Kobe Bryant has visited the Camp Nou in the past, but this weekend in Washington at a charity soccer match, he put on the Blaugrana for the first time that we’ve seen. Still no word on if Kobe will really play in Turkey if the NBA lockout persists. Pictures from Sport.es
What was the inspiration for Wholetrain?
The main inspiration for making Wholetrain was my personal history in graffiti-writing. I started writing in 1984 and have followed the culture ever since. Also, I thought it´s about time to do a decent fictional film since graffiti-writing in most movies is nothing more than a hip urban backdrop or – even worse – romanticized or criminalized.
You worked with some impressive artists and musicians to create the movie, was that difficult to arrange? How did it come together?
The politics behind making Wholetrain were hell. All the officials were scared to support a movie that deals with a still controversial subject like graffiti-writing. Funders didn´t want to back it up, it took us three years to get shooting permission and when the film was finally made, movie theater owners refused to play it because they were scared their theaters might get wrecked.
The collaboration with all the writers and artists involved was great. Some of them are friends from back in the days, people like NEON, CEMNOZ and WON ABC, others I met through them, like PURE TFP from New York.
For the soundtrack I wanted to work with people who have love for graffiti culture or have been active as writers themselves, like for example Tame One of the Artifacts. Other artists I worked with: KRS-One, Planet Asia, Afu-Ra, O.C., Freddie Foxxx, Akrobatik, El Da Sensei, Grand Agent and Reef The Lost Cauze. I produced the beats, sent them the files, the according scene from the film, we recorded and that´s how it all came together.
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God bless the BigMapBlog, who alerted us today that they’ve published yet another interesting historical LA map. This one gives some insight into LA’s rail transport system at the turn of the century. At that point, LA was an underdeveloped but rapidly growing city, and rail was the dominant form of intra-city transportation. The yellow and red lines on the map show the two main competing streetcar systems, Los Angeles Railway (Yellow Cars) and Pacific Electric Railways (Red Cars). At this point, both systems were only 5 years old. The Yellow Cars carried more daily riders, but the Red Cars extended farther from the downtown hub. At the height of the Yellow Car’s operations, the system had 20 streetcar lines and 1,250 trolleys, and served the core of LA in addition to Echo Park, Westlake, Hancock Park, Exposition Park, West Adams, the Crenshaw district, Vernon, Boyle Heights and Lincoln Heights.
To download a massive 14mb image of the map, check out the BigMapBlog’s post, which also contain’s the author’s thoughts on his recent trip to Los Angeles.
Our favorite street photographer, Tom Andrews, was on hand to document some wild times on Hollywood Boulevard last night at the Electric Daisy Carnival movie premiere. Click images for larger versions.
Friday, July 29th 8pm ~ 5113 W. Pico Blvd.
Mid-City Arts in association w/ Montana Cans & 33third LA Present:
Sequestro Express (Kidnap Express)
Mexico City Street Artist
“SANER”
First Los Angeles Exhibition
Curated By Viejas Del Mercado
Mexico City Artist “SANER” brings the Outdoor Public Art Experience into a Private Gallery setting. All Artwork pieces will be given out Free to the Public.
Edgar “Saner” Flores is an urban artist, illustrator and graphic designer. Raised by his parents in Mexico City and surrounded by rich color and tradition, Saner developed an interest in drawing and Mexican muralism early on. He began expressing himself on paper and through graffiti art, later going on to earn a degree in graphic design from the Universidad Autónoma de México. His creations are influenced by Mexican custom and folklore, color, mysticism, masks and skulls. A mix of these lifelong interests and passions has led him to become the artist he is today. Saner’s work has been featured in galleries in Mexico, the United States, London, Berlin and Barcelona. – Kidrobot
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Morono Kiang Gallery ~ 218 West 3rd Street ~ Bradbury Building ~ Los Angeles
OPENING RECEPTION: SATURDAY JULY 23RD, 6 – 9 PM
Beyond Impressions showcases prints as original artworks by both emerging and established artists who employ printmaking among the other mediums and formats that constitute their artistic practice. Etchings, lithographs, woodcuts, linocuts, monoprints, and silkscreens are some of the various types of prints that the artists in the exhibit used as a medium of choice.
