Saturday 24 August 2013

Shandon Street Festival

There is a great mural painted along the east side of Shandon Street. It was sponsored by the Shandon Street Business Association (SSBA) and the Shandon Area Renewal Association (SARA). I'm not sure who actually painted the work, however...

It shows a festival in full swing all around the Shandon area. it's a lovely lively piece with lots of nice touches, like clowns, the Butter Exchange Band and the Shandon Dragon!

FYI, the Shandon Street Festival takes place in June, while the Dragon of Shandon street parade takes place the night of 31 October.

I took all the below photographs in July 2012....



The piece is so big I had to photograph it in two pieces. This is the left side....



And this is the right side....



And here are some lovely details...


















Here are the links for the Shandon Street Festival and the Dragon of Shandon Parade:
http://www.shandonstreetfestival.com/
http://www.dragonofshandon.com/about.html

Here's a link to the Facebook page of the Cork Community Art Link. It has some photos of the festival and dragon and other area events:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cork-Community-Art-Link/189692277413#!/pages/Cork-Community-Art-Link/189692277413







Thursday 15 August 2013

Lil' Holly

Psychonautes has painted a really lovely piece on a wall tucked away in Coburg Lane, next to the Flava Floors hip hop dance studio.

It's called "Lil' Holly" and shows a young girl gazing back at us from the wall. I think the piece was painted as part of the Live Styles hip hop festival back in June 2012. I photographed the piece a few months later in October 2012. The "Hello" name tag was done by Dusto.









Here are some links to other photos of this piece on Psychonautes' own Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/psychonautes/7157056897/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/psychonautes/7157051663/in/photostream/

Tuesday 13 August 2013

Mario's Cork Walkabout

Following on from my last post, I'll continue in the admitedly rather narrow theme of "computer game characters running or walking across a wall" graffiti in Cork....

Today's piece is by Starman Super. It depicts Mario, a famous character seen in many Nintendo games like "Donkey Kong" and "Super Mario Brothers". I found and photographed this piece on Henry Street in July 2012.







Here is a link to Starman Super's own photo of this on Flickr, showing the entire piece before it was damaged by the elements:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68295577@N02/6267254071/

Also, if you are into Mario, or at least into somewhat silly camera reviews, here's a link to Kai Wong's review of the luscious Fuji X-E1 camera on Digitalrev TV. It features a model running around Hong Kong dressed up as Mario. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5HOpyQErYg

Wednesday 7 August 2013

The Urban Spaceman, Baby

The Mardyke Walk area has a number of cool, computer-game themed bits of graffiti on its walls. Today's post is one of the more charming pieces, some tense-looking spaceman figures running across a few bricks along the Walk.

Thanks to Psychonautes and Flickr, I know these figures are by Starman Super and they depict "Megaman" running. Cool....

I took these photos in September 2012.













Here is a link to Starman Super's Flickr page, where he has a photo of the above piece taken before it got damaged:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68295577@N02/7101613419/

And, just in case you are interested, here is a link to a performance of the song "I'm The Urban Spaceman" by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, circa 1968.... Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbLDI5lNdRQ

Tuesday 30 July 2013

The Writing on the Walls

Most of my posts so far have been about pictures of one kind or another, or even words turned into pictures, painted around the streets of Cork. So this time, I thought I might share the various words of wisdom (or otherwise) that I've found written up around the city.

These kinds of pieces can provide surprisingly decent food for thought at times, as one is strolling down the street to the shop or pub or wherever....

For instance, I photographed this contribution at Grenville Place in July 2012....

"Man is not stupid or intelligent - He is Free of not!!!!!" 


I found the following written on the side of a bank at Parnell Place in June 2012. I think the way this word is scratched in black onto a dull grey wall of stone is somehow evocative of these recessionary times....

"RECESSION!"


I found this one written on the front wall of the Kino Cinema - sadly derelict at the time - in July 2012....

"ZEITGEIST - AFRAID OF D TRUTH"


I found this on Wellington Road in August 2012, obviously a comment on the ESM, or European Stability Mechanism, which was approved in Ireland by a referendum at the end of May 2012...

"EUROPEAN STUPIDITY MECHANISM - YES"


I took this picture of a "ballot bin" at St. Patrick's Place in July 2012....

"LITTER BALLOT BOX"


These are some contributions I found on walls around Sullivan's Quay in June 2012....

"Are you living or just existing? turn off the t.v., put away the
internet, travel, rediscover what's important, open your heart,
face your fears, when you suffer, suffer, slow down, talk to
old people, (especially old nuns). Don't be a living ghost!!!"   


"WATCHING T.V. CAUSES CANCER"
 

"I WONDER WHY CAVEVEMEN DID THIS?" 
 

"THE BEGINNING OF THE END"


I found this one off the White Street car park in August 2012.

"I will never forget, I will never regret, I will live my life"


I found these last two items on Richmond Hill in September 2012.
 
"RELIGION IS FOR OLD PEOPLE ONLY"


"AS the ASS FALLS OUT OF WOURLD CAPITALISM
SICK PEOPLE PAINT LIKE MAD" 

Wednesday 17 July 2013

Biting the Apple

I found an interesting sticker on Lavitt's Quay, near the Cork Opera House, in September 2012.

In the shot I took below, the sticker is small and hard to make out, but it is the third one down along the side of the metal junction box.





It seems to be a modern, sci-fi, take on the old tale of Adam, Eve and the apple from the Tree of Knowledge.... It makes me think of similar sci-fi "awakening" stories, like The Matrix or the Sonmi-451 story thread in Cloud Atlas....

I just hope the apple really is an apple and not Soylent Green.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsVQPsiwkBI

The letters "CCI" are visible next to the barcodes on the leg and arm of the two figures. Perhaps this is the artist?

Googling about very quickly, it looks like there is a graffiti artist from Australia that uses that name:
http://www.vandalsquad.com/artistView.php?artist_id=474328&view=profile

Monday 15 July 2013

Distracted by Abstracts

Last year, some charming abstract drawings began popping up here and there around Cork. The first I found was this one, at the bus stop on Summerhill North. I took these three photos of the piece in August 2012.



At first, the drawing might seem like a doodle, but as you look closer, you can see the colourful, intricate patterns woven by the artist's... well, I'm not sure what... paint pens?





I found a goodly number of these pieces around the city. Most of what I found I can share with you here, but sadly there were two at least - on Sullivan's Quay and on Half Moon Street, behind the Cork Opera House - that were too badly eroded to be worth photographing.

Here is a piece that was drawn on an old, torn poster on Wellington Road. These two photos were also taken by me in August 2012.





Initially, I thought these pieces were just abstract works, pure and simple. But, as I've examined them, I've realised that they actually seem to be words drawn in a very stylised, abstract way, rather like more traditional "wildstyle" graffiti executed in miniature.... These pieces are all on the small side.

This piece is a good example; it looks like a word of some kind. It appeared on Wellington Road at about the same time as the one above. This one was quite small, drawn (in chalk?) on a sign board at the market across from the Glenvera Hotel. I took these two photos in August 2012.





Here is another Wellington Road piece, this time drawn on the side of a portable steel shed. These four photos were taken by me in August 2012.









I found this piece drawn on a wall in the lane the runs between the White Street car park and Sawmill Street. I took these three photos in August 2012.







I found this piece drawn on a wall along Parnell Place. I took these three photos in September 2012.







This piece was drawn on a wall near St. Mary's Church on Pope's Quay. These three photos were also taken by me in September 2012.







This piece was also located on Pope's Quay, drawn on a door a bit further down from the previous one. I took these two photos in September 2012.





I found and photographed this piece in October 2012. In this case, it looks like I found the piece a bit late, after it had eroded and a lot of the colour had faded.... Pity.



So who is the artist? I have no idea, of course. In fact, I am only assuming these were all drawn by the same person. But the method and technique seems to be consistent across all the pieces... Maybe someone out there knows?