(source)

ZOMB of KAV Crew fame in Bogota mixes with EKAE to put together a nice commission wall in Colombia. I’m lucky to know such creative and passionate people.

(source / ZOMB)

I’ve maintained that Bogotá, Colombia has some of the most under-rated street art in the World. Here we see four street artists (Guache, Dj Lu, Toxicómano, Lesivo) come together and paint a huge graffiti wall in Colombia’s capital, Bogota.

I’m providing a couple photos of one small part of the mural, and below is a video. If you want to see the entire graffiti wall, check it out.

(source)

(more from Toxicómano)

(source)

A long-time graffiti legend, iconic graffiti writer RIME MSK did some work with Zoo York and they cut a video.

A huge inspiration of the OPEK LIFE crew, his voice over touches on some really important perspectives that one can only get after years in the game putting in huge work. We’ve put together an honest transcript of the video but watch the video and check out his blog to see what he’s all about.

Growing up in Staten Island being a graffiti writer wasn’t really something that was considered to be long-term… to be eighteen years old and still writing it’s like “Damn, he’s still writing”, or to be fuckin’ 22 years old and still be painting. Graffiti was this thing that you hid; it was this addiction that you didn’t want other people to know about. It wasn’t something that you celebrated or made public. It’s just funny how things end up and how y’know, it all changes.

This whole idea of being a criminal and doing illegal acts, but at the same time showing your face and, I dunno it’s kinda like a weird thing. You do it, and as you’re doing it… it’s just kinda funny, it’s like, “Wow,” y’know, “maybe I’m getting a little too comfortable” y’know? And then you just say to yourself, “Well you know what? For the longest time I’ve hid who I am, and I’ve never liked that.” You get kinda tired of that, and you just want to be you! You just start to get into this habit of living your life in a non-apologetic way.”

Courtesy of the the Goorin Bros, we bring some action shots of REVOK, REYES, and STEEL’s latest foray in graffiti spray painting in San Francisco.

Our friend Revok was in San Francisco last week and collaborated on a large mural with Reyes and Steel on Mission st. Here’s a few shots of the progress and finished mural. If you are in San Francisco go check it out on Mission st. between 9th and 10th.

Merry Christmas y’all! Thanks for rocking with us!

(happy falsities. source)

So a while back I downloaded the Florian Gaag underground cult film Wholetrain. It’s not the most-known graffiti film but Florian Gaag has a good following and the movie is really good.

I’ve been trying to focus the blog on more of the culture surrounding graffiti rather than graffiti itself. Those who spray paint follow not only documentaries (like Cope2: Kings Destroy, Infamy, or Style Wars), but also niche graffiti films – films like Wholetrain.

The story’s a classic. The tribulations of a main character’s personal life and graffiti life – being called toys by rival crews, the ever-driving fantasy of painting a Wholetrain (top to bottom, front to back, all cars), loyalty of crew members and a baby all add to the protagonists obstacles – in the end the film comes off authentic, gritty, and gives an honest impression of the tensions surrounding the graffiti culture. I recommend this movie to anyone slightly interested in graffiti, you could do far worse in choice.

Below I’ve included a trailer for the movie, subtitled in English. If you’re having trouble finding subtitles in English you could check out our accompanying article: Wholetrain English Subtitles, a set of subtitles we at OPEK LIFE have put together for the SA23 Rip of the film, found on torrent sites online.

And of course, most importantly, come back and let us know what you thought of the film! Here’s the trailer…

I loved the movie and think that you will too. We’ve provided a link to buy it on Amazon and can strongly recommend it to anyone who is into the cult graffiti/street art film genre.

Shepard talks about the influence graffiti, skateboarding and punk rock had on his life and the ways it shaped his art career. Key moments such as a school trip to NY and the melding of styles by brands such as Shut Skateboards allowed him to develop his techniques. Look out for some classic 90′s skate footage as well.

OBEY’s description on Vimeo describes the video quite well. I just love hearing artists talk about their lives and their past. What makes them tick, where in life they made Read the rest of this entry »