Squatters took over the site of Interbeton in Ghent from the moment it was no longer in use. The terrain became a homeport for artists and a place of inspiration.
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
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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/
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
