Description
GRAFFEST – The international Graffiti Festival
It is the first stage of the project which intends to show the confrontation of different artistic attitudes deeply rooted in the culture of graffiti. The project is an outcome of co-operation between the Institute of Art called ‘Wyspa’ located in the old areas of Gdańsk Shipyard and a group of young artists, organizers of culture activities and art curators from Tri-city. The festival consists of three major elements plus accompanying events. The major project includes the ‘Islandea’ exhibition, graffiti jam and music concerts. Whereas, the additional events are film screenings and laser tagging.
„Islandea” – the virtual exhibition.
‘Islandea’ is a virtual exhibition which will be created in a virtual space based on a specifically prepared website platform. The invited artists will be creating in the Institute of Art, whose inside will serve as a workshop, but at the same time the results of their work will be presented in the virtual equivalent of the Institute accessible to all the spectators all over the world. The Institute of art ‘Wyspa’ located in the postindustrial areas of old Gdańsk Shipyard will become a walled-in creative space for the international team of artists, creating pictures, audio installations or geometrical constructions. Gathering people in a closed space may lead to a creation of common platform for brainstorms, sharing each other’s views or co-operative realizations in different fields, like for example audio and video. By the means of putting the architectural structure of ‘Wyspa’ into a virtual space and shaping within it a common ground for presentation, ideas, works and views exchange it becomes accessible for everyone in modern global village. That is why the next step will be to create a mobile virtual gallery, which could be presented in various spots in Gdańsk by using the internet connection. The people invited to this undertaking are very experienced artists whose works of art are recognized and appreciated by numerous and various art galleries around the world. Graffiti is a living modern street art, which is not restricted only to the written form. ‘Islandea’ exhibition aims to present diverse artistic forms taken from graffiti, transformed and expressed by artists themselves, shown as special sorts of media like audio-video installations, sculptures, mural art and performance. The presence of international artists will create the chance to build new contexts and perspectives.
Among them there will be: Point (Czech Republic), ViaGrafik (Germany), Finsta & Leo (Sweden), Os Gemeos (Brazil), Nunca (Brazil), Blu (Italy), Zedz (Netherlands), Esher (Germany), Zaciem (Russia), Interesni Kazki (Ukraine) and Van Laak (Germany).
Plus the Polish artists:
Lowbudget, Hijack, Wiur, Foxy and Hexanoise.
Graffiti-jam.
Jam which means open air painting created live intends to revitalize the surroundings by presenting a coherent painted conception. The action will take place on the wall separating the old shipyard areas from the city centre. The exhibition will be created by many Polish and foreign artists , so that lots of different artistic attitudes are going to confront. The result will be a common picture which will become a component of postindustrial surrounding of Gdańsk Shipyard. The guests invited to this undertaking are not only Polish but also various international artists which allows to present the variety of artistic styles.
Promised to pay us a visit:
Cakes, Os Gemeos, Nunca, Finsta, Zbir, Pleks, Dair, Erlking, Looney, Xman, Djmb, Special, Dims, Blekod, Rois, Wiur, Foxy, Riam, Clide, Erdol, Jork, Obie, Pine, Fire, Limps, Slash, Roxed, Fatsy, Onlymembers,Tonik, Chink, Roen, Temps, Regie, Road, Proch, Rdza, Ekin, Egon, Serc, Peche, Inwazja, Lowbudget and many more…
Music Scene
One of the elements which will sum up every day are going to be concerts organized in Modelarnia in the Institute of Art ‘Wyspa’ in Gdańsk. The musicians who are invited play and experiment with diverse music trends.
The concerts will complement the visual part of the festival.
The invited musicians are:
Dj Food, Mike Slott, Bullion, Lukid, Rekordah, Paul White, Vex’D, who co-operate with record labels such as Ninja Tune and Planet Mu.
Video Block
The accompanying event for Graffest Festival will be a two-day video block during which documentary films will be presented, showing the art of graffiti in a completely new and fresh light. This kind of expressing modern street art becomes more and more popular and appreciated being at the same time present among various museum and gallery rooms.
"We come at night" 30' - A film documentary by Volker Sattel and Mario Mentrup about the Outsides project initiated by Red Bull. A cunning group of street artists is appropriating public spaces with astonishing artistic interventions. We Come at Night introduces the work of thirteen street artists whose artistic interventions are not only aesthetically motivated but also function as razor-sharp social, political and ironic commentary on its surroundings. Featured artists include Akim One Machine, Blu, Brom, Dr. Innocent, JR, Kami & Sasu, Mare 139, Mr. Horse, Nina, Nixfitti, Os Gemeos, Zasd and Zevs. DVD is a part of the book with the same title.
"Metagraffiti" 120' - Metagraffiti consists of short films about and featuring graffiti. Humour and playfulness are in focus. These are neither ation-packed videogames nor pedagogical documentaries. These are films by people close to graffiti culture. Editor Tobias Barenthin Linblad has compiled more than 20 short films from all over the world. With a running time of over 120 minutes Meta Graffiti is a vibrant testimony of the development of today’s graffiti art. Metagraffiti does not explain the aesthetic of graffiti. The esthetic tells a story rather than being shown for its own sake.
""Art of Incosequence - Advanced Vandalism" 70' -With its rebirth in contemporary pop culture as an appreciated, embraced and oft-utilized art form with a seemingly ever-growing body of practitioners and adherents, how can graffiti escape the known trappings of widespread acceptance, avoid becoming awash with clichéd forms? How can it dodge stagnation as it has authority for so long? Art in Consequence offers some answers to those very questions and hints at what the future of graffiti may bring. The book and DVD take the reader on a trip to selected scenes where beauty and absurdity meet, documenting actions where some of those very answers are manifested in the form of shapes and colors, signs and wonders, all forged out of necessity by their creators.
Lecture by Robert Kaltenhaeuser
"Moebius 17" 110' - Two writers are bombing a train. Eventually, drawing the highlights, they are suprised by the security staff. They are being chased but finally manage to escape. One of the two writers, starred by Johannes Benecke, decides not to give up until he gets "a fuckin' picture of his fuckin' train". Trying to get a picture of his rolling canvas, he has to face a labyrinth of subway lines crossing each other, connections, quotations, fantastic observations, and paradoxical indications. However, Train No. 17 is missing inside the underground system. The current Moebius conspirancy started in 1997, when Frank Lämmer watched the Argentinian adaption of the story.
Laser Tagging
Another undertaking is a ‘laser tag action’. Laser tags are luminous inscriptions made with a use of a laser and a projector thrown onto the walls and facades of the chosen buildings in the Gdańsk Shipyard area.