Wooster Collective - The Online Authority for Street Art

For all fans of 'Urban Art' (of which I am quite the evangelist) I highly recommended 

Wooster Collective, THE online resource for all aspects of  sanctioned and un-sanctioned Street Art.

From the site: "The Wooster Collective was founded in 2001. This site is dedicated to showcasing and celebrating ephemeral art placed on streets in cities around the world."


Compiled and edited by Sara & Marc Schiller, the site has been a constant source of inspiration and delight to me for over a decade. It's not just about graffiti, in fact, far from it. Some of the most interesting art produced in our societies, goes un-noticed and unappreciated by the vast majority, primarily because of its ephemeral nature and the fact that it isn't concealed within the white walls of the conventional gallery system. 


Take a closer look and become a fan here

How To Excel at Art Crits

Normal student reaction at Art Crits

So we’ve all been there, Group Crit, Show and Don’t Tell Crit, Mediated Crit etc, but has anyone ever really shown you a formula for getting through a crit in one piece?

Well, surprise surprise, there is indeed a tried and tested process for ensuring that you don’t end up flummoxed, tongue tied or looking like a muppet when your tutors ask you to add your thoughts in a crit session.

It’s known as “The Feldman Method” developed by Edmund Feldman, Professor of Art at the University of Georgia and incorporates a simple, 4 stage process to assist in the successful critique of any artwork. The process is broken down into the following four steps; 

1. Description
2. Analaysis
3. Interperetation
4. Judgement

(A useful mnemonic for remembering the process is “Dem Apples Is Juicy”)

It may seem like an obvious process to some, but I am certain there are many students on art courses across the land who have no clue as to how best to handle a crit session.

Here is a link to a useful blog entry that should help even the most confused art student get through a crit and feel like they are in control and be able to de-code the work on show and assess whether it meets the artists’ intentions: Click here

And here’s a helpful, printable aide memoir that you might want to adopt or adapt to suit your requirements: 

Printable PDF

We hope you find this as useful as we did.

Art of Recycled Skateboard Decks

"Some of the freshest artwork we've recently seen involves taking something old and making it new again. In this case, artist Haroshi took old skateboard decks and carefully crafted them into fresh pieces of art."

I thought that these sculptures made from old skateboard decks were absolutely amazing, to get something that is broken and battered, and to turn it into something that looks like that is mind boggling!

If you want to read and see more images from where I found these click here!

Doublethink Design and more!

As a keen illustrator myself, I am always on the look out for new inspirations and illustrations that "wow" me.One of the main places I love to go to find new inspiration art (not just illustration!) is the tumblr directory.

Today I found a blog called "Doublethink Design" and I haven't found a piece of art on there I dislike (yet)! This blog consists of illustration, photography, design, motion and words! A few art blogs via Tumblr I have found that may be of interest to all of you art bunnies!:

Doublethink Design

Curioos Arts

Tiffant Smalley Blog

Cherry Wallis - New Publication

Hot on the heels of her last self published title 'LitterBob' comes the new offering from Cherry Wallis as part of her Negotiated Program work for her Level 5 Art & Design Ba(Hons) course at Bournville School of Art, where she is currently focusing her skills on illustration - specifically in the field of childrens' literature.

Published via the excellent website Blurb which specializes in short runs and one offs for the aspiring author, Cherry has once again managed to produce a convincing childrens' title that quite frankly makes it look like she's been doing this for years, rather than just since late 2010.

The charming characters of Mrs Hen & Mr Mouse, have great fun in the kitchen making Chocolate Cornflake nests. It has received a positive response from both children and adults and we look forward to her next publication.

Click here for a closer look.

Help Wanted!

HELP WANTED!

It has come to The Ministry of Arts attention that an exciting new production of the rock musical “Hedwig and The Angry Inch” is to be launched in Birmingham for the first time this May. 

ARTWORK NEEDED:

Some “childlike” drawings to be projected during the show. 
Not complicated or intricate.

Not expected to be too time consuming.

And it would suit CV or portfolio purposes!

Fantastic show.  Not your average musical!
Find more information on this musical HERE and a video trailer from the film HERE!

Please e-mail if interested!

darren72lee@gmail.com

Atelier - Bournville School of Art Undergrads launch new site

Level 5 students Uttsav Patel and David Swan celebrate the official launch of their corporate website 'Atelier' this week.

These ambitious young go-getters have joined forces to promote their own practices and showcase the vibrant world of multi-disciplinary arts within the Midlands.

From their site :

"Atelier - Visual Artists is an artist collective, based in the heart of Birmingham (UK). Devised with the goal of producing work in both material and digital, we provide concepts from a wide range of disciplines.

Photography, Film, Sculpture, Performance & Curatorship.

As practising artists, we are driven by our inquisitive nature to learn and develop, in order to offer the most innovative product. 
 We endeavour to generate a clientele that recognizes the valuable and ground-breaking dexterity that we offer. "

We wish them the very best of fortune and hope to have a video interview with the intrepid duo available shortly. 


http://www.atelierva.com/about.php