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Street art in its raw essence is all about leaving the individual’s mark in the urban environment and demarcating territory. It serves as a trace of existence, to taunt and humour the public as well as to liberate, by forcing the public to become aware of and interact with the world around them - DH “My intention was simply to speak out through imagery, to address the collective with a commentary on love and hate, life and death. I highlight the finer things in life by covering the walls with images that delight in distracting passers-by from their own concerns.” – Blek
As I started to write this article, I realize how apprehensive I was to discuss it as I am clueless about this art form. Stencil art, street art, graffiti, vandalism – call it what you want, but it remains to be a form of expression, some-
thing many find hard to comprehend these days. The truth is, I have never looked at a stencil and felt that pang of guilt or loss or anger or whatever it is the creator is trying to convey. There are, surely, many reasons for this. Perhaps I am just not creatively inclined, or, maybe the signs and slogans painted in obscure places to promote or support some personal conviction never spoke to me personally. Blek Le Rat. Does that name mean anything to you? Probably not. Those who do will tell you that the man is regarded as the Father of stencil art. He writes on his website (www. bleklerat.free.fr) that: “1981 to 1983 was the beginning of the stencil graffiti art. I had the idea to use stencil to make graffiti for one reason. I did not want to imitate the American graffiti that I had seen in NYC in 1971 during a journey I had done over there. I wanted to have my own style in the street... I began to spray some small rats in the streets of Paris because rats are the only wild living animals in cities and only rats will survive when the human race will have disappeared and died out.“ He is still active today at the age of 47 and now brings his son along on the missions with him. He does amazing work, such as the piece he did on Florence Aubenas, a French journalist from the newspaper “Liberation” who was kidnapped in Iraq on the 5th of January 2005 and released in June. I believe it is safe to say that most stencil artists use him as a motivator and muse. His work is that of tribute and activism, and he has a strong anti-corporate undertone in most of his pieces. Much like many other artists and their pieces, they lure one into wanting to find out more. I found myself becoming more intrigued. 38
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