Tuesday 29 September 2009

Rue Stick

When I met Ariane Pasco recently she told me about the Rue Stick event that would be taking place in Paris the following weekend. Taking her advice, I went along on a sunny, Sunday afternoon to watch a group of street artists decorate a pair of bare, grey walls between la Bastille and the Seine.

This was apparently the third such Rue Stick event in Paris, an occasion that is basically a meeting of street artists in sufficiently large numbers to enable them to work without fear of being stopped or arrested. For this event, around 30 artists were present, surrounded by an even larger number of friends, photographers and simple observers.

For me it was another opportunity to see the faces behind the creations. Ariane Pasco was not present, but Nice Art was represented by her associate Dominique Decobecq. Other well-known creators I discovered in the flesh for the first time were Mimi the Clown, Tian, Epsilon and Titi from Paris.

So what is a typical street artist? The answer seems to be that there isn't one! This gathering was a joyous collection of the young and the not so young, men and women, individuals and groups, all drinking wine together from plastic cups. When an artist needed a hand with a large poster somebody would pop up with a brush or a ladder, and once the creations were in place, everybody took photos of each other's work.

Local residents came along to have a look, some to criticise, but most to admire. Eventually the police appeared, but they chose simply to observe with a kind of detached amusement. It must be noted though that the creations were all pre-prepared on paper and were simply pasted in place on the day. They will eventually fade in the sun or slide away in the rain, and then Rue Stick will find another temporary gallery!

Before...

After!

10 comments:

Ariane said...

Hello ! J'adore ta photo avec la police.... excellent reportage, bravo.
Ariane

Kcalpesh said...

Being a designer myself, I'm loving
this art!

- Pixellicious Photos

Rispa Frances said...

Lovely street art! Thanks for capturing this!

Riofluo said...

Thanks a Lot!!
Skio >>> Rue-stick

Cergie said...

J'avais pensé à te parler du procédé moins définitif du collage d'affiches qu'on voit de plus en plus (au Belvédère de Belleville, aux Halles...) et qui est donc moins répréhensible car non dégradant. Cela me rappelle aussi lorsque j'étais aux Beaux Arts, j'avais un copain qui faisait des fresques incroyables sur les murs de notre atelier ("la belle et la bête..."), nous écrivions aussi des maximes impérissables sur les mur, tiens un peu comme les comments de blog :
"Le tant à tel heure untel a dit que..."
En deuxième année, nous avons fait repeindre les murs par nos "nouveaux" en guise de bizzutage.
Tu as bien fait de t'éloigner de chez toi, ce n'est pas un événement quotidien auquel tu as assisté, d'autant que cette oeuvre est éphémère.

Cergie said...

Merci de m'avoir corrigé pour le pigeon ramier = Common wood-pigeon ; j'ai déjà publié des photos ; la première fois j'avais parlé de "tourterelles" ! Parce que j'aime "tourtereaux" = "love birds".
"Love birds" m'a été enseigné par un visiteur anglophone de l'époque.
Tu sais, Adam, je mets quelques mots en anglais par courtoisiee mais je suis loin d'être une bonne angliciste, tu t'en es rendu compte...
:)

Thérèse said...

Live report from Paris! Génial.

Gina V said...

When I am in Paris I walk by this banal corner and dreary walls of a school almost everyday...- it is cool to see the transformation in one sunny afternoon!
[Rue du Petit Musc is apparently an archaic reference to the little harlots who used to hang around on these dark and dingy backstreets of le Marais!]

Ken Mac said...

very Nw Yrk!

ArtSparker said...

Lovely al fresco gallery. What fun!

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