Blog Archives
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
MUTO
Here we have a breath-taking video, titled ‘Muto‘ which took something like a two and a half months to shoot and edit.
The work is by BLU, an Italian street artist who has been prolific since 1999; and he’s from Bologna (a very beautiful and happening city too, I might add). The video was produced in Buenos Aires and the artist has whitewashed every part of these walls as he went through creating this visual orgasm. He is well-renowned and has had many exhibitions globally, in cities such as New York, Berlin, London, Barcelona, Milan and in Palestine.
Music is by Andrea Martignoni and the painting was assisted by Sibe. Producer: Mercurio Film.
The clip has been doing the rounds on the internet and among those interested -for anyone else, here it is:
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-Rock the Boat
Nathan Jurevicius
I’ve finally paid off my Nathan J print after neglecting to get onto it for, what? 3 months. It wasn’t the money. It wasn’t that I wasn’t anxious to get it on my wall (I was and had to replace a tired albeit grand one taking up centre-stage in the loungeroom). It was simply laziness and the fact that I tend to be in transit whenever I’m cruising through the city -which ironically is most days. The point is I got the fucker home. And it was easier than I thought.
Nathan Jurevicius is a home-grown Melbourne talent and has been at the forefront since 1994, debuting at Outré Gallery on Elizabeth in 2004. He is a fine arts artist who permeates the world stage with the likes of your Mike Giant or Jeremy Fish. He is known as a producer of high-quality visual art prints, original artworks and has designed a range of vinyl figures that he is quite renowned for: The Scary Girl series.
Scary Girl is complemented by a graphic novel and a CD release that was produced to reflect the mood of the series. He also designs everything from t-shirts to tarpaulins and has a vast assortment of wares on sale; notably from said Outré Gallery. Anyway, I have the piece up now and thought to share it with you, followed by a clip from Scary Girl. Enjoy.
Photo by D'Dokta
Courtesy of Outré
Nathan Jurevicius b.1977 Melbourne, Victoria. Currently resides in Toronto, Canada.
-Rock The Boat
Croatian Festival + Clown
The Labour Day weekend marked this year’s Croatian Festival at the Hrvatska complex in Footscray.
INFX long-time compére Ms. Geyer joined myself in perusing this Balkan-Australian community’s offerings. Although it was great to see an abundance of people (it appeared as though the entire community was present), unfortunately this abundance did not extend to the food and music. What little was on offer didn’t exactly impress, although after a peek in the VIP area we were convinced that only the privledged had the pleasure of the bountiful offerings attributed to this culture right here in Melbourne. Otherwise, I found the exhibits of mannequins modelling traditional dress interesting, although other artworks and photography on display were lacking in appeal.
Overall, it was a satifactory day out -with a splash humour amongst suburban Australians and their ex-pat relatives. This humour was namely a white albinoid rabbit on the back of a red bicycle, seemingly ridden by a sexagenarian clown. An anglo-saxon entertainer too mind you. Ms Geyer and I were lucky enough to stumble upon said clown later (after visiting a few old cranks at the nearby Publishing Museum). We stalked the clown and confronted it with a wide-angle lens…
Ms G: “Are You having a good day?”
Sparkle: “Yes, except that you’re not”
-Rock the boat w/ Ms Geyer
Craig Dermody @ TCB Gallery
Mr. Dermody shares a couple of qualities with his art: notably, that he is quite jovial and also of the sun-bronzed skin colouration. However, the similarities end there. I was able to catch Craig down at Chinatown’s TCB Gallery in Waratah Place, on the day after the night before. He tells me the opening night gala kick-off was an excellent triumph; and with half a bottle of cleanskin red at his table, he was contemplating a return to the taste of last night’s success.
Craig is a self-taught artist, has had “no formal education” and as a result his works are both unique and free-flowing. His use of kitsch pictures as the background for his work is commendable but not so much as his painting onto holograms -definitely something to check. TCB Gallery is an Artist Run Initiative (ARI), which translates as a gallery space for young up-and-coming artists; operated by the artists themselves. Craig tells me his PR secret agent has worked tirelessly with him to provide exposure for his shows and that TCB was also instrumental in drumming up the opening night crowd.
……………………..And now -The Interview:
-Rock The Boat
GOOD VIBES – Interview with a Norwegian
So… this 24 year old Norwegian girl came bumbling in on our little group in the queue for a vodka slushie. She had tears streaming down her face and said ‘Don’t you just hate men?‘. She didn’t get much of a response from us, just small nods of polite agreement, but we thought at the time she might be good to interview. Weaved in there between Busta Rhymes and Salt’n'pepa, she gives a nice little peephole view into the modern woman’s woes of wooing.
.Good Vibrations 2010 with your on-the-spot reporter: Smigroid .
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Utopia Now
During the past week I have visited the ‘Utopia Now’ media art exhibiton at the Black Box on Southbank a few times and cannot get enough of these profoundly sick-arse media arts exhibits.
The exhibition is composed of interactive and video imagery installations that both confound and amuse. And it’s FREE.
Upon arrival you are confronted with a giant dissected Michelin Man straddling the exterior. Once inside, a jungle of plants with hyper-sensitive electronic sensors greets you with jungle sounds when brushing your body against their plastic flesh. The sensors are triggered by the body’s own electric charge (or aura). Following is a plethora of viewing and touching and feeling material; with my personal highlights comprising the video shorts. The works include engrossing 10min film pieces by Patrick Bernatchez, Rowan McNaught and David O’Reilly that are certainly a-typical of what I like to think is “the shit”. Also, an interactive shadow and movement piece by Shilpa Gupta is quirky and very amusing. Go on, check it out (did I say it is free?) -the exhibition is on for another 3 or so weeks. And make sure you have ample time or return to the fold, as there is so very much to take in. Shitloads.
Check the website too if you like: http://www.experimenta.org/
-Rock The Boat
