Completed Earth Day Mural
I snapped some photos of the completed Earth Day mural at Lucy’s Drive Thru on Monday on my way to the Dodgers game. Filmmaker Robert Salcido captured the action over the weekend because I was in San Diego with my wife for our one year anniversary. Congratulations to the STP “Save the Planet” Crew for their hard work and attention to detail. The mural looks amazing!
Earth Day Mural Day 1
This weekend (April 20-22, 2012) the Pico Union neighborhood will be treated to a brand new Earth Day Mural by the STP graffiti crew. The Earth Day mural is going up at Lucy’s Drive Thru at the intersection of Pico and Union just blocks from the Staples Center in downtown LA. STP is replacing the previous Earth Day mural, which has been on display since 1990. However, the original Earth Day mural has fallen on hard times. It is covered in ugly tags and the sun has drastically faded its once vibrant colors. The Earth Day mural project is being sponsored by the Pico Union Housing Corporation and the Graff Lab.
Fortunately, the artists of the original mural recognize its state of decay and have given the STP crew permission to go over the piece. The Pico Union neighborhood has also signed off on the project and fully supports the new Earth Day mural. The STP crew has spent over $2,500 on paint and is looking for any and all donations. For more information on how to donate please contact Keve at 562-587-5640. Filmmaker Robert Salcido of Sone Canvas Pictures will be making a short documentary film about the Earth Day mural project in conjunction with Man Bites Dog Films, who will be incorporating the historic event into its full length documentary on the Graff Lab and the Pico Union neighborhood.
Photos from Day One of the Earth Day Mural project are below. If you want to check out their progress or lend a hand, Lucy’s Drive Thru is located at Pico and Union in downtown LA.
Swan One Photos
As reported in my last last blog, LA graffiti legend Swan turned up at the Graff Lab last Saturday to celebrate his birthday with family and friends. Swan was kind enough to do an interview about how the graffiti scene in LA has changed and spoke about the new Earth Day mural that is going up at Lucy’s Drive Thru by the STP crew. Swan One was one of the artists who collaborated on the original Earth Day mural that went up in 1990.
Swan @ the Graff Lab
Yesterday I interviewed legendary LA graffiti artist Swan at the Graff Lab where Swan was celebrating his birthday with a few family and friends. Swan answered questions about the new Earth Day mural that will be replacing the old one next to Lucy’s on Pico and Union. Swan was one of the original artists who contributed to the massive mural. The original Earth Day mural went up way back in 1990 but the sun damage and taggers have taken their toll on the piece. A new Earth Day design featuring, among others, the talents of LA graffiti artist and Pico Union native Keve will be going up on April 20-22 over this coming Earth Day weekend. I have photos of Swan at the Graff Lab that I will be posting later.
Swan piece at the Graff Lab
The Garcias
Below is a short video that I put together for Pico Union native Daysi Garcia when she entered the Levi’s Girl contest a couple years ago as part of the Graff Lab documentary. Daysi was named one of ten semi-finalists but she didn’t win the contest. Daysi and her brother Junior are both featured in the Graff Lab Movie. Daysi is currently a college student at Cal State LA and a budding filmmaker. I loaned her one of my cameras and told her and Junior to have at it. I may end up loaning out my camera to other artists and people featured in the documentary. I think it could be a cool device.
Graff Lab Movie Clips
Here are some more clips that I had posted a while back but hadn’t yet added to the blog. They help to show people what the Graff Lab and the Graff Lab documentary is all about: the LA life, specifically in the Pico Union neighborhood. The first video features LA graffiti artist Broak. The second video features the world famous LA breakdance crew The LA Breakers and the third video features LA graffiti artist Saler and his crew. Both Broak and Saler are interviewed at length in the documentary.
Broak @ Graff Lab from Rory Owen Delaney on Vimeo.
L.A. Breakers Battle @ The Graff Lab from Rory Owen Delaney on Vimeo.
Photos 3/24/12
Been taking a lot more still photos now that I have a Canon 7d. I took these photographs on Saturday, 3/24/12 at the Graff Lab. I have some more photos that I took on Sunday, 3/25/12 but I haven’t had a chance to deal with them yet. I got the completed mural and a bunch more shots of some of the big pieces that I hadn’t gotten due to cars being parked in front of them. On Saturday there was a British musician there all day shooting his music video. Not sure who it was. Anyone know who the guy is? He’s holding a guitar and wearing a blazer in a few of the photos. Also, the Canon 7d came in really handy when I walked a couple blocks down Venice toward the Staples Center and ended up getting free tacos in exchange for taking a couple pictures. The tacos were the bomb; thank you, Mystery Taco Lady!
Graff Lab Hipster Postcards
I have been playing around with this new Android app that I read about on Mashable. It’s called Hipster. It’s basically a slightly different version of Instagram for Android users. I like the effects and the labeling option but the geo-tagging doesn’t work all that great, or maybe I just I haven’t gotten the hang of it yet. In any event below are a couple of my test hipster postcards that I shot at the Graff Lab over the weekend.
Graff Lab Movie Flickr Photostream
Trying to get more active with my flickr stream especially now that I have a Canon 7D. Here are some photos I shot the other weekend in the beginning of March plus some older photos from 2011 that I shot with this Kodak gizmo thing. Got a bunch more photos that I need to upload so please be patient. Probably will end up releasing a coffee table book in conjunction withe documentary when all is said and done. I have a bunch of old photos from the Graff Lab from before I found out about it in 2010 that will be included in the book as well. Alexandra Tapley has a stash of photos from 2009 and 2008 that I also hope to be able to include.
Bomb It Director Advising on Graff Lab Movie
Good news to report. Bomb It director Jon Reiss has agreed to serve as an adviser on the Graff Lab Movie. We are lucky to have Jon on the team and look forward to his insights and guidance. Through interviews and guerilla footage of graffiti writers in action on 5 continents, BOMB IT tells the story of graffiti from its origins in prehistoric cave paintings thru its notorious explosion in New York City during the 70′s and 80′s, then follows the flames as they paint the globe. The movie features old school legends and current favorites such as Taki 183, Cornbread, Stay High 149, T-Kid, Cope 2, Zephyr, Revs, Os Gemeos, KET, Chino, Shepard Fairey, Revok, and Mear One. If you haven’t seen Bomb It yet, you’re missing out. The movie played at the Tribeca Film Festival, Sau Paolo International Film Festival, Full Frame Festival and the Cork International Film Festival, among others.
We recently submitted the Graff Lab Movie for consideration to the LA Film Festival Fast Track program through Film Independent. We think the documentary would be perfect for the program given that the entire documentary has been filmed blocks from where the festival is held. But only time will tell… in any case here is a rough 7 minute sizzle piece that I put together over the weekend for the Fast Track application.
Flickr Photos
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