Scratching The Walls To Create Street Art

We want to share with you this inspiring and refreshing wall art by Alexandre Farto, better known as Vhils, but contrarly to other steet artists that put paint on the walls, he creates large scale portraits by scratching and chipping plasters out of walls of depleted buildings. His works give new life to decrepit buildings, while helping them retain a timely character at the same moment. Often his works leave chipped away plaster at their base, tipping off observers as to how the piece was created. Farto's work has made an impact far and wide, with examples in many European cities and New York.

London

Moscow

Portugal

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Haiti cholera epidemic: Violent street protests continue for a third day

Aid workers complained that protests were again holding up relief operations in the troubled second city of Cap Haitien, while a top UN official said the demonstrations were being “orchestrated”.

Two local Haitians were killed in riots in Cap Haitien on Monday, one shot by a UN peacekeeper as protesters set a police station and vehicles ablaze and threatened to torch a UN compound.

A police source told AFP a third person was shot dead in fresh rioting in the city on Wednesday afternoon. It wasn’t clear if the latest fatality was a UN peacekeeper, a member of the Haitian police, or a protester.

UN spokesman Vincenzo Pugliese could not confirm the fatality, but said UN workers had not been able to get to work on Wednesday because of the tensions in the city.

The Oxfam aid group confirmed the protests and said it was worried that the unrest could lead to a faster spread of the cholera that has already killed more than 1,100 people in the country.

“Roads are blocked with protesters and burning tires, and we physically can’t get to our work sites, especially with trucks carrying crucial supplies like soap, water tablets or rehydration salts,” said Julie Schindall, Oxfam spokeswoman in Haiti.

“We have told our staff, most of whom are Haitian and live in Cap-Haitien, to stay at home while our operations are suspended. The few international staffers have been told to stay at the office for now.”

The UN said that in one incident this week, a World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse had been looted of 500 tonnes of food and burned.

Schindall said: “The violence is delaying our cholera response in Cap-Haitien. We’re obviously frustrated by it and worried for the people that desperately need clean water.”

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Try to Jaywalk Across This Street Art

Roadsworth is a street artist that stencils drawings on pavement and has also gotten arrested for his works of art.

He started out by painting bicycle symbols on the streets of Montreal, similar to the ones used to designate the city's bike paths. An advocate for bicyclists, he wanted to show the public that bicyclists should get their fair share of the road, along with the motorists.

From his artist statement: "For a long time I had been grumbling about the ill effects of a society dependant on oil and bent on over-consumption in general and our seeming unwillingness and/or inability to confront these issues despite our better intentions. The more the litany of complaints grew over an overstrained health-care system, obese children, bronchial disease, traffic congestion, pollution, global warming, war etcand the human misery these cause, the bigger and more fuel guzzling cars there were, the longer the lines of traffic grew and the hotter and smoggier the summer seemed to get."

"What began as a form of activism rooted in a desire for more bike paths and justified by the rationale outlined above eventually grew into an art project that, to a certain extent, continues today. Fuelled by a sense of righteous indignation I also felt empowered by the expressive and creative outlet that street art afforded me. Instead of feeling like a helpless passenger on a train headed for disaster I felt that I had created a voice for myself amid the noise of the city."

In 2004 Roadsworth was arrested for these activities and charged with 53 counts of mischief for his "graffitti". He received a lenient sentence mostly because of the public support he received. Here some more pics of Roadsworth art:

I think seeing this kind of artwork on the pavement would make crossing the street more interesting. Instead of looking at boring things like birds, nature, and cute UPS guys delivering packages, I could focus on the fun things in life, mainly the looks of confusion on people's faces when they come across these drawings.
(source MediaDump)