The Leggo Man!

The Lego Man, a global icon, has been used as a stencil

in a number of street art works throughout different

countries of the world. Street artists have applied the

Lego man as a stencil. The fact that it is so well known

as an icon makes it recognisable and this can relate to

almost everyone, as the majority of our society have

played with Lego at some point in their lives. In these

works the Lego man has been set in a scene where he’s

used to depict problems and issues of our daily lives in

the world.

Gang related tagging, radiation, thievery and pollution

to our world are examples of the problems depicted in

these works. I consider this type of “message in art

form” to be fun and also very expressive of the ideas

that are trying to be communicated. Graffiti art should

be fun and passionate, in a way that when its seen on

the streets it can have some sort of powerful effect on

people and they can gather emotions from the artwork.

When more works like these with the Lego Man for

instance are created, Graffiti will one day be more

socially accepted and will be appreciated instead

of scorned.

In the mean time these works can still have an influence

on all people in society, where they can view the works

and think about the issues they are faced with. As the

Lego man is a child’s toy character, this can be viewed

as an image of the future. For example a mother could

look at it and think about the issue and relate it to her

child. Would she want her child to be brought up into

these issues or would she want them to be taught the

right way and let her children know right from wrong.

These are the types of communication techniques that

have been utilized well to express the thought.

References:

Pulp Factor (2010) Retrieved May 25, 2010, from http://pulpfactor.com

/art/3156/lego-street-art/

Miss Misery

Tanya Thompson, otherwise known as Miss Misery is

an Australian born New Zealander who is one of few

female artists dedicated to street art and graffiti in New

Zealand. Miss Misery was obsessed with art through

her school years and this is where she began creating

the characters that would develop into the twisted

fantasy world that she is now known for. Over time she

had become very successful in her work and has later

pushed herself into broader areas such as fashion and

pop culture.

Miss Misery’s works are another type of graffiti

portraiture in a way, where she paints portraits of

characters who are usually adorable, horrible, bloodthirsty

and cute. She the sets the character in a type of fantasy

scene and relates the characters surroundings to its

personality. Her works are slightly different to the usual

graffiti art as most of the characters outlines are painted

with brushes and are filled with the spray painted,

airbrushed effect.

I enjoy the fact that when you look at some of her works

you can get a “vibe” from the characters, as if you can

sense an emotion that they are feeling. This is where

graffiti art can be powerful and this is why Miss

Misery’s works are so successful. Her works are targeted

at a younger audience, although a lot of adults appreciate

her works and can sometimes relate to the characters as

themselves as they reflect human characteristics such as

greed, beauty, selfishness and can also bring out ones

alter ego.

Her works are another example of how Graffiti can be

regarded as a positive artwork and this type of positive

attitude and response could relate to Graham Hoete’s dog

portraiture. These are New Zealand graffiti artists giving

their genre of art a positive and encouraging impression on

our society.

References:

Misery (2009) Retrieved May 25, 2010, from http://www.misery.com/

Doggy Style - Graham Hoete

Graham Hoete who goes by the name Mr.G is a

street Graffiti artist based in Papamoa Tauranga.

Graham recently appeared on TV3 news as a

special on his new form of spray painting. Graham

is painting dog portraits and he aims to paint 100

dogs by the end of this year. The main reason

he’s chosen to do this form of spray painting is to

change peoples view on what he does as an artist

and shift peoples perceptions of Graffiti art in

general. This is why he labels his work Aerosol

Fine art instead of just Graffiti.

Graffiti art is usually looked apon as being a

negative and almost criminal action as a lot of the

artworks started out as vandalism and most of the

“tagging” done is used as gang territory markings

which results in more gang violence. This has a

very discouraging reflection on our society as New

Zealanders who display the stereotype of having a

friendly and warm hearted approach.

When the Graffiti art is made in a positive manner

the artwork can often depict emotions in the viewer

and this is what Graham Hoete is striving for in his

dog portraits. He wants people to look at his works

and say “wow, how did you do that with a spray

can?”. Graham has accomplished this technique

and proven he can with one of his first portraits

for a man named Greg Clarke who lost his dog to

possum hunters. Graham spray painted a portrait of

Greg’s dog Cruz and the emotions that came across

when Greg and his wife saw the artwork of their

dog almost brought them to tears.

I feel that in the graffiti art world more of these

types of works should be produced, where the art

has meaning and portrays an emotion. This way

when the public views graffiti art, they can gather a

different prospective on what it really is. Instead of

observing the art with such deep pessimism. Street

art and Graffiti should not only be able to target

the urban and street culture society in a positive

outlook but it should be able to have an effect on

everyone as an individual in that regard as well.

Watch the 3News Interview at:

http://www.3news.co.nz/Tauranga-man-aims-

to-spraypaint-100-dog-portraits/tabid/551/articleID/157152/Default.aspx

References:

3News (2010) Retrieved May 24, 2010, from http://www.3news.

co.nz/Tauranga-man-aims-to-spraypaint-100-dog-portraits/tabid/551/articleID/157152/Default.aspx

Painting with Light! - LichtFaktor

Lichtfaktor is a group of German guys who,

using glow-sticks, flashlights, reflectors and

even fireworks, create expressive Graffiti and

other imagery using light photography on slow

exposure. Lichtfaktor is different to other Graffiti

artists and taggers who tag almost everything,

some even thought to be impossible without

getting caught, in the way that what they do as an

artwork is not illegal, they don’t use paint as their

medium.

When Lichtfaktor create an artwork,

they integrate the entire space used to produce the

work in, to make it part of the work as a whole

and not just as a backdrop for the focal part of the

image. Other graffiti artists have argued that this

type of work is not classed as graffiti but if you

take a look at the artworks done by Lichtfaktor,

you can clearly see that even though its made

with light, it is a form of graffiti.

The fact that Lichtfaktor creates artworks

everywhere and anywhere definitely shows

that the opportunities for design are limitless.

This form of art can not only be seen as graffiti,

it can be used to create a number of effects

for magazine layouts, poster design or even

television and film. I feel that this type of graffiti

could be almost an evolution from the traditional

painted method. Its a futuristic medium of art

which blends well with todays generation and

fits into modern and contemporary design by its

abstract and unique form of creation.

References:

LichtFaktor. (2007). Retrieved May 24, 2010,

from http://www.lichtfaktor.eu/blog/?page_id=4

LichtFaktor (2007) Retrieved May 24, 2010,

from http://www.lichtfaktor.eu/blog/?page_id=3

YouTube (2007) Retrieved May 24, 2010, from

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlWnpz0Di90