Louis Masai - "Missing"

"Missing"
The Crypt Gallery
St Pancras Church
London

24th - 27th May 2018


“and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” Genesis 1:28 – and thus begineth the issue which vexeth the street artist Louis Masai.


#Save The bees, Masai, Shoreditch, 2014


Louis Masai's environmental campaigns have been waged on walls in London and far afield since about 2010. With stark clarity and beautiful art, Masai raises awareness of the impact mankind has had on all manner of threatened species.

#This Is Now, 2014, 7 out of 10 sparrows disappeared from London 1994 - 2001



Masai has now brought his poignant and thought provoking work indoors for a solo exhibition “Missing”.




Exhibitions by street artists need to strike a balance between the excitement and everyman appeal of the art on the streets and the commercial and intellectual imperatives of an art world machine that operates on money. For novelty, Masai has found a great location for an exhibition, the crypt under St Pancras Church. Brick lined tunnels, dust and cobwebs, graveyard detritus and curious vaulted spaces provide an intriguing backdrop quite different to the typical contemporary white cube art space, this is certainly not your typical retail art box.




In various subterranean cross passages, “Missing” posters for endangered species have been pinned to tree trunks in mimicry of neighbourhood “anyone seen my goldfish?” poster appeals, hence the “Missing” of the show title.


Missing



Missing: Walrus


The first and probably most impressive sequence of work to greet the visitor are a series of acrylic and bitumen paintings on reclaimed wood in which endangered animals are rendered in a colourful patchwork which is being repaired by a bee bearing a needle and thread. The bee as an agent of repair is a motif that recurs in many guises in this exhibition.




"Last Two Hundred And Fifty"; Species Arabian Leopard


A clue to understanding Masai’s perspective comes perhaps from a moment in a film produced by Masai on his travels in which a commentator laments the failure of the orthodox red flag waving approach to environmental awareness: “everything is going to die; we are all doomed; stop stop STOP!!” The solution is to replace this with messages of positivity, to motivate people into action in the belief that their actions can have an effect. It IS possible to have a positive effect through change, it is not too late, the harm can be repaired if we heed the necessary lessons. Hence the bees, whose plight – death due to pesticides - has now for years been used as the benchmark for the forthcoming environmental apocalypse are now seen as potentially the agents of repair and restoration.


"Ossie Fossils"; Species: Tasmanian Devil


Masai's use of colourful patchwork paintings of endangered species springs from the idea that once the creatures are gone all that will be left will be the toys.


Pangolin






Pangolin (detail)


In a series of small catacomb spaces Masai has combined sculpture, wood and dead matter to create quite stunning tableau of environmental harm and endangered species crisis. One of Louis’ oft repeated messages from his Save The Bees campaign, “when we DIE we are taking You with us” looms over an absolute charnel house of real dead bees, about 24,000 apparently. By day 2 these were emitting a quite detectable odour. Oh the hum-anity.


When We DIE We Are Taking YOU With Us



"Can you imagine what 37 million dead bees looks like"





Consistent with the theme of positivity, change and salvation all visitors to the show receive a small pack of recycled cards and sachets of bee friendly seeds, each of the cards has on the face a detail of an animal painted by Louis and on the reverse, a description of the issue and a “call to action”. The call to action is incentivised by an offer of a free print to the first 23 people to join and donate to one of the environmental organisations on each of the cards.



On the opening night a large proportion of the wall was taken up by a large collection of prints, all with quilted penguins, some with bees and some with cartoon character penguins, notice the bees are all hand finished variations.








A rather curious decision was made to remove the prints from the walls by lunchtime on day 2, which stripped the vault of a noticeable proportion of the art on display. Having seen the space the night before, things looked noticeably thinner the following day.  Noot Noot! as Pingu might say.






It is exciting to see an artist noted for painting walls seize the opportunity to expand into installations and sculpture and indeed some involved the sound (as well as the smell) of the hive.





Shell hell





"No Strings Attached"; Honey Bee (electro plated copper)


Missing misses nothing, Louis Masai has created a solo show which pulls out all the stops: a great location, activist art, multi media, amazing production values and a fundamental that is sometimes forgotten – really good art or, as Bob Dylan put, “Behind every beautiful thing, there’s some kind of pain”.


"No Strings Attached"; Species Honey Bee, mosaic



"No Strings Attached"; Species Honey Bee, mosaic (detail)








"100 A Day Keeps The Poachers Away" African Elephant (100 elephants a day shot)
 
All photos: Dave Stuart

To The Power Of Three

Scale is nothing important in street art, otherwise only the biggest murals would count. A few years back curiosity was stoked by bizarre little cement structures appearing on the streets. Someone on the London scene a bit smarter and better connected identified the artist as 3x3x3. 3x3x3 has a Flickr profile, 56 followers (!) and that really is about all that was known other than 3x3x3 hailed from Hong Kong, or so it seemed.


October 2011, (yes, that is a 5 yr old Faile stencil)



September 2015


Where photos in this mess of waffle are followed by a date, it is the date that these minute sculptures were chanced upon by Graffoto, which probably bears no relation to the date they were installed by Three or if they do it is pure fluke.

As waves of these concrete sculptures kept appearing they continued to fascinate. In 2013 beautiful metalwork sculptures appeared and were duly written about on the Shoreditch Street Art Tours blog, more sculptures appeared and then among the intermittent miniature monuments a “My name is 3” sticker was found and at that point it seemed that the question could no longer be avoided…your name is Three but who are you?


November 2013


It turns out that Three is a regular visitor to the UK but he is based in Hong Kong so a chat over a couple of beers and a recorder wasn’t going to happen. Three’s patient answers to a long list of questions proved to be so poetic that they stand on their own as a monologue so here in his own words is The Power Of Three:



I was born in London but I came to live in Hong Kong when I was 4. I studied at art school in U.K. [East Ham & Bath] then returned here to HK.

To me the pieces echo the architecture of cities. Some brutalist buildings, some natural rock formations , motorway bridges etc. I enjoy walking in the mountains and the city.


July 2016


I make the originals from Plasticine then make a silicone mould in which to cast the cement. I have a idea of the shape I wish to create and sometimes make sketches. As I cut pieces of Plasticine and build the piece, the work evolves and I keep trying things until I'm satisfied with the shape. The moulds can be used many times I've got around 20 now, not all are out on the street much, some I've put up multiples over the years.


July 2016


I started in 2003, I had seen graffiti, Banksy's stencils and Space Invader's tile pieces around. I was inspired and wanted to get involved in this non-commercial art movement. I thought these tiny sculptures would be a new take on the streetart idea. It's also nice that people took an interest in seeing art in the street.

I'm usually in London in August / September as a break from the heat of Hong Kong and I often do a few missions. The tile glue I use needs to stay dry overnight while it sets so weather is a factor.


Ironmongery tag, London, October 2013

I usually walk around and look for spots that are suitable. I think about how the light will fall on them or cast a shadow. I used to place them in rather hidden locations, where they may blend in a bit too well but now I go for spots that already have some streetart around. I kind of like that they may go unnoticed, remaining sometimes for years.

I try not to place them inappropriately, the tile glue can be hard to remove so heritage buildings etc. are out.  When I visit friend's places I often will sneakily place one somewhere on their house.

The sculptures appear overnight like mushrooms and maybe people wonder "what is that?" If they take a closer look they hopefully realize that some time has been spent crafting them but I suspect most are possibly unsure of their purpose.

I use a combination of monikers with the number 3. When I was first getting into graffiti I thought about "what is in a name ?", so decided to be just a number. There a lots of design possibilities with the shape of the number and it also has plenty of cultural references. My mates at Eggshell Stickers gave me a pack of "Hello my name is" stickers so I thought I'd better use 'em up. I think there was around 12 stuck up one night in September last year.


My Name Is...3


I'm a freelance artist and I try to make a living from art related activities when possible. I did a lot of antique restoration in the past, I've also put on exhibitions and made sculpture installations. I sometimes work with a crew called "Start From Zero" making furniture and event related installations. I really enjoy using tools and materials. I pick up skills from where ever I can.

Electronics is something I have learned from the net over the last few years and am now building synth modules. For me it's one more useful method for making art. I make all my modules a round shape, it's awkward but I want them to have a sculptural aspect, I think about the aesthetics of the placement of the components and colour of the wires.


"Noise Toaster", photo Three



"Dual Phonograph", photo Three



"Moog Ladder", photo Three



"Kinetic Sculpture", photo Three


I have also made some kinetic art pieces using these methods, sound making sculptures built both for their look and the noise produced.

My most recent show was for HK Walls, a group exhibition and streetart event that takes place every year here. I hope to be installing some cement things for them again this March.

Three



February 2016


So, process, background rationale have been established but let’s look a bit closer at the passerby's experience of Three’s street art. Three’s sculptures exist in the dim margins of your vision, you never go out looking for Three’s work because photographs tend to be so close-up that there is no context and no clues to location. Three’s sculptures play a game of chance, your chance of discovery against their chance of evading detection, when you notice one it feels like a lottery win.


January 2016


Three’s art does not scream for attention, check the “My Name Is 3” sticker earlier on, even when he does introduce his name on the street the preliminary civilities have been carefully lined out, he’s not introducing himself, just quietly stating his name. Three is an interesting word, it suggests triangularity; it is a number as well as a word; it is the number of axis in a cube and when we talk about the cube of a number, we mean “raising to the power of Three”. We are starting to poke at the flexibility built into Three’s choice of identity, take his ID, raise it to the power of three and you have what is in some circles (avoid!) expressed as 3x3x3, another variant on his pseudonym.


October 2013


Their understated presence means that even if you find a miniature block once, you may not notice it next time you pass by. Then weeks later you chance upon it again and it is like a renewal, a re-discovery “Ahhh yes, Three’s sculpture, still there!” Then you start to doubt, is it the same one, did I spot this before, is it a new one in the same spot?


So you photograph it and then when you get back to base and compare with previous photographs you notice how Three’s sculptures change. They silently adopt fresh camouflages each time someone with a spraycan and an eye on a big mural sweeps another dusting of aerosol paint across the lurking sculpture.


August 2017



Early February 2018



Late February 2018


Even a slight shift in viewpoint dramatically changes how the artefact looks, you could even convince your self from two photos at different angles that you had photographed two different specimens.


Oct 2017 - Angle (A)



Oct 2017, same piece, viewed from about 45 degrees around vertical axis


Brutalist is a word often used to describe Three’s sculptures and in their raw state, the concrete appearance, the flecks of grit, the embedded stones and other artifacts for sure suggest a detail from a brutalist building. Three describes them as miniature echoes of a concrete cityscapes, and most observers will see mausoleum blocks and towers in miniature though such things are relative, to an ant they would be glorious cathedrals.


October 2015


The placement of a Three sculpture is a result of a complex assessment, a hunt for suitable spots in which context is surprisingly significant. In this 3x3x3 sculpture has the chocolate mouse colour of the aggregate and the darker tones of the grit been matched carefully against the brick and cement of the Old Truman Brewery? The world is a better place if we assume it was.


January 2018


Each little piece of Three's art captures within its tiny abstract form so much of what make street art so fascinating.  Each one represents a tiny secret - how many people look for naughty non permissioned accretions like this? Each one has so much intrigue about its purpose or its charming lack thereof, and mystery about its creation and creator though perhaps a little less now in Three's case!


Photos: Dave Stuart except Three where stated


August 2014

Tonight The Pavements Are Ours

One of the many justifications given by street artists for their wanton abuse of other people’s property is that it's a response, a push back against the use of the public visual space to host corporate propaganda, known in the indoctrinating the masses trade as advertising. One of Graffoto’s favourite proponents of advertising resistance is dr.d who has long chosen to turn the enemies’ tactics against themselves; his subversion, sedition and perversion of the political sphere is frequently conducted on hijacked billboards and street signage.


dr.d, Dalston, 2010


Now, in partnership with Chu, another English graffiti writer and artist whose work we have long admired, see the stunning rooftop anamorphic street scene below, Worship The Ground has been established to allow anyone to have a short message temporarily painted on the streets.


Chu - Cordy House, 2010


In their own words:

A pioneering, personal street art message delivery service launches this month.

Worship The Ground (WTG) is a brand new online service, empowering members of the public to order a written phrase or slogan for any location on the ground. WTG will first launch in London and Bristol, with Brighton and Manchester soon to follow. The new company is co-founded by Chu and dr.d, two legendary wordsmiths known for their work in the public environment.


photo courtesy Worship The Ground


WTG works for good people and good causes. Direct Messages are for personal use only, advertisers need not apply. WTG can write on the pavement whatever you can write on paper, up to 100 characters in a choice from one of ten bright colours. The new website is now available to visit at www.worshiptheground.com. Until Friday February 28th, visitors can use the discount coupon code “worshiptheground” at the checkout stage for a fifty percent off the basket total.
dr.d explains “Our Direct Message gift is useful for celebrating a birthday written on someone’s route to their workplace, or declarations of love between couples outside their front door. They could write messages of frustration with a football fans manager outside the team’s ground, and crucially our service is to get any message across by making someone’s day, or not.”


photo courtesy Worship The Ground

WTG have already helped to champion good causes in conjunction with the Mayor of London’s anti knife crime initiative (#LondonNeedsYouAlive) and the homelessness charity Centrepoint (#BleakFriday). {end quote}

Many of you may recognise the title of this post as a paraphrasing of the Richard Hawley song “Tonight The Streets Are Ours”, used as the theme tune to Banksy’s street art mockumentory Exit Through The Gift Shop. Worship The Ground are offering exactly that, your message on the pavements, max 100 characters, with no risk of you getting caught red handed. Or green handed, or white handed or any of the ten colours the service is offered in.


photo courtesy Worship The Ground


If you are concerned about the legality of this, let’s just say that perhaps you don’t have the right cheeky sense of humour required to appreciate the opportunities presented here and which lies at the heart of a large slew of street art. The Worship The Ground website says, and their FAQs (“this section is devoted to the word “no”) are well worth reading for a laugh, “Can I get arrested for booking a text message?
Answer: No – it is a lawful requirement for us to cleanse any markings within 48 hours of notification, unless the rain and/or traffic has worn it away already.”


photo courtesy Worship The Ground


dr.d is not known for his expertise in advising and interpreting the law or even being aware of its existence but there is perhaps a relevant analogy in the world of flyposting. All those illegal adverts for raves, records and recreational activities feature a lot major corporates using illegal flyposting as part of their eyeball reach manoeuvres but it’s not those companies that get into trouble and it is not even the advertising companies that commission the flyposting organisations that get into trouble, if anyone gets into trouble it is the flyposting teams. Perhaps people using Worship The Ground’s service have a similar degree of separation between themselves and some kind of offense.




Graffoto is noted for its complete legal incompetence and nothing said on here should be treated as a get out of jail free card. But like we hinted at earlier, if you do intend to take legal advise first then this really isn’t going to fit your Valentine’s Day cupid strategy. In fact why are you still reading this? Be gone. Unsubscribe!


photo courtesy Worship The Ground

links:
Worship The Ground website
dr.d website
Chu website
All photos Dave Stuart except courtesy Worship The Ground website where noted