Detective progress

So last week was an unofficial, early Christmas holiday for the blog but this week we're back to normal!

...Well, I'm not actually in Birmingham at the moment because it was essential that I helped decorate Christmas cakes with my mother/mess about with icing:

So, street art... I have some development on the mystery paster from a few weeks ago:

Tempo33 has 10 videos on YouTube of Birmingham street art from 2008 and 2009 (as well as videos of him pasting in Amsterdam and whatnot), they're an interesting watch to see what was around in Birmingham 3 years ago, some work is still on the streets now but the main reason I'm plugging them is because the mystery paster appears in a couple of them:

Tempo has also said that he knows the mystery paster and he lives in Birmingham but he won't tell me his name. I've tried comparing the 'shouts' at the end of Tempo's videos with the mystery paster to see which of the names I don't recognise come up on them all and I think he could be 'Wanted' but I can't read all the 'shouts' because the fonts are pants and 'Wanted' is such a common word it's impossible to Google 'Wanted street artist' and find what I'm looking for.

So hopefully after whining about it on here; Tempo will bow to public pressure and I won't have to go out knocking on doors and putting up 'Are you the mystery paster?' signs.

An artist I do know is Vomit, who appears in one of Tempo's videos from 2008!

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I've decided to start doing proper interviews with local artists for the blog, probably while having tea and cake or maybe by email if I'm feeling lazy. The first interviewees will be The Rebel Gunslingers because they're my new favourite paster propagandists (and because they drew a hard-looking bear that loves me and pasted it up round the corner from my house):

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Finally a bit of street art hilarity from New Zealand; two taggers were caught vandalising a couple's fence and were forced to dance (while being filmed) until the police arrived. Of course it is now on YouTube for your viewing pleasure:

Street Spotted returns!

As I mentioned last week, Street Spotted will be returning to Birmingham, this time at 6/8 Kafe on Temple Row in the city centre. 6/8 have the best coffee, snacks and staff in Brum and currently have an exhibition of work from Golden Boy, Lisk and Miss150 which will finish on the 19th. Naturally, Lisk and I thought this would be a perfect excuse for a closing party and another live art event, so we've roped in four excellent artists to show off their skills:

Curs

G87

Lisk

Vomit

The art starts at 3 with tunes and art work for sale and you can see how many cool people are coming on the Facebook event page.

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PTP started a pumpkin carving competition on Flickr a few weeks ago and I've only remembered to sort out my entry this week. The deadline for entries is today and the winner will be decided soon so for now here's mine and my favourites:

Mine

Superbly carved teeth by Obit

Troopin' by PTP

More of a ridiculously awesome sculpture than a carving by RDPJ Cakes (who also makes ridiculously awesome cakes)

Cheshire kitty by Bacon Jam

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In a feature about Birmingham on The Culture Show (after the city being voted the most boring city in Europe), Michael Smith investigates and decides: 

"It's ridiculous to say that Birmingham's the most boring city in Europe; I think Birmingham's boring if you're boring."

 and I agree, obviously. The main source of deciding Birmingham isn't boring was Digbeth which led to lots of nice shots of street art:

As One on Floodgate Street

 'The graffiti house' on Fazeley Street

Newso and The 48s on Floodgate Street

Lisk on Floodgate Street

The Custard Factory's car park on High Street

The full clip is here: BBC The Culture Show Birmingham’s Cultural Highlights

Halloween Treats

I'm not dead! I had to serve drinks to lots of people having fun at Halloween for three days straight and wimped out on my blogging duties... So! I apologise and to help you forgive me; here's some tasty arty goodies that will help you out of your sugar coma and won't give your teeth that weird furry layer.

Last Tuesday (25th) I tagged along with Lisk, Vomit and Mew when they were out pasting on and around Digbeth High Street. Sadly, most of their work had been removed by Thursday so here are some snaps from the night:

Lisk

Vomit, Mew and Lisk on the most beautiful door ever

Lisk

Obit, Mew, Lisk and Vomit

Vomit, Lisk and Mew

Lisk

Vomit and Mew

Vomit and elderley Lisk

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On Thursday I went to a free screening of 'The Birds' (1963 Alfred Hitchcock) at St Pauls Church in the Jewellery Quarter. It was put on by Jameson's Cult Film Club so there were actors dressed up as characters from the film running about shouting at people and lots of stuffed birds everywhere and flying birds projected onto the ceiling and - of course - loads of free whisky. Me getting drunk in a church does have relevance to this blog; there was also a piece painted by TX from graffiti4hire for the event that people were having their picture taken next to after being given fake blood 'scratches'. Photos!

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The Rebel Gunslingers were out again last week and last night on Bradford Street:

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I finally got some new knitting out last night! Here are a few of my favourites:

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The plans to have a closing party for Lisk, Golden Boy and Miss150's exhibition at 6/8 Kafe with live art on the 19th November are more definite now that we've confirmed Lisk, Vomit, Curs and G87 to draw in the cafe's basement - which is bigger and less creepy than it sounds. I'm working on a poster and more details will come next week. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Pasting in numbers

Vomit was out pasting on Monday and added to a few spots that are building up nice little collections, both on Bradford Street:

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On Tuesday night; Tempo33 was out all over the Birmingham area as well as the city centre, this spot is my favourite:

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Last week I found some new stickers that I thought might be Energy, after a bit of research I'm pretty sure they are but I've not had confirmation from the man himself. I do know he's been out with his pens this week:

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It's been far too long since I put up any knitted lamppost decorations so I've been working on a new design just in time for Halloween. Photos of them up on the streets next week.

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To finish; a competition... If you 'like' my Facebook page (using that link or the box on the right) you are in with a chance of winning a Wah lollipop board, like the one below but not that one. Only the first 66 'likers' will have their names put in the bowler hat (I do actually own a bowler hat and will use it to choose a winner and there will be photos) so get on with it if you want to win!

Adios amigos!

This is being posted a day early because by Sunday I'll be in Spain - maybe in a pool or eating some sort of horrid squid based dish or being painfully English at shopkeepers. I'll try and find some Spanish street art but for now here's some sticker combos I put up on Thursday night:

6TWO4, Kine, Ser, Tommy Human, Me, Pahnl on Bradford Street, Digbeth

Wah paste, Ser, Pahnl, Me, Tommy Human on Bradford Street, Digbeth

Me, !?!, Beas, Sladge, Ser, 6TWO4 on Floodgate Street, Digbeth

Vomit Paste, Me, Obit and Tommy Human, Me again, Ser, 6TWO4, Pahnl on Fazeley Street, Digbeth

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I also found a shutter done by Tempo33:

Fazeley Street, Digbeth

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This giant collection of Lisk robots was found on Wednesday but I haven't been brave enough to dodge tramps to get close to it yet.

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Street Spotted has a poster!

I made a poster! Well, Lisk did all the arty picture backgrounds and names and the logo and the 'live art' bubble and I did the boring writing and wrestled with photoshop for a few days.

I'd like to draw your attention to the additions of Riseone and Mew to the line-up! There will also be free stickers and stuff for the grabbing and some more extravagant work for sale so keep some pennies away from the bar. 

If you've not already seen it, here's the Facebook event page, two weeks to go!

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Additions to the streets this week came mainly from PTP who has now departed Birmingham for university related things. He has promised to keep in touch and we swapped some stickers and whatnot but Digbeth and I will miss him.

Big duckie! - Bradford Street, Digbeth

  

 

  Vomit 'peck' - Bradford Street, Digbeth 

(having a go at drawing someone else's character is called a 'bite' but ducks would 'peck', you probably knew that)

6TWO4 'peck' - Birchall Street, Digbeth

 My very own Malcom!

 Painted spray cans with Marvin duckie and shrooms

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Also new on the streets are some quite badly stencilled moustaches (my can skills aren't brilliant but I haven't covered Digbeth to show everyone). 

The mystery moustache person seems to be preparing us for something so I thought they might be promotional, but there's already a well established music event that happens every couple of months called Mustachio! with a very similar logo so it can't be them and I don't see someone blatantly ripping off their design. 

Also, they've sprayed one of these moustaches over Golden Boy's giant paste which hurts me inside and is hugely disrespectful and breaks what is surely one of the first rules of graffiti/street art; don't go over anyone else's work unless you're friends/have permission. 

'Graffiti Wars' that was shown on Channel 4 earlier this month showed the very creative 'covering over' fight between King Robbo and Banksy (I have fairly reliable info that Robbo's out of the coma now, by the way). Watch it if you can find it, it seems to have been taken off 4OD.

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Links

6TWO4 Flickr

Lisk Flickr

Mew Flickr

Obit Flickr

Riseone Flickr

Tommy Human Flickr

Vomit Flickr

Wah Flickr

PTP Flickr