Настроение сейчас - Творческое

« Russia is one of those that not many of us really know that much about in general, probably because it’s not top of the list for either summer holidays or winter breaks. This means that we really have little or no knowledge about what is going on with graffiti or street art over there. «Objects²», which contains a mix of both, goes some way to settings this right, and what is going on there does look rather fascinating.

The book starts with introduction about the history of graffiti in Russia, from its first emergence in around 1985 to the state of affairs in the present day. The text is in their native language but also in ours too, but whilst my grasp of English is definitely way better than my Russian, some of it is virtually unreadable and difficult to make sense of. I can only think that it has been translated directly and literally and then not reworked. Having said this, it was good to include the English text so at least some information was there to be taken in.

Moving on from the background information, the most important element of the book was to come; there followed sections of between two and six pages, each focusing on one artist, writer, crew or collective. Each section contains a set of photos and a short profile of the chosen subject. The artists, in the main, represent Russia and the Ukraine, but bizarrely M-City from Poland and the Plug from Belgium are added to the mix. Contained across the remainder of the book are some really interesting and innovative styles. There are plenty of decent-sized photos of styles of work that I have not seen before.

The photos that really stand out for me come from an artist called 183, who works in the underground tunnels and spaces below Moscow. Not wanting to leave his own mark on the environment – strangely the exact opposite of our intentions most of the time – he uses light projectors and stencils to shine striking images on the walls. The photos of his work are impressive indeed.

Some other artists who particularly stood out to me where the talented 56 crew and 310 squad. There is plenty of work which is worth checking, but I liked the writers who where painting large, black and white, naïve, playful looking pieces, such as No Future Forever, Apl315 and Homer. Also included are a few pages on Qee urban toys designed by Russia artists and writers and coverage of some local street art shows which took place in Moscow.

This book looks good and is well designed and put together. It’s strength is in the photos included, most of which are good and there are some really interessing styles being flexed. It is good to see that wtiting and street art are evolving in some new and different ways around the globe.
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