Ticky on Broadway!

Anyone that knew the 16-year-old version of myself knew that I was completely and utterly obsessed with the band Green Day. I have to admit, it got a little embarrassing at times.

Yesterday, April 20, Green Day’s original broadway show, American Idiot.

And guess who ended up as a Broadway star?

See: top left hand corner of the toilet tank for some Ticky!

Tick Tock has somehow maneuvered her way onto the Great White Way. The picture on the right is from a scene on the American Idiot stage. I know, I know, it’s a toilet. But one of Green Day’s songs from the American Idiot album said:
“I read the graffiti on the bathroom stall, like the holy scriptures of the shopping mall.”
So, you have to think that it might be a pretty poignant part of the whole show, which makes me even more excited. And how many people in the world can say that their art has made it onto an original Broadway set?

Ticky was the first person to show me this. She knew me back when I was obsessed with Green Day (and still secretly am), and I completely flipped out when I saw it. It was like I was 16 again: with my baggy black t-shirts and pink hair, copying Dookie lyrics in my notebooks and dreaming of Billie Joe Armstrong.

Ticky told me she doesn’t know how it ended up on the set, and I think it makes it a little bit more exciting. That means people know about Tick Tock, and Philly street art enough to want it to spread across the United States.

So congrats on your Broadway debut, Ticky. Maybe you should take your career to the big screen!

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Art Show Success

The crowd outside Rarebreed

Last Saturday, as many people know, was the Friends with Benefits art show at Rarebreed on Broad Street. I was really excited to go, but some unforeseen circumstances kept me out of Philly that day.

I have heard only good things about the show, and I’m pretty bummed that I missed it. The Friends with Benefits recently posted some pictures, taken by photographers Landon Wise and Lemara Prince, of the event. It looks like it was a lot of fun.

photo courtesy: http://www.friendswithbenefitsshow.blogspot.com/

One of the things that sticks out to the me is the amazing colors that stick out in every piece of art in the room. One of my favorite things about street art is the colors and the brightness. It lights up the streets, or in the case of this show, the entire room. There is a fun and joking atmosphere that’s almost impossible not to get sucked into.

photo courtesy: http://www.friendswithbenefitsshow.blogspot.com/

According to featurd F.W.B. artist Ticky the show took in about $1200 with shirt and art sales. “We all signed each of the custom shirt boxes and there were tons and tons of younger kids there who make their own stickers, who seemed really excited to meet us, have us draw in their blackbooks, and exchange stickers with us and each other.” Ticky said. ” There were people from New York, Massachusetts, Maryland and a couple hours away in Pennsylvania.”

Congrats to all the artists. For more pictures or info check out the Friends with Benefits blog, or the photographers personal sites.

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Nostalgia

So I am back in my hometown of Mount Laurel for spring break for the next week and some change. It feels good to be here when I’m not in the middle of working or running around to one place or the next. I’m prepared to use these next ten days to see my friends, use my parents’ quesadilla maker to its fullest potential, and, most importantly, spend all day in my pajamas drifting in and out of naps while listening to Ricky Gervais’ podcasts.

A day full of monsoon winds and pouring rain landed me back in my room, digging through old pictures and boxes that I haven’t looked at since I went away to college. Besides finding my beloved childhood stuffed animal, Sparkles (I know the name is weird. I’m writing a blog about vandalism in Philadelphia, did you expect anything else?) I also stumbled on a whole handful of street art memories.

This. Is. Awesome.

These stickers, and the two buttons in the right corner, have to be at least three years old. We have here Ticky, UWP and Bob Will Reign stickers from back when I used to do sticker art back and Pluto was still a planet.

Ticky’s are, of course, the spazy little miniature stickers jumping all over the place in the picture. When Ticky made those she decided to be funny and stick them all over my parents’ basement when I wasn’t around. There is still one hiding there on a shelf that makes me laugh every time I see it.

UWP’s is the dark faces at the top of the photo. I think that one might be one of the first stickers he gave me. I know it was my job to stick them up whenever I was given them, but I was new at this, and so jealous of the quality and emotion that shone through in each piece. That sticker will always be one of my favorites

I remember when UWP gave me the Bob sticker in the left corner. I was in complete awe. When I drew, Ticky and UWP welcomed me in with open arms, but I never had the chance to meet the other greats, like Bob. Bob Will Reign was and still might be the most popular street artist in Philadelphia, so receiving one of his stickers was like getting a handshake from Paul McCartney in my book.

This scan was a gift from UWP for my seventeenth birthday. It’s a scan of a canvas he created, and it hung on my wall for years until my parents decided to renovate the house. It’s amazing how much drawing changes through the years. Many people wouldn’t be able to tell this was UWP if they looked at it today. Ya know, its just from my vintage art collection… don’t mean to brag or nothin’.

The sticker on the left was one I decided to leave out of my description. With good reason.

Ladies and gentleman, I would like to introduce you to Buda.

Buda was my own precious little character. If you can’t tell where I got the concept of him than you can just stop reading. I’ve collected Buddha statues for the last couple years and I just loved him and his little t-shirt.

This is a collab with UWP. He was clever enough to draw out Buda’s little hat and everything. It’s amazing how much more detailed and concise UWP is compared to Buda. At that time I had just started out, and was just drawing something to get out there and be seen. I actually took this collab and used it as a drawing guide for myself.

Here we have a color collab with an old school Ticky, Buda, and a friend of ours, Mousse. I don’t think Mousse still draws anymore, but he was just starting out around the same time I was. I wish the picture wasn’t so blurry, because I think this collab is completely hilarious. It reminds me of an old cartoon I used to watch on Friday nights when I was a kid: So wacky, colorful, and weird that you can’t help but find it adorable and interesting.

I think that’s another reason I love street art so much. How can you not look at these characters over and over again and not feel some sort of emotional attachment? Each character represents the artists personality so clearly, even if they aren’t trying to do that. It’s one of the most real art forms out there.

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Want to see some of Philly’s finest?

If you wanna catch a glimpse at Philly street art off the street and in person then stop by the “Friends With Benefits” show on April 3.

Sponsored by Stickyricks and Junobo Paint “Friends With Benefits” starts at 7 pm that Saturday night and runs til 11. Stop by the Rarebreed gallery in South Philly and check out art from some of my favorites: Ticky, Under Water Pirates, Question Josh?, El Toro and Bob Will Reign.

This is your opportunity to check out art when its taken off the street and put onto canvas. While there are the obvious similarities in canvas art and street art, there are major differences as well. Canvas art gives the artists like the ones seen at “Friends with Benefits” the opportunity to really go crazy. There’s more time, more space, and many more possibilities.

Rarebreed, on 1624 South Broad Street, has always been a place for Philly hopefuls to showcase and sell their art, and has been one of the most popular haunts of street artists for years. All the art in the “Friends with Benefits” show will be for sale to the public, and any art that doesn’t sell will be up on the Rarebreed website afterwards.

So, even if you can’t make it, you can still get a piece of the action.

This can be yours!

More than canvases, visitors can buy collectors box sets, featuring the t-shirt shown here, a print, and a pack of stickers with all five artists work, packaged in a hand-made silk screened box. All this stuff was made by the artists creating this show, meaning each one of them sat for who knows how many hours drawing and painting and cutting and spraying and coming up with idea after idea.

I’ve always been amazed seeing real art like that, because I know how long even one piece takes. When Buda was still around I used to sit at my desk and draw for what seemed like forever, only to end up covered in paint and about ten or twelve little stickers. Trust me, this stuff is far from easy.

The artists will feature more than collabs in the show. Collabs are collaborative paintings including all five of them working towards one theme. For “Friends with Benefits”, some of the themes you can see would be Tetris, “Alice in Wonderland”, Dr. Suess and “Where the Wild Things Are”.

Personally, I’m psyched. I feel like these artists and the paintings that they make are so relatable. That’s why I love street art: it’s not too serious. It’s wacky, it’s colorful, and it’s pretty funny. I never saw the point in taking life seriously, and I know “Friends with Benefits” will be like a big giant fun house of art and craziness. I can’t wait!!!!

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An Interview with Tick Tock

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ticktock2006/

I caught up with my long-time friend, and the person who got me into street art so many years ago, Tick Tock, to talk about street art in Philly these days.

Painted Philly: What drew you to street art in Philly?

Tick Tock: “In art class, they fill your mind with rules and guidelines and force you to mimic past artists. I’m not saying that the past artists are not incredible, because they were. I’m saying that I could not stand that most art education is trying to teach a proper way to make art. There are no boundaries, the world is literally your canvas. Who says the back of stop signs need to be a blank sheet of metal? Who wants to look at that?

P.P: What made you decide to draw Tick Tock? Why Ticky/Tick Tock?

T.T: “My favorite thing in the world is small, goofy critters. When I started sketching out characters they all had the big bug-eyed look and some rodent teeth. There is definitely a bit of myself in them, considering they appear highly caffeinated, a bit strange, and slightly off mentally. I went with the name ‘Tick Tock’ originally because my brother (Under Water Pirates) and I used to speed-draw random things. Whenever he finished first he would taunt me with ‘tick tock, tick tock’ noises. It was actually friends and supporters in Philly who started referring to them as ‘Tickies’ for multiples, and then it just stuck. People started calling me ‘Ticky’.”

Courtesy: Tick Tock

P.P: Where else in the world has Ticky appeared ? I’m proud to say I helped bring Ticky to the United Kingdom a few years ago.

T.T: “Ticky has appeared all across the U.S. Many friends are to be thanked for that; I doubt there is an U.S. state lacking a colored rodent sticker. Ticky art has been displayed in shows in New York, Philadelphia, Miami, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, Dublin, London, and various cities in the U.K. There have also been photos of some loose stickers in South America, China, Switzerland, New Guinnea, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Panama, Germany, and France.”

P.P: What else is there to street art besides stickers and newspaper boxes? What else should people look for in Philadelphia?

T.T: “Newspaper bins, signs, poles, doors, the ground, water pipes, subway signs, railings, there is no limit. If you are a fan of the art you see on the street, keep an eye out for fliers and posters. Chances are, those artists are exactly that: artists. Although the illegal form of art seems to be the major form of display, we do frequently have shows in galleries scattered from Old City to South Philly. Keeps your eyes peeled, kids.”

P.P: What types of media do you use for your street art?

T.T: “My paper shall remain secret. Sticky paper is obviously the best; if the back is sticky, I’ll use it. Wood and particle board are always great for a quick install. There is really no limit; you could paint a piece of cardboard and leave it on the sidewalk for someone to find and take home. I’m not big on spray paint in the street, but on canvas I really like Montana Gold. Its very easy to go over with other media, whereas other spray paints become tacky and resistant to ink.”

P.P: Who inspires you?

T.T: “I could rattle off some of the great names of street art that you probably are familiar with if you are reading this, but im going to be honest and hopefully not disappointing. My brother is my biggest inspiration. He got me into art in general. He himself is one of the best street artists in the world in my opinion. He is always encouraging me and inspiring me to do my best and if it werent for him I would not have improved as much as I feel that I have. He is the reason Ticky exists and he is the reason it will always exist.”

P.P: Have you ever gotten caught?

Courtesy: Tick Tock

T.T: “No.”

P.P: What does it take to be a good street artist in Philadelphia?

T.T: “You have to go into it knowing the risks, knowing what you are getting into and doing and most importantly, you have to have the right motive. It’s not a hobby, it’s a lifestyle. Success comes with determination and the right motives. If you want to send a message, get your point across, change your surroundings and hopefully spark a sense of creativity in the world, then yeah, kill it! If you are trying for success you are in the wrong feild.”

P.P: Where do you see your work, and Philadelphia street art in general, going in the future?

T.T: “Philly street art has suffered a huge decrease. Either the P.P.D. (Philadelphia Police Department) is doing their job well, or the ones who were hobbying for temporary popularity have finally died off. Philadelphia can add as many new cops on foot as they want, they can buff everything, but street art is never going to stop. It’s a movement, it’s a fixture in creative society. Art is art; it’s in our nature to express ourselves and nobody will take that away. It’s just inhumane. Hopefully Ticky will continue to inspire people and, hopefully, I would like to send ticky in the direction of toys. I think it suits them.”

Wanna see how she does it? Check out this tasty morsel!

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Back in the game

I stopped with street art over three years ago.  At the time Buda had barely been alive for a year, and I thought things were moving too quickly for me to catch up.  I was one of the youngest street artists in Philadelphia; no one else around me was trying to balance stickering (what I called street art “back in the day”) with college applications and prom plans. Being surrounded by fantastic experienced artists like Under Water Pirates and Ticky Tock that seemed to get better and better overnight really pushed me away. It was bad enough being the “kid” of the group, and eventually I stepped back as others ran ahead.

I don’t really know what pulled me back to street art after all those years away. I guess I have always been mad at myself for quitting something that made me feel so alive and energized. When I was walking through Philadelphia with my backpack full of Paintys and stickers I felt invincible. I was everywhere but I was nowhere, and only a handful of people in the whole city knew it. I still love seeing street art and recognizing the tags and drawings all over Philadelphia, and I am always intrigued by the new names.

I guess, all along, I never really wanted to quit.

Now that I have decided to follow street art again with more than just an interest, I’m a little scared what to expect. One thing that is important to remember is that street art is technically illegal, which is made clear by the ranting and ravings of the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network. I’m sure there will be many artists out there that will see me as a threat to their privacy, and many more that will just see me as a washed-up wanna-be. As a journalism major I’ve heard plenty of that before, so I guess it’s just time for me to bite the bullet, swallow my pride, and do what I can.

This could end up being a really fun adventure, or it could be hard and trying, but there’s only one way to find out! So full speed ahead!

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