Tape Art Is Deeper than You Think

On Christmas, artist Sam Bassett, who is known for using tape outdoors in interesting ways, put up a lengthy piece high above Houston Street at the Bowery and it has some serious significance behind it. He explained its surprisingly deep meaning to EV Grieve: Read more »

Tape Artist Sam Bassett Gets Really High

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Whereas most vandals are content sidebusting or going over noteworthy pieces, Sam Bassett tries to top them. The recently arrested street artist taped his signature symbol high above the Os Gêmeos mural painted this summer on the corner of Houston Street and Bowery. Lest you wonder how he reached such great heights, an accomplice filmed Bassett scooting back and forth along the wall, suspended by a rope. Read more »

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Sticky Street Art Gets Commercially Co-Opted

What with all the artists working in tape, it’s no surprise that the medium and method continues being used for commercial purposes. A new video for Vampire Weekend’s “Cousins” features what appears to be the work of Aakash Nihilani, but is not according to the Village Voice. Read more »

Tape Artist Sam Bassett Gets Stuck in Jail

Sticky street artist Sam Bassett was arrested last week after a failed attempt to tape up Sotheby’s as “a guerilla action to bridge the gap” between the “new creative generation” and all the dead artists up for auction. Tragically, the building’s ledges were too narrow to work on, forcing an abortion of the masking mission. Read more »

Sam Bassett Tapes Manhattan

While Aaskash Nihalani is off getting unstuck internationally, there’s still another tape-laying street artist in town. A photographer by day, Sam Bassett masks off Manhattan by night, hitting billboards and walls with his geometric designs. Basset has also gone aerial: on 23rd Street between 7th and 8th Avenue, he strung the light posts with fluorescent tape, an installation he quixotically describes as “zig zagging back and forth like life. Or civilization. Or the universe.” |Unurth|

Photos by Sam Bassett