Friday 30 July 2010

Old Skool graffiti artist Busk Paints Lord Napier



Old Skool graffiti artist Busk relived part of his youth as he threw up his calling sign on the Lord Napier pub. In days gone by no permission would be sought for this particular hideaway in Hackney Wick. Today though, Busk has the full permission of the owner Paul which was better than nailing all the doors shut from the outside with any threats locked silently within the four walls. Yes, Paul is sound as a pound and even offers the space for artist to exhibit their wares. Meanwhile Busk was attracting the most attention for spraying gold paint on the wall, to the untrained eye it looked, well, they couldn't be sure. Someone asked me if it was Banksy i said if he could spray lines like that i dont think he'd be doing stencils but then again he just might. As Busk finished tarnishing the red walls gold, graffiti legend Snoe began throwing up his piece on the other outside wall.


A host of artists (including Run, Cept, Discreet) were on the streets painting walls for the Hackney Wicked Arts Festival in 'erm Hackney Wick. Trains run direct to the station... Tomorrow and Sunday dozens of well known street / graffiti artists will be painting live on the streets throughout the event... We'll be down there and say hello...

Tuesday 27 July 2010

Sclater Street (Brick Lane) - Completely Buffed

It was always gonna be just a matter of time before the Hall of Fame was completely taken out by the corporate suits. This is the general plan for all the Halls of Fame in London and as we all know, where's there's a blank wall you'll always attract taggers and wannabe vandals. One by one the infamous Hall of Fame's are disappearing…When will the authorities learn that by banning proper graffiti / street artists they run the risk of badly drawn tags, names, doodling…Commission artists to paint walls and they wont look so messy...

Saturday 24 July 2010

White Cross Street Party - Today & Tomorrow

Its the first time we've been to a White Cross Street art event and we really didnt know what to expect. Firstly the flyer just said White Cross Street and didnt mention a venue, we thought great, now we have to wonder up n down trying to find the gaff. Alas this was not too be as almost the entire street has become a walk-through interactive live painting studio and art gallery. Art adores the outside walls of many local businesses which is always nice too see. Normal folk and artists without the bullshit buffer zone of judgment, criminal prosecution and media telling folk how to think and act towards street art graffiti... So in true spirit of reclaim the streets the art contingent was out in full...We met a ton of artists, filmmakers and street art aficionados... 'ow u doing?' 


Get your ass down there Tomorrow (Sunday) as everything you could possibly need from off licenses, restaurants, pubs, street food and more importantly street art graffiti....

Respect to T.wat / Busk for adding LSD Tag...Nice One lads...Its the first time that LSD Mag has been painted on anything and who better to break the cherry than these two legends...


Our man Stik...


Our man Milo

The 'Busk'



See ya there and come say hi...

Tuesday 13 July 2010

Graffiti Legend 'Rammellzee' RIP



Rammellzee's graffiti and art work are based on his theory of Gothic Futurism, which describes the battle between letters and their symbolic warfare against any standardizations enforced by the rules of the alphabet. His treatise, Iconic Panzerisms, details an anarchic plan by which to revise the role and deployment of language in society.




He has stated that his name is derived from RAM plus M for Magnitude, Sigma (Σ) the first summation operator, first L - longitude, second L - latitude, Z - z-bar, Σ, Σ - summation. Rammellzee performed in self-designed masks and costumes of different characters which represented the "mathematical equation" that is Rammellzee. On the basis of his Gothic Futurism approach, he described his artistic work as the logical extension into a new phase which he calls Ikonoklast Panzerism. This artistic work has been shown in art galleries throughout the US and Europe. His Letter Racers, and other Noise Rammellzee was also instrumental as one of the original hip hop artists from the New York area who introduced specific vocal styles which date back to the early 1980s. His influence can still be heard in contemporary artists such as The Beastie Boys and Cypress Hill. His song Beat Bop was featured in the film Style Wars. Rammellzee makes a cameo appearance near the end of Jim Jarmusch's 1984 film Stranger Than Paradise. includes artistic works by individuals mostly identified with their musical contributions.

Discovered by a larger audience through the 1982 cult movie Wild Style by Charlie Ahearn, his fame in graffiti circles was established when he painted New York subway trains with Dondi, OU3, and Ink 76, and doctor Revolt. Rammellzee was also a member of the Death Comet Crew, with Stewart Albright, Michael Diekmann and Shinichi Shimokawa. In 1988, he and his band Gettovetts recorded the album Missionaries Moving. In 2003, Rammellzee performed at the Knitting Factory in New York with the newly reformed Death Comet Crew. Subsequently Troubleman Unlimited re-released recordings made by DCC between 1982 and 1984. Their single for Exterior St was featured on the compilation Anti-NYBi-Conicals of the Rammellzee, produced by Gomma Records. Rammellzee also performed at Knitting Factory with guitarist Buckethead several times. with Ike Yard, Sexual Harassment, and Vivian Goldmann, among others. In 2004, Rammellzee released his debut album

Born in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York in 1960, and died there on June 27, 2010 at age 49






Monday 12 July 2010

Its a Fair Cop - LSD & Thames River Police in Hackney Wick



Weather forecasts predicted much rain today (Monday so i decided to cycle up to Hackney Wick to shoot some new Paste Up posters i spotted a day before. While in the area i thought i may as well check all the other hot spots in the manor for new art works. Im cycling up and down, round and round taking shots until i noticed two policemen parking their Land Rover on the Olympic Bridge. At that moment i was on my way to the other-side of the canal so i could shoot some new stuff there. I passed the police and cycled round to the spot i wanted to snap. While shooting it suddenly dawned on me that the cops may well be the same chaps arresting artists in the area for painting walls. I decided to look if they were heading down to The Wall by the canal as thats where artists have come unstuck.

I arrived at the The Wall noticing the cops had indeed already walked passed it. I dumped my bike and went for my camera in the hope i could snap them and discuss it on our blog. Alas as pointing the camera at their backs they turned round and spotted my high res jacket!!! I didnt snap them but continued shooting The Wall though i noticed they'd turned back and heading in my direction. I thought they defiantly gonna think I'm here to paint the wall and they may even wish to search my bag. Now it should noted i have MAJOR issues about being stopped and searched in the street, its takes us back to the dark days of the SUSS Laws of the early eighties and European Courts have deemed the UK's use of CCTV / Stop n Search as illegal and fined the UK heavily. Tax Payers absorb the fine but the bylaw still stands. So Im thinking if they want to search me i will outright refuse on Common Law grounds then Im thinking its Monday and i got LSD deadlines and if i take that stance Im going to the police station. It was a quick decision, I'll stand my ground.

Snapping away awaiting to hear that authoritarian voice. The policemen were wearing Navy Blue uniforms and not the normal Metropolitan Police attire. A gentle voice says 'hello'  and the Peace Officers comment on what great artwork is painted on the wall. They told me not too worry they don't care if Im here painting or taking photographs. They complimented the artists saying how it does no harm to anyone and they thought it was a waste of time going after them. I told them a few artists had been arrested there last month and they were really surprised. They said they not heard anything but not been in the area for months anyway. Last time they were here the boss wanted them to find Sweet Toof but they dismissed it!!! The reason for them being there is too check the houseboats and not arrest artists as i first thought. As long as it wasn't personal property they didn't see the harm…

It appears some artists are taking the chance of painting The Wall since news broke of the arrests though the entire wall hasn't been redecorated for at least six weeks. As far as The Wall is concerned is now or never because as the Olympics draws closer the area will be on FULL ARMED LOCK DOWN…

Friday 9 July 2010

BEST / EVER - Delicacy of Passion Show 1st July-1st August


Respected Street Artists, Graffiti Writers, Photo Realists... Best / Ever are currently showing some of their amazing new works in London's Westend.  We interviewed the lads in LSD Issue 4 so if you want more info on the lads go here http://issuu.com/lsdmagazine or check their website... http://www.wearebestever.co.uk/

Wednesday 7 July 2010

East Side Gallery - Berlin Wall Artist Listing



LSD Magazine has created a gallery of shots taken of the Berlin Wall by various people - ISSUE 5 (Jul 2010)

The Gallery consists of approximately 100 paintings by artists from all over the world, painted in 1990 on the east side of the Berlin Wall. The East Side Gallery was founded following the successful merger of the two German artists' associations VBK and BBK. The founding members were Bodo Sperling, Barbara Greul Aschanta, Jörg Kubitzki and David Monti. It is possibly the largest and longest-lasting open air gallery in the world. Paintings from Jürgen Grosse alias INDIANO, Dimitri Vrubel, Siegfrid Santoni, Bodo Sperling, Kasra Alavi, Kani Alavi, Jim Avignon, Thierry Noir, Ingeborg Blumenthal, Ignasi Blanch i Gisbert, Kim Prisu, Hervé Morlay VR and others have followed.

The paintings at the East Side Gallery document the time of change and express the euphoria and great hopes for a better and free future for all people of the world. In July 2006, to facilitate access to the River Spree from O2 World, a 40 meter section was moved somewhat west, parallel to the original position

  1. Oskar: (Hans Bierbrauer)
  2. Narenda K. Jain: Die sieben Stufen der Erleuchtung
  3. Fulvio Pinna: Hymne an das Glück
  4. Kikue Miyatake: Paradise Out Of The Darkness
  5. Günther Schäfer: Vaterland
  6. Georg Lutz Rauschebart
  7. César Olhagaray: Ohne Titel
  8. Jens-Helge Dahmen: Pneumohumanoiden
  9. Gábor Simon: Space Magic
  10. Siegrid Müller-Holtz: Gemischte Gefühle
  11. Ursula Wünsch: Frieden für Alles
  12. Oliver Feind, Ulrike Zott: Ohne Titel
  13. Ana Leonor Rodriges
  14. Muriel Raoux, Kani Alavi: Ohne Titel
  15. Muriel Raoux: Les Yeux Ouverts
  16. Ditmar Reiter: Ohne Titel
  17. Santoni: Trilogie-Maschine Macht
  18. Bodo Sperling: The Trans-formation of the penta gram to a peace star in a big Europe without walls
  19. Barbara Greul Aschanta: Deutschland im November
  20. Willi Berger: Soli Deo Gloria
  21. André Sécrit, Karsten Thomas: Du hast gelernt, was Freiheit ist
  22. Theodor Chezlav Tezhik: The Big Kremlin's Wind
  23. Catrin Resch: Europas Frühling
  24. Irina Dubrowskaja: Die Wand muss weichen wenn der Meteorit der Liebe kommt
  25. Dmitri Wrubel: Mein Gott hilf mir, diese tödliche Liebe zu überleben
  26. Marc Engel: Marionetten eines abgesetzten Stücks
  27. Alexey Taranin: Ohne Titel
  28. Michail Serebrjakow: Diagonale Lösung des Problems
  29. Rosemarie Schinzler: Ohne Titel
  30. Rosemarie Schinzler: Wachsen lassen
  31. Christine Fuchs: How's God? She's Black
  32. Gerhard Lahr: Berlyn
  33. Karin Porath: Freiheit fängt innen an
  34. Lutz Pottien-Seiring: Ohne Titel
  35. Wjatschleslaw Schjachow: Die Masken
  36. Dmitri Vrubel: Danke, Andrej Sacharow
  37. Jeanett Kipka: Ohne Titel
  38. Gamil Gimajew: Ohne Titel
  39. Jürgen Große: Die Geburt der Kachinas
  40. Christopher Frank: Stay Free
  41. Andreas Paulun: Amour, Paix
  42. Kim Prisu (Joaquim A. Gocalves Borregana): Métamorphose des existences lié par un mobile indéfini
  43. Greta Csatlòs (Künstlergruppe Ciccolina): Sonic Malade
  44. Henry Schmidt: Vergesst mir die Liebe nicht
  45. Thomas Klingenstein: Umleitung in den japanischen Sektor
  46. Karsten Wenzel: Die Beständigkeit der Ignoranz
  47. Pierre-Paul Maillé: Ohne Titel
  48. Andy Weiß: Geist Reise
  49. Gabriel Heimler: Der Mauerspringer
  50. Salvadore de Fazio: Dawn of Peace
  51. Gerald Kriedner: Götterdämmerung
  52. Christos Koutsouras: Einfahrt Tag und Nacht freihalten
  53. Yvonne Onischke (geb. Matzat; Künstlername seit 2005 Yoni): Berlin bei Nacht
  54. Peter Peinzger: Ohne Titel
  55. Elisa Budzinski: Wer will, daß die Welt so bleibt, wie sie ist, der will nicht, daß sie bleibt
  56. Sabine Kunz: Ohne Titel
  57. Jay One (Jacky Ramier): Ohne Titel
  58. Klaus Niethardt: Justitia
  59. Mirta Domacinovic: Zeichen in der Reihe
  60. Patrizio Porrachia: Ohne Titel
  61. Ines Bayer, Raik Hönemann: Es gilt viele Mauern abzubauen
  62. Thierry Noir: Ohne Titel
  63. Teresa Casanueva: Ohne Titel
  64. Stephan Cacciatore: La Buerlinca
  65. Karina Bjerregaard, Lotte Haubart: Himlen over Berlin
  66. Christine Kühn: Touch the Wall
  67. Rodolfo Ricàlo: Vorsicht
  68. Birgit Kinder: Test the Best
  69. Magaret Hunter, Peter Russell: Ohne Titel
  70. Peter Russell: Himmel und Sucher
  71. Magaret Hunter: Joint Venture
  72. Sándor Rácmolnár: Waiting for a New Prometheus
  73. Gábor Imre: Ohne Titel
  74. Pal Gerber: Sag, welche wunderbaren Träumen halten meinen Sinn umfangen
  75. Gábor Gerhes: Ohne Titel
  76. Sándor Györffy: Ohne Titel
  77. Gruppe Stellvertretende Durstende
  78. Laszlo Erkel (Kentaur): You can see Infinity
  79. Kani Alavi: Es geschah im November
  80. Jim Avignon: Miriam Butterfly, Tomas Fey: Doin it cool for the East Side
  81. Peter Lorenz: Ohne Titel
  82. Dieter Wien: Der Morgen
  83. Jacob Köhler: Lotus
  84. Carmen Leidner: Niemandsland
  85. Jens Hübner, Andreas Kämper: Ohne Titel
  86. Hans-Peter Dürhager, Ralf Jesse: Der müde Tod
  87. Jolly Kunjappu: Dancing to Freedom
  88. Susanne Kunjappu-Jellinek: Curriculum Vitae
  89. Mary Mackay: Tolerance
  90. Carsten Jost, Ulrike Steglich: Politik ist die Fortsetzung des Krieges mit anderen Mitteln
  91. Brigida Böttcher: Flora geht
  92. Ignasi Blanch i Gisbert: Parlo d'Amor
  93. Kiddy Cidny: Ger-Mania
  94. Petra Suntinger, Roland Gützlaff: Ohne Titel
  95. Andrej Smolak: Ohne Titel
  96. Youngram Kim-Holdfeld: Ohne Titel
  97. Karin Velmanns: Ohne Titel
  98. Rainer Jehle: Denk-Mal, Mahn-Mal
  99. Kamel Alavi: Ohne Titel
  100. Kasra Alavi: Flucht
  101. Ingeborg Blumenthal: Der Geist ist wie Spuren der Vögel am Himmel
  102. Youngram Kim





Friday 2 July 2010

Drainspotting - Japanese Manhole Covers by Remo Camerota



Drainspotting will be released by Mark batty Publisher in the coming months. Until then welcome to the online companion to the book Drainspotting
by Remo Camerota and Mark Batty Publisher. Japanese manhole covers come in many shapes, colors and sizes, and in Japan, scanning the streets or a colorful and delightful array of manhole covers has become a pastime, for both the Japanese and foreigners looking to experience a distinctly Japanese visual phenomenon: drainspotting. I became fascinated by these covers while i was
photographing my first book "Graffiti Japan" also published by Mark batty Publisher. So of course with the suggestion by my good friend Michael Shaun Conaway and the help of my Partner Hisako Emura we made the first ever book on the subject. There are many websites dedicated to these wonderful artifacts, created by the many manhole maniacs online, and there are even manhole museums spread throughout Japan, but now there is the full glossy color book.In this blog i will include photos and info that did not make it into
the book. And as photographing these manhole covers is like treasure hunting, i will endeavor to display newly found drain covers that appear after the book has been printed and on the shelves. You can check out other REMO titles at www.markbattypublisher.com and www.graffitijapan.com