Nuart 2014 • Part II
When first seeing this year’s visual identity of Nuart Festival with SpY’s installation of 150 fake security cameras on a building facade in Madrid from 2013 (more info), we knew that exciting things were about to happen in Norway. As you know from our previous posts, the Nuart 2014 edition focused on street art activism and safe murals, and their impact on the evolution of the movement. After Part I, we continue with new outdoor pieces and also the indoor installations of the participating artists.
SpY
SpY’s mural for the 2014 Nuart Festival is the word “ERROR” painted in red on the facade of a building in a neighbourhood in Stavanger, Norway. The choice to leave the “OR” on a different part of the building and also the level of transparency in the intense red color, which almost comes as a warning pointing towards the decay of the building, is very interesting. It kind of shows that errors exist, and that we should take action instead of hiding them. And it also gives the impression that adding the word “human” in front of the existing one would not be an error.
Images © SpY / Visit his Facebook page and Instagram for updates.
The word “ERROR” was also part of the Nuart’s exhibition, but juxtaposed with the letter “T”, thus becoming “TERROR”.
SpY – Installation at Tou Scene / Photo © Henrik Haven via Brooklyn Street Art
Biancoshock
Probably one of the most talked about works of this year’s edition was the ‘SOCIAL REICH’ of Biancoshock, who turned four Facebook logos into the Nazi symbol to express the idea of control in a social media dependent society, which can become really dangerous in case of misuse. He offered BSA more info about this work, so learn more here.
Biancoshock – ‘SOCIAL REICH’ / Photo © Ian Cox. Follow the artist on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube.
The outdoor installation of Biancoshock, entitled ‘Egocentric’, stole a good section of the city square for several hours on a busy shopping day, according to the organizers. The no-exit red carpet is perhaps one of the best metaphors we’ve seen to express this concept.
Biancoshock – ‘Egocentric’ / Photo via Nuart
Borondo
If you happened to be in Stavanger in the past week, you could not only admire the beautiful mural of Borondo, but also explore his indoor installation at Tou Scene. The image of ruins on the floor and the shadows of the body parts on the wall offered visitors a powerful visual experience.
Borondo / Photo via Nuart. Check his Facebook page as well.
Borondo/ Photos © Ian Cox
Icy and Sot
The stenciled mural of artist duo Icy and Sot is a highly detailed representation of homeless people. The piece is so striking, especially when knowing that it is painted near an outdoor encampment of homeless travelers, according to BSA.
Icy and Sot – ‘Homelessness’ / Photo © Ian Cox. Follow them on Facebook, Vimeo and Instagram.
If some of you recall the Welling Court mural, here, the work ‘Let her be free’ is turned into an installation. The birds, like shadows of a freedom that the little girl cannot yet access, as well as her gaze, looking directly into the eyes of the viewer, make the work even more powerful.
Icy and Sot – indoor installation / Photos via the artists
Their iconic piece of the year, first seen in an abandoned building in NYC (read story on SAN and find out more here), replaced outdoor advertisements in Stavanger.
Icy and Sot / Photo via Nuart
±MAISMENOS±
We introduced you to ±MAISMENOS± in our Part I coverage of Nuart Festival. Now, we are back with his new works for Nuart 2014. The first is a mural, based on the word play “Norway”/ “No way”, on the EU flag background, and the second – an indoor installation called “Eurosion”.
±MAISMENOS± / Photos © Ian Cox. Follow him on Facebook and Vimeo.
Marshall McLuhan’s “The medium is the message”, based on the idea that the medium influences how the message is perceived (from Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man), becomes, in the vision of ±MAISMENOS±, “The Medium is the Mess Age”.
±MAISMENOS± / Photo © Ian Cox
According to the artist: “This statue in the city of Stavanger, called ‘ten cents a day’, is dedicated to the people who worked in the fishing economy of Norway. It now has an oil rig over the fish tray, made of plastic waste found in the surroundings. The now called ‘ten billion a day’ statue represents the new economy over the old economy in the Europe’s country leading oil producer”.
±MAISMENOS± / Photo © Ian Cox
And, finally, we have this enormous outdoor signature of the artist, placed near the mural of STRØK.
±MAISMENOS± / Photo © Ian Cox
TILT
Besides the grenade mural, his ‘Panic Restrooms’ installation was something many were anxious to see after his 2012 success with the ‘Panic Room‘ project. Again, the contrast between the pure white and traditional graffiti is a hit, this time at Nuart.
TILT / Photo ©Ian Cox. Follow the artist on Facebook for more.
TILT / Photo © Ian Cox
Levalet
After spotting him this summer at Memorie Urbane, in Italy, Levalet was also a guest of Nuart Festival 2014, with two projects concerning war and peace (outdoor) and a reference to the oil industry (the indoor installation).
Levalet – ‘Guerre et Paix’ / Photo © Ian Cox.
Levalet – ‘Guerre et Paix’ / Photos via the artist
Levalet – ‘Oil’ / Photos via the artist
Nuart’s murals and installations – More to see
John Fekner / Photo © Ian Cox.
According to the Nuart team, the installation “includes the original archive ‘Decay’ stencil from 1973. The tower of TVs have been hot wired to run John’s archive of protest images, many of which include early activist graffiti.”
View his ‘Broken Promises’ mural in our Nuart 2014 – Part I.
DOT DOT DOT / Photo © Henrik Haven. Also check the artist’s works on Instagram.
DOT DOT DOT / Photo © Ian Cox
STRØK and ±MAISMENOS± / Photo © Anders Gjennestad
STRØK/ Photo found on the artist’s Facebook page.
Check BSA’s roundup to find out more about the mural and also view his pieces for Memorie Urbane 2014 here.
Andreco / Photos © Ian Cox. Follow the artist on Instagram, Vimeo and Flickr.
Martin Whatson / Photos © Ian Cox. Keep in touch with the artist on Facebook and Instagram.
View his previous piece in our Nuart 2014 – Part I.
M-City / Photo © Ian Cox. Find out more about the artist on Facebook and Instagram.
Check his ‘Ocean Art’ project for Nuart 2014 in our Part I coverage.
Mathieu Tremblin / Photo © Henrik Haven via Brooklyn Street Art
According to BSA, this was an interactive piece and guests could participate in by photographing themselves before a bluescreen wall and sending the image to the artist to get one in return.
Mathieu Tremblin’s hypertext replacing a tag in the city with a hyperlink / Photo via Nuart
• •
View Part I featuring Etam Cru, M-City, Martin Whatson, John Fekner, ±MAISMENOS±, DOT DOT DOT.
Find out more about Nuart 2014 on their website, on Facebook, Instagram and Vimeo.