Art musts of the week: 4 - 10 May 2015

KATSU, a well-known graffiti artist and vandal, used a hacked Phantom drone to paint a giant red scribble across Kendall Jenner’s face on one of New York City’s largest and most viewed billboards. By all accounts, it is the first time that a drone has been deployed for a major act of public vandalism. As the domestic drone industry grows feverishly, and multicopters like DJI’s Phantom become cheaper and more powerful, artists have been eager to experiment with the technology. It was only a matter of time, then, that people would figure out that the drone has enormous potential for subversive acts on the streets, where defying the laws of gravity is the whole point. 

http://www.wired.com/2015/04/age-drone-vandalism-begins-epic-nyc-tag/

Director Jeff Durkin shot a beautiful film where street art, creativity and political warfare meet. The story starts on the Burma border at a refugee school where they are teaching that street art is a good way to fight political warfare. This documentary shows the struggles in Myanmar and how students learn how to use stencils and spray paint and become an international symbol of revolution, artist Shepard Fairey tells us how art and creativity can be used as a weapon.

Launched in June 2014, the street art database features roughly 260 virtual exhibits from 34 countries where you can browse art or hear guided tours. More than 50 organizations partnered on the project, southern California contributors being Wende Museum in Culver City, Pasadena Museum of California Art and the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles.

Offering the best the street art world has to offer, the Google collection is an obvious boon for fans of the medium and benefits artists by giving them worldwide exposure. But cataloging, quantifying and curating run contrary to the street art ethos adhered to by artists whose ephemeral messages admonish and amuse people around the world.