Tag: collaboration

August 1, 2015

EMBRACING CHANGE

project: #3

location: Fremantle, aka Freo @ The Fremantle Fibonacci Centre (the fib)

date: 30th March, 2014

type: collaborative painting / music / live art making

THE END OF THE BLUE LINE.

Embracing Change took place a short train ride south of Perth in the eclectic harbour town known as Freo. The ocean scented streets guide travelers drifters and locals to the soul of it all. To mouth-watering fish & chips. To Little Creatures taps ever flowing with hops and barley. To an old daunting prison howling out stories and mysteries. To bustling markets. To street musicians. Artists. Poets. Dwellers. Cafe connoisseurs. Sailors. To endless boats. boxes. and beaches. To seagulls. To sea smells. The soul of this little town is all there, at the end of the blue line. Ride it to the end. To Fremantle Station.

ART FOUND HERE.

It’s here that John Butler went from busking on street corners to finding his Trio. It’s here that small rooms filled with music lovers saw the likes of Bon Iver and Courtney Barnett before the rest of the world did. And here that street artists and performers outnumber suits & ties. Art is found here. I know because I found it. The first hot sweaty day I wandered the streets lost and bewildered I found art here.

EMBRACING CHANGE.

As the old harbour town and my drifting self have changed over the years I thought it no better way to introduce Alley Art to the community than to focus on embracing those changes. A short month of chaotic prep and promo lay out the project’s tracks. Then just like that, we were in motion. A one day art event would fill our senses. And “change” would fill our minds.

THE PULSE OF CREATION.

A 2 x 1 meter canvas was stretched and stapled to an old wooden panel. The blank white space lay there. Inviting hands and time to create it’s painted completion. Scattered around the room were tables filled with ambitious local artists. Brushes got dirty. Art was created, discovered, and sold. Musicians set the pulse of the room with buzzing harmonies and bass beats. mmmm. Tat. mmmm. Tat. People filed in and out. In and out. It was a flowing pulse of creation.

HOURS & NUMBERS.

After over 10 hours of art, music, food, coffee, beers, and conversations a hand full of us remained. We were weary. Exhausted. And maybe a bit delusional. There was not an ounce of creativity left. We had exerted it all. Before the night’s end the last of us sprawled out around the completed community piece to capture still moments of silliness and happiness. Over 60 people had contributed to the painting over those hours. It’s finality showed layers, colors, shapes, words, and patterns. It showed change. and that is all we could have hoped for.

Get Creative, Get Involved, Art IS Everywhere.

artists: Asterical designs . J. Charboneau . Junko Kitamura . John Gronos . Sugar Sweet . maxokoto . Rach Verheggen Art . Kelly Flemming . Jane Patterson . Nas Gadiri

musicians: Melissa North . John Ralph . David Pensa . Michael D. Lane

contributors: Fremantle Fibonacci Centre . Blinco Street Cafe & Gallery . Nude Fude . 60+ community members

A.A.3.FREO — Fremantle Prison under bright neon lights.

alley art facebook @alleyartproject alley art videos

alleyarteverywhere@gmail.com

July 1, 2015

today

project: #2

location: Perth @ The Bakery

date: 6th March, 2014

type: collaborative painting / co-event with RAW: Natural Born Artists

A LONE CITY THRIVES.

The most isolated city in the world sits on a coastline of sandy white beaches. Follow the great Swan River from the bay to the city lights. To the park for Kings. To the winding streets hiding savory foods and alleyway cafe’s. Sit in squares with poetry readers, accordian players, and street cart venders. Gaze at murals in cityscape windows and train line stations. This lone city thrives with inspiration put there by it’s people. People who have come, people who have never left.

RAW.

The first few steps into the venue space leaves you numb. Your senses become overwhelmed with creativity. Art. Jewerly. Make-up. Models. Films. Photos. Fashion. Music Beats and Bright lights. Dedication. Soul. and Passion. The stage is set everywhere. Your city. My city. East. West. North. South. It’s as RAW as art should be.

BLACK & WHITE.

The RAW: Perth showcase began as the hot sun fell behind the shipping container walls. I was an invited artist, and I was ambitious to introduce Alley Art to the buzzing and creative Perth community. The task for them was to reflect on “Today”. To write. draw. express. and create. RAW patrons and artists passed by. The canvas lay there for the creating. It was a task plain as day. Nothing more than a reflection of personal experience. It was all very black and white.

HIGHLIGHTING AN ALL SHADES CITY.

That “today” came and went. As all do. But a quick look back at what a community can create by working together brought final brushstrokes that highlighted a thriving, all shades of grey, city. It’s never just black and white…

artists: j.charboneau (community canvas featured artist)

contributors: RAW Perth community . 50+ Perth community members

A.A.2.PERTH — A giant Indian Ocean. A giant goon sculpture by Norton Flavel. www.sculpturebythesea.com

photo cred. — J.Charboneau art on display. Photo cred. Jason Matz Photography INSTA: @jasonmatzphotography

alley art facebook @alleyartproject alley art videos

alleyarteverywhere@gmail.com

June 1, 2015

BEGINNINGS

project: #1

location: Denver @ undisclosed garage site

date: 3rd August, 2013

type: collaborative paintings / artist showcase

THE ROAD.

It was a project that began on the road. Two artists, Kate Jane and J.Charboneau drove. slept. ate. and painted. Their inspirations came from endless horizon lines. From sleeping under the stars. From good conversations over bad coffee. They painted by moonlight while drinking whiskey from the bottle. They wandered towns and cities with no aim but to experience them. They sat on dirt paths and busy sidewalks sketching and busking the hot summer days away. This was where it all started. Alley Art began as a chaotic idea from a couple of chaotic artistic nomads.

A TREE FELL IN THE FOREST.

As difficult it seems to show work in a gallery, it proves even more so difficult to catch the attention of the uninterested viewer. An artist’s survival depends on being noticed. Whether their work is noticed in good or bad taste, it is the interaction of another fresh eye that brings whatever idea or subject the artist is portraying to life. If it remains unseen it could very well be just as true as the tree that fell in the forest that nobody heard.

QUESTIONS.

The uninterested, dis-involved viewer rang focus in the coffee shop conversations of the two artistic nomads. They schemed and plotted. Questions rolled off their over-caffeinated tongues. How does one unintrusively grab the attention of the non-viewer? How does one bring the non-gallery goer to the forefront of the arts scene? How does one give art and creativity back to the people? How does one get the people to start looking?

ANSWERS.

The answers came with an invitation. Invite the non-viewer to participate rather than speculate. Grab them from their comforts and, even if for just one moment, make them the creator. Create art that is not only for the people… but that is also by the people.

CREATION FOR ALL.

Give them visual reigns on their turf. In their cafe’s. On their walls. In their *Alleyways. In the places they can’t avoid. So when it’s there in front of them, they look. For what man would avoid attention to that which they created.

A BEAUTIFUL MESS IN DENVER.

The first “Alley Art” project -as every series needs a name- began simple. A short invitation for a small community in Denver to stop by a house. The invitation: come paint. come drink. come see local art. There was no cover at the door. No white walls with art and titles to ponder over. Music blared from a house speaker. And when it rained the wooden board with stretched stapled canvas was moved to the small garage beside the house. It was 6 or 7 of them. Painting. Dancing. Drinking. Every once in a while they would step away to giddily gaze over what they were creating. Paint and chalk were layered and erased as the day turned to night. Hours went. But no one noticed until the storm finally struck fierce and took the power. They finished. Closed the paint jars. Critiqued by candlelight. The spontaneity of the many hands that approached the canvas’ left a mess of colors and lines. But what a beautiful mess.

BEGINNINGS.

The beginning of Alley Art. A chaotic beautiful mess that made the non-viewer not only look… but also help create that which they are looking at.

artists: Kate Jane . J.Charboneau

contributors: 15 Denver community members