~ and you thought, ROBOTS WILL KILL . . nope: but RATS WILL EAT BABIES !!
FILE UNDER: TINY = IMMENSE
SUBJECT: STICKER ART
& all of this – that’s been coming up on these pages:
NUDITY, BIO-NUDITY, BABIES, MOTHERS, (IN DEPRESSION), HUMAN SURVIVAL, FUTURE FORWARD / RATS EATING BABIES, CHILDHOOD gnarly scenarios, and now, sticker art & the scale of things, from the large ZROPRO birds chirping on street murals, to his tiny birds chirping on tiny stickers, and even including a brief run on . . the thirst for all things RETRO & DIY !!
is leading up to . . . the BIGGEST & BEST – ‘BLUE CHIP’ SHOW OF THE SEASON . . . can you guess ?
one hint: it’s in Chelsea.
posting – next !!
SO:
is a ‘sticker’ . . like a snowflake ?
each snowflake is so tiny & individual. each a perfect art work. they fall where they will. the sun is never more beautiful than on a snowy day – after the storm.
and yet they . . . cover ground in masses that stops whole cities, these fragile puffs – even kill people.
they are so mini . . nano small, breathes of cold air on their own, but perfectly express: infinite. aggregate. a huge huge concept – infinite.
so, is a ‘sticker’ . . . like a virus ?
and . . in how many ways ?
and in how many ways – NOT.
PHOTO: EPA via daily mail
the micro . . ‘cannot-be-seen-by’ the naked eye – ZIKA VIRUS.
very small things – can be very distressing, our human babies are being threatened globally – in a very ‘sci-fi’ come-to-life . . scenario.
forget the ROBOTS WILL KILL of Blade Runner, tiny microbes will kill. or worse create a sub-human genre – they can feed off of.
4,000 and counting.
PHOTO: via DAILY MAIL
though I would be willing to bet – it just might be the insecticides they are spraying that is causing the DNA damage.
the super tiny enemy virus microbe using the tiny mosquitoes . . to bring us down ?
the mosquitoes in turn engage the human chemical repellent – response.
damn, they are using our own ARSENAL – against us.
brilliant. why do we – as a whole overlook the really really tiny ?
why do we assume that what is super tiny – has no power to think, organize, evolve, destroy, feed. as in build a food chain ?
just because we need to carry big brains around, why do we think that’s the only way – to world domination.
relative ‘scale’: big vs small . . is such an amazing thing to consider. it’s right up there with the concept of . . ‘infinity’. and . . aggregate.
from the tiny beetle that is destroying our forests, to the Zika virus deforming our babies . .
to the nuclear ‘particle’ of the CERN / Hadron Collider – Nobel scientists . . to the far flung reaches of the cosmos. and the search for . . microscopic life – coz no big, little green ‘fellows’ seem to be within our range, as of . . yet !!
and right back – to the digital screen upon whixh you gaze, and all the tiny pixels that make up your incoming photos.
no to forget all the varying size formats – that your different ‘devices’ can call up. and how easily we all adapt.
even these words aggregate, from keystroke, (what a pin drop used to be) – and flow outward – from a tiny pinpoint on a GPS map. in a house. in a room. with a desk. and a computer.
‘social media’ – is a good example of both:
1) the concept of infinity – the mass / the web of non-stop information and data, and . .
2) the tiny. the infinite millions of individual contributors tapping away on their keyboards & uploading their photos, thoughts and info – all over the globe. and even out in space.
our whole communication universe is so accessible democratic. and so huge.
and it all comes down to the – pixel. the point.
the keyboard stroke. the small finger tip going – tap tap tap.
and thus, scale.
scale in a digital word, is the new . . geometry.
SCALE, or the size of things . .
is really important to artists, and graphic designers, (and let’s keep things simple and NOT get into music.) the size of the things you draw or paint, the focus & the pattern & the volume of the details, the brush stroke, whether on an 8 x 10 inch paper or on a large 8 x 10 foot street mural scale is the first ‘stop’. the first thing that needs to be considered. a tiny plastic anime figure on my desk – or a giant KAWS sculpture in an outdoor park – SCALE is the absolute basic – that every artist has to consider, and work with. from fonts to 3D hatch work – from early cave men to contemporary large projected CGI.
in a word: scale is . . an infinite topic in & of . . itself.
artists get this. it’s just one of the tools in their tool box. it’s just a given. Quilters get this – even more. the infinite world of quilt patterns – that never once repeat. even within specific patterns. no two quilts are EVER the same. also: the tiny pieces that make up the patchwork patterns, the tiny stitches that hold those pieces together. the aggregate blanket itself. . no, Quilters do not dismiss the tiny, oh no.
one stitch gone wrong – can put the whole thing out of kilter. so much so that a mistake – is seen as the ‘hand of God.’ in that – it’s considered prideful to think a human can be perfect. a concept that is universal among all hand skilled-based communities from ancient times, around the globe. including knitters & weavers.
of course, there have always been stickers, as in retail ‘price’ stickers, ‘star’ for school achievement stickers, opaque labels to cover typos, etc etc. in the 50s they had a big culture of Christmas ‘stickers’ to place on your Xmas card envelopes.
back in the early 90s ‘stickers’ – had a big renaissance with books of photographic animal stickers – that you moved into the correct place in the accompanying text. and then, of course . . . ‘Hello Kitty’ hit hard.
Kate used to collect tiny, colorful & so sweet . . . books of KERROPI stickers !! back in the early 90s.
KEROPPI STICKER BOOK – COPYRIGHT 1995. Sanrio, produced in Hamburg, Germany.
all of 2-1/4 x 2 inches.
and so: sunny side up.
damn, no wonder the Millenniums turned out – they way they did.
lol, and NO. I’m not joking.
STICKER ART, JAN 2016. collab: ZROPRO / @zeroproductivity & @its_mittens
image via Instagram via @zeroproductivity
so, STICKER ART . . is in a big revival / renaissance right now.
it seems to make perfect sense, given the ‘fracturing’ of the whole society / global community we are entering into, big time.
the digital evolution.
as well, technically, computers with their DIY graphics platforms – and DIY home self-printing helps. incredibly, of course.
also the way we see things now, so ‘birds eye’, from the little circle ‘logos’ & icons of our profiles on Instagram . . to the way way we scroll through small ‘mini’ images – on our phones.
and the way we do things now, like this blog: you just put it out there.
it’s like street art – but the ‘walls’ – are the ‘web’.
brick and mortar walls vs digital walls ?
that’s also a matter of: scale.
sticker art by REGELVERK
image via Instagram @regelverk
like bite-sized ‘street art’ . . stickers, they come in very different sizes and . . voices.
but the key is: voices. and, yes . . it’s global.
sticker art – the ‘creative’ VIRUS !!
some are unique, one-of-a-kind hand drawn images, maybe repeated by hand, others are printed, and even die cut. some are stenciled. and so yes, calligraphy is a big thing now too, esp free style / hand style.
some are on ‘found’ labels, USPS – I hear are ideal. and free. others on new, specifically designed permanent sticky back product. eggshell stickers are stickers that can NOT be peeled off like run-of-the-mill . . decals.
they will just fragment and splinter / shatter into a million pieces – just like, well: an eggshell. so these are more designed for the street. so people can’t grab them. the best way to collect these is take a photo – and yes, there’s a whole mini sub-culture devoted to just that !!
finding and identifying them. esp on IG / Instagram. they travel further on the IG than then do on the street, anyways – and they fit that format perfectly. as witness this page of re-posting. personally I don’t mind seeing them on a utility pole in Brooklyn, but I hate the smart u guys s who slap them on bus shelters. it’s like silence – can be golden.
also: damn, did SHEPARD FAIREY initiate the calling, with his small square shaped OBEY GIANT paste slaps ?
whole, small DIY companies have grown up around this. I guess the question that is next – is when are the commercial ‘albums’ . . in which to collect them gonna . . spring up ?
you can order many different kind of stickers, some are even seasonal, i.e. red Chinese New Year stickers are hot right now . . .
ALERT THE MASSES
STICKERS . . from BlankStickers.bigcartel.com
@blank_stickers / image via my IG feed screenshot.
STICKERS.
it makes TOTAL SENSE. in a digital world and, ergo . . it’s a ground up . . phenom.
we live on & via . . social media. everyone can put their voice out there.
– everybody can print out, draw on . . scribble, type, stencil, voice their thoughts, and fears and dreams. on stickers. it’s not a huge commitment either. which perfectly suits the IG world.
it’s like a huge, collective . . ‘canary in the coal mine’.
anybody can make their mark on stickers, and disburse them. esp over the web. they make for excellent Instagram posts. but they are also tangible. people collect them and exchange . . they are not all destined for slapping on streets and mailboxes.
they are, in essence the tangible side of social media. little birds, little messages . . that fly & flitter, online – and, offline.
not many things can experience – both lives.
and they are tiny. individual units – like, well SNOWFLAKES.
and they rule.
an infinite universe.
I think it also – works into . . TATTOO CULTURE. putting messages on your skin. expressing individuality.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
TRUDIE KAISER . . painting on a Boundless Brooklyn DIY water tower, from the recent Jan 2016 . . ‘TAT IT UP’ exhibit at GRUMPY BERT, in Brooklyn.
I think these kind of custom-izable – DIYSMALL cardboard kits . . are an incredibly creative – outgrowth of both street & sticker art.
plus it gets the art inside, and on platform where it can really be kept safe, appraised, experienced, and maybe help . . the artist make some coin.
plus it’s small and easy to keep, and collect.
like a sticker . . . anyone can make a kit – and paint it.
it’s a great ready-made ‘stake-out’ – for your ‘footprint’. just add your voice to the ongoing Babylon. and it’s so fun, and so . . . retro !!
it’s very democratic.
it’s your voice – damn it, speak !!
plus eventually with tattoos you run out of skin.
and re: street art – do we really want it stuck up all over the place, no. so from ‘stickers’ to kind of . . 3-D ‘stickers’, si all fine with me.
the key is: SMALL.
the key is: UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE & and infinite. and, c-a-t-c-h-y.
like a virus – just a more creative one.
yikes.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
virus ?
did somebody say . . VIRUS ?
a deadly Virus . . . threatening human babies ???
TRUDIE KAISER, painting on a Boundless Brooklyn water tower kit, Jan 2015 – in ‘TAT IT UP’, GRUMPY BERT, BROOKLYN ($200)
COLLECTION: NANCY SMITH . . . oh yeah !!!
RWK / ROBOTS WILL KILL, sticker – actual size: 2 x 2 in.
COLLECTION: NANCY SMITH / gift of the artist.
NANCY SMITH – ARTLOVERSNEWYORK LOGO. NYC.
it was adapted from my ‘business card’ in the days when I was a young art student in MONTREAL, the late 70s. I was so counter-culture even back then, I was in an MFA program and it was all about color field painting and AGNES MARTIN !! – so you can just imagine !!
rebel, rebel INDIE !!
it was derived from an HENRI ROUSSEAU image, the early version / business card had a galloping horse. I’ve posted it on artlovers, a few times. just recently – on the 2016 New Year’s CRISIS – rant, lol.
I always thought the horse was a bit dorky – so I deleted it.
and then I stopped using it, even altered – because the ‘girl’ was too idealist, but there I go. nothing’s changed !!
so – yeah, I could have been a sticker artist !!
I guess artlovers is kind of a digital sticker – if you really think about it.
and, I do.