Submissions are still most welcome!
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| Photo by Koendalini |
Beat Streets magazine update
At the moment beat streets magazine is on vacation.
Submissions are still most welcome!
To be continued...
Submissions are still most welcome!
Interbeton, an attraction for graffiti artists, squatters and urban photographers
Graffiti artists were able to fully explore their passion without the fear of seeing their pieces being destroyed after a few days as it occurs in the Graffiti alley, Werregaren by the large amount of tags.
The entire building site, with walls as far as the eye can reach, was in need of a layer of paint. Roa, Blue and many others took advantage of the opportunity to share their pieces with the outside world. The majority of the walls were coated with latex paint, which is an excellent foundation to show large scale paintings to full advantage.
The site was a cosy, sociable and safe environment thanks to the squatters who were always in for a chat. It was a hospitable setting where no distinction was made between race, class and whatever. Anyone was welcome at the gigs and parties which were regularly being organized.
The sign boards of Interbeton are the towers, featuring master pieces of graffiti artists without fear of heights. These artworks are still to be admired up to this day.
In the meanwhile practically all annexes have been demolished. The towers will remain, in future these will be renovated by the city of Ghent . A cultural center will be constructed on the abandoned harbor site.
The question arises whether we are really in need of a new district. Wouldn’t it be preferable to breathe life into this environment with a mix of architecture and culture.
Interbeton will be remembered by many artists for a long period of time.
There should be more similar spots where illegal graffiti is being tolerated, in order to brighten up our gray city.
Article written by Cypress Photo
Hip Hop Straatgebeuren Ghent
More information:
The sound of tomorrow
Avant- garde hip hop the new movement? Naturally it is as every culture evolves in its own way.
Hip hop experienced its golden age with the straight up boom bap sound of the nineties.
The heroes from back in those days were DJ Premier, DJ Babu, Gangstar , Wu-tang clan , Mos def and Talib Kweli … There is a whole list of names which could be added to the history of hip hop in the nineties.
The beats had grooving strong kicks and snares, yet somehow the music pieces remained simplistic in a fashionable way. Cut up samples in addition to mixed in vocals of old records spiced up the track’s appealing sound. Some of those artists are still in the game continuing their work.
For sure these musicians had their idols and examples from the eighties, such as DJ E3 and Afrika Bambaataa who produced a very electronic sound at the time.
Nowadays we notice an evolution towards a worldwide mixture of strong boom bap sounds and the electronic sounds of the eighties. In other words... our world has changed, provoking a compatible sound.
The new kids on the block have so many new techniques and synthesizers at their disposal, that the variety of sounds has virtually become inexhaustible. The moods and vibes they are unleashing upon the world’s eager ears are now easy to discover through media like Youtube and Wimeo.
Even though music labels struggle to make profit from record sales, these hip hop musicians keep on doing it, pushing boundaries in search of a new type of quality music.
The Dorian concept, Mike Slott, Delic, El Producto, Flying Lotus, Prefuse73 and Dynooo are merely a fraction of the future sound.
The youth and veterans out there are searching for new ways to create an innovative sound and approach to hip hop music. We can only sit back and enjoy the new cultural hypes…
So if u ask me, bring on the avant-garde hip hop sounds!
Article written by Geert Van Laethem
Links:
Streets ahead of the ordinary
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| Faile, work on wood |
FAILE(1999) is the Brooklyn-based artistic collaboration between Patrick McNeil (b. 1975, Edmonton, CA) and Patrick Miller (b. 1976, Minneapolis, MN). The two friends met in high school and later on kept in touch whilst attending art school.
The duo created A Life in collaboration with Japanese filmmaker Aiko Nakagawa who left FAILE in 2006. A Life expresses the interaction with its environment, the deterioration of artwork caused by exposure to the elements. The detritus of the city wall was a constant inspiration …
They changed their artist name into Faile, an anagram of A Life. The trio started focusing on street art by means of large-scale screen prints, wheat pasting and stenciling recognizable pop culture images. During the early years of their career Faile’s artwork was marked by assemblage and dynamic experiments in public urban spaces.
Street art was only featured in a few galleries in New York, in spite of its history of graffiti and its status of the city of contemporary art.
Faile’s style and characteristic culture-driven iconographical language make their work very recognizable. Socio-political themes, criticism on society, consumerism and mass culture in addition to both sacred and profane cultural influences (the use of religious artifacts) are depicted in their projects.
FAILE’s recent work is marked by the consistent juxtaposition of dualities (love/hate, violence/beauty, peace/war), recurring themes which are represented by recognizable visual elements.
Their work is characterized by a certain ambiguity which allows the viewer’s open interpretation in order to be able to relate to the work. Their creations’ meaning is open and emphasizes the audience’s interactive experience.
In addition to the common street art media, they chose a wide array of media ea sculpture, architecture, multimedia, music, design and books in limited edition.
Faile and twenty one other internationally renowned artists such as Banksy, Shepard Fairey and Takashi Murakami were invited to show their work at the Spank the Monkey exhibition (2007, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art). This show was crucial contribution towards the institutional acceptance of street art.
A year later Street Art(Tate Modern, 2008), a group exhibition featuring street artists Blu, Sixeart, JR, Nunca and Os Gomeos included Faile’s work. Thanks to this exhibition Faile was able to reach a large public. Their work increasingly received more media attention.
Street art embraces hip-hop aesthetics, fixes its eye upon to the masses expression in an attempt to regain and embellish the urban environment. Contemporary art shouldn’t be restricted to museums and galleries but be available on every corner of the street.
Article written by Ann Timmermans
More information and pics:
faile@faile.net
http://www.faile.net/
Beat Drunx album Moment of Clarity
The Beatdrunx are back…
The Belgian hip hop crew Beat Drunx stems from the work of One Cell, whose musical touches are influenced by a wide range of music styles since he previously worked with rock, jazz and deep funk bands.
MC’s Rubski, Acrid Cast(former member of Outspoken Members) and DJ Court-A-Sock (Grazzhoppa’s DJ Bigband ) joined One Cell in the formation of the Beat Drunx.
They have previously been asked as support act for GZA(Wu Tang Clan) Roots Manuva, IAM, Kerry James, The Opposites and Zwart Licht. They are regular guests at Belgium’s most renowned hip hop shows such as The Hop (Studio Brussels) and LDBK (Laid-Back/FM Brussels).
After their debut album Brewed and Bottled they kick ass with their high underground standard.
The Beatdrunx’ live reputation in addition to Acrid Cast’s and Rubski’s wordplay and lyrics tear the roof off. They bring about many spontaneous bar brawls, making it nearly impossible to get a pint for the first row listeners amongst the excited crowd.
Moment of Clarity is a dark and sinister album as for the beats composed by One Cell who produced it with a stirring up kick and snare. DJ Court-a-sock’s scratching skills lighten up the record. The experienced crew delivered nice work but I am sure they are able to make even better albums in the future.
Article written by Geert Van Laethem
http://www.myspace.com/beatdrunx#ixzz0urBFBazZ
Scraper bikes, a green ghetto movement
I was dumbfounded when I heard of this positive biker movement. Originating in Bay area Oakland California, youngsters perform stunts whilst going for rides on their customized bikes.
Average bikes are transformed into scraper bikes by applying self designed patterns, adding hard plastic and paint sprayed tin-foil.
A scraper is slang for an American modified luxury family car. Since such a car is an unknown luxury for ghetto inhabitants, they decided to turn their own means of transport into a unique status symbol.
Scraper bike parades brighten up the streets in the United States, inspiring richer hip hoppers to add large multi-coloured rims to alter their scraper cars.
Young Champ AKA Baby Shamp, MC of the Trunk Boiz, invented the scraper bike. Posting his song Scraper Bike on youtube did him credit, introducing his invention to the whole world. The track spread the message that his bike not only looks good but moreover keeps youth from the danger in the neigbourhood.
In this manner Baby Shamp paved the way for a green American movement. Let's hope it will find its way to Europe.
Article written by Geert Van Laethem
Links :
http://www.myspace.com/datrunkboiz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geIsWq5xOSE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCEQxOCFHJw&feature=related
The Compositive Two: Compositive thoughts
Mister Critical and Elpo, AKA the compositive two, create their own musical language.
The creative duo has previously been programmed with DJ Lefto and Jurassic Five at the AB in Brussels
Their album Compositive thoughts is now for sale.
I was amazed when I listened to this magnificent record. The compositive two compiled a great debut album with enchanting, dreamy melodies. They succeeded in accomplishing a complete conceptual record of smooth jazzy sounds, spiced up by skimming soul grooves.
I assume MC Elpo's politically committed and has proven he's able to jot down nicely developed concepts.
Congratulations, guys!
Article written by Geert-Jan Van Laethem
Downlad their songs for free: : tctwo.bandcamp.com
Contact info:
thecompositivetwo@gmail.com
www.tctwo.net
Streets ahead
Street art is a worldwide cultural phenomenon of revolutionary art which questions the existing environment. Street artists use urban settings as a platform to reach everyday people in order to influence the collective behaviour. Their pieces have their own language to communicate activist and social themes.
A large variety in street art media and techniques can be perceived, going from murals, installations, video projections, wheat pasting, flash mobbing, over stencil graffiti, LED art, poster art and sticker art to large graffiti master pieces made with aerosol paints or marker pens.
Graffiti is an initially unconventional art style which is associated with hip hop music. Hip hop, a subculture of our times, consists of several elements such as DJ-ing and scratching records, rap and beat box , graffiti and break-dance. MC’s spread their messages by rapping to beats.
Hip hop graffiti originally emerged from the inequalities poor urban youth in New York city were facing. Many poor residents were confronted with racism, class struggle, violence and total chaos. Imprisoned in their social situation, disenfranchised youth used this urban art style as an artistic resistance to authority. In New York Julio 204 and Taki 183 tagged their names in public spaces to reject their poor environment during the 1970’s.
The first hip hoppers voiced the frustrations of urban minorities on vehicles such as subway trains, public buildings, roofs, billboards, ... Graffiti artists use their pieces as a means of expression of the subculture, sharing their views on political and social misconduct in a dysfunctional society. It is not merely used to utter criticism but also spreads positive messages to inspire youngsters.
Street art is booming. Street artists as Aérosol and Banksy have achieved commercial success and seized the opportunity to show their art in museums or galleries. Or how underground became mainstream.
Article written by Ann Timmermans
Hip hop straatgebeuren: battle on Friday the 23rd of July 2010
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