Skip navigation

One of our more substantial projects will be the installation of walls. We hope to make these a form of interactive street art by allowing people to add to the walls using chalk. We plan to spray paint repetitions of the fragmented phrases mentioned in our “Brainstorming” post  and have people fill in the blanks with their own ideas. Each wall would have room for 2-4 phrases. We may also use some walls to put up stay paint art.

We searched around campus and found four possible locations for walls. Two locations we found are near Driscoll. The first is next the the back entrance of prospect and the second is on the landing of the stairs leading to the front door of Driscoll.

Prospect Wall (8 x 7 ft)

Prospect Wall (8 x 7 ft)

 

Driscoll (8x7 ft)

Driscoll (8×7 ft

 

The third and forth locations are on either side of Paresky.

Paresky 1 (6 x 7ft)

Paresky 1 (6 x 7ft)

Paresky 2 (6 x 7ft)

Paresky 2 (6 x 7ft)

We also found a location on the side of Chapin where we may want to display a painting of some sort. We do not however think it would be the best location for an interactive instillation as it may be a bit too central of a location (we are hoping to put our interactive installations in locations that get a lot of foot traffic but that are not quite so blatant).

We may want to either construct a third wall at this location or just hang a piece of paper we paint on this wall using some adhesive.

We may want to either construct a third wall at this location or just hang a piece of paper we paint on this wall using some adhesive. 

The materials we have consulted to learn more about the history of street art have all stressed the importance of tags. Early New York graffiti artists gained notoriety and fame by spray painting their tags (which frequently consisted of their artist name and the street they lived on) around city. As time went on, tags became more and more stylized and complex, taking on different styles like wildstyle and stenciled styles that have become common on the streets of many cities today. Nowadays, the identity of many popular street artists frequently entirely consists of their tag.

Here at Williams, facilities doesn’t exactly support the idea of students exploring the traditional style of spray paint tagging around campus. However, all great street artists seem to have some sort of tag and we wanted to create some symbol we could spread all over campus to leave our mark. After much brainstorming, we finally created our tag(s).

We cut plastic table cloth into little strips that resemble tag sale tags and shirt tags and wrote "Tag" on each one in permanent marker.

We cut plastic table cloth into little strips that resemble tag sale tags and shirt tags and wrote “Tag” on each one in permanent marker.

We wrapped lengths of duct tape around the sharpies so that we can always have a supply ready when we feel the need to tag. We have been carrying these tags around with us everywhere we go and have been duct taping them to many surfaces around campus.

genimage\genimage-1 genimage-4 genimage-6 genimage-9

 

Some ideas we have thrown around:

 

– Create a fake wall somewhere on campus that is painted with chalkboard paint so that it can be written on with chalk. Permanently paint the first part of several sentences (maybe song lyrics) on the wall. Leave chalk for others to fill in the blanks.

Sentences for this could include:

Everyday you must… It is very important to.. If I weren’t here I’d be… I’m not your… I hope you… My hips don’t… I came in like a… Oops I… Listen to your… Thats not my… and many others.

 

-Create a bench with butt marks on it placed both in the positions where strangers would sit and the positions where friends would sit (far away from each other on the bench and close together). Write something on the bench or near it that instructs sitters to sit with someone there until they share the friend butt marks with the bench…or something to that effect…

 

-Create a “Ground is Lava” game somewhere on campus by coloring with chalk (perhaps on a crosswalk). Write that the ground is lava. See if people play.

 

-Cut a sheet into small strips and write “tag” on each one. Tape many tags to things all around campus.

 

-Create stickers that say “New Congo Bars” and that resemble the congo bar labels in the dining halls. Stick to things that are not new congo bars.

Last Friday, we decided that it that it was time to try our hand at spray paint and stenciling. With our new found studio space and materials we were excited to see what we could create. Although neither of us has much experience in the arts, we were able to make a decent stencil of a fish using watercolor paper and an Exacto knife and eventually produce something that could be considered a painting.

photo1\

photo4

We first used the acrylic paint and experimented with different brush strokes and colors of paint. We were able to produce some interesting textures using a dry brush on a large piece of paper that we tacked to a board.

photo2

We then opened up the spray paint and had our first experience using a stencil. Our first attempt produced a drippy blob-like fish that we blended into the background. This was because we held the pain too close to the paper and sprayed for too long. However, after a few more tries we got the hang of it.
photo 5

photo 3

 

We also used the spray paint to add some more color and different textures to the painting. We experimented with “misting” the paint from far away as well as with creating lines and drip marks. We quickly learned that spray paint is quite volatile and that we need to come up with a better ventilation system or invest in some sort of mask. Nonetheless, we were able to come out of this experience with a increased understanding of our materials and an interesting piece of “art.”

As a resident of Thompson (more colloquially known as “The T”), I am all too familiar with the long walk home on the sidewalk parallel to park street that I share with all my T, Tyler, and The Anex brethren. While the walk can be beautiful in the day with all the statues and wildlife and passing freshmen to observe, come nighttime it becomes a frightening excursion into the great unknown, with few street lights to brighten the path and more importantly, zero blue lights.

In an effort to raise awareness about the lack of blue lights on this horrifying traverse, we set to the streets, armed with our new chalk, ready to show the world the dangers that could result from this deficiency of security.

We had four, blue-outlined silhouettes in different poses evenly spread down the Park Street sidewalk

We had four, blue-outlined silhouettes in different poses evenly spread down the Park Street sidewalk

In order the create these hopefully crime-scene reminiscent outlines, one of us was required to pose as a dead person on the ground while the other traced around our silhouette in blue chalk. Apparently our acting was fairly accurate, as during our instillation period (which lasted about 10 minutes), four different cars pulled off the road on Park street and drivers came running towards us to make sure that we were Ok. Perhaps Park Street in fact isn’t as dangerous as we perceived it to be.

Audience reactions included attempts to lie in the silhouettes and questions directed to us (by people who know of our 99) about whether or not we were behind their creation.

On Monday we visited the Miller Art Supply store in Pittsfield to buy supplies for our upcoming projects.materials

Our supplies include:

  • spray paint (9 colors)
  • 2 sizes of water color paper for stencil making
  • roll of large paper
  • assorted brushes
  • exacto knives for stencils
  • chalk (48 colors)
  • 5 colors of acrylic paint

We also acquired an awesome studio space in the Spencer Art building, complete with more brushes, paints, tables, and a view!

studio

We hope to use this space to practice using our materials and prepare projects that we will eventually put outside.

 

 

This was in between the lines of a cross walk on fifth avenue.

Found in between the lines of a cross walk on fifth avenue.

Our winter break brought us to NYC, home of some of the world’s greatest street artists and the Museum of Modern Art. We took a visit to the museum for inspiration.

Using handwritten words as overlaid on an image gave this piece an interesting tone we may want to mimic.

Using handwritten words as overlaid on an image gave this piece an interesting tone we may want to mimic.

We discovered several mediums we may want to use in our own pieces.

We may also use this artist's idea of using newspaper as a "canvas" for their painting.

We may also use this artist’s idea of using newspaper as a “canvas” for their painting.

It was great to have the opportunity to observe what other artists have been doing and to gain some inspiration from their works.