Results tagged “gettingup”

As part of Adidas's new spring line of End to End sneakers for Foot Locker, the German shoe manufacturer has created an EndtoEnd Project exhibit in an empty lot on Lafayette and Houston. Adidas had different graffiti artists create designs for shoes in an East London warehouse, so in bringing the finished shoes to the states, Adidas has the artists tagging a replica of a NYC subway car!

Here's an amusing video of various old school graffiti artists explaining the art of the fill-- a quickly executed outline piece. While some consider the fill (like the tag) inferior to more complex graffiti pieces like the full-car subway burner, the bombers in this video argue the opposite: that the fill is really the embodiment of graffiti perfection. It's interesting stuff. [Related: Getting Up from Atari-- possibly that's where this video comes from, since it features a bunch of the same artists. Also check out 149st's graf glossary.]

Here we go again. It's probably just that with most of the news media's attention focused on Hurricane Rita metro reporters are trying to find an easy, catchy story, but to be honest Gothamist has very little patience for the non-story that is being set-up around the launch of True Crime: New York City. Let's review.

Yesterday's gorgeous day was the perfect setting for Marc Ecko's graffiti street party to celebrate the release of his video game, Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. However, the party became a minor First Amendment cause celebre as City Councilman Peter Vallone successfully started a wave to get the party permit revoked, only to have a judge rule the party must go on. Newsday called it a throwback to the '80s with boomboxes, breakdancing and graffiti, and Ecko told reporters, "It's about art but they used an old tool of fear-mongering, a political thing, trying to lean on family values, using graffiti as a negative when it's really just a bunch of young people getting together to express themselves."

Right now, the legal party for Marc Ecko's Getting Up video game is getting underway on West 22nd Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues. Animal magazine's Bucky Turco sent a photograph that shows the subway car replicas up ready to be vandalized...just kidding, City Government alarmists - the subway car facades are ready to be decorated by many graffiti artists. We're sending someone to check out the scene, but if you happen to head there, let us know what it's like.

U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff will hear Marc Ecko's lawsuit against the city today at 3PM. Ecko sued NYC last week because his permit for a party where graffiti artists would decorate fake subway cars (we're talking facades of subway cars) was revoked over concerns that the party would encourage graffiti. Newsday has an interesting excahnge from Friday's court hearing:

Paula van Meter, a city attorney, argued in court that painting subway replicas is not protected speech because it "necessarily simulates a criminal act."

Continue reading "Court To Decide on Graffiti Party"

http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2005/08/12/graffiti_games_party_under_fire.php">after complaints by City Councilman Peter Vallone last week, the Mayor, and then city, acted to stop the block party. Even though Marc Ecko, the lifestyle brand owner who designed the game, worked with the community and actually got a permit, the NY Times reports that the city said Ecko did not say the permit was a party, because apparently that makes all the difference. Mayor Bloomberg said, "Look, there is a fine line here between freedom of expression and going out and encouraging people to hurt this city...Defacing subway cars is hardly a joke; encouraging people, kids in particular, to do that after all the money we've spent, all the time we've spent removing graffiti." Yeah, given the Mayor's anti-graffiti initiatives, it's not surprising he's acting this way. The Mayor added that if the live graffiti element were dropped ("This is not really art or expression, this is, let's be honest about what it is: It's trying to encourage people to do something that's not in anybody's interest."), Ecko could still get a permit, which basically takes the wind out of what the game is. Ecko's spokesman tells the Times that they may look for a private space for the graffiti decoration part of the party because "We're not going to fight City Hall. We're not going to win." Hey, is that the spirit of Getting Up? By letting the man walk all over you? Gothamist can only assume that a truly "authentic" graffiti game launch party - yes, a totally contradictory turn of phrase - would have some sort of underground party as well.

City Councilman Peter Vallone, who seems to have unofficially tagged (hee) himself the anti-graffiti Council member, wants the city to stop a permit for graffiti artists to tag subway car replicas, according to the NY Post. The party is for Atari's new game, Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, and people associated with the event tell the Post that Vallone is hypocritical, since one of the artists, Lady Pink, participating had been commissioned by Vallone to create a mural. There's also a quote from Animal magazine's Bucky Turco, who has been keeping an eye on Vallone's anti-graf remarks: "To actually try to stop the event is paramount to censorship, which is worse than graffiti. I really think this guy is using graffiti as a soapbox. I don't think he can get into the press for anything else."