Canal knowledge

If StandardFact should say one thing, it is that you need to get yourself down on to the canals of East and North London, literally the best and most imaginative scribblings that you are likely to find.

This is my fave piece I have seen. Brass, I know little about him / her / them but will endeavour to find out more. Unless anyone can fill me a little bit.

What to say…?

Every wall tells another story, if tourists get lost on their way to the Olympics they might actually find themselves learning some truths about the Eastend, vibrant does not cover it. These two characters above would make brilliant kid’s cartoon characters… sans the swastika, unless it was the original Hindu version or the Buddhism version or the Jainism version.

Then there is this wee chap…

Like an angry westie

And finally the money shot, everyone likes the money shot

Money money money

Wall of truth

Needs not explaining really… brilliant new addition to the canals of Hackney

Not worth thinking about really…

Hackney Wick – a hidden gem I say

The Brick Lane doesn’t really have any space left, pretty much every wall is covered with pieces from everyone from Roa to Banksy to Sweet Toof, to Dscreet to some lil crack head with a sharpie. It was the original but some of the most prolific graf artists in the eastend have moved on to a far bigger canvas, that of Hackney Wick, the industrial wasteland that the Olympics forgot, that the tourists rarely find and that has it’s own little burgeoning scene full of cutting scribblers, stencilers and spray can aficionados. Check it out for your self kids.

I give you….

Sweet Toof

Sweet even in a car park

Nazir Tanbouli

A Nazir bug

Malarky

All that Malarky

Hackney Wick has many art studios dotted throughout the business warhouses, yards and garages. The roads are battered and bruised but it has a certain romance to the area. Art and tags popping out from every corner plus lots of random little places to eat, galleries and some bars.

Things I’ve seen….

Liking Hackney Wick more and more recently, lots of random piece popping up all over the place. And some at a very simple yet effective level. These pieces may not be seen by our Olympic visitors this summer but heading down for a mooch is well worth your time.

EFE… who is this?

The better more creative, more thought provoking bits are never in the most populated parts of town

Hackney Love

How to build in Hackney…

Rule number one, put up some big wooden boards, then do not do a sodding thing until some natives come and put their stamp on it…

Top tache

The stamp should take influence from the locals too…

More great facial hair

Art by Broken Fingaz

The Olympics…. Every Londoner can not wait….

So it is 58 days until the biggest show on earth comes to town, everyone is besides themselves with excitement and anticipation. Well not quite…

nOlympic pigeon shitting on rings

It should be the greatest show on Earth but the over OTT approach of LOCOG and some of the sponsors no doubt runs the risk of creating a negative feeling amongst those who actually live in the Eastend and further a field.

News of Florists being forced to take down flower arrangements which are in the shape of 5 rings, food places getting into the spirit of the games being told to remove their Olympic themed offerings and even a granny fearing prosecution for her home knitted dolls at a car boot sale.

Olympic Jerk… how apt

Sponsors mean that these big events can go ahead, but should there be a little bit of humility amongst these super-sized multi-nationals? For me it is all a bit bully in the playground. Surely there is a clever marketeer out there who could maintain the benefits of sponsorship whilst not looking like the party pooper de jour?

Amazingly…. even this Olympic countdown clock has had to remove certain references…. I wonder if I might be hit with an order to remove certain words.

Can’t wait for London 2012 me….

Mobstr – Simplicity is the key

Took me a little bit of time to find out who it was but twas only a matter of time…

One to tick off on the London Street Art Tour….

I like this a lot, Mobstr has been a bit prolific of late, short and sweet stencil across London town, taking over sandwich boards, advertising boards and plain bricks and mortar.

More to follow…..

Things I’ve seen…

Mooching, wondering, cycling, pondering, taking a few pics then tweaking them for your eyeball delectation….

In tribute to Dan Fenlon, or CK1, an artist from Bristol who was killed earlier this year while in Thailand

RIP CK1

No eye dear who this is…. Laura and Sally maybe?!

urban balling

And another one…

Fields of dreams

Studio in an urban wasteland, around Hackney there is the haves and the have nots. Urban regeneration is all around us, tho some some steely types who refuse to leave these condemned buildings, and this is one such guy

#NazirTanbouli

Things I’ve seen…

A few more random pictures from my wonderings around East London on a bicycle. Hackney Wick, Mile End and all the industrial estates that did not get raised to the ground because of these Olympic thingy ma jigs certainly house some great pieces of street scribbling and colouring in

Never a truer word said…

then….

Stencil by > insert here < Tag by The Toasters

Followed by a nice bit of randomness

Vlad Bwoy

Tha kids are all write

Skate-face

In amongst all this Olympic poppycock we seem to have dedicated a shed load of £££ on grown up sports, maybe forgetting the kids, not in Mile End mind. The Mile End Skate Park is packed with kids rain or shine. I like.

What I also like is that the place is adorned with graf, in the pool, the walls the floor, the benches. Everywhere.

Pool party

The place looks pretty good too, a real urban hangout, even if you can’t skate, BMX or any other urban sport, you can go and spray or tag.

Paint and skate

I do not know any of the artists and in my mind I like to think that are by kids, the next generation of painters who will be taking to the streets, canals and eventually galleries of London and beyond