The latest in a string of collaborative art projects involving Showpaper distribution boxes may be the coolest yet. The DIY-centric publication, which has commissioned two lines of custom newspaper boxes from artists in the past, recently unveiled its Brooklyn Shelf Life series at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
One piece was created by graffiti writer UFO and craftsman W. Thomas Porter and features a massive 3D wood-and-metal realization of UFO’s signature tentacled alien character. After its public opening last night at BAM’s Peter Jay Sharp building, the piece will reside near Lafayette Ave. and Ashland Place in Brooklyn for one year and will house a “periodically rotating series of independently printed new work by 48 different publisher and artists,” including Showpaper.
The series was funded by BAM as part of their BAMart: Public program, which, after the unveiling of BAM’s new community-focused Richard B. Fisher performance center, means the Academy is doing pretty well in our book.
“It only made sense,” UFO told Brooklyn Street Art. “After over a decade drawing that stupid guy on the wall I began to wonder what he looked like in three dimensions…now I’m starting to wonder what the dude looks like in 5D.”
(Photo: superk8nyc/Flickr)
Showpaper, hmmm, arent these the guys who (along with COST) ratted out someone for taking one of their precious boxes off the street a few years back? http://www.animalnewyork.com/2010/stolen-showpape…
Oh yes, they were the ones who went to the cops and filed a police report on another writer because the writer did something they didn’t approve of.
Showpaper isn’t a group of writers, but they want to capitalize off of writer’s “street cred”, and then go running to the cops when shit gets “too real” for them. When you want to be down with a culture, you have to play by that culture's rules, not make up your own. Showpaper wants all the hype and attention that comes along with graffiti, but then they break the cardnal rule of graff at the drop of a hat (and have made it clear that they think that what they did was the right thing, and that they would do it again). Shame on any writer who associates with these lames,and shame on anyone that supports these blatant snitches. Real graffiti writers get up on the streets, not on some gay metal box in a studio.
From what I heard
The Showpaper heads found the fools selling the cost box on Craig’s list or some shit…..Showpaper set the stupid ass fools up acting like a buyer…..planed to me up a a gas station to go threw with a transaction.
To dumb ass little kids rolled up with the stolen box on a hand truck.
Next thing you know head started jumping out cars 12 deep with bats thumping thier fists and the two punk ass kids ran home to thier mamas.
Sounds fair to the game to me. Wouldn’t you say Air maxi?
And seems they use an assortment of artists and writers not just graffiti heads.
And seems to me the Graf heads that get down with these boxes all get up quite a bit and with interesting styles and spots.
And working on these boxes just shows there is more to their style and creativity than half the boring ass punk imitators out there.
Just say’in.
I mean have you seen these new boxes.
Shit is next level
Over and out.