis creuser votre plateau de skate. Y a-t-il un intérêt à travailler avec les marques de skate locales ou grand?
Aeon: Yes, because it could lead to changing the image of the skate by the combination with graffiti; it could breathe new life into the movement. It is also good to work with both: local stores allow us to share in the region while industrial [companies] open more doors. I have a preference for the more industrial, but I do not neglect the local stores.
INFX: Quelle est la chose la plus effrayante qui soit arrivé à vous tandis que la peinture?
Aeon: One night on the subway lines, marking a room in elevation with the aid of a ladder. My hand touched the high voltage line and 1,500 volts went through my body; I think it’s my most frightening. I know I got lucky.
INFX: Où habitez-vous? Avec des amis? Dans la ville? Banlieues?
Aeon: I rent an apartment in the city alone.
INFX: Dans un (ou deux) mot, comment qualifieriez-vous décrit votre art?
Aeon: Aggressive and malleable. I want to make a dedication “13, GAV, AKF, D2K, P50, B80, V2T… and everyone I do not have room to quote because the list is long…
THANK YOU
Oui -un grand merci à Aeon et son posse! Voir les vraies affaires. Regarder les photos:
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www.aeon-oner.com
The Road to Gundagai
Gundagai (population 2,000) is located on the M31 Hume Motorway and the Murrumbidgee River, almost half-way between Sydney and Melbourne. Despite its modest size this town continues to recieve notoriety; both as a focal point for Aboriginal political thought, and as inspiration for Australian artists -being the epitome of rural Australiana. The area is home to the Wiradjuri people and has long been a significant place of Aboriginal custom, and throughout the 20th Century as home to indigenous political movements. Of these, the late ‘King Billy‘ and his quest for Aboriginal self-determination is significant. As an Aboriginal Elder, he joined John Noble under his anglicised named Jimmy Clements in the entourage of the Duke and Duchess of York (subsequently King George VI and Queen Elizabeth respectively) to open the new Federal Parliament House, Canberra in 1927.
Below are some images captured of two of the historic bridges that span the Murrumbidgee and its flood plains. They picture the 1867 Prince Alfred Bridge that is sadly falling into a state of dire disrepair, and the Gundagai Rail Bridge over Murrumbidgee River which is a railway bridge dating from 1902.
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Photographs by D. Royce Walker & M T Walker.
Sugar Mountain Festival 2012
The newest musical ensemble feast to hit Victoria is now upon the horizon; once again hosted at The Forum in Melbourne‘s CBD. The first lot of Sugar Mountain tickets went on sale yesterday: for the event in January 2012.
The first half of the line-up has just been announced too; with the awe-inspiring John Maus headlining alongside other knock-out acts including Deerhoof, Prince Rama, local upstarts World‘s End Press and many more! Their website is kicking it too; teeming with photography, artwork, and free download mixtapes by Oscar Slorach-Thorn, Nick Allbrook, and Rat Vs. Possum (among others). The site also features a swathe of information on the festival (as you‘d probably expect), and Oscar also treats us to a somewhat impromptu interview with CoCo Rosie; before endowing us with a video for his Oscar + Martin track Recognise. Also, in the Film section you‘ll find a video documenting work by street art maestro Two One and a clip by The Forest City Rockers Ft. Thee Oh Sees. Sugar Mountain presents us with a grab-bag of contemporary, studious musical greats and complements them with film screenings, photography, and art exhibitions. Hurry in and get your Early Bird tickets to this artistry exposition at: http://www.ticketmaster.com.au/event/1300473897C72C8C?
sugarmountainfestival.com
VeinOne
INFX recently caught up with one of NYC’s great artistic talents: VeinOne. A member of the well-respected Bt (Bronx Team) Crew, Vein was raised throughout New York City, growing up in all 5 boroughs; mostly in Queens. Our main man Vein started getting up proper from 1995 and has gone from strength-to-strength ever since. Here we have the interview wherein we see the story told from the man himself:
INFX: You‘re a born and bred New Yorker -how did you start up on the graff scene?
VeinOne: I remember being in 4th grade [and] I would see a couple of my friends practising their throw-ups. At first, I really didn‘t take it serious because I was a toy and I didn‘t really know a lot of writers.
INFX: What do you think of the current generation of NYC writers?
VeinOne: I think most of the new writers are eager to paint but they have no one to guide them and teach them the history of this art. To the new writers I say everyone pretty much starts off toy but its where you take it from there. Keep doing your thing.
INFX: What are your main artistic motivations or influences?
VeinOne: I would have to say my crew motivates me. We are a family of creative individuals and we all push each other to produce some dope walls.
INFX: How do you see yourself within the “art market” as such?
VeinOne: I would love to make a living off my art, I hate being a starving artist.
INFX: What new styles are you picking up at the moment, and where are you heading in terms of style and the future in general?
VeinOne: Lately, I‘ve wanted to focus more on background scenery painting. I‘m always open to learning new tricks and techniques or anything that can make me a better artist. As far as my style, well I guess we‘ll have to wait and see where it goes because it‘s always evolving one way or the other.
So there you have it -And keep an eye out for VeinOne Bt hitting up the scene in a big way!
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Behold Solar Equation
Federation Square has a scale model of the Sun on show at the moment, by renowned Mexican-Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. The exhibit is titled Behold Solar Equation and is a simulation of the Sun, based on mathematical equations (of which you can participate in via the iPhone, for all the iPhone people). Regardless; I was there to check out the contrition that is the Banksy movie and here are some pictures of this exhibit that I found more entertaining than said film:
-Rock The Boat
Sight & Sound
This month The Arts Centre features abstract artworks from both their private collection and from outside. Accompanied by music that is inspired, created by or an ode to these Australian Abstraction artists (or in an inverse relationship), it is certainly worth checking out.
The stand-out work for me is the Robert Owen piece that was created as a direct homage to Arvo Pärt‘s 1978 composition Spiegel im Spiegel. As this is one of my favourite orchestra compositions, it was breath-taking to admire an epic work (Study for Mantra) that was a complete complement to said musical piece. Owen says of the work that he “was not so much trying to find an equivalent (visual) structure as a form of representation, but an intuitive response (a study)”, hence the title.
Other works that are featured include Michael Graeve‘s contemporary installation work and accompanied soundscape. John Aslanidis made a great impression with his work (below), as did Donald Laycock and, upon arrival the brilliant cubist Roy de Maistre‘s Colour keyboard in homage to music in pairing 7 notes (A to G) with 7 colours of the spectrum. Roger Kemp is also featured prominently; as are his works in the State Theatre foyer and nearby National Gallery of Victoria.
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1- Donald Laycock 2&3- John Aslanidis 4- Michael Graeve
-Rock The Boat
The Beat Invitational
Braving the storms of a previously excessive foray into the night until morning, I was joined by some outrageous and tender-hearted friends to check the Producers Showcase at Roxanne.
Although arriving after Cinderella got home from the ball, live art was still in effect by the “insanely talented” Otis Chamberlain and the mad bass of hip-hop fused dubstep was on the make. Featured producers included Dizz1, Sean Deans, Cosmo, Mike Kay, and Chopper whom were “showcasing their latest creations and unleashing their unreleased beats …the future sound of Australasia’s beat heads”
Obey, Ableton Live, and Jazz Crimes presented the freshest dope music-makers dribbling beats and boinks in an ensemble of the next musicological greats. Check the art below by the crafty and guilely Otis Chamberlain, complemented by breaks from ITF Champion and X-Ecutioners DJ Total Eclipse on the night:
-Rock The Boat
Zevs
Somewhat like the Invader -whom we featured a few weeks back, Zevs (Schwarz Christophe Arhirre) is a French street artist that gained prominence during the late 90s in Paris.
He takes his moniker from the name of the commuter train ‘Zeus‘. Working with the aforementioned Invader and André; he helped pioneer the French street art scene. Initially targeting the walls of Montmartre with graffiti and ‘shadows’ of the Eiffel Tower, he was also notorious for hitting billboards -with throwies and also defacing and modifying the advertisements.
In the last 5 years, Zevs has moved forward in his approach to the fine arts; implementing new socio-political themes & techniques, including installation pieces. His works are highly sought after and works can cost in the range of $10,ooo. Zevs has recently established a series of productions named “Liquidated Logos” whereby he creates disfigured representations of corporate logos such as Coca-Cola, Chanel, Gucci, Playboy etc. This project comes immediately after his arrest last year in Hong Kong, which was a fitting end to his 7-year “Visual Kidnapping” campaign whereby he would remove, for example: a photo of a model from a huge billboard and demand a ransom to return the image.
He is currently part of the Lazarides artists group that includes greats such as Futura, Mode2, David Choe, Invader, 3D, Banksy, Jonathon Yeo, Reas and Faile.
It’s A Wonderful World
-Rock The Boat
Crown Heights
Last night we were witness to the opening of the Crown Heights exhibition at Eleven A in Highlander Place.
The gallery upstairs at Eleven A hosted works from the current kings of graffiti in Melbourne. Works featured were from contemporary crews KSA, MR, F1 and MSA (among the lesser-known). Artists themselves included Aeon, Renks, Greco, Tres, Break, Lush, Banos, and more. Although there was at least a dozen pieces that were brilliant; unfortunately most of the gear left a lot to be desired. Albeit creative and varied in form, the disappointment stemmed from the percieved lack of attention to detail (seeing brush-strokes from marker pen can piss you off a bit). I must re-iterate that this was confined to the lesser works; the smaller and apparently more affordable shit on show. Many of these were simply black book pieces; the kind of stuff you’d expect to form a guide to a brilliant piece assembled on one of the lines.
In all, it was an interesting night. The stand-out pieces were somewhat complemented by the tedious. A varied range is always palatable although I must admit that we expected more from the big names around town (and abroad). Another downer was a Kylie Minogue remix pumped on the loudspeakers, while a dj booth in the gallery proper was left idle. If only a bit more care was taken in the execution of the lesser works and some pride in the arrangement of the venue; notably in price lists and said lack of kickin’ tunes; then we would’ve not only stayed longer but also left in a positive state of mind. At the end of the day, though -who am I to judge? The exhibits are up until May 20th so can do so yourself...
-Rock the Boat
The Space Invader
Little is known about the Invader, but his intricate tiles depicting characters from 8-bit video games (i.e. Space Invaders) have found their way onto common surfaces all over the world.
Particularly prevalent in the West; I have seen these works in cities including LA, New York, London, Berlin and Hong Kong. There is also a grab-bag of these characters right here in Melbourne. Below are some examples that I encountered last weekend. Having taken the time to investigate these local instances, I felt I would share this story with you.
The Invader is a French street artist that is around 40 years old. He began working casually during the nineties in his home town of Paris; before his tiled assault went epic in 1998. From trendhunter.com: “The locations chosen for the Space Invaders mosaic are not done at random; in fact, they contain a specific order and plan. In Montpellier, for instance, the artist planned out many different locations for his pieces so that when you look at a map, the points take the form of a giant Space Invader character.“
Henceforth, he began taking the artform abroad, reaching over 35 countries in total, taking in all the cities mentioned above; and more. Recently, he has hit the Hollywood sign twice and has achieved higher notoriety after his cousin Thierry Guetta (AKA Mr. Brainwash) teamed up with Banksy to produce the film Exit Through The Gift Shop, which premiered in San Francisco last week. Below are a few examples drawn from the Invader’s stints in Melbourne and a map from the Space Invader website showing the locations that have been hit...
-Rock The Boat
Ron Muerck
Today is the final day of the Ron Muerck show.
If you haven’t seen it by now; unfortunately you have missed out on a fantastic opportunity. Ron Muerck is an Australian-born artist that made puppets for Sesame Street and The Muppets. He came to prominence in 1996 with his exhibit Dead Dad -a fibreglass moulded sculpture detailing a scale model of a dead human. The work featured in Charles Saatchi’s Sensation show in London. Since, Muerck has continued to develop an amazing folio of works in the last 15 years, found on display at the National Gallery of Victoria, here in Melbourne.
His works are breath-taking in their form, appearance and their stark contrast to the everyday. The sculptures are models of humans; from infants to the eldery. As mentioned, they’re constructed from a fibreglass, wax-like substance, fabric, with synthetic and horse hair.
Truly awe-inspiring.
For those that have missed out on the show, a consoling comfort is the fact that NGV has in their (our?) collection Two women; a great example of this excellent artists work.
Now, the evidence:
-Rock The Boat
Buchan Caves
During the Easter weekend, I travelled to Gippsland with a menagerie of fine people, and children. From our base at Lake Tyers we took a reconnaisse to the Buchan Caves.
Between a medley of “where are these bucken caves?” and other such, we careened past a Rodeo with half of the Dargo present and finally arrived at Buchan.
The caves were particularly kick arse, and below you may see some crude examples of the mineral formations found therein.
One of the mature-age women at the Information desk remarked that I should return to go “extreme caving” (you can imagine what she meant) and conversed with me on the graffiti in some of the lesser-known caves. Feminist graffiti from the modern period, c.1920. Amazing.
-Rock The Boat
Faith No More – Melbourne 2010
Right! Just got in…
A fine show. Certainly, the prelude of Andy Kaufmann alter-ego inspired babble proved a continuous farce; but the set list was spot on.
I was inclined, though to flirt with the idea of a down-tempo approach to this live outing and the subsequent adherence to fans and their mode of life. Actually, to be honest these ideas made me think of the Rolling Stones playing ballads to geriatrics. Fear not though! That isn’t to define the quality of songs and performance, in toto.
Personally, I vied to hear ‘Crack Hitler’ but without which the bulk of songs from King For A Day and prior releases certainly satisfied. On lesser thoughts however, it’s Tony Clifton’s said invocation that may well play into Patton’s seemingly endless entertainment satire. Well done!
-Rock The Boat
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