— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
My internet-centricity tells me this is some sort of harsh criticism of our dependence on the series of tubes for entertainment and mental nourishment, but Cranky Old Mission Guy seems to think it's some sort of dumb “old hippie newspaper cartoon.” (Shrugs)
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
If you haven't noticed, Clarion Alley has been getting quite the refresh over the past few weeks in preparation for this weekend's big 20th anniversary party, and they have a lot planned for Saturday. Megan Wilson of the Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP) fills us in:
The block party is all set for this Saturday. We hope to see you!! We have new murals, new songs, new faces and long-time neighborhood artists & residents, in tow.
Free Music noon-9pm (exact lineup below)
Children's Parade and costume contest starts at noon
Projections, Film screenings happening after dark
Limited Edition Zines and T-shirts will be available, designed by artist Rigo23 and others TBA
If nine hours of music isn't enough for you, The Roxie Theater will be showing a grip of footage shot in Clarion Alley throughout the years Thursday at 7pm:
In honor and celebration of the Clarion Alley Mural Project’s 20th Anniversary, the Little Roxie will feature murals by artists from CAMP in the theater’s lobby and storefront window during October. The exhibition will be accompanied by an evening of shorts filmed on Clarion Alley over the past twenty years, including rare archival footage from filmmaker Fiona O’Conner Devereux of the first murals in the Alley, narrated by CAMP co-founder Rigo 23.
See you there!
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— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
Clarion Alley, July 2007.
What's up with Clarion Alley? Up until recently, it remained one of the few alleys in the city dedicated to brush art (or, as older, crankier generations call it, “art”). Sure, there were always a few graffiti pieces in the mix, but the focus was unmistakable—just look at how the place looked in the summer of 2007. But now, it seems like focus has inadvertently switched, with nearly every surface of alley covered in spray pant pieces, much of it less political, complex, or frankly interesting as what it covered up:
An email to a member of the Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP) went unreturned, so there's no official word as to what's happening. But someone familiar with the project says the transition is partly due to vandalism and partly a demise of the CAMP organization itself. We're told that many of the core members of CAMP have moved away, and the ones that are left are unable to dedicate the time to maintain the alley adequately. And because of this lack of maintenance, the organization has supposedly started offering up legitimate space to “prominent” local taggers, such as The Fog Bender, Euro, and Pez, hoping that it will deter them from further vandalizing the alley's murals, but the effort has failed.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not hear to say I dislike spray paint/graffiti/street art/tags/whatever (because I clearly enjoy it). And I'm sure everyone understands the transitional, fluid nature of street art. However, Clarion Alley was always an oasis of brush murals in a city of can, and it's a bummer to see that exceptionalism slipping.
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
Above is the queer electro-hop kids of Double Duchess marching down Mission Street in what SFist thinks could be our city's greatest anthem yet:
The song is beyond infection and the accompanying video (joyously directed by Epli Made) injected with everything you should hold near and dear to your heart — e.g., ice cream carts, drag, standing in traffic on Market with a bullhorn, and impossibly long legs.
And they got fireworks and bikes and that guy in the sandals too, so you know it's a goodie. Check it:
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
Cowabunga, dudes! Clarion Alley is the stage for the Ninja Turtles' most wicked showdown yet! Now that Raphael and the boys are done battling the likes of Shredder, and Krang, the Heroes in a Half Shell have their sights set of their gnarliest, fiercest, most well-funded opponent yet: Danny Developer and his spooky tongue of gentrification! Hellacious!
Raphael sure does have his work cut out for him. Danny Developer has already been hard at work, spawning a network of condos, ice cream, and “another botique” that Raphael will slowly have to chip away at with his twin sai. And you know how much the Turtles hate ice cream…
Turtle power!
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
The sun is really setting on what once looked to be a really promising career as a drug dealing Lady Gaga. In the span of 9 months, Kreayshawn has gone from Oakland to international celebrity to doing banner ads for thrift stores online. She's basically the hipster Mr. T, only her rise and fall got condensed down to satisfy the attention span of the internet.
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— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
It seems that painters in Clarion Alley are finally growing tired of dealing with bombers vandalizing their murals. These two muralists, whos names I won't publish to protect their other works from retaliation, saw a mural they began painting yesterday irreparably destroyed last night.
“We had a sign over the mural saying it was in progress and to respect it, but someone threw up a giant piece over it anyway.”
They've given up on painting in the alley and are in search of a new place that they can help establish a new mural project on, but they decided to leave the alley and its taggers with a parting gift before bouncing.
