Urban taggin' -3 MUST HAVE BOOKS

Piecebook: The Secret Drawings of Graffiti Writers by Sacha Jenkins, David (Chino) Villorente

Publisher: Prestel USA (April 30, 2008)

Original in concept and design, this living history of the graffiti movement mimics the actual sketchbooks graffiti artists use to perfect their work before it goes public. Before it hits the wall, graffiti is often painstakingly planned out in a sketchbook or piece book. Well-worn and dog-eared, these books are passed along from artist to artist as a way of sharing ideas and offering instruction. Here hundreds of drawings, most of them never before published, are reproduced on uncoated paper to resemble the pages of an authentic piecebook. Bold and beautiful works from graffiti history s most important sources or seeds Zephyr, Dondi, Daze, CRASH, Lady Pink, T-Kid, CAP and Ghost, among others represent a dizzying array of techniques. The authors, former graffiti practitioners themselves, offer biographies of the artists and an introductory essay on why piecebooks have become such valuable historical records. Fans of graffiti will find this an irresistible inside look at how their favorite artists perfected their talents.

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Street World: Urban Art and Culture from Five Continents Around the Globe

by Roger Gastman, Caleb Neelon, and Anthony Smyrski

The authors of Street World have put together this rich collection showcasing over 1,000 images and authoritative text, highlighting street art and life in cultural hot spots around the globe. Street World: Urban Art and Culture from Five Continents Around the Globe follows skateboarders in Japan, hunts down graffiti artists in San Paolo, Brazil, and exposes the newest Pakistani truck artwork in the world.
At almost 500 pages, this book, with its rare images and in-depth commentary, is sure to become a staple in libraries of any true street art fan.
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SOON TO GET PUBLISHED-PRE-ORDER IT NOW!

Written On The City: Graffiti Messages Worldwide
Axel Albin, Josh Kamler
Publisher: How (September 2, 2008)

Newsweek, Aug. 18-25, 2008
"Poignant ... funny ... thought-provoking ..."

Written on the City is a glimpse into a vast conversation happening illegally and in public. All over the world, people are writing messages on the walls and sidewalks of the cities in which we live. They are staying up late, breaking the law, and taking risks to say something to you. Some of it is funny. Some of it is beautiful. Lots of it is upsetting, crazy, and brilliant at the same time. And all of it is important. This book continues that conversation through the eyes of photographers who recognized the importance of those words on the walls and shared them with us.

The Tate Innovates...

Design by Edel Rodriguez

THE TATE MODERN'S STREET ART EXHIBITION

The label Street Art has been used since the late Seventies, and the work, by its very nature, is in constant flux and hard to categorise. Broadly speaking the term has come to define the more visual and engaging urban art as opposed to text-based graffiti and tagging.
Today & for the first time ever, the Tate Modern --The Tate Modern in London is Britain's national museum of international modern art-- has commissioned artists to paint the facade of its building along the Thames, signaling the project as the first major public museum display of Street Art in London.

Street Art at Tate Modern brings to the fore an important aspect of current art practice and one that has influenced acclaimed artists, including Basquiat and Picasso.
So finally, street art gets a major recognition by an institution that could hardly be topped, in terms of established art: The Tate Modern of London. The works of six internationally acclaimed artists will be presented to tag the museum's façade.
The artists are: Blu from Bologna, Italy; the artist collective Faile from New York, USA; JR from Paris, France; Nunca and Os Gemeos, both from Sao Paulo, Brazil and Sixeart from Barcelona, Spain. All six artists are represented in major collections around the world and regularly shown in gallery exhibitions and biennales; but their work began in public urban spaces and remains indebted to Street Art and graffiti traditions.

Street Art at Tate Modern opened at the same time as Tate Modern’s four day festival of art and performance, where 'The Street Art Walking Tour,' an urban tour of specific art sites around the city is scheduled and presented by a group of five Madrid-based artists: 3TTMan, Spok, Nano 4814, El Tono and Nuria.
In addition to that unexpected yet eclectic & formidable happening at Tate, an interactive evening with experimental New York artists, Graffiti Research Lab, is set to reface the Tate Modern with graffiti light projections. Street Art at Tate Modern running through 23 May-August 25th 2008 at Tate Modern, Bankside London SE1 9TG.

Exclusive photos by Sirdab correspondent: Gina Mansour

All about The Wall!!

Beirut tagged by some interesting graffiti street artists, shot by Sirdab photographer.

It is All about about the Wall!!

In this case, it's about That Specific Wall, where taggers have elected their headquarter to draw their feelings, re-draw, delete, over-shadow each other messages and leave their stance, in colour and with talent, across a very symbolic area of the capital.
In fact, it's within the Quaranteen sector of Beirut that street fighters have drawn their own war on Lebanon for about 15 years.
Infinite stories could be endlessly narrated; however, one image, like "3abass''-- a word that means 'in vain' in Arabic-- graphed firmly on "That Wall of Beirut" --2nd from top-- manages sometime to echo deeper than anything else --in people's mind.
That's the Power of Art, namely Street Art, with an Attitude;)
So, as Mister Mc Luhan stated, it is sometime one image, just one, that is indeed worth a 1000 words.

Who said, ART in VAIN? Is IT??