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BOOK A STREET ARTIST MAGAZINE ISSUE 4 / OCTOBER 2014

CULTURAL INTERVENTION SPACE • GALLERY • COWORKING • ATELIERS MEETING ROOM • EVENTS ROOM • YOGA • WORKSHOPS • ARTIST RESIDENCIES

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constructing worlds

photography and architecture in the modern age

a journey through 20th and 21st century architecture by eighteen exceptional international photographers

25 sep 2014 â€” 11 jan 2015

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Iwan Baan, Torre David, 2011 (middle, detail) ÂŠ Iwan Bann. Courtesy of the artist and Perry Rubenstein Gallery, Los Angeles

BOOK A STREET ARTIST MAGAZINE ISSUE 4 / OCTOBER 2014 EDITORS IN CHIEF Guille Lasarte & Charlotte Specht guille@pantamagazine.com charlotte@bookastreetartist.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Guille Lasarte MARKETING DIRECTOR Mario Rueda mario@bookastreetartist.com CONTRIBUTORS Abby Martin, Janielle Williams, Moose, Leandro Bustamante, Francisco Oliva-Velez, Simon De Los Rios, Scott Rothstein, Saner, David Drake, Thomas von Wittich, Laura Colomé, Mark Rigney, JOS*, Andrew Meredith, Emily Randall, Enzo Buono, Francois Viguié SPECIAL THANKS TO David Stiehl, Vermibus, José Carvalho, Quideia, Mar Canet & Varvara Guljajeva www.pantamagazine.com panta@bookastreetartist.com FOUNDERS OF BOOK A STREET ARTIST Charlotte Specht Mario Rueda www.bookastreetartist.com

Cover: art by Saner / photo by Elsa Reza

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS PANTA started out as a playful endeavor, and continues to be so, but throughout the past year we have fallen in love with making this magazine. To us at PANTA, it’s about being out there to engage and contribute to the conversation. The conversation that is the flow of ideas, the thoughts, the debates, the feelings, the theories, the beliefs, the concepts and the form that it all takes on the pages of this magazine. We want to play a role in independent magazine-making to help steer media away from the cosmetics that you don’t need and the celebrity gossip that will in no way make your life any better. We’re not fooling ourselves into thinking that we are changing the world, but our aim is to deliver stimulating and beautiful content that won’t make you feel inadequate, ugly or insignificant and will instead incite thought and creativity. Once again, we thank our wonderful contributors for making PANTA with us, and we hope to continue to fuel your inspiration and vivify your thoughts. We invite you to feed your soul with art.

ISSUE 4 / CONTENTS

INTERVIEW

Art as Activism Interview by Mario Rueda Art by Abby Martin

ARTIST AND ACTIVIST ABBY MARTIN IS LARGELY RECOGNIZED FOR HER OUTSPOKEN JOURNALISTIC CAREER. CURRENTLY HOST OF RT AMERICA’S “BREAKING THE SET”, ABBY IS ONE-OF-A-KIND WHEN IT COMES TO CRITICIZING THE “CORPOCRATIC” CULTURE WE LIVE IN. WE INTERVIEWED HER TO FIND OUT WHAT ROLE ART PLAYS FOR HER IN CURRENT SOCIETY AND HOW HER VIEW OF THE WORLD IS REFLECTED IN HER WORK. P: Abby, you are described as “vibrant, artistic, and outspoken”. Who is Abigail Suzanne Martin? Tell us about yourself. How did you become a journalist, and when did you become interested in art? A: In college I had a crash course on what US imperialism, militarism and globalization had done to the world over the past century. At that time the Iraq war was being sold to the public, and I became buried in anti-war activism and human rights advocacy. But I still blamed the Bush administration for everything. It wasn’t until I saw how the establishment cooperated across party lines to protect itself did I realize that media censorship is the crux - any message you have, no matter what it is, will never be heard unless you have a platform to tell it. From there I started Media Roots, my citizen journalism project, a hub of underreported information and collective of grassroots journalists, artists and activists to have a voice. My reporting at Occupy Oakland led me to the gig on RT,

where I felt like I could take my vision for Media Roots to an international platform. As a kid, I was obsessed with drawing comics. My grandparents had a ceramic studio in their garage and I have the best memories creating and painting different molds my whole childhood. I always grew up around a lot of art, but I never excelled in any niche. I tried painting as purely a catharsis for the political activism around 18 and kept it as a personal hobby until friends gave me the confidence to start showing it. Your art definitely has a very critical attitude towards politics and current society in general. At the same time it’s somewhat psychedelic. Definitely a very unique style. How did this psychedelic political art style develop? My brother introduced me to DMT when I was younger, which set the stage. Certain psychedelic escapades

ARTISTS CAN RELAY A MESSAGE THAT CROSSES LANGUAGE BARRIERS AND RESONATES WITH PEOPLE WHEREAS WORDS SIMPLY CANNOT.

definitely drove me to recreate those naturescapes and explosive imagery. I also grew up in SF, Berkeley, so being around the residual hippie era resonated with me. For the last decade, I’ve also been working on six collage books that are interactive diaries, so I started to become really good at matching images, colors and themes. It took a while for me to get my groove and technique though, and only in the last few years I became obsessed with collaging. I understand you started with journalism after your boyfriend enlisted in the military after 9/11. Since then you have been “more aware” of what is really going on in the world. You stated that you see art as: “a way to interpret the ugly truths in the world and reflect a better future”. Can you build up on this and explain how you think art can have an impact on changing today’s mentality and society? Nina Simone once said, “It’s an artist’s duty to reflect the times.” Artists have one of the most important tasks. Not only do they breathe life into the banality of society, but they convey culture - good and bad. Artists can relay a message that crosses language barriers and resonates with people whereas words simply cannot. You’re not forcing anything down people’s throats, you’re just making them think. Reflecting the most uncomfortable and darkest of truths in images alone is a powerful and necessary force.

In an interview to Peter Joseph you shared that according to the Center on Budget and Policy, more than 95% of school-aged kids are attending schools that have cut funding in the Arts since the most recent recession. Why do you think this happens in today’s society? Americans are taught that if we work our asses off we can achieve the ‘American Dream’. It’s bullshit. Work has totally consumed us and sucked the souls out of so many who don’t have the time, energy nor capacity to explore and appreciate art. This toxic mentality is reflected in our education system, which is becoming increasingly standardized. When multiple choice tests are the measure of intelligence, it’s squelching the creative half of the brain which could flourish with a little encouragement.

You said: “Language is limiting. Instead art is a window into someone else’s soul, and it’s also a window into your own.” Can you build up on this? My pieces are so intricate and time consuming, the emotional purge that goes into them really does feel like an extension of my soul. And when the viewer is looking, they are also letting their own mind and body reinterpret that image for themselves. Graffiti has always been considered underground but in more recent years, this form of art has become increasingly mainstream. Street art pieces are being sold in private galleries at very high prices, and corporations use street art to promote their brands and products. How can artists and artistic organizations prevent from falling into the trap of

ARTISTS HAVE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TASKS. NOT ONLY DO THEY BREATHE LIFE INTO THE BANALITY OF SOCIETY, BUT THEY CONVEY CULTURE - GOOD AND BAD. You said you’ve heard from many people that they wish they were artistic. It seems that we are conditioned into thinking that we aren’t artistic enough to express our thoughts and feelings via art. Why do you think this happens and how can we change this? Many things, but I think people are overworked and lack time for creativity. Whenever someone tells me they wish they were artistic I ask have you ever tried? Just because you suck at drawing freehand doesn’t mean that you don’t have a knack for charcoal, oil, watercolor, photography, whatever. Art is both seen as a poor and rich man’s hobby. Sure, it’s extremely tough to be a working artist in today’s society, but people also have this perception that you need a lot of time and money to get started, which isn’t true.

corporatization, while still being able to promote their work and live off their art in this system? Times are tough for artists and some of the only options are in advertising or marketing. I don’t blame artists for focusing on what will make them money, but I know a lot of graphic designers who are burnt out and lose the passion to dedicate to their own work. I’m totally turned off by the establishment art world, whether it be generic as fuck art littering high end galleries, just because it’s priced at 25k, Wal-Mart jacking Banksy prints critiquing capitalism with zero irony, or the shitty prints from stock catalogues cycled out at every condominium across the country. If businesses actually harnessed their communities and worked with local artists, it would offer so many more opportunities.

Street artists are most of the time undervalued, treated as vandals or beggars and it’s illegal in most parts of the world. Book a Street Artist and PANTA Magazine aim to revalue street art, while making cities happier and more colorful with public art. What do you think about this? I think it’s a beautiful idea. Every empty wall is an opportunity for an amazing piece of art. Anyone that has been to Valparaiso, Chile knows how magical a city full of murals can be. Can you imagine if more cities allowed such a space? It might make people smile, look up, get inspired and think a lot more. Would you be up for trying out street art and offering your art for free to the public? I painted a mural on the walls of my friend’s shop in San Diego, which was an incredible labor of love. Unfortunately a couple of months later it burned down. I would love the opportunity to do another one outdoors. Can you describe your art piece, “Killing Hope”? My interpretation of Obama’s logo is one where the stripes are spilling into a deep pool of blood, representing the carnage from his administration’s perpetuation of horrendous Bush-era policies like drones, indefinite detention and spying. It also symbolizes the death of the false “hope” that Obama’s campaign galvanized. But after years of disappointment, people are finally waking up to the fact that change won’t ever come through a top-down corporate marketing campaign financed by corrupt banks and bloodthirsty military contractors. ◆

Killing Hope

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ILLUSTRATION

LA MO DER NI DAD Graphic series based on the song ConstruĂ§ĂŁo by Chico Buarque

Illustrations by Leandro Bustamante Leandro Bustamante (LeA) was born in 1988 in Montevideo, Uruguay. As an industrial designer and illustrator, he has been developing work in the area of editorial illustration working for magazines, newspapers and book publishers, both local and international. In his work, he uses different materials ranging from pens, markers, ink and acrylic paint, as well as vector drawing software and bitmap. His style varies from geometric polygons to outlined single figures highlighting the rusticity, stains or errors that arise naturally in each piece. www.leandrobustamante.com

Wynw A DANCING PANDA A STORM-TROOPER DJ A TEENAGE BREAK-DANCER A GIANT NEON LADYBUG A FERRARI

I 2

t’s 9pm on a Saturday, and I’m standing in the middle of a street in Miami nowhere near a beach or a club. Art lovers funnel into human rivers on either side of me, barreling in and out of the 70 intimate galleries, air conditioning pouring out on to the streets. To my left DJ T.K.Lo is laying down the law dwarfed by a 20 meter dripping mural of a shark. The Bangor native sets up in a shopping cart and armed with a car battery, a speaker and a laptop, proceeds to deliver a barrage of irresistible house beats… and oh yeah, he’s dressed in a panda costume. “Pie in a jar!” shouts Tim Farver AKA “Papa Cherry” behind me. He sells cakes baked inside jars to “pay for his daughters wedding”. To my right, three gravity-defying teenagers cut through the viscous Miami summer air with their paper-thin limbs to the delight of a gathered crowd. Wynwood is an idea. An organized chaos of orbiting acts, art and sounds, delicately breathing life into an area historically occupied by abandoned warehouses and shy drug abusers. This is Miami’s first real foray into the world of urbanism, and it is a brutal success. But how did this cacophonic family come together? Just like the rich soil and temperate climate of Bordeaux is perfect for wine, the lifeless, bland walls of Wynwood became the perfect canvas for graffiti. Hindsight may call it obvious, but no one ignited the fire like the pioneering, catalytic real-estate mogul Tony Goldman. Tony saw potential in a barren wasteland of warehouses, and turned Wynwood into one of the world’s premier art locations. The spark in the haystack, the only unnatural part of this evolution has been its vertiginous speed.

ABROAD STORY

wood

or, the dark side of miami Text by Francisco Oliva-Velez Photos by Simon De Los Rios

Five8 & Omen514

Leza One

WYNWOOD WAS WAITING OPEN-ARMED TO RECEIVE ANYONE AND EVERYONE. ARTISTS FLOCKED, ATTRACTED BY CHEAP RENT AND THE BEACH LIFESTYLE, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE A PART OF A MEMORABLE FLASH IN HISTORY.

Top: DMJC Crew; Bottom: Unknown

All actions have a reaction Wynwood exploded in the forgotten backyard of a city that hosts the principal fine-art fair in the world: Art-Basel. While Rembrandt’s and Picasso’s were being auctioned for millions, the most important art movement of the decade was taking place in Wynwood. Art-Basel remains a prohibitive event, only the “special” few have the means to attend. This bottleneck of access has inevitably left behind throngs of thirsty artists and aficionados. Wynwood was waiting open-armed to receive anyone and everyone. Artists flocked, attracted by cheap rent and the beach lifestyle, but more importantly the opportunity to be a part of a memorable flash in history. Tony was able to convert a sleepy art scene into a contemporary, kaleidoscopic dream by attracting graffiti artists of all types and walks. Who are they? Graffiti artists have always had a complex existence. The short history of the medium has caused a dismissal from older generations, labeling it as talentless and insignificant. Still, these very labels have propelled the art form to the forefront of contemporary art. Law-breaking bestows the brave standard-bearers a freedom that gallery artists can never know. What better cradle of creativity than the threat of jail and its cousin adrenalin? Bravery pays succulent dividends, shattering the shackles of cultural and social dogma that oft plague the mind. This creative freedom is exemplified in Wynwood, which presents a quasi schizophrenic arsenal of murals to unsuspecting tourists. No matter how you value art, it’s hard to ignore the fact that society has erected insurmountable social and economic walls that ostracize artists. But the brutal honesty of graffiti pulverizes all barriers, giving everybody the same canvas and the same chance. There are no favors, no tricks, and no advantages: just art. Wynwood went further, unconditionally inviting and even rewarding artists to formulate a

iNO

TREK6

there are no favors, no tricks, and no advantages: just art.

paint and cement orgy. For many, street art is the only system of artistic expression and the only way to get out of difficult circumstances. One of the most striking art pieces in Wynwood, a 4-story building, has its entire façade plastered with alien symbols, a young child playing in the center. This is the work of “RETNA”- AKA Marquis Lewis, a Los Angeles native with African, Salvadorian and Cherokee blood. One of his main motivations was to offer his mother respite from all the suffering she had gone through. RETNA grew up a “…mix, (he) never felt like he fit in anywhere”. This led him to read extensively on the subject of language and people. His reading imprinted in him a sense of community with the human race which today he transmits through his art. He created a unique stylized language, derived from a mix of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, Hebrew and Arabic. The diversity of the art at Wynwood is also staggering, especially as one looks under the hood. “Miss VAN” is a pretty blonde, herself a canvas of tattoo art originally from Toulouse, France but now living in Barcelona. A far cry from the clichéd name tags, her art focuses on baroque, female figures in suggestive poses. Her passion is to constantly seek the “emotion” of art, specifically through seduction. She believes women can be strong, mysterious and feminine at once. All her characters wear animal

masks. Ron English is another example. The 50-year-old Texan has used graffiti as a platform to leapfrog to other stages. The 2010 US Election saw huge mobilization in the artistic world. Ron English used his “POPaganda” to create the now infamous “Abraham Obama” campaign. Wynwood has given street artists the respect and name they could not get elsewhere. The more famous the artists became, the higher the demand for the area. Today, aside from the wonderful art, the neighborhood is home to some of the best restaurants and bars in Miami. Of course success always comes with a price. Rise and fall The duality of life dictates that triumph never rides alone. Indeed, while Wynwood was born of a forgotten corner of industrial Miami, its facelift and hipster invasion have triggered an inevitable gentrification. A victim of its own success, rents have started rising beyond the budgets of galleries and artists. Commercial shops have started to move in, tearing down the very art that breathed life into the area. It’s the 11th hour and what happens next remains to be seen, but, whether Wynwood continues as an artistic oasis or becomes a retail hub, the legacy and success of Wynwood as an urbanization model will live on. For the rest of us, it has been a pleasure and a privilege to experience the Dark Side of Miami. ◆

RETNA

Ron English

VHILS

Brian Buzzella

ARTIST

my personal

gods kings my personal

Text by Scott Rothstein Photos & sketches courtesy of Saner

It’s hard to think about contemporary Mexican artist Saner and not be reminded of the great Mexican innovators – Posada, Rivera, Kahlo, Siqueiros, Orozco, Bravo, Tamayo. Throughout the twentieth century, Mexican artists were extraordinarily passionate about their nation and while these men and women were sophisticated and fully aware of trends in Paris, Berlin and New York, it was always their home country that infused their art. It could be argued that few places are as culturally rich, engaging and diverse as Mexico. Even in this era of hyper-globalization, Saner remains, like those Mexican artists before him, profoundly grounded by heritage. While street art is seen as something relatively new and edgy around the world, it is a tradition in Mexico that started in the first quarter of the twentieth century. These early mural painters were as provocative as contemporary street artists are today as they too pushed boundaries, confronted authority and considered themselves revolutionaries. Saner lives in Mexico City, a place of raw energy and endless contradictions. When he talks about his home, he says, “Mexico is a surreal country. It has everything and nothing at the same time”. His art reflects this

MEXICO IS A SURREAL COUNTRY. IT HAS EVERYTHING AND NOTHING AT THE SAME TIME.

perspective. In almost all of his works, masks cover the faces of his figures, suggesting a world where everything is not as it seems. Saner explains this metaphor by saying that we all put on a different face in different situations. Who is behind the mask, what role are they playing and why? Masks have always been particularly significant in Mexican art and culture. Examples can be found in PreColumbian art and even today masks are an essential part of festivals that take place in all corners of the country. However, Saner’s repeated use of this form suggests his connection to the mask is more personal than symbolic. Explaining this, Saner says, “I take the mask from the Mayan culture. But, I want to create my own interpretation, my personal gods, and my personal kings. It’s like a tribute in general of my roots.” Saner has been drawing since he was a child and studied graphic design at university. The first impression he had of a mural was a reproduction of a detail of José Clemente Orzco’s 1926 mural, La Trinchera, printed on Mexican currency. That modest observation changed his life and helped define him as an artist. Even in this small format, Saner was moved by the incredible power and potential of art.

ARTIST

ads often make you feel inadequate, ugly, not sexy enough, or that all the fun is happening somewhere else. With little interest in trying to understand what the public would really like to see on their streets, governments have given up control of our public space to whoever is willing to pay for it. According to Vermibus, the fact that street art is illegal while street ads are legal is just a matter of who can pay. “With enough money you make illegal things legal. If you don’t have it, the law will be against you. Publicity and advertising cleans the image of big corporations, promotes consumption, and keeps the capital flowing. Every artistic work or activist campaign generates costs, tarnishes corporations’ images and can potentially change the system. This is the reason why street art is illegal. Some people are not interested in these changes”, says Vermibus. In protest to the undemocratic condition of public spaces today, Vermibus transforms street ads into street art. Described as Voodoo Art by Florence Reidenbach (Berlin Art Link), the transformation process is more complex than one would think. First, he chooses the posters that he feels are more interesting to intervene on. Once they are in his atelier, he uses dissolvers to change the image (and thereby the message) and removes the brand name or logo. Then the posters – by then transformed from ads into works of art – are brought back and placed in the ad panels. The posters are taken from one city to another, always with a specific time lapse from the moment they are first removed to the moment they are put back. The process is called “temporary and physical relocation”, and is explained in his video “Dissolving Europe”, which you can watch on YouTube.

THE PSYCHEDELIC CHEF

Text & Illustration by JOS*

ingredients • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

burned tomatillo béchamel sauce frog legs vodka fried garlic flakes white pepper olive oil lemon peel flour holy basil water salt yeast goat cheese gouda cheese

for the crust • 2 ¾ cups of warm water • 2 tablespoons of olive oil • 1 x ¼ oz. envelope active dry yeast • 1 tablespoon of salt • 1 tablespoon of sugar • 8 cups of white bread flour (plus extra for dusting table)

for the sauce • • • • • •

60g of butter 1/3 cup of plain flour 4 ½ cups of milk 75g of gouda cheese ¼ teaspoon of salt good pinch of ground nutmeg

for the topping Marinate 8 frog legs in ½ cup of vodka, 100ml of olive oil, garlic flakes, chopped onion, very finely chopped lemon peel of 2 lemons, purple basil, salt and white pepper. Leave it all marinating together for 40 minutes, then fry until cooked. Leave apart while you prepare your pizza crust and white sauce. Make the dough. Give the desired pizza shape to the dough and spread the white sauce all over it, then spread the frog legs mix on top, plus A LOT of grated gouda cheese. Place into the oven on 400˚F and bake until cheese is melted (approximately 30 minutes). At the end, burn the skin of tomatillos and place on top of the pizza and sprinkle chopped purple basil. PEACE OUT!

What happens if you see frog legs that actually look like they where chopped off a human… I don’t know, maybe they just look cool to make a pizza with. My mouth was salivating like a caveman! The taste of vodka and the weirdness of the purple basil made me think of this mixture and this has now become my favorite pizza recipe. Dancing frogs into melted cheese who want to escape but feel better soaked in vodka like a vagabond feels on a moving train... why red sauce if you can have white… pure flavor, fuck tomato, it’s boring at this point! Give some smoky and sweet flavor with tomatillo instead, and goat cheese? Imagine a fight between a frog and a goat? I think it would be awesome, a frog could give very strong kicks, but maybe it would run away because of the smelly odor coming from the dirty hairy goat full of poop, anyways. From green long kicks to noisy bleating and farm smells, this has become my best appetizer for a Thursday night. “get fat, get drunk, have sex”

City Visions A season of films, talks and debates exploring modern cities around the world, featuring work from Wim Wenders, David Lynch and Youssef Chahine 25 Sep–8 Oct 2014

Tickets £8.50–11.50 barbican.org.uk

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PERFORMANCE

chocolaty LOVE Text & Photo by Charlotte Specht

Once upon a time, there was a chocolate girl named Chocolatina. She brought joy to people and her creators perfected her skin, clothes and hair to look more and more like real chocolate. But she was a bit lonely and needed a partner, and that’s when the chocolate boy Bombito was born. When they first performed together, “it was like magic and the reaction from the public was amazing”. Chocolatina and Bombito come to life in as quick as 20 minutes, but the perfection of their shiny delicious appearance has taken a long time, which included any thinkable combination of color, texture, shine, photogenicity and comfort until the ideal mix was found. Another secret to their success might be that Chocolatina and Bombito are actually a couple in real life. “Without a doubt, it makes it easier, because we feel so comfortable playing these characters that they have become us”, says Katharina, who plays the role of Chocolatina. The Chocolate Couple is an act performed as a living statue that comes to life and tells the story of how Chocolatina and Bombito met, how they get along (or not), and how Bombito wins her heart. Luís, who acts as Bombito, says that “the best is when people think that we’re an actual chocolate statue until the moment that we move.” Most of them are astonished and say “I thought they were real!” It’s not surprising that their impeccable artwork has already crossed the Portuguese border and already been seen in countries like Belgium, Spain and Thailand. The Chocolate Couple is a perfect combination of stunning costume, dramaturgy, artwork and spontaneity with a high level of interaction with their audience. The cherry on the cake is the spark of real love that shines through in every one of their performances as Chocolatina and Bombito.

www.bookastreetartist.com/quideia

to be in a street gang, and now, with the opportunities provided at our music school, he or she may become the next Nelson Mandela or Miriam Makeba. Playing For Change Day In response to the enthusiasm of those inspired by Songs Around the World and the mission of PFCF, we created PFC Day in 2011 as a way for everyone to become involved. Communities gather as musicians and fans from all over the world perform on stages, street corners, schools, yoga studios and cafes, all with the goal of bringing music into the lives of young people. Last year, we had over 300 amazing benefit events in 56 different countries, which raised over $150,000 for the Foundationâ€™s music schools and programs. PFC Day 2014 falls on Saturday, September 20th. To learn more and participate, visit www.pfcday.org. The Future of Playing For Change Through our music, videos, band, and the PFC Foundation, we unite and support artists around the world, resulting in a synergy that has captured the attention of over 250 million people worldwide. We will continue to grow this movement across the globe and show the world that no matter how many things in life divide us, they are never as strong as the things that bring us together. This is the power of music. â—†

NO MATTER HOW MANY THINGS IN LIFE DIVIDE US, THEY ARE NEVER AS STRONG AS THE THINGS THAT BRING US TOGETHER. THIS IS THE POWER OF MUSIC.