Fukt stencil in Sydney

Sydney stencil artist Fukt has been getting a little emo lately. He's known for stencils and paste-ups that contain gnawing social commentary. But lately he's stencilled angsty rants while waiting for Godot.

Worried about you Fukt. I found this piece in Newtown and it reminded me of Mobstr's web-famous Boooring series.

Maybe we should chat. You could tell me all the colours you'd make if giving them away wasn't illegal.

Street art magazine Get Up or Get Out

A new street art magazine has hit the streets in several Australian cities - and you're about to get a copy.  

Get Up or Get Out was printed late last month and features articles from Houl, Vars, Bafcat, Dame Dismember and Will Coles. There are also interviews with Fukt and Bunkwaa, plenty of photos from Baddogwhiskas, and cover art (pictured) by SMC(3).

The project was run by Melinda Vassallo, author of Street Art of Sydney's Inner West,  and street artist Chris Tamm (aka Konsumterra). I was also the editor.

It's great to see a mixture of artists - all connected in some way - come together to create something unique. It's a celebration of the energy and talent within Australia's art scene.

Get Up or Get Out is free and available at shops and galleries in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide.

Or download a copy right here.

Fukt Commbank subvertising, Newtown

While I was editing getUP or getOUT yesterday afternoon, Fukt sent me this juicy piece of subvertising he put up in Newtown, right next to the Martin Luther King mural.

The meaning of the very open-ended "Can't" Commonwealth Bank ad currently polluting Sydney bus shelters was given a kick in the ass here.

Oddly enough, Fukt now calls himself Jack Fennell on Facebook. Maybe he's losing it.

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■ Global street art project
■ Fukt IKEA stencil
■ White collar puppets stencil
■ McDonald's fat stencil
■ Fukt: Best We Forget

Global street art: Shanghai to Sydney

An enormous amount of street art is shared on blogs and social networks every day; a virtual gallery where artworks live beyond the confines of weathered reality. Forever. This has fostered a global community in which artists receive wider recognition for their work - finding audiences they otherwise would not.

But what about sharing art between cities, rather than hard drives? Ben Frost found success with this idea through his Pastemodernism projects, inviting hundreds of artists around the globe to submit posters for exhibition. After corresponding with Shanghai-based artist Clive for close to a year - during which time I interviewed him and blogged his paste-ups - I thought of bringing some of his work in Sydney. So I asked him to send some pieces.

I contacted Sydney artist Fukt and asked if he'd like to join the project. He was interested. Clive hand-painted the posters and sent them to me.

A few weeks later I received a package from "Hugh Jass". WTF, I thought. But sure enough, inside it were Clive's posters, tinged with the smell of paint and cigarette ash. I handed them over to Fukt as he painted the IKEA stencil not long ago. You can see that here.

In the photo above, you'll see one of the posters in Camperdown as of Thursday last week. Fukt thought a good spot to paste was along Parramatta Rd - one of the busiest, most congested roads in Australia.

See below for more. And let me know if you want to see more projects like these.

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■ Wheatpasting with Clive
■ Clive interview
■ Shanghai subway posters
■ Fukt IKEA stencil
■ Best We Forget stencil

Fukt does live IKEA stencil

Sydney stencil artist Fukt got a new piece up in Camperdown on Saturday. I visited Mallett Lane and asked him what the fukt he was doing there. He wouldn't reveal what the stencil was as he painted. I liked that. I found that his artistic intentions were rooted in love for people; his audience.

Take a look below at some of the materials Fukt works with and how the stencil ended up.

 

You might also like:

■ White collar puppets
■ Michelangelo's David
■ McDonald's stencil 
■ Street art of 2011
■ Laneway art
■ Iwo Jima McDonald's stencil

Fukt stencil: White collar puppets

Fukt is one of Sydney's most prolific stencil artists. In his work he layers satirical subjects like bums and war heroes in rich detail. This "White Collar Puppet" was in Chippendale in Sydney's inner west.

Here, Fukt has stencilled a wind-up worker whose cogs have stopped turning. Does this make you want to leave your corporate job and become a free-thinker?

I want to be someone who makes a difference, who reaches people with art. Someone who isn't afraid to put paints on buildings owned by people who are part of the 1 per cent.

People who believe that democracy is about reaching consensus, rather than "cleansing the earth of unemployed people".

I want to be someone who lives life with expression.

You might like:

■ Sydney street art
■ McDonald's fat stencil
■ Best we forget
■ Iwo Jima McDonald's sign

Sydney street art

There is a wall covered in street art and graffiti at 184 Broadway in Sydney. It's right next to the Telstra "International Telecommunications Centre". Read about that here. The wall is directly beneath a CCTV camera.

This Fukt stencil of Michelangelo's 'David' is a little worn/covered in poo. Maybe it's better this way? I struggled with this idea at first, you know, resenting vandalism of street art, but then I realised "we're all bro's here". Every last 1 of us.

This satirical/dead serious stencil of Newt Gingrich by Blue Chip is scary. Getting a dictator vibe from this one. Reminds me of the Hitler depicted in a new Australian retro-comedy Danger 5. Here's a trailer:

 


Like it? Me neither :(

Hitler again. Scared. Hang on ////////////// ////////////// //////////// //////////// /////////////// OK...just spent ~45mins curled in the foetal position in a bathtub. I don't know whose tub it was. Just woke up there :'(

Caged rainbow tiger. Not sure who did this stencil, but looks like Blue Chip. Get in touch if you know bb.

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Sydney laneway art (Fukt)

Audrey Hepburn stencil (Blue Chip)

Fukt hits McDonald's with fat stencil, burgers consumed

Sydney artist Fukt stencilled the exit of a McDonald's drive-thru at Stanmore, in Sydney's inner west.

In a word-play on "please dispose of your litter thoughtfully", this stencil asks customers to dispose of their fat thoughtfully.

This is because people who buy McDonald's eat 30 to 50 per cent more fat than they need from burgers containing animal parts that aren't even named yet.

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FUKT: Sydney laneway art

Street Art of 2011

It's that time of year where we look back on what's behind us and decide what sucked and what was bloggable.

Aside from posting a bunch of street art this year, I interviewed Beastman and Philjames. I also spent a month in Europe seeing incredible art and posting it on Facebook.

I think 2011 was the year street art began to plateau; I'm looking forward to seeing if that's the case in 2012.

(Found in Athens)

The European Debt Crisis has been a staple news item for the past few months. And the sentiment this massive mural conveyed - "we're f-cked" - was quite effective.

(Via Unurth)

Banksy made this stencil after British graffiti writer Tox was sent to prison for more than two years for tagging. The sentence generated a strong reaction from the graffiti community.

And in case you forgot, Invader was also arrested in LA for vandalism in April. Comes with the territory.

(Made by Fukt)

This Iwo Jima parody is my favourite Sydney stencil of the year. Not only is it eye catching; it's poignant, ironic and hilarious.

(Submitted by Bag)

This was the year of Slug. The prolific artist left this spastic dog on so many Sydney walls that he is now one of only a few artists working illegally on a regular basis.

He is also selling a zine called Sugar Shark.

The infamous (and highly irritating) hipster posters that popped up this year are still plaguing the streets. I tried to contact the number on one of the posters. There was no response.

However, the response to my post was good. Thanks to everyone who wrote in.

Monsieur Andre also guest blogged on Acid Midget in 2011. He wrote about being in love with girlfriend Annabelle Dexter-Jones, having a rad time tagging...and feuking a lot.

Andre also brought quite a bit of traffic to the blog this year. Don't ask me why.

By far the biggest street art event in Australia this year was the Outpost Project. It only finished a couple of weeks ago, but fortunately some of the works will be kept there this summer.

Tens of thousands of people visited Cockatoo Island to see a showcase of the most important urban and lowbrow artists in the world.

In my opinion, it was a watershed event.

Another turning point in street art's transition from underground to mainstream was the release of Banksy's mockumentary Exit Through The Gift Shop.

He was nominated for an Oscar and then banned from attending the ceremony. He didn't win. But the film was successful at least.

I also wrote the Acid Midget Manifesto in June. It began as a Facebook status, then grew and grew. This blog was never intended to be anything more than an exploration of Sydney and its streets - tinged with conceptual ruminations - but it has become more than expected.

Have a happy New Year - see you in 2012!

Fukt: Sydney laneway street art

 (Images found at Victory Lane, Camperdown)

I was browsing the web on my iPhone while walking alone through Sydney's laneways last Friday. I would call myself a flaneur, but I was too busy stalking the one I love on Facebook.

If I could translate profile page loads into roses, dates and confidence she would love me too.

I was about to trip over a gutter so I looked up from my phone, because I was forced to, and onto the footpath/sidewalk/concrete.

I saw two stencils, the one above by Fukt. It depicts a bum resting at home -beside a supermarket trolley in the street.

The phrase 'Best We Forget' is a play on the ANZAC phrase 'Lest We Forget', i.e. it's how we remember the Australian and NZ men and women who fought in the wars.

Fukt is Australia's equivalent of Banksy in terms of style. I would go so far as to say he is Banksy's equivalent of Banksy.

And I saw this too. I'm still unsure who did this or what it means. I see a boy, a boy looking up at me (you're such a bad father) with a firecracker/Red Bull/light saber.

I'm not immediately alarmed, possibly because homeless people are a more visible pollution, but I know this kid is in trouble.

Wait - is this kid me?

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Fukt: Iwo Jima McDonald's Stencil

Fukt: Iwo Jima McDonald's stencil

 

(Grafton St, Chippendale, Sydney)

The parallels between US World War II triumphs and US capitalist achievements are strong, street artist Fukt has indicated in this stencil.

It towers over the legal Grafton St wall like a flat statue, paying homage to the brave soldiers who decimated the Japanese Imperial Army at the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945.

Look at the passion in this soldier's limbs, willing the post to the summit.

Note the black and white face getting a good look at his balls.

Fukt is stating something else. Perhaps these men fought so brands like McDonald's could inseminate suburbs, subways and shopping centres around the world.

And perhaps this iconic symbol was a prelude to what the US now stands for - cheezburgers, a high obesity rate and Oprah.

 (Source)

This is Joe Rosenthal's original photograph atop Mount Suribachi. The Wikipedia page on the Battle of Iwo Jima is a great piece of historical writing.

It was written by a first year Bachelor of Arts student with an acne problem who received a high distinction for describing the battle with incredible bias toward the US using data manipulation and fact generalisations.

That's fukt.

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Chippendale Wall Gets Sexy