Well, how's things, I'm Simon and I've been asked to set up a blog for art college. Our year group were given a project titled "Movement & Motion". What came to mind was all of the "inside the box" ideas ,which I had been advised to stay away from by students in second year. Water, raindrops, fingerprints leaving the mark of movement, gears turning, flick-books, rotational movement of windmills and ceiling fans, modes of transport, elevators and stairs all came to mind , mehhh , nothing appealed to me. I visited Berlin during the Summer of 2011 and was obviously brainwashed by the street art or "graffiti" as it is stereotyped as. It's only when you see it in such abundance that you can really appreciate it. It's not just silly names badly spray-painted on walls which is a common sight here in Ireland it's art and in my mind it's the way forward. The idea for my project was born before I stepped inside LSAD. I was influenced by my visit and when I fitted the words 'street art' into the project title 'movement and motion' my project 'The Street Art Movement Is In Motion'. I've uploaded a collection of photos of street art taken while I visited Berlin. Enjoy...
Tagging eh? it doesn't look like much when you see one name written somewhere but when a stairwell like this one is covered top to bottom in passers by's names it really adds character.
An eye catching NIKE joga bonito advert on the side of a building poses the question of how did they do it ? before you really appreciate the piece. It was done by the artist Otto Schade.Why not click here for a closer look! http://artpeoplemake.com/post/5806249307/fresh-from-berlin-joga-bonito-streetart
Images of the Berlin wall show that there is a differance between street art and "grafitti". I'm not a qualified history teacher but after the wall was erected back in the day it was white and artists saw it as a canvas that had to be painted. It began to be painted in the early 80's by names such as Thierry Noir and Keith Haring along with many unknown began to paint and display their work on the wall. This was all on the west side of the wall. when the wall was knocked in '89 the dull eastern side was painted. I've included some images. People flock to see this street art and it showed me that the venue of the exhibition is changing from the museums of modern art to the streets..
The Berlin graffiti crew 1up are an extremely active crew in the city. everywhere you look, from this fence outside the nightclub Matrix to walls along the railroad tracks to building tops in the city. My photos don't do their work any justice, please click play below to get an understanding of the scale of their work.
This is a train I happened to see in Sweden, little did 'KSK' know that I would see his art that day and photograph it and put it on my blog fro people to see . Graffiti movement , moving graffiti , interesting. That piece was probably removed quickly but it lives on through photos which is perhaps the point.
I've been draw to Banksy for quite a while even though far from original to say your a fan. Here's my copy of Banksy's flower riot.
Still minus the flowers due to laziness ..
A few pages from my sketch book 
This is my idea of Newgrange, Co. Meath essentially being street art. It is outdoors isn't it ? It was on display , on what would have been a street at the time. I asked myself what would the concentric spirals have looked like if the had the tools we have today. A few cans of montana and the place would have been looking pretty slick.
My idea of what it would have looked like .
My "You Took It To The Street , I Took It To The Sky" idea. I thought about the progression of street art and how it went from simple tagging to pieces to innovative designs incorporating parts of the landscape. I asked myself where is it going next and I couldn't figure it out. It took me a while to come up with the idea of it going up ... to the sky . I thought about airplanes first and how they will soon too meet the same fate as tube trains across the globe. Perhaps commissioned work will be drawn on them rather than letting everyone have a go but I can definitely see it happening. A plane flies from country to country and people happen to see it in an airport , new people every time it lands. Its like a moving museum that you don't need to pay into. I have purchased a Chinese sky lantern and begun to spray it. It will include the words you took it to the street , I took it to the sky will be drawn on it along with my blog address and various other graffiti symbols and figures . The lantern will be lit and let fly away hopefully for somebody else to pick up in there back garden and appreciate the next day. The more probable out come is a simple photograph.
Keith Harings work, perhaps influential on mine , I have a collection of snails to come that are done in the same busy manner.
Part of the Street Art Movement is the continuation of it, I feel I am contributing by undertaking this project just because i'm adding to or hope to (secret) the canvas which is the street. Heres one of my ideas for a print with poster paint (a method used by the world renound artist Swoon) for the side or back of a school bus.
More of my sketchbook just some samples of the local graffiti / street art in my new neighborhood .
just a thought process on how tagging ion subway lines in New York city spread across the whole globe .
An idea to provoke the gaa society for a bit of banter , inspired by the style of Banksy I suppose. Poster should be finished tomorrow, I'm among for a 6 foot high bold poster and am planning to wallpaper paste it on the gate of a neighboring gaa club .
An image which is world re-nound and done by one of our own . The Irish artist Jim Fitzgerald created this masterpiece of Che Guevara. How many times have you seen this pasted across everything from a simple badge to a t-shirt to walls ? The impact of this Image of the guerrilla leader will never leave this earth. Jim Fitzgerald recently gave the rights of this image to relatives of Che. Pretty decent of thew man to do a thing like that.
Smoking kills I hate to break it to you. This opposed say that we are here for a good time not for a long time. I started smoking at the age of 14 like an idiot. I quit before I came to college and lasted a solid month but then I came to ...college. Everybody smokes ( generalization ) but kind of to the point. I hate smoking and the effects and want to end my smoking of them with a passion so I decided to make little reminders as maquettes of what cigarettes essentially do to you. You are killing yourself and everybody wants to see heaven, right? But nobody wants to die so ..STOP SMOKING is the message.
This would definitely be your last cigarette. I made this first with wire and then proceeded to dip it in liquid latex to give it a smokers lung effect of gritty tar. 
Look at this little bugger go ! I see movement. Yay , maybe my project has taken a leap forward in terms of where I'm going. Snails, not pretty, you might even go as far as calling them pests but they make a nice original canvas. So what would you think if you step out for a breath of fresh air and "POW right in the kisser" a luminous fluorescent shell stood in your path ? Not such a pest anymore you'd think and you'd leave him be with a little smirk on your face for an hour or too. 
Street Art movement ? less movement and more nature art, but hey I'm counting outdoors as street.
Yeah Buddy! that trail behind him shows movement and motion and painting snails could be considered art. My plan now is to collect an army of these little buggars and get them painted up and on the loose in public places. Perhaps the RSPCA will try to claim animal cruelty, so I might have to use some non toxic harm free paint and wash them after. Boring. I could also make models of snails to look realistic and place them on the street for people to find and collect or leave to be appreciated. Ideas ideas. I will keep this idea going and post on any further development.
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