Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Jaaga Wall Paint 2 Pictures :)
It was a really FUNday SUNday :) Loads of sunshine, orange juice, Yann Tierson and COLOURS :)
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Jaaga paint this Sunday, 29th Nov, 2009, 12.30 - 6.30 pm
Hello everyone! Looks like we are going to have an exciting paint. So far, we have 6 confirmed 'groups' for whom I've reserved 6 panels, 1 more is a little undecided. So, we have 3 panels left for anybody interested.
Just so you know, each panel is ROUGHLY 1.5 feet in width and 2.5 feet in length.
Now for those of you who are coming and painting, please go through this post and bring along materials. http://bangalorewonderwall.blogspot.com/2009/11/permission-getting-permission-to-paint.html
We only have enough paint for one or two panels, so please take 30 mins out tomorrow to stop by ANY hardware store and pick up stainers [the more colours the better], paintbrushes [the more sizes the better, especially the thinner ones] and whatever else you think you will need or want to bring along.
We advise you to come in 'paint' clothes with one bottle of water, some paper, some pencils, a couple of pieces of rag cloth, and a BIG smile.
Venue: http://jaaga.wikidot.com/
Directions: The address is, Jaaga Creative Commons, opp Karnataka Hockey stadium, Rhenius Street, near Nanjappa circle, Richmond town. It's on the same road as the TV 9 office and Foodworld in case you were wondering which entrance to the hockey stadium. And it's adjacent to Raintree Apartments. :)
Hope to see you THERE!
Just so you know, each panel is ROUGHLY 1.5 feet in width and 2.5 feet in length.
Now for those of you who are coming and painting, please go through this post and bring along materials. http://bangalorewonderwall.blogspot.com/2009/11/permission-getting-permission-to-paint.html
We only have enough paint for one or two panels, so please take 30 mins out tomorrow to stop by ANY hardware store and pick up stainers [the more colours the better], paintbrushes [the more sizes the better, especially the thinner ones] and whatever else you think you will need or want to bring along.
We advise you to come in 'paint' clothes with one bottle of water, some paper, some pencils, a couple of pieces of rag cloth, and a BIG smile.
Venue: http://jaaga.wikidot.com/
Directions: The address is, Jaaga Creative Commons, opp Karnataka Hockey stadium, Rhenius Street, near Nanjappa circle, Richmond town. It's on the same road as the TV 9 office and Foodworld in case you were wondering which entrance to the hockey stadium. And it's adjacent to Raintree Apartments. :)
Hope to see you THERE!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
HOW to do a PAINT
PERMISSION
Getting permission to paint on a wall is probably the HARDEST part of a paint. It's also the MOST crucial part because our MAIN objective for painting public walls is to start conversations with people from the area and get them to join us.
Without permissions, it is not possible to have the community's support. Without the community's support, you can not involve them in your paint. So, PLEASE ensure that you have permission to paint a wall from the owner of the wall.
Remember, this is NOT graffiti. We paint in broad day light and preferably on weekends to increase the chance of people being free and at home to be able to see what we are doing, get curious and hopefully join us :)
MATERIALS
Accessories:
1. Sandpaper
2. Sponge
3. Rags of cloth
4. Paint brushes of different sizes [thin ones for outlines and intricate details, thicker ones for fillings in, thickest ones for backgrounds]
5. Lots of water cleaning the wall, mixing with the paint, cleaning brushes
6. Containers [small buckets, mugs, glasses, according to the quantity] to mix the thinner with the primer and also for mixing the paints
7. Plastic bags for palettes
8. Paper [for quick rough sketches during brainstorming, to sit on, to put paint brushes on, to clean up spilt paint with, etc]
9. Chalk, charcoal, pencil for making the outline of the painting
10. Knife, scissors [ALWAYS handy - We didn't have one for our Rest House Road paint and had to use a sharp stone to cut a plastic bottle, so that we could fashion it into a container for our primer and thinner mix! :)]
Paints:
1. Primer
2. Thinner
3. Emulsion exterior base paint [regular/white]
4. Stainers
PREPARING THE WALL
Cleaning: Before you can paint a wall, you need to clean it. Depending on the wall, you might need sandpaper to scrape things like flaking paint, moss, posters and mud off. You can even use a hard brush instead of sandpaper. If the grime is stubborn, try putting some water on it first.
Base: After you have cleaned the wall, apply a mixture of primer and thinner. Be generous.
*When you pick up the primer from the hardware store, ask someone for the correct proportions for mixing the two.
After applying the primer and thinner mix on the wall, leave it to dry. Go for a loo/lunch/tea/whatever break. It usually takes about 30-45 mins to dry on a nice sunny day. Only begin to paint over this base once it is completely dry.
*Remember that a good coat of primer is what will ensure that your painting lives a long and happy life. It is what the paint sticks on to. So, don't compromise here.
PAINT
Since we wanted to use a wide range of colours, we found that buying these separately was working out to be too expensive. So, we used stainers for colour and added them to white emulsion exterior paint instead.
Our total cost including paintbrushes [initial investment] , paints and the numerous miscellaneous knick-knacks worked out to about Rs. 1000/-. Since there were 3 of us, this meant it was a little over Rs. 300/- per head. And we still have loads of paint leftover. So your actual cost per paint will be even less than this.
Stainers: Each 50 ml bottle cost Rs.25/- each at most. We got 8 such bottles of Asian Paint stainers.
Base paint: One litre of white emulsion exterior paint.
MIXING : We took little containers to mix paint in. So, first we would put a little base paint, and then add a little stainer to it. I would advise that you first mix small amounts to test how well the stainer is catching on. Colours like red and also the darker ones like brown, we found harder to mix because the base paint is white and tends to lighten most of the darker shades.
For consistency, we added water. Don't make it too watery as the paint will then drip. Keep a spare cloth and sponge handy for soaking up these trails.
What colours: Get the usual red, blue, yellow primary colours for SURE. Then, depending on your piece, pick the other colours. Knowing that our paint would involve flowers and plants, we picked two shades of green - emerald and olive, yellow, red, lavender, inky blue, black and one vermilion red.
DISCLAIMER
While we would LOVE to paint a wall WITH you, we are yet to find and get permissions for one big enough to allow more than 3 people to paint simultaneously. So, please keep a look out for walls, big and small.
Also, we hope this will grow into a movement. So, we don't want it to be dependent on any ONE group/ individual. So, please go ahead, source your walls, get permissions and PAINT! We would be happy to help you in any way we can.
If you have any questions, please ping us right here on the blog, or on our Facebook group - Bangalore Wallflower.
Hope you have a GREAT paint :) Do link us to pictures.
Getting permission to paint on a wall is probably the HARDEST part of a paint. It's also the MOST crucial part because our MAIN objective for painting public walls is to start conversations with people from the area and get them to join us.
Without permissions, it is not possible to have the community's support. Without the community's support, you can not involve them in your paint. So, PLEASE ensure that you have permission to paint a wall from the owner of the wall.
Remember, this is NOT graffiti. We paint in broad day light and preferably on weekends to increase the chance of people being free and at home to be able to see what we are doing, get curious and hopefully join us :)
MATERIALS
Accessories:
1. Sandpaper
2. Sponge
3. Rags of cloth
4. Paint brushes of different sizes [thin ones for outlines and intricate details, thicker ones for fillings in, thickest ones for backgrounds]
5. Lots of water cleaning the wall, mixing with the paint, cleaning brushes
6. Containers [small buckets, mugs, glasses, according to the quantity] to mix the thinner with the primer and also for mixing the paints
7. Plastic bags for palettes
8. Paper [for quick rough sketches during brainstorming, to sit on, to put paint brushes on, to clean up spilt paint with, etc]
9. Chalk, charcoal, pencil for making the outline of the painting
10. Knife, scissors [ALWAYS handy - We didn't have one for our Rest House Road paint and had to use a sharp stone to cut a plastic bottle, so that we could fashion it into a container for our primer and thinner mix! :)]
Paints:
1. Primer
2. Thinner
3. Emulsion exterior base paint [regular/white]
4. Stainers
PREPARING THE WALL
Cleaning: Before you can paint a wall, you need to clean it. Depending on the wall, you might need sandpaper to scrape things like flaking paint, moss, posters and mud off. You can even use a hard brush instead of sandpaper. If the grime is stubborn, try putting some water on it first.
Base: After you have cleaned the wall, apply a mixture of primer and thinner. Be generous.
*When you pick up the primer from the hardware store, ask someone for the correct proportions for mixing the two.
After applying the primer and thinner mix on the wall, leave it to dry. Go for a loo/lunch/tea/whatever break. It usually takes about 30-45 mins to dry on a nice sunny day. Only begin to paint over this base once it is completely dry.
*Remember that a good coat of primer is what will ensure that your painting lives a long and happy life. It is what the paint sticks on to. So, don't compromise here.
PAINT
Since we wanted to use a wide range of colours, we found that buying these separately was working out to be too expensive. So, we used stainers for colour and added them to white emulsion exterior paint instead.
Our total cost including paintbrushes [initial investment] , paints and the numerous miscellaneous knick-knacks worked out to about Rs. 1000/-. Since there were 3 of us, this meant it was a little over Rs. 300/- per head. And we still have loads of paint leftover. So your actual cost per paint will be even less than this.
Stainers: Each 50 ml bottle cost Rs.25/- each at most. We got 8 such bottles of Asian Paint stainers.
Base paint: One litre of white emulsion exterior paint.
MIXING : We took little containers to mix paint in. So, first we would put a little base paint, and then add a little stainer to it. I would advise that you first mix small amounts to test how well the stainer is catching on. Colours like red and also the darker ones like brown, we found harder to mix because the base paint is white and tends to lighten most of the darker shades.
For consistency, we added water. Don't make it too watery as the paint will then drip. Keep a spare cloth and sponge handy for soaking up these trails.
What colours: Get the usual red, blue, yellow primary colours for SURE. Then, depending on your piece, pick the other colours. Knowing that our paint would involve flowers and plants, we picked two shades of green - emerald and olive, yellow, red, lavender, inky blue, black and one vermilion red.
DISCLAIMER
While we would LOVE to paint a wall WITH you, we are yet to find and get permissions for one big enough to allow more than 3 people to paint simultaneously. So, please keep a look out for walls, big and small.
Also, we hope this will grow into a movement. So, we don't want it to be dependent on any ONE group/ individual. So, please go ahead, source your walls, get permissions and PAINT! We would be happy to help you in any way we can.
If you have any questions, please ping us right here on the blog, or on our Facebook group - Bangalore Wallflower.
Hope you have a GREAT paint :) Do link us to pictures.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Pictures of the Recycled Art Collage for International day for Climate ACTION
After collecting a day's worth of recyclable materials from home, a local recycler and a couple of tailors, a group of 12 motley souls, put their minds and hands together to bring you - WHAT a WASTE!
Composed at Bangalore Central Mall, the collage took 3 hours 50 minutes to complete. It was done in collaboration with the Indian Youth Climate Network [IYCN] as a symbolic gesture of our solidarity and synergy with 350.org's campaign for greener policies at the Copenhagen Convention.
WHAT a WASTE! is composed of
* a crescent moon of CDs bound together with binding wire
* an earth with trees of cork and a plastic loofah, a cloth moth, water bodies of cloth and wool, paper boats, ear bud water feature [can be taken off for reuse as user sees fit], paddy fields, water bodies and polluted areas of green, blue and black floppy disc covers respectively ; metal and plastic bottle cap trash, cigarette packet buildings and a few subliminal messages of hope
* a sun made out of bottle caps with braided cloth rays and red CD radiation and
* our atmosphere with shredded newspaper clouds, cloth air and smog, metal can satellites, a mobile phone space station, stars of aluminium foil, plastic plates and bits of CDs and a cigarette rocket
ALL this and MORE was stuck onto a recycled plank of plywood measuring approximately 4 feet by 4 feet using a mixture of fevicol glue and white cement.
WHAT a WASTE! is homeless right now. S/he or it will find temporary sanctuary in malls, performance art venues and other hubs for creative activity to coax people to 'donate' their recyclables. The materials collected will then be delivered to Saahas, a local NGO that disposes off recyclables and e-waste responsibly.
We wish WHAT a WASTE! safe travels through the city and congratulate 350.org and all the event participants on a wonderful show of solidarity! Here's wishing you a belated Happy International day for Climate ACTION and ALL a tonne of luck for the campaign! :D
Photo credits: Siddharth Chadha, Gayatri Ganju, Ridhi D'Cruz
General Credits: Bangalore Central Mall, IYCN, the De Nazareth's for immediately adopting WHAT a WASTE! and of course the beautiful souls for their generosity, time, energy and laughter - Gayartri, Namrata, Niyati, Nikita, Chitra, James, Deepti, Chocka, Tamseel, Siddharth, Shilo and Ridhi.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Recycled Art project for International day for Climate ACTION
Dear all,
Tomorrow is the International Day for Climate ACTION.
350.org has put forth the concept of conducting different 'actions' or events across the world. They intend to compile these different events to build a campaign for greener policies when our world's leaders meet for the Copenhagen Convention this December 7th - 18th.
The Indian Youth Climate Network [IYCN] is organising a BUNCH of 'actions' tomorrow across India.
Bangalore Wall Flower Project is collaborating with IYCN's Karnataka chapter in Bangalore bring you a Recycled Art Project.
Tomorrow evening starting 3 pm, we will be at Bangalore Central Mall. We are taking 3 hours 50 minutes [;)] to make a piece of art out of recycled material like bottle caps, Lays packets, tetra packs, etc by sticking them [with white cement and fevicol mixture] onto a large piece of plywood [recycled].
We have also organised a collection bin for recyclables from Saahas. I am told it is made of tetra packs :)
Please come on over :) And if you can, please bring along recyclable trash from your house like tetra packs, CDs, bottle caps [plastic/ metal]. Anything recyclable! :)
Hope to see you there
Tomorrow is the International Day for Climate ACTION.
350.org has put forth the concept of conducting different 'actions' or events across the world. They intend to compile these different events to build a campaign for greener policies when our world's leaders meet for the Copenhagen Convention this December 7th - 18th.
The Indian Youth Climate Network [IYCN] is organising a BUNCH of 'actions' tomorrow across India.
Bangalore Wall Flower Project is collaborating with IYCN's Karnataka chapter in Bangalore bring you a Recycled Art Project.
Tomorrow evening starting 3 pm, we will be at Bangalore Central Mall. We are taking 3 hours 50 minutes [;)] to make a piece of art out of recycled material like bottle caps, Lays packets, tetra packs, etc by sticking them [with white cement and fevicol mixture] onto a large piece of plywood [recycled].
We have also organised a collection bin for recyclables from Saahas. I am told it is made of tetra packs :)
Please come on over :) And if you can, please bring along recyclable trash from your house like tetra packs, CDs, bottle caps [plastic/ metal]. Anything recyclable! :)
Hope to see you there
Monday, October 5, 2009
......Three reasons for painting a wall
Ridhi asked me on Gtalk a few days ago
“What are your 3 reasons for painting a wall?”
And I replied,
“What are your 3 reasons for painting a wall?”
And I replied,
“Number One. I have always wished for urban structures to be much nicer than their present state of concrete, plain white or as in the case of Rest House Road, covered with moss. And then, I saw painted walls on Chapel Street in Bandra, Mumbai. It looked beautiful. I want to do this in my own city now. ”
“Number Two : It's an exploration of my own artistic intent and ability. Working with Shilo and you [Ridhi] makes it so much more easier. I got to learn immensely yesterday. And I know if I goof up, its ok, it ll be fixed...and there is no sense of judgement on each others roles/work etc. except the Outliner. Destroy the Outliner!”
Ridhi replied, “Haan, cool reasons!”
The third reason is in retrospect. I was fascinated with the interaction between the locality and us, the outsiders. Passers-by stopped, stood back and looked at what we were painting, mostly throwing in a smile, an odd query, a thank you or 'can you paint my wall, too!'? Three children from the abandoned building, of which the wall was a part of, came and played with the paints. We had to send them back to their mother and give them mean threats so that they let the work finish! Everyone was cheerful to see the colors.
- Siddharth
~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Starting a conversation
I like fuelling different kinds of 'conversations'. They might be with dogs on the street, trees lining a road, a wall, a person. The need for conversations comes from my desire to interact with the city CLOSELY. Feel its textures. Taste its flavours.
In Bangalore, we are experiencing a very interesting period of transition. Questions and conflicts of Identity and Culture are bubbling under a façade of modernity.
Painting a wall is a great conversation start point to explore these subtly hidden layers.
2. Talking about...
While painting with Dhanya and Nitya in Bombay, I especially noticed the kind of conversations it sparked off with passers by. Some people stopped. They said hello, watched us in silence, commended us, criticized us, questioned us, irritated us.
And it ALL felt GREAT because we were talking to people we wouldn't normally talk to and on terms that were not ordinary because the interaction was
* withOUT monetary exchange
* remained 'ungendered'
* AND, almost everyone walked away
with a smile on their faces :)
* withOUT monetary exchange
* remained 'ungendered'
* AND, almost everyone walked away
with a smile on their faces :)
3. A thread of commonality
Often, I find it difficult to find a thread that ropes in a large number of people. It is very easy to disagree and draw borders.
But I find that painting a wall brings people together.
It results in a random assortment of people with a common purpose - to colour the cityscape.
No political message, no real 'hidden' motive. It is so... simple. :)
Often, I find it difficult to find a thread that ropes in a large number of people. It is very easy to disagree and draw borders.
But I find that painting a wall brings people together.
It results in a random assortment of people with a common purpose - to colour the cityscape.
No political message, no real 'hidden' motive. It is so... simple. :)
4. Having fun and spreading fun:
It brings art out of studios and onto the streets. It involves and includes people who are not usually thought of as artists. It lets you get paint all over your hands and experience the joy of living in the moment, the moment of that stroke.
Deliberate, meditative, cathartic, flamboyant, powerful, vibrant, superlative.
5. There is no border
I can explore my own personal artistic expression WHILE being under the public gaze. It's the most I've been able to share of my creative self without feeling completely overwhelmed by an 'audience'.
I can no longer draw a line between artist and audience. It blurs into one.
The 'stage' is thrown open to participation. The onlooker is no longer a passive spectator.
And everything becomes a riot of colour.
The 'stage' is thrown open to participation. The onlooker is no longer a passive spectator.
And everything becomes a riot of colour.
- Ridhi
[*who knows she's given 5 reasons instead of 3 :S]
[*who knows she's given 5 reasons instead of 3 :S]
~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Love.
- Shilo
(more coming soon)
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