Shortly after moving to Bushwick in Brooklyn, it was hard not to notice the graffiti and art that adorned almost every bare wall of the neighborhood. From cafe store fronts to old industrial factories, this is some of the street art I’ve seen. More images to come in this series of ‘Seen Around Bushwick’
A blog by Raul Coto Batres.
Archives for category: Art
A sculpture made of old skateboards and plywood looms over a Bushwick building.
Mind you, these are not photographs but composites by veteran CG artist Jim Kazanjian. Beautifully eerie. (more…)
Two years ago I was in Harlem exploring the area with my friend Alicia when in an impulse we decided to check out El Museo del Barrio. We had only one hour before the museum closed. As we quickly walked around the galleries none captured our attention as this one did; Dulce Pinzón’s Immigrant Superheros. I was deeply inspired by her photographs and the way she exalted and romanticized the everyday NYC worker. Read her description of the project: (more…)
A few years ago, French photographer Sacha Goldberger found his 91-year-old Hungarian grandmother Frederika feeling lonely and depressed. To cheer her up, he suggested that they shoot a series of outrageous photographs in unusual costumes, poses, and locations. Grandma reluctantly agreed, but once they got rolling, she couldn’t stop smiling. (more…)
It’s very strange when you see a connection with the media around you, a cohesive theme or pattern that seems to be underlying in the world around you. This is the case with two videos I’ve watched recently with one theme in particular, “Why?”. Realizing this pattern has made me change the way I see the world and how to put it to practice be it at work or in relationships. In essence the word Why is not just a question but an answer to the many things that drive us as people. Innovation would not have happened without the reason to why. Why do we do things we do? Why did we do it a certain way? Why is it important to us? Great leaders have inspired us not by telling us What they want or How they want it but Why they want it. The first piece of the puzzle that made me aware to the power of why was the talk on TED by Simon Sinek. He brings to the table the many ideologies of great leaders and successful companies and how they have used Why as their reason for selling us ideas and products.
People don’t buy What you do but Why you do it. The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs What you have. The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe. – Simon Sinek
Watch Simon Sinek on How Great Leaders Inspire Action via TED:
Just two days later I watched the documentary Art & Copy about the giants of advertising and how they are shaping our world. Advertising as a whole is looked down upon for being trashy but there’s much more that you can do. The people behind these campaigns are incredibly creative and innovative. They could sell you a simple pen in just minutes. I admire their creativity and their ability to think outside the box.
Advertising should be statements of the hell you think life should be about. – George Lois
But the hardest part for them is not coming up with ideas but selling them to the clients. The clients cannot understand these abstract concepts and ideas. So it’s a constant battle between what the client thinks they want and what the advertising creatives know the client needs.
These creatives know to the core that they are shaping our world and lives and it’s these emotions and enthusiasm that enables them to sell their ideas to the client. Just like inspirational speeches have made us feel it is us that’s making a change and not the speaker behind the podium. Which brings us back to the power of Why; this is why they do it, this is why they believe in it and this is why they make it happen. Why is the cause, the drive, the urge, that ignites creativity and shapes our lives and world.
I urge you to watch the documentary to better understand how Why has enabled them to do the things they do and realize how it can help you.
Earlier this week, 1.5 million people filled the streets of Berlin, Germany to watch a several-day performance by France’s Royal de Luxe street theatre company titled “The Berlin Reunion”. Part of the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Reunion show featured two massive marionettes, the Big Giant, a deep-sea diver, and his niece, the Little Giantess. The storyline of the performance has the two separated by a wall, thrown up by “land and sea monsters”. The Big Giant has just returned from a long and difficult – but successful – expedition to destroy the wall, and now the two are walking the streets of Berlin, seeking each other after many years apart.
I am so amazed by the scale of this production. Not just the beauty of it but also the logistics it must have taken to pull it off. From the images it seemed like such a magical performance, I only wished I was there in person. What a breathtaking view to see immense marionettes performing for four days around Berlin. As one of the commentators observed: “Very European…New Yorkers would want more action & explosions”, sad but true. It really does put the Macy’s balloons to shame.
Make sure to see all images at the Boston Globe’s website: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/10/the_berlin_reunion.html
This bad boy of a gadget projects an image from a retrofitted camera at the exact moment another camera snaps a picture with flash. This creates an invisible illusion to the human eye only seen after the picture is taken. This is the brain child of Julius von Bismarck from Germany. In a recent interview from Wired.com he stated that this is the first prototype with many others in the works. Fearing large corporations trying to steal his idea for marketing purposes he refuses to publicly disclose them.
Its a very simple idea done right. This is a great way to stealthily sneak your own messages or images onto highly photographed events, locations, people, etc. I can see how viral marketing companies would like to invest on this for their own evil purposes. So next time you snap a picture, make sure there are no hidden URLs or messages on your picture.
http://www.juliusvonbismarck.com/fulgurator/index.html
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/06/exclusive-inter/
A few days ago I received a message on Flickr about one of my pictures. It was from an aspiring artist showing me some of his work inspired by one of my photographs. It’s great to see my work influencing other artists!
…when Bonnaroo announces the lineup for this year’s festival. There were many rumors circulating that Led Zeppelin will be headlining the festival this year but I guess that won’t be happening but Lez Zeppelin will be there. Instead Pearl Jam and Metallica (yuck) will be the big names this year. I could careless, there plenty of other amazing bands that I am really exited to see live this year:
Pearl Jam, Kanye West, Death Cab for Cutie, B.B. King, Sigur Ros, Ben Folds, M.I.A., Iron & Wine, Gogol Bordello, Broken Social Scene, Ozomatli, Ladytron, Minus the Bear, Battles, Vampire Weekend, and Black Kids.
Being my second year in Bonnaroo I know what to expect, I am no longer a noob and will be better prepared (more beer and food). So I’m really stoked!!! as you can see from the use of 3 exclamation points. I gotta get some money together as tickets go on sale Feb 16!
Also, there have been several parties persuading me to go to Burning Man in Cali this year, all I have to say is: perhaps…perhaps…
For info and tix visit their site: www.bonnaroo.com
The New York Times said it best:
It’s a little embarrassing to watch the New York art world “discovering†Latin American modernist art year after year, as if forever only half-aware of its existence.
It’s a little surprising to see the NYC art world not paying much attention to the Latin American artists. There are so many talented Latinos waiting for their break in a big city like New York. It has not been until recently that these artists have had a chance to present their work to what seems like an ignorant audience. That chance comes in the form of Pinta, the contemporary Latin American art fair, the very first of its kind in NYC.
I actually have a pretty interesting story about how I came to hear about Pinta. I was in Harlem visiting El Museo Del Barrio just trying to enjoy a quiet Sunday with a friend. We arrived to the museum not knowing we only had about an hour left to walk around. So we walked in and instead of trying to see everyone in a hurry we decided to concentrate just a few pieces and really study them. As we finished the tour, with guards almost pushing us to leave, we stopped by the gift shop to look at some books when we were approached by one of the cashiers working there that afternoon. He overheard our conversation on how we were so disappointed to not see all the pieces. He must have seen our enthusiasm and invited us to this new of a kind Art Fair in NYC filled with Latin American artists, us having nothing else to do that night we jumped at the opportunity. He handed us two white translucent, very modern looking envelopes with the Pinta logo on one side, it was out free tickets to the fair. That was the very first day I ever heard about Pinta and was lucky enought to be invited for free on its opening night. I had a great time there, seeing works by some of the most talented contemporary and modern Latino artists. I just hope that next time it will have a much bigger turn around, more publicity and a lot more art (this first year there were only 35 galleries).
Keep an eye out for the next Pinta and hopefully I will see you there.
Links:
Bulletins From a Bustling ‘Undiscovered’ Land
www.pinta-art.com
Anybody can take a polaroid, load film, aim the camera and press the button but not everyone can capture such images as The Polaroid Kidd. Mike Brodie (aka The Polaroid Kidd) has been photographing his tribe of young vagabond friends for the past few years as they travel around the country, capturing a very intimate and interesting glimpse into their lives. These young people are a cross between hippies, gypsies and punks, traveling around the country squatting wherever they can and doing by with what they can find and Mike has been able to capture it all through his lens. His pictures have really touched and inspired me to lean a little more towards documentary photography, something I hope to accomplish in the very near future.
For more on Mike visit his website: The Polaroid Kidd
