Apr

Tour 13 Paris: The Ephemeral Nature of Street Art

by Meredith Mullins on April 9, 2014

Colorful portrait by B Toy and rubble after the first phase of demolition of the Tour 13 in Paris, proving the fleeting nature of street art. (Photo © Galerie Itinerrance)

The beginning of the demolition of B Toy’s work at the Tour 13
© Galerie Itinerrance

The Long-Awaited Demolition: The Walls Come Tumbling Down

Art is fleeting. It lives for the moment.

Sometimes the artist, like Claude Monet in his later years, punctures holes in his paintings because he doubts himself. The work is destroyed before it’s ever seen.

Sometimes the life cycle of artistic expression is determined by the whim of contemporary tastes.

Sometimes an artist, like sculptor Andy Goldsworthy, creates the work to purposefully evolve over time, with nature as a collaborator. Stones are smoothed by water. Ice melts. Wood rots. Leaves wither. Life. Decay. Death. A natural cycle.

Sometimes the act of destruction is part of the work itself.

Street art, by its very nature, is ephemeral. Graffiti artists make transience their creed. They work quickly, often stealthily.

Their art and tags get painted over in days (or even hours!) They don’t get attached. They speak to the moment and move on.

These truths were the foundation for the Tour 13 in Paris.

Running rabbits, artistic expression of street art at the Tour 13 (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

The wild stampeding rabbits by Pantonio from Portugal.
Photo © Meredith Mullins

The Birth and Death of the Tour 13

Last year, more than 100 graffiti artists from around the world were gathered together by Mehdi Ben Cheikh of the Galerie Itinerrance in Paris and were given freedom of expression in a building targeted for demolition. OIC covered the event in its October story.

Faces inside the Tour 13 in Paris, a haven for street art and graffiti artist Jimmy C (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

The original artwork on the 8th floor of the Tour 13
© Meredith Mullins

As the artists took over the 36 multi-room apartments and a labyrinth of basements—and painted everything from closets to kitchens to toilets to radiators, to say whatever they wanted however they wanted—the last act of the story was already written. The art would not last.

A portrait by street artist Jimmy C in the Tour 13 in Paris, showing the fleeting nature of street art (Photo © Galerie Itinerrance)

What’s left after the first phase of demolition
© Galerie Itinerrance

Everyone knew the dilapidated building would be destroyed. The community of artists, who worked for free, knew it. The 25,000 visitors, who waited in line for up to 13 hours to see the amazing installation, knew it. The nearly half a million visitors to the social media sites knew it.

So, it is no surprise this week that the walls will come tumbling down, the final part of the demolition.

Side of the Tour 13 in Paris after the first phase of demolition, proving the fleeting nature of street art (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

The destruction of the building (and the art) was part of the plan.
© Meredith Mullins

The Demolition

It is not so much a “tumbling” as it is a “nibbling.” To create an experience unlike any other, a crane will snack on the remaining exterior walls little by little, revealing the interior walls, floors, and ceilings for one final look. A retrospective of the most unusual kind.

A crane destroys the Tour 13 in Paris, revealing 8 stories of street art. (Photo © Pamela Fickes-Miller)

The “nibbler”
© Pamela Fickes-Miller

The art that was once on the closets, bathtubs, radiators, sinks, and windows has already been destroyed. The windows have been knocked out. Piles of rubble inside and outside the building, with chunks of bright color, reveal hints of that progress.

An exterior wall of the Tour 13 in Paris with a pile of rubble, proving that artistic expression is fleeting in the world of street art. (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

Remnants of artistic expression in the rubble
© Meredith Mullins

No Regrets

Oh I see. There is no sadness in saying goodbye. This is life, as street art.

A1one art at the Tour 13 in Paris, a street art project (Photo © Galerie Itinerrance)

The work of Iranian street artist A1one after the first phase of demolition.
© Galerie Itinerrance

For the Iranian artist A1one, the art was so fleeting, he didn’t even have time to finish his room last year when he was in Paris. Then, he lost touch with the tower’s unfolding story. Now that he has heard about the destruction, he speaks with the heart of a true street artist:

“Cool. I didn’t know it was being destroyed. I like it when my works fall down. I hope we learn from it. Huge things can easily fall down in a glance.”

Mehdi Ben Cheikh feels the same about this final stage. “I’m glad of it,” he says with no nostalgia. “It’s part of the project—the ephemeral nature of street art.”

Mehdi Ben Cheikh, founder of the Tour 13 in Paris, a project that gave voice to street art and street artists around the world. (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

Mehdi Ben Cheikh—Street Art Crusader
© Meredith Mullins

However, Mehdi—always a street-art crusader—has an eye toward the future of this kind of artistic expression.

“As with any great art movement, institutions are always one step behind,” Mehdi says. “They offer so little exposure to street art, even though it surrounds us in urban life. Although this project is at an end, it opens the door to new projects about to happen.”

Out of the rubble . . . who knows what will emerge.

What we do know, however, is that long after the Tour 13 is gone, it will be remembered.

Street art near the Tour 13 in Paris, showing Pantonio's artistic expression (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

A hint of Pantonio’s rabbits (alive and well) in the neighborhood
© Meredith Mullins

The “nibbling” is taking place this week and will be shown via live camera on the Tour 13 website, on the Tour 13 Facebook page, and on French television and on YouTube.

Thank you to Elsa Courtois and Mehdi Ben Cheikh of Galerie Itinerrance and Pamela Fickes-Miller for contributing to this story.

The Tour 13 demolition in Paris proves the fleeting nature of street art (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

Au revoir Tour 13
© Meredith Mullins

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France (Paris)/The World's Art & Design

Apr

Richard Renaldi Poses Strangers . . . and Questions

by Bruce Goldstone on April 7, 2014

Portrait from Richard Renaldi's Touching Strangers, a project that creates and captures fleeting relationships. (Image © Richard Renaldi).

Sonia, Zach, Raekwon, and Antonio, 2011, Tampa, FL
from Touching Strangers (Aperture, May 2014)
© Richard Renaldi

Touching Strangers Creates and Captures Fleeting Relationships

Two kids and two adults perch on a bed in an anonymous Florida hotel in Richard Renaldi’s striking photographic portrait.

Their body language shifts every time you look back. Are they relaxed or tense? Friendly or feuding? A hidden piece of information explains why the subtext is so hard to read: these people aren’t an actual family. In fact, they just met moments ago.

Renaldi’s project Touching Strangers investigates the complex chemistry of fleeting relationships. What happens when people who don’t know each other pose as friends, lovers, or family members?

Tom, Alaina, and Charlie, 2012, San Francisco, CA
from Touching Strangers (Aperture, May 2014)
© Richard Renaldi

Do appearances reflect reality? Or maybe they create it?

Sometimes When We Touch

The basics of the project are simple: Renaldi finds two or more strangers and asks them to pose together. The eloquent, complex results are on display at Aperture Gallery in New York City through May 15, 2014.

Asking strangers to assume intimate poses creates an obviously unnatural situation. Nerves and awkwardness are a common first response, and are frequently reflected in subtle body language in the final portrait.

Nathan and Robyn, 2012, Provincetown, MA
from Touching Strangers (Aperture, May 2014)
© Richard Renaldi

Yet many of the portraits create an uncanny sense of reality. How can this relationship be a put-on?

Donna and Donna, 2012, Craig, CO
from Touching Strangers (Aperture, May 2014)
© Richard Renaldi

Even though the relationship is artificially constructed, by the time Renaldi snaps the photo, the relationship may not be fake after all. This insight became an “Oh, I see” moment for both Renaldi and the participants.

Atiljan and Tiffany, 2011, New York, NY
from Touching Strangers (Aperture, May 2014)
© Richard Renaldi

Getting to Know You

Renaldi uses a large format 8-by-10-inch-view camera for his portraits, in part because he prefers the quality of the resulting images, and in part because the process itself takes time, and time creates comfort.

Tari, Shawn, and Summer, 2012, Los Angeles, CA
from Touching Strangers (Aperture, May 2014)
© Richard Renaldi

Unlike a quick digital snapshot, the large format camera requires a slower pace. While Renaldi is setting up, the subjects have time to talk and relax. By the time he begins taking pictures, some of the strangeness of the situation is already worn off.

In May, Aperture Foundation will publish Touching Strangers, a large-format book documenting the project.

In the Afterword, Renaldi shares how he began to understand the value of the slowed-down photographic process in creating space for a personal connection to take place:

“On completing one of these photographs, there was often the feeling that something rare and unrepeatable had just occurred.”

Michael and Kimberly, 2011, New York, NY
from Touching Strangers (Aperture, May 2014)
© Richard Renaldi

Stranger Things Have Happened

This video of Renaldi at work shows how his constructed poses swiftly segue from distance and discomfort into real, if temporary, relationships.

If the video does not display, watch it here.

Come Together

Renaldi delights in combining subjects from different backgrounds to create his instant families.

Vincent and Charles, 2012, Los Angeles, CA
from Touching Strangers (Aperture, May 2014)
© Richard Renaldi

The juxtapositions arouse human, and humane, questions. What’s a family, anyway?

Kiya and Simon, 2012, New York, NY
from Touching Strangers (Aperture, May 2014)
© Richard Renaldi

Which pairs are lovers? Which pairs are friends? Can you always tell the difference?

I’m a Stranger Here Myself

The Touching Strangers project has been enthusiastically received as word of mouth has spread, and, not surprisingly, a lot of people want to get involved.

Richard Renaldi, author of Touching Strangers, a project that creates and captures fleeting relationships.

The photographer who stages connections
invites others to join in.
© Richard Renaldi

Renaldi has received many requests from people who want to recreate his process and find their own “Oh, I see” moments.

Now, he’s found a way to include his fans contributions. All you need is a camera and the courage to say “Hello” to some complete strangers.

Using Twitter, people who’d like to join the project can send their own pictures of strangers to hashtag #TouchingStrangers.

Richard will check the feed regularly and select favorite photos to be displayed alongside his own at the Aperture exhibit.

As the Touching Strangers project evolves, Richard Renaldi has found surprisingly rich ways to preserve the flash and spark in fleeting relationships.

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Clever Ideas/The World's Photography

Apr

Wordplay: The Power of One Little Letter

by Sheron Long on April 3, 2014

Reinvented book cover for Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code with new cover art showing a codfish and the title shortened to The Da Vinci Code, illustrating an example of wordplay for word lovers. (Image with thanks to @darth)

Dropping a letter changes a best-seller with a sophisticated “code”
into a new plot starring a slimy “cod.”
(image thanks to @darth)

Clever Words for Clever Word Lovers

What’s so attractive about words such that some people become logophiles (yep, that’s the official term for “word lovers”)?

Perhaps it’s the puzzle of wordplay games like Scrabble where an aha moment lights up the brain when you figure out how to use all seven letters.

Maybe it’s the social aspect of games like Words with Friends, when folks who choose a random opponent meet through the chat feature. Some even marry, putting two important words together: I do.

But for many word lovers, it’s simply the thrill of the challenge. There’s power there, too, for people like @darth, whose creative reinvention of book covers (above) just might change the course of literary history.

Oh I see. One little letter makes a mighty big difference. It could be for the better; it could be for the worse.

Newlyweds kissing and wordplay below showing the change from "Yours" to "Ours" by deleting one letter in a game that fascinates word lovers. (image © Malsveta/iStock)

A marriage promise is for better or worse.
Which is it when just one letter moves things from “yours” to “ours”?
© Malsveta/iStock

The Oxford English Dictionary defines 750,000 words in the English language. Because languages are always changing and words have many different forms, Merriam-Webster reports that the number might go as high as one million. Either way, the English language is a big playground.

Warming Up

Myself a logophile and ready to play, I first improved some book titles in my kitchen:

—A favorite cookbook went from The Joy of Cooking to The Joy of Cooing. After all, isn’t that what romantic dinner conversation is all about?

—Losing an r from Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-seller, Eat, Pay, Love was next. Adding a T to Julia Child’s opus, Mastering the Tart of French Cooking led me to a good dessert.

Feeling my oats now, I turned my place into my palace and a sure-fire way to get a “yes” whenever I send invites to a bite of dinner.

A dilapidated house, labeled "My Place" next to an opulent house labeled "My Palace," illustrating a wordplay game for word lovers. (image ©AbleStock.com and ©pabkov/iStock)

Imagination Kicks In

Just as books in the Harry Potter series suspend reality, so it is with wordplay and the title for the new underwater series: Harry Otter. Stealing an F leads to more fun and fantasizing about the plots in Animal Arm and Lie of Pi.

So it goes—whenever I play with words, my imagination runs wild. I start to picture scenes like these:

—An eerie atmosphere changes to an eerie catmosphere with eyes aglow and fur that turns to fury.

Cat eyes glowing in the dark, illustrating wordplay of changing an "atmospheric condition" to "catmospheric condition," a game enjoyed by word lovers. (Image © Eric Gevaert / Hemera)

—On stage at the Lincoln Center, a ballerina in a spotted leotard becomes a leopard stalking prey.

—In a low-lit Nairobi night club, a mean ole mamba does the mambo.

—At a soiree aboard the haunted Queen Mary, an almost ghost turns out to be the host.

—In a close encounter of another kind, a Purple Martin house transforms into a purple Martian house.

More for the History Books

Wordplay has a long, illustrious history.

Anagrams, in which the letters of a word like listen are rearranged into a new word like silent, became popular in Europe in the Middle Ages and may even date to the ancient Greeks.

By the 17th Century, Louis XIII appointed a royal anagrammatist whose job it was to entertain the court by creating anagrams of people’s names.

The venerable crossword puzzle, birthed by Arthur Wynne for the New York World, celebrated its 100th birthday on December 21, 2013. It has given millions of logophiles a century worth of fun.

It’s no wonder then that word lovers and wordplay are still going strong today, sometimes in a mash-up of modern days and history. To wit: When a dog friend of mine snatched an entire bag of chips, it brought to mind the Greek beauty Helen of Troy. Why?

Hers was the face that launched a thousand ships sparking the battle of Troy. His was the face that lunched a thousand chips barking at the dare of his ploy.

Face of a springer spaniel against a background of potato chips, illustrating wordplay when "the face that launched a thousand ships" turns into "the face that lunched a thousand chips" enjoyed by word lovers. (Image © Son GalleryTM / iStock)

What fun! And you, too, can play. Enjoy good times and many “Oh, I see” moments inventing new titles for 20 famous books. Download the list and start playing, but—remember—you can change only one little letter.

Book titles VIA Pleated Jeans with input from reader comments and tweets to #bookswithalettermissing.

Find all kinds of creative word games at Merriam-Webster.

Scrabble, invented during the Great Depression, is now owned by Hasbro. Words with Friends, developed in 2008 by Paul and David Bettner, is now owned by Zynga.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Sheron Long Comments

Wordplay

World Views:

Topics

Tour 13 Paris: The Ephemeral Nature of Street Art

The Long-Awaited Demolition: The Walls Come Tumbling Down

The Birth and Death of the Tour 13

The Demolition

No Regrets

Richard Renaldi Poses Strangers . . . and Questions

Touching Strangers Creates and Captures Fleeting Relationships

Sometimes When We Touch

Getting to Know You

Stranger Things Have Happened

Come Together

I’m a Stranger Here Myself

Wordplay: The Power of One Little Letter

Clever Words for Clever Word Lovers

Warming Up

Imagination Kicks In

More for the History Books