this day is an island

If you didn't spend most the day outside today you messed up, its the last nice one for awhile. Rain and cold will be running the show for at least another week. Today's project is a bird house I found in the garbage and fixed up. I figured since spring seems to never come the birds have been out in the cold and rain for more then their share.

 

I rigged a clipping strap to the back so it can rest on one branch while being held tight in place by the higher one (no nails or anything were put into the tree). The perch was made from a broken chop stick pounded into a smaller hole. Then I filled her with bird seed in hopes that it might entice them more though, I'm not sure how fond they will be of crawling inside of an eyeball ha. Installing was less then easy since its so high up and so far out but it fit great! Now I just hope someone walking through the park will catch a bird living in there some day!

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

CHASE

 

Got the chance to see an amazing street artist, CHASE, at work last week. Super inspiring dude. We ended up doing a kind of impromptu, hand done, sticker trade. Super pumped to have a few originals and in the excitement of free art I decided to share them with everyone and put'm up. Found a few high up places I expect to see a decent life span. Dude's huge and way sick, make sure to check him out!

--SKEM3

Where have I been?

So those of you who follow pretty closely may have noticed I haven't posted in 2 whole weeks... and I guess I dont really have a decent excuse for that besides exhaustion and fucking snow in the middle of April...

Tonight's project is kind of a test for a series I'd like to do. I framed a print of a photo I took and then dropped it in the exact place I took it at. So, the viewer should be able to stand back and compare the dichotomy of the scene that I captured and the scene that exists in their present:

Getting a good photo of it was less then easy but that could just be more excuses.

On another note I recently discovered that FreeStreet was featured (kind of) in an article in the March 31, 2011 publication of the High Plains Reader. I say 'kind of' because they used a photo of the jet ski sign for an article completely about the gay community in Fargo. Confused? Me too. There is not one mention or any relevance to the sign of ANY kind in the article. Nothing at all against the gay community, I just can't help but feel a little cheated! I emailed the writer, Josh Boschee, about it but no light was ever shed on the subject.

--SKEM3

GET SOME!

HELL YEAH! Finally some new shit!

First off, BIG ups to my man STAB for all the help putting this one together and climbing up those freezing beams with me! Dude's SICK!

Went big with it tonight! If you couldnt tell from the photos, this weeks project is a giant (taller than me, seriously!) cardboard cut out of Banksy's Molotov flower rioter guy ( I know I said I was nothing like him before but this is different). I switched out the rioters masked face with that of Marge from the movie "Fargo" and instead of a bu cay of flowers shes grasping a bushel of wheat ( ND's biggest crop).

She's strategically placed right on top of the historic Fargo Theater sign for Monday's showing of "Exit Though The Gift Shop".  Originally I planned on putting her up Sunday night so she'd be up all day before the premiere but since we live in the city with the toughest weather, we had do it a few days early to avoid being up that frigg'n high up in a snow storm (in April? yeah, in April).

Anyway, after hours of planning and taping and cutting and weather proofing and running and climbing we finally got her up and she looks fuckin huge!

--SKEM3

***UPDATE***

That weekend it did end up snowing and being super windy and she survived! But only for a few days longer. After about a week the weather got to her and started looking like shit. So, for the first time ever that I can remember I personally took down my own piece. Gotta keep the city pretty.

Long Week

 

Well I finally failed! Looks familiar right? I Promise I have new things cooking just a victim of circumstance:

The ONE night I had set out to put something new up there was a thunder/hail/snow storm all in one night! Shit is messed. THEN another night I went out to put up a different project and that whole operation completely crumbled on me as well! Even today when I put this drop up I had to run all the way back home before I could take a photo for the blog because my memory card wasnt formatted right. Fuck I wish the warm weather would stick around for more then a few days in a row.

Speaking of, if you haven't heard yet, Fargo is not only in the running for the Toughest Weather City Tournament but we're also about to win!

--SKEM3 

Truckers

This lovely snarling face can be found at a rest stop halfway between Fargo and the Twin Cities. He guards truckers and traveling families while they poop. This sticker/stencil is an old one I tend to use a lot. It's been noted as being "Banksy-esque" which I can't decide humors me or pisses me off due to every college art fuck thinking that any piece of art on the street, that isn't a throwie, "reminds them of Banksyyyy". Yuk.

Also! Just got back from the cities today where I got this sticker cut. It ripped when I put it up but I think it gets the point across just the same.

--SKEM3

I'll count it

Keeping up with getting a new piece out there every week is proving to be a little more challenging than I initially expected. But if I can finish this in 2 minutes then I'll have technically made it in under a week!

Tonight we have an old framed print of a kid...sniffing his hand? I bought it for 2 bucks at a pawn shop for the frame, but then decided to do a blind collaboration with the original artist. Mounted on a nail sticking out of the brick wall, this little boy's contradictory themes will either give someone a good laugh or piss them right off ha.

Also! check out the new LINKS panel to the right! There you can find some old work of mine and a bunch of other local FM street art as well!

--SKEM3 

Who'd Have Guessed?

 

WOW was I wrong when I thought last night would be a good night to try my first wheat paste poster... Was super nice (considering) and sunny yesterday afternoon but things sure changed by the time we made it out there to put this up. -3 and 26 mph winds made this less than easy but we got it up (mostly). 

The roller bomb in the background is mine from before I started FreeStreet. I picked this spot particularly because it used to say "SKEM3" but LERIK decided to buff out the 3 (my favorite character) to make room for a piece of his. Which was unnecessary AND sucky. Anyway I put this back over the portion I had originally claimed.

Anyways, enough bad blood, check this out!  

Unglued Craft Fest is basically a big craft expo-esk thing but instead of a bunch of old grandma's in rocking chairs making boring things it's a bunch of local indie kids selling cleaver cute things. I think? Either way it's been hyped up pretty well so, if you're in the FM area, go check it out!

--SKEM3