inactionhero

King of Style C215 - Portrait of Kase2 (1982-2011) by C215 on...

Mon, 28 May 2012 08:03:19 -0400

King of Style

C215 - Portrait of Kase2 (1982-2011) by C215 on Flickr.

Adam Yauch and his daughter, Tenzin Losel. Courtesy of SF...

Wed, 16 May 2012 21:00:29 -0400

Adam Yauch and his daughter, Tenzin Losel.

Courtesy of SF Curatorialist:

RIP MCA

"Lookin’ out at the world through my window pane, Every day has many colors ‘cause the glass is..."

Fri, 04 May 2012 20:51:00 -0400

“Lookin’ out at the world through my window pane, Every day has many colors ‘cause the glass...

Courtesy of The Criterion Collection: Satyajit Ray did this...

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:44:51 -0400

Courtesy of The Criterion Collection:

Satyajit Ray did this drawing of Akira Kurosawa in 1982.

Courtesy of Chris Stain: “If your hands aren’t bleeding, you...

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:27:00 -0400

Courtesy of Chris Stain:

“If your hands aren’t bleeding, you aren’t working hard enough.”

It’s always surreal for me returning to Baltimore mostly because I don’t live there anymore and it’s the city of my youth that has brought me to this current place in my life in more ways than one. Driving in down North Ave passed the Baltimore Cemetery where my grandparents are buried, passed a modicum of boarded up row homes facing the street adorned with the red square and white x on the front door, still standing at attention like soldiers who had not been given a choice. The packed bus pulled in on a desolate Friday night along St Paul. It was warmer than NYC where I had boarded a few hours before, waiting in line on 33^rd St. where the wind whipped mercilessly around the corner of 7^th Ave. Bill picked me up about 10:30 and we headed to the studio to grab 40 cans of black Rusto Gaia had scored for a buck a can. There we ran into Sten and Lex who were sadly being held up on their mural production due to some printing issues. From there we ran off for some falafel and Berger cookies from the University Mart in Charles Village. Finally arriving at the wall off Guilford, I was happy to see Chip Thomas down the other end of the block putting up a piece from a photo he took of a neighborhood resident. The wall, the side of a 2 story row home at the end of the block stood adjacent to an empty parking lot which made it easy to set up the projector. A kind neighbor named Luke let us run an extension chord off his front stoop to light things up and get the image on the wall. He asked about our origins and we talked about Highlandtown and scrubbing marble steps to which he shared, “My grandmother always said, ‘If your hands aren’t bleeding you aren’t working hard enough’.” A car pulled into the lot and a man stepped out and said, “ You guys are cheating using that projector”, to which I replied, “ Yeah. I’m not that good and this is quicker.”

We finally got started about midnight. Open Walls Baltimore provided a 45ft boom lift that just about fit in the narrow alley/street. We loaded the paint and ourselves in, and Bill took the helm. The controls on the rig looked like something from the science center set up for kids to move foam rocks on the faux Mars landscape. We started on the image by going straight to the top of the head of the figure and working our way down and over, and down and over, towards the bottom of the piece. It was a chilly quiet evening save for the annoying beep that the boom produced anytime you moved up and down, or back and forth. I was conscious that the sound might disturb the sleeping neighbors but unfortunately I have to work at night and rain was in the forecast, so we trudged forward. As the boom climbed into the night sky we could see the wall had a beige stucco cement face; a common method used to repair brick walls that is usually cheaper and quicker than fixing it the right way by repointing the mortar. The surface had a medium grit sandpaper like feel, was unprimed after about 8ft from the ground, and sucked up paint like native Baltimorian’s suck up cans of Natty Boh. It was my grandmother’s drink of choice and seemingly her diet after my grandfather passed on. We worked continuously until 4:30 in the morning when we both admitted fatigue. Bill’s place was a short drive from the wall and we quickly collapsed on his couch for an hour of decompressing and thawing out.

The next day we arrived at the wall by noon just as it began to rain but we pushed through and luckily the shower passed. A neighbor stopped by to show his discontent about the mural and was offended that no one requested his opinion for this City sanctioned project and that the lift was blocking the alley. He called the Police and they came by to explain things to the resident who unhappily went back into his house. We finished up around 3:30 just as it began to rain again.

When I paint in public I try to take into consideration the neighborhood and it’s residents. I hope that the work I make fits into the greater scheme of things. Unfortunately you can’t please everyone but several folks who came by were greatful at the end of the day. Although I am honored and thankful to have been apart of the project, my only fear is that this project of several murals going up in Baltimore is the beginning of a move toward gentrification in a neighborhood that simply needs help and not the price of it’s rent and corner stores to rise beyond their financial abilities which in turn would push out it’s already struggling residents.

Chris Stain New Mural In Baltimore

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 12:15:24 -0400

Chris Stain New Mural In Baltimore

F.Stokes: It also leaves room for honesty. For every Bentley...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:19:40 -0400

F.Stokes:

It also leaves room for honesty. For every Bentley that someone sees, there’s going to be some other fans that want to see reality, emotionality.

Hip-Hop’s Internet Problem: An Interview with Madison Rapper F.Stokes

ad x jr x ad by Luna Park on Flickr.

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 22:03:56 -0400

ad x jr x ad by Luna Park on Flickr.

Courtesy of Hey Oscar Wilde: Atticus Finch To Kill a...

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:08:57 -0400

Courtesy of Hey Oscar Wilde:

Atticus Finch

To Kill a Mockingbird illustrated by catherine roach :: via catherineroach

Courtesy of are2: Wonder Street

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 20:37:30 -0400

Courtesy of are2:

Wonder Street

Heartless (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:59:00 -0400

Heartless (Taken with instagram)

Courtesy of This Isn’t Happiness: “I hate the way the...

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 23:14:21 -0400

Courtesy of This Isn’t Happiness:

“I hate the way the human psyche works, the way we are traumatized and stupidly imprinted in early childhood and have to spend the rest of our lives trying to overcome these infantile mental fixations. And we never ever fully succeed in this endeavor.” — R. Crumb

Courtesy of Namarupa: Holi.

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 23:09:31 -0400

Courtesy of Namarupa: Holi.

Courtesy of The Criterion Collection: “My father was a slave,...

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 21:58:00 -0400

Courtesy of The Criterion Collection:

“My father was a slave, and my people died to build this country, and I am going to stay here, and have a part of it just like you. And no Fascist-minded people will drive me from it. Is that clear?”

— Paul Robeson before the House Committee on Un-American Activities on June 12th, 1956.