Olympic flashback with Usain Bolt care of Jimmy C

SF was not the biggest fan of the Olympics originally, a little concerned about what it would bring and what the legacy would be. Today a wee pang of Olympics withdrawal hit home which lead to a little pointer to one thing we still have to enjoy from the greatest games ever.

He’s not the Messiah he’s a very speedy bwoy

James Cochran AKA Jimmy C created this massive piece of a certain fast runner who goes by the name of Usain Bolt, a huge and permanent (semi) reminder of what went on over the space of roughly two months when all eyes were on London for the Olympics and Paralympics.

At the risk of sounding a bit like a marketing pessimist, I think that Puma had a hand in this somehow, seeing as there was a massive Puma party throughout. Whatever it did not have their logo on it and it looks sweet.

Back to the original point though… what else will London see as it’s legacy. There are still some great Olympic leftovers from street art, to posters, to flags to Londoners being proud and a little nicer. The legacy of the stadium, centres and equipment….. what’s next?

Inspiration for free art

Free art for all

Spotted this on PSFK and thought it was a great idea. Back in the day a certain popular artist preached art for all…. he then started selling to Brangelina and making films and in turn shed loads of cash. This feels like a bit of a move back in the original direction.

Nicole Bourgea, a Washington resident has embarked on a project where she goes out and paints everyday folk doing their everyday jobs that they perform every day. She creates her one day masterpieces and then returns the next day and places the finished pieces where it was painted with a note saying it is free for the subject of said piece.

Although Nicole is not your traditional street artist, this really is the essence of creating something on the street and leaving it there for all to see and for it to be taken away gratis.

Follow our artistic heroine here

 

Design Museum – London

London’s best day out

The Design Museum in London is one of the best places to spend a few hours to get a little bit of inspiration from. In this calendar year Terence Conran and Louboutin have both exhibited there.

Iconic imagery

With the recent small PE day the our fair city hosted it was only right that the museum took note and put on a little sporty aesthetic thingy together. Designed to Win covers the machinery, the clothing, the records and the athletes involved. Brits have become cycling obsessed since the TdF and the Lympics and there are some examples of the amazing machinery used. Plus some old school bikes from by gone years.

Angel shoes

The exhibition touches on the brands involved with making big time sport and also features pieces from McCartney, Yamamoto, House of Holland and Hussein Chalayan.

Girl I’ll House you

On the second floor you have the Digital Crystal with Swarovski working with a variety of artists, illustrators, designers et al to create a myriad of amazing crystal installations. Then the resident room has a variety of new up and coming talent displaying their wares.

Crystal bizniss

My particular favourite from Yuri Suzuki in collaboration with Masahiko Shindo using one of the most iconic pieces in British design history to create a wireless radio.

Listen, dance and plan your route

P-P-P-P-P-P-P-Pez!

It has been a while since SF took any street photography in the east end due to a hit n run bicycle incident. Well here is the first piece in a while and the first of many to come.

Pez dispenser

Pez in a can… a spray can that is

Instagram – #thisisnow

Ultimate Instatwatting

Great aggregator app here, you can post your pictures for the world to see anytime and you can also see what is happening in some of the best cities in the world. Visit Now now

Simply add #thisisnow to your instagram pictures to join the party. Really nice idea here, so many people are on Instagram now and it is great to dip into what is happening all around the world at any time from the comfort of where you are sat

Things I’ve seen….

The last few weeks the number of new pieces found has gone right now, SF has been pretty inactive due to tumble on two wheels, it will continue in this vein for a while but there will be bits and bobs for your eyeball delectation…

Shok 1 is London based and a bit underground, more known for spraying off the beaten track in places others dare not go. His style is pretty individual and like no other… Like. for a guy who has been spraying since 1984 he has certainly done his time. This is his old site  but the new one is en route. See it around Brick Lane, Hanbury St to be exact.

Colour Sho

Cheery fag… looks a bit like Malarky but it is actually Kid Acne

Shmokin

Things I’ve seen….

Mooching around the city I call home has become rather difficult in the last 3 weeks, being as I was knocked off of my bike and bust my shoulder and cut my face open…. and then had my bike stolen while I was unconscious… but that is another story

So here are a few piece I have spotted on my hobbles around Londres….

Pez dispenser

Pez is a cute artist, his stuff adorning the walls and trains and sometimes even galleries in Barcelona, London, NYC, Amsterdam and beyond since 1999. On my recent trip to Barcelona to dance my ass off at Sonar his fishy pieces were everywhere, a bit like our friend Sweet Toof in London. He is the signature of Barca for me.

Then something I have seen more and more of recently in the Eastend…

BFC head

Relatively new to London but making a bit of a splash, more info to follow on Broken Fingaz Crew Love this, it looks like some weird super hero cum slasher porno mag from Sin City

That’s all paint pickers… until next time

Nike Hyperdunk+ Old Street stunt and Beats By Dre seeding

If you are not an official Olympic sponsor then you are pretty much not invited to the party. Sponsors have paid millions to be the official fast food, soft drink, credit card etc etc etc.

So If you are going to do it then you have to be brash, up front and above all a little clever.

Nike have branded up some of the top athletes feet, which is a standard tactic. Nike wanted something more disruptive in the Eastend, so they went huge with thew biggest Nike kick SF has ever seen. Nike owns Team USA basketball and the Nike Hyperdunk+ worn by some of the biggest basketball players at the games can clearly be see on Old Street opposite Mother Bar

Another clever ploy has been by the earphone manufacturer, Beats by Dre have visited Olympic team hotels, setting up a room and inviting competitors to pick a pair of their liking. So the fact you have seen Olympic hero Michael Phelps amongst. They have had to pay nothing for this brilliant awareness, being shown on TV channels across the globe and in countless photographs. Making Beats by Dre earphones the official unofficial earphones of London 2012

I can’t hear you….

Chinears

We have bemoaned the way sponsors have acted in such a overbearing fashion, so it is nice to see some creative tactics employed. Though without these sponsors spunking millions then we would not have the games. Double edged sword

Cartrain homage to Gilbert & George and a little Damien Hirst baiting

Cartrain – An artist SF really likes, few reasons for the respect, firstly the style is cool, love the collage based stuff, taking everyday items, cultural reference points and making them into playful pieces. The pieces are 3D as well using other items to stand of the canvas, wall or paper.

G&G – Legends

This piece features a collage including a Blue Peter badge and a stamp with the iconic Queens of the Eastend. #Like

The other reason I like him is his amusing feud with Damien Hirst, Hirst is not known for his sense of humour. He comes across as a bit of a dour-nut, someone who takes himself supremely seriously and who has pretty much performed an anal gynecology with his head…. The feud started when Cartrain used imagery of Hirst’s over-priced skull a few years back for an exhibition he had created, it happened to share the same name, For The Love of God.

Cartrain was only 17 and maybe trying to steal some notoriety by doing so really got on Hirst’s wick. He retaliated and sued…. a 17 year old. He won ownership of the art work and since then there has been some bad blood.

Cartrain pulled a funny by pinching some pencils from a Hirst exhibition then creating a wanted style piece with a note to Hirst which read…

‘FOR THE SAFE RETURN OF DAMIEN HIRST’S PENCILS I WOULD LIKE MY ARTWORKS BACKS THAT DACS AND HIRST BACK IN NOVEMBER. IT’S NOT A LARGE DEMAND…. HIRST HAS UNTIL THE END OF THIS MONTH TO RESOLVE THIS OR ON THE 31 JULY THE PENCILS WILL BE SHARPENED. HE HAS BEEN WARNED’

Cartrain for a giggle….

SF feels having a little sense of humour about this could have ended in Hirst not looking like a bully and even an amusing colab. A chance for Hirst to help a young pretender.

In the end the young pretender created his own riposte and hung it

George Dubya Bush as Cock Face

This is no political blog, no ramblings about what SF thinks about Blair, Cameron, Brown, or those two Labour brothers, but I do think there is one thing the world almost unanimously agrees upon…. George W Bush is one hell of a tool.

I spotted this in Groucho (apologies for members club twattery reference) and wondered why it was there for public consumption for all and sundry to see… on close inspection it became clear. The picture is made up entirely of porn, of cocks, tits, fannies et all. The juxtaposition of a god fearing, small minded fool from one of the most famous American political families made up of blue images…. the ear is brilliant

He ain’t stooopid

The artist is Jonathan Yeo, love his work with collages and pop culture as he has covered Paris Hilton in the same way. The story goes that Yeo was due to do a portrait commissioned by the Bush Library in America, when they pulled out Yeo took his revenge in the best possible taste. Bravo