// September 3rd, 2010 // View Comments // b-loud
We have launched the sexy new {art directors dream}
b-uncut.com. So check it NOW and share the news.
On the site we have a concept show to wet the appetite AND a project space where we have a virtual exhibition. Our project space will grow over time to feature you and celebrate the artists’ unique diversity.
// September 1st, 2010 // View Comments // b-loud
Crowdsourcing art is just what we do. This week we have the wonderful Debra D’Breau to showcase. Her digitally enhanced art is beguilingly brash & bold. Her confidence in lustrous form erupts in a high-octane contrast. Each image whips viewers in the gut and her powerful pictures leave a long-lasting sensory hit. She is a greatly valued artist in our Crowd and always offers positive feedback to many of our emerging artists. To commission art from Debra’s colour brandishing brilliance go here. Otherwise enjoy the interview…
What was your very first artwork?
Doodles of my “Lines” as far back as grade school.
Describe the piece you love the most—why?
“Fallopia” It was part of my theses in college. It took over a hundred hours to complete and I received an A+ for it. The crazy thing is I painted it with my then 6-year-old daughter’s grade school, glitter paints. The one I have posted is not the original.
What are your methods? Your inspirations?
I paint, draw and write, but at this time I am having an epiphany with photography. The world and the people in it are my inspirations.
What did it take to make it to where you are now?
Success, poverty, success, poverty, success, poverty. . .
Do you make a living from your artwork?
My artwork is giving me life.
Who has helped you along the way?
My mother has been my greatest support. She always saw the artist within, but I never dreamed it would ever be a possibility. I was a corporate girl chasing the money and found it didn’t necessarily bring me fulfillment.
What 5 artists (dead or alive) would you invite for the ultimate dinner party?
Ansel Adams, Georgia O’Keeffe, Salvador Dali, Richard Avedon, Francesco Scavullo, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rin. I know I named (6), but I couldn’t choose one to leave out.
Your favourite curse?
A bit embarrassed to say, but it’s “f_ _k!” It’s a word that fits every occasion.
Your biggest (albeit endearing) flaw?
Overly emotional and overly sensitive..
Qualities a man needs to seduce you and the flaws that will repel you? Seduce? He must be a true gentleman. Repel? A man that has no respect for himself.
Your parents advice you should have followed, but didn’t?
You cannot spend $3, when you only have $1.
Your idea of the perfect weekend?
Room 26, in the Victorian House, at the Beachmere Inn in Ogunquit, ME.
Who would you chose to rule the world?
The universe, but it already does so I’m good.
Favourite ice-cream?
Breyers Butter Pecan
Where do you see yourself in…..One month? One Year? One Decade?
I don’t even know where I’ll be tomorrow. Life can change in an instant.
// August 10th, 2010 // View Comments // b-wired
Art is the most subjective thing on the planet so discussing it is vital, and equally pointless! It depends on how passionate you are about any specific work of art. Given you have the opinion and passion, the über intelligent dudes at Digit London have developed a revolutionary way to Crowdsource comments on art. It involves bar codes and smart phones (read more). They started on the street and have now taken the tech indoors.
Surely every gallery needs this; especially the big boys. Tate, Guggenheim & Armoury could all build online communities around the social aspect. It’s gotta be the future for a participatory exhibition experience. Videos, blog posts, photos and online art all use a commenting system. The matrix gets a step closer to our physical world…
// August 5th, 2010 // View Comments // b-street
Sneakers hanging on telephone lines have become an ambiguous urban symbol. They’ve inspired theories both hilarious and sinister from art to drug deals. In an effort to get to the truth once and for all the people of earth were asked to help solve this mystery Crowdsourcing style. Using an on-line call out and a phone message bank, this documentary was made entirely from donated photographs, phoned-in theories, video, vlogs, and animation. How cool is that!
The result of this unique digital collaboration between film makers and the international public is available on DVD now. Visit the Flying Kicks website to buy it. AWESOME! But wait, it doesn’t stop there. Contributions to the mystery are still on demand…SO, if you know anything about the phantom Air Max or ghost of the Reebok Classic get involved!
via Hooked
// August 4th, 2010 // View Comments // b-loud
We are a fairtrade Crowdsourcing art agency. The incredibly talented and experienced DongSheng Guan joined our Crowdsourced art community in March. His latest works took us all by surprise. I’ve never seen pornographic imagery transformed so uniquely. His digitally remastered images play with our notions of reality, toying with our perceptions of graphic and recognisable forms. His new work lures you in and conjures temptations for more. Each distorted picture traps you lusting to know the original image whilst enjoying the vast possibilities. Commission enticing artwork from DongSheng here.
Your first work of art?
Sorry, I cannot exactly answer you, a long time ago, you know, I’ve been engaged in painting for 30 years. The first time I participated in a national exhibition was in 2000; the work was in a realistic style in watercolours.
What is your favourite work of art?
If you mean the world and all works of art, I like too much, if referring to my own, I like the current batch of digital works mine. This is because they are distant reality from our own with strong visual impact and important to me.
Methods and inspiration?
I choose pictures and then use digital technology to transform them until there is the birth of a new image. From reproduction to show, from watercolour to oil painting and then to digital art; I pass a long process and have gradually realized the relationship between technology and art and won my freedom of artistic expression.
What are your artistic aims?
To create desire.
Who has helped you along the way?
Mainly my brother, he graduated from Tsinghua University and then the University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. He opened my eyes to make decisive change.
Where five artists will be invited to the last dinner you?
Van Gogh, Picasso, Dali, Andy Warhol, Beuys
What is your favorite curse?
Fuck
Your biggest (although endearing) flaw?
No artistic talent.
Who would you choose to rule the world?
God’s doing well.
Favourite ice-cream?
With Strawberries
Where do you see yourself in a decade?
After ten years, hoping to travel to Europe, where the best exhibitions are.
// August 3rd, 2010 // View Comments // b-street
A head on hippy crash between guerilla gardening and graffiti is germinating. Yesterday’s graffiti artists purveyed permanent ink & paint and now inventive tagging alternatives such as liquefied mud, moss, recycled fur and plain old pressure washers are being deployed. Anarchistic, artistic, political and egotistical messages are now delivered with no threat of handcuffs or pricey fines.
We use it in the form of a facial mask to draw out impurities from the skin, so it makes perfect sense that watered-down dirt is the ideal foil for artist Jesse Graves’ environmental messages. A coincidence? I think not. However, in true Crowdsourcing fashion, the artist happily dispenses helpful ‘how to’ instructions on his website, which will hopefully get people riled up enough to lobby on behalf of Mother Nature this weekend!
The international artistic collaborative known as Neozoon (a term that references the existence of non-indigenous species) offers interesting food for thought by placing random animal figures throughout the streets of Paris and Berlin wearing assorted recycled fur coats rescued from local thrift stores. The diverse group of artists — who prefer to preserve their anonymity with masks during all public appearances – have proven that their ongoing project is more than just a quirky little pastime. They strategically select the location of all future animal figure installations based on what has happened throughout history, as was the case when they placed recycled fur covered sheep right outside of a former slaughterhouse.
London-based illustrator and graphic designer Anna Garforth propelled herself from paper to three dimensional eco-sculpture by partnering with Elly Stevens in a series of artistic projects that employ sustainable materials, including tree bark, ferns, grass and, most famously, moss. Their collaboration, known as MOSSenger, has yielded beautiful living typography on the front of walls.
Ask anyone the question: “Who started reverse graffiti?” – the term used to identify any city image that is created on walls, streets, sidewalks or objects by removing dirt with fingers, power washers and copious amounts of detergent — and British artist Paul Curtis will be given all the credit. For 10 years, the Soundclash record label head, disc jockey, eco-marketing guru and self-confessed ‘Professor of Dirt’ has devoted his spare time to the fine art of defacing public surfaces with cleansing messages, all of which have culminated in commercial contracts with high profile brands. One of his biggest coups was being commissioned by Green Works cleaning products to create an impressive eco-inspired mural in San Francisco’s Broadway tunnel (documented in the video above).
Inspired by the eco-graffiti trend that has swept the globe, the marketing organization CURB earns their bread and butter by pimping out Momma Nature on behalf of some of the most notable consumer brands and organizations using nothing more than creativity and artfully arranged snow, sand, grass, dirt, water, and even glow in the dark bacteria. CURB dabbles in so many intriguing biodegradable and zero-impact mediums that it’s hard not to give them credit.
Working as a reverse graffiti team along the lines of master artist Paul Curtis, several Durban, South Africa schoolmates – including Martin Pace, Stathi Kongianos, JP Jordaan and Nick Ferreira – launched their artistic project by hand scrubbing a visual timeline of their town’s architecture into a pollution covered 17 meter tall concrete freeway wall in Essex Terrace using nothing more than a hardware store-purchased metal brush. With accolades and widespread public appreciation, they moved on to bigger and better projects reflecting more organic scenes such as a school of sardines swimming across a city bridge as well as a stylistic forest that resembles that of a solar print.
Formed 5 years ago, the Graffiti Research Lab — the brainchild of robotics engineer James Powderly and Parsons School of Design valedictorian Evan Roth – offers a veritable open source toolbox for eco-sensitive activists and graffiti artists to take advantage of. Unlike employing typical earth-bound media such as mud, moss and grass, the duo help the public to communicate their messages thanks to the glorious trinity of computers, video cameras and lights which work in tandem to project images on whatever formerly unreachable surfaces might tickle one’s fancy. The result is visually arresting, particularly when New York City’s Brooklyn Bridge or Italy’s Roman Coliseum are used as canvases, enabling those who have a thing or two on their minds to say it in grand style without damaging a single blade of grass…or their law-abiding reputation.
Easily able to pull her weight with the best of ‘em, Hungarian-born Edina Tokodi – whose stomping grounds are now in the heart of Brooklyn, New York – is a green graffiti artiste extraordinaire who focuses specifically on bringing “nature closer to city dwellers” through the installation of socially relevant images that trigger environmental appreciation.
Skulls don’t seem like particularly green subject matter to focus on, but when they’re etched into the inner tunnel of a highly trafficked area via the grand reverse graffiti tradition, they instantly trigger an ‘ah-ha’ moment. They no longer represent trendy, cliché imagery — instead, they serve as a blatant reminder that the toxic pollution released from the hundreds of thousands of vehicles that commute back and forth on a daily basis have left a tangible mark…not just on our physical structures, but also in the air we breathe and in the environment that is supposed to sustain us. Brazilian graffiti artist Alexandre Orion – who in 2007 transformed Sao Paolo’s Max Feffer Tunnel into an outstandingly impactful verdict on our passive pollution oblivion – fortunately had his project filmed before the city washed away all traces of its existence.
Vinchen has earned a reputation on par with Banksy as one to be admired, revered and even emulated…and as his website appropriately asks, “What have you done to change the world lately?” One look at his collection of visually arresting images and you’re immediately struck with the sense that the Ohio artist really means business. His varied and judiciously delivered messages comment on everything from bureaucratic nonsense and chronic hyper-consumerism to social classes and the state of the environment. Of his most clever imagery, Vinchen’s simply named “Ivy” – located on Columbus, Ohio’s High Street – uses a crowning glory of plant life as the perfect accent to a grinning face peering from beneath. On the flip side, his depiction of two innocent Bambi-like fawns nonchalantly nibbling on a radioactive flower cause one to exhale a heavy sigh, knowing full well that there’s more truth in it than we’d like to admit.
via WebEcoist
// July 14th, 2010 // View Comments // b-loud
Yes she is, Szilvi Mucsy lives by photography. She joined our art community in February and has been a wonderful part of our crowd. Szilvi’s photography celebrates the world around her. The captivating colours and strikingly humble scenes have been exhibited many times in Hungary and she is now looking at galleries further afield. See out some of her engrossing work below and get to know the artist in the interview. You can buy art from Szilvi through our unique commission art system and download her winning iPhone4 wallpaper here.
What was your very first artwork?
It was an interior of a desolate factory building, where the incoming light crossed the pipelines.
Describe the piece you love the most—why?
It was shot in Kefalonia, Greece. I spent a wonderful time there. It was a beautiful morning and the ray of sun lighted the dew and contrast of the hills, and there was an interesting building also, and a man walking, so I just had to wait the right moment.
What are your methods? Your inspirations?
The magic of life in the everyday moments. Maybe it sounds pathetic… I can be inspired by contrasts, extreme places, where different cultures meet, everyday situations, landscapes.
I like the symmetry and asymmetry, to show perspectives and the black and white material.
What did it take to make it to where you are now?
Addicted to photography. Photography is a part of my identity, I feel meaningless if I can’t do it.
Do you make a living from your artwork?
I try. I teach art photography. I’d like to sell my works or exhibit them outside of Hungary where I’ve had many exhibitions, but not easy to get connections.
Who has helped you along the way?
My family and people who I don’t know personally, like Paulo Coelho, but helped a lot to be assiduous. I was lucky to meet some great minds; teachers in art universities, mentors who believed in me, and friends who brought treasures into my life.
What 5 artists (dead or alive) would you invite for the ultimate dinner party?
Josef Koudelka, Constantine Manos, Francois Truffaut, Paulo Coelho, Fernando Botero
Your favourite curse?
Hungarian is the most creative language in curses, but my favourite is a not so rude, but more funny Greek one: malaka!
Your biggest (albeit endearing) flaw?
People can take advantage of me.
Qualities a man needs to seduce you and the flaws that will repel you?
Intelligent, sensuality, open-minded, loyalty, humor.
Arrogance, violence, mediocrity, irresponsible.
Your parents advice you should have followed, but didn’t?
I didn’t have an ordinary childhood, but I found the harmony to be with my grandmother she always helped me with good advice that I followed.
Your idea of the perfect weekend?
Drinking frappe in a beach bar near Athens, feel the sea breeze on my skin, going to an island by ferry, swimming, meditating in a monastery, wandering around the landscape and the people, shooting great photos and dancing at night in a beachclub. Or the same in Barcelona with a perfect glass of wine instead of frappe.
Who would you chose to rule the world?
The God, Creator of the Universe
Favourite ice-cream?
Hungarian: Somlói (chocolate, cake, vanilla), Italian: all of them, specially Zuppa Inglese
Where do you see yourself in…..One month?
Just coming back from the wonderful Greek island Corfu, after a great holiday.
One Year?
Galleries in Europe representing my photography.
One Decade?
Living happy with my family and living from my art, exhibiting in galleries in Europe and New York, making new photo books, walking by the seaside, feeling the breeze and enjoying life.
// July 9th, 2010 // View Comments // b-inspired
The more I discover great bloggers, funnily enough, the more I find even more great bloggers. The wealth of content out there never ceases to amaze me. Pioneering crowdsoucing Art 3.0 my cortex appropriates the world through crowdsourcing synapses. In this case I see the modern day blogger, in part, a blogging crowdsourcer; the curator of outstanding blog content; and so I present an art blogger who always picks up awesome threads including this mouth watering piece below. Go visit \\\ and get fed art triple backslash style!
// July 7th, 2010 // View Comments // b-scene, b-wired
So Google follows YouTube in a globally crowdsourced art/people project. Not surprising seeing as they’re one and the same virtual beast these days. Anyhoo it’s still a fun bit of Web 2.0 art to get involved in. A BIG BUT…as Google are the main benefactors from this process, surely rewarding the chosen contributors would complete the karma circle and also fulfil the Web 3.0 paradigm.
Another point to bear in mind: Google’s premise of a “global” view of the world sadly omits at least a sixth of the world’s population….
Sometimes Google takes a break from its mission of ‘organizing all the world’s information’ and decides to embark upon an artsy project that encapsulates…organizing all the world’s information.
Late on Tuesday, the search giant posted an entry to the Official Google Blog announcing the creation of “Life In A Day,” a film project that solicits video submissions from YouTube users around the world–the criteria is that they must capture some kind of moment filmed on July 24.
It’s legit. “Touching The Void” director Kevin Macdonald will edit “the most compelling footage” into a documentary film executive-produced by Ridley Scott of “Blade Runner” and “Gladiator” fame. It will be shown at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, all contributors who make it into the final cut will be credited as “co-directors,” and 20 of them will be invited to the premiere.
But, the Google blog post explains, everyone’s important! “Regardless of whether your footage makes it into the final film, your video(s) will live on on the ‘Life in a Day’ channel as a time capsule that will tell future generations what it was like to be alive on July 24, 2010,” the post by product marketing manager Tim Partridge read.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because the “crowdsourced 24-hour project” is old hat. The Yahoo-owned photo sharing site Flickr amassed user submissions from around the world on May 5, 2007 and eventually put selections into a self-published book. This spring, The New York Times’ photo blog, The Lens, organized a similar project and published the results in a visually stunning infographic–titling it in Times-appropriate fashion, “A Timely Global Mosaic, Created By All Of Us.” To Google’s (and Ridley Scott’s) credit, this time it’s actually on film as opposed to in the form of a gigantic photo collection.
It’s also part of Google’s ongoing appeal to the independent and amateur filmmaking community. Last year, it used the Sundance Film Festival as the kickoff event for its fledgling movie rental service, and continues to court industry professionals who may otherwise have been under the impression that YouTube is best for grainy videos of cats chasing laser pointers.
via c-net
// June 24th, 2010 // View Comments // b-Crowd, b-wired
Many art projects have found their inspiration from the spirit of social media and crowdsourcing (just see this post). Crowdsourced web 2.0 works of art have now been created cross-borders, cultures and genres. But what’s next for this wikolution? Our leap from web 2.0 —-> 3.0 is the translation from fun & novel projects —-> harnessing and monetising this effective & efficient social production. Welcome to b-uncut; the art agent 3.0. Mobilising all the power and beauty of the art collective 2.0, b-uncut has been forming the most comprehensive art agency the world has ever known.
Over 1800 artists with diverse skills are available NOW to produce the next Le Mans BMW or Louis Vuitton sculpture. Our crowd is a wealth of experience and international diversity enabling access to creative experts for any large-scale project. Original, authentic and cost-effective painting, sculpture and photography have never been so easy to source for commercial projects. And never from one source. As demand for creative guidance grows in a market thirsty for fresh thinking; we also deliver these previously hard-to-source services.
Enjoying, developing and engaging as a social art collective giant has already proven valuable to all our crowd. We are channelling their incredible skills for a business market that edges more and more creative by the paint drop. The CEO’s definition is shifting; the label innovation is being dropped for creativity. A recent IBM study found students and CEOs both believe creativity is the most important emerging competency of future leaders. That said welcome to the one stop creative powerhouse blur Group!
b-uncut is a Creative Services Exchange where businesses and brands source original art and photography for campaigns and projects from a Crowd of talented and professional artists, illustrators and photographers. Join major brands from across the world who have submitted briefs with us.
