ThinkItem Does Street Art
The notion of "Street Art" has been at the back of my mind of late - not because I am an active practitioner of it (that might change soon) - but because of the nature of "street" and "disposability". Like stickers and posters, they eventually get ripped out by cleaners, and even wall tags and murals get painted over … what do folks "get out of it" beyond visual eye-candy and taking pictures with their cameras? How do you "bring the art" back with you?
Then Adriean Koleric aka ThinkItem shared with me what he had been doing, and I am charmed by the notion, with one of my questions "answered". Here's a quick Q&A I had with Adriean on what he has been up to recently:
TOYSREVIL: Can you share with us the manifesto of your Street work? And why take it to the streets, as opposed to your previous gallery work?
ADRIEAN KOLERIC: The project was more of a natural progression for me. I was simply going nuts with what I was doing at the time and needed to shake things up. I wanted to produce pieces done in a quick fashion and just walk away from it without giving it another thought.
I liked the idea of the unknown. I have no idea as to where the piece will end up. I'm OK with the notion that more than not, it'll end up in the trash. I actually witnessed an employee at a coffee shop do just that. I left a packet on a table with the 'Free Art' note only to watch him scoop it up like an old napkin and toss it out. I thought i'd be upset at first, but was surprised at how I just didn't care. I've become this cold hearted Creative that becomes instantly detached to a piece once done and quickly move onto the next.
This pretty well sums it up for me. I've been wanting to create street art for years now, but didn't know what that was to be. I wasn't confident enough to plaster images onto private property, so tried to work around that which I think I have so far.
TOYSREVIL: "Disposable Street Art" … What can you tell me about the bagged-n-tagged "figure parts"?
ADRIEAN KOLERIC: The tagged and bagged figure parts was a way to reinvent what would normally be considered trash. I liked the idea of re-introducing said pieces to the general public and let them decide what it’s status is now. Again, it’ll either end up in the bin or on someone’s mantle. At that point I’m no longer involved in the fate of my pieces.
TOYSREVIL: And which streets should be people be looking at, again? MUAHAHAHAHAHA
ADRIEAN KOLERIC: This is so far an Edmonton only project, but I am heading to San Antonio, Texas next month and plan to drop pieces along the way. I’m also hoping to put together an ‘International Crew’ of pals that I can send packages to and have them place and catalogue pieces in their respective locations. Bottom line, it’s an invasion that will only grow to mass hysteria. Be warned.
ADRIEAN KOLERIC: At the moment, I’ve been dropping a series of plywood cutout figures around town and tweeting locations on the spot which has resulted in a bit of a community hunt. I have people asking when’s the next run and which figure. I even had one Gal tweet that she saw my Tweet and literally bolted from brunch and ran down to the drop spot. I’ve placed 4 different versions thus far and am about to put out No5 this weekend.
What would YOU do if you came across a piece of 'art' like this on the streets? Check out more of Adriean's work via www.thinkitem.com an his STREET album here on FLickr.
Then Adriean Koleric aka ThinkItem shared with me what he had been doing, and I am charmed by the notion, with one of my questions "answered". Here's a quick Q&A I had with Adriean on what he has been up to recently:
TOYSREVIL: Can you share with us the manifesto of your Street work? And why take it to the streets, as opposed to your previous gallery work?
ADRIEAN KOLERIC: The project was more of a natural progression for me. I was simply going nuts with what I was doing at the time and needed to shake things up. I wanted to produce pieces done in a quick fashion and just walk away from it without giving it another thought.
I liked the idea of the unknown. I have no idea as to where the piece will end up. I'm OK with the notion that more than not, it'll end up in the trash. I actually witnessed an employee at a coffee shop do just that. I left a packet on a table with the 'Free Art' note only to watch him scoop it up like an old napkin and toss it out. I thought i'd be upset at first, but was surprised at how I just didn't care. I've become this cold hearted Creative that becomes instantly detached to a piece once done and quickly move onto the next.
This pretty well sums it up for me. I've been wanting to create street art for years now, but didn't know what that was to be. I wasn't confident enough to plaster images onto private property, so tried to work around that which I think I have so far.
TOYSREVIL: "Disposable Street Art" … What can you tell me about the bagged-n-tagged "figure parts"?
ADRIEAN KOLERIC: The tagged and bagged figure parts was a way to reinvent what would normally be considered trash. I liked the idea of re-introducing said pieces to the general public and let them decide what it’s status is now. Again, it’ll either end up in the bin or on someone’s mantle. At that point I’m no longer involved in the fate of my pieces.
TOYSREVIL: And which streets should be people be looking at, again? MUAHAHAHAHAHA
ADRIEAN KOLERIC: This is so far an Edmonton only project, but I am heading to San Antonio, Texas next month and plan to drop pieces along the way. I’m also hoping to put together an ‘International Crew’ of pals that I can send packages to and have them place and catalogue pieces in their respective locations. Bottom line, it’s an invasion that will only grow to mass hysteria. Be warned.
ADRIEAN KOLERIC: At the moment, I’ve been dropping a series of plywood cutout figures around town and tweeting locations on the spot which has resulted in a bit of a community hunt. I have people asking when’s the next run and which figure. I even had one Gal tweet that she saw my Tweet and literally bolted from brunch and ran down to the drop spot. I’ve placed 4 different versions thus far and am about to put out No5 this weekend.
What would YOU do if you came across a piece of 'art' like this on the streets? Check out more of Adriean's work via www.thinkitem.com an his STREET album here on FLickr.
