One certainty, if I could be so bold, is the proclamation that Public
Art makes cities better. It's a simple formula, one that Juxtapoz has
declared a necessity for years, had dedicated an entire issue to, and
has documented and participated in over the last decade. Public Art
programs make people happy. We aren't talking about expensive forays
bringing international artists to your city lending a stunning sculpture
to your waterfront views. We are talking about the emergence of an
entire generation of graffiti artists, street artists, and contemporary
muralists, with a fan-base following that stretches continents, working
with city planners on sustainable and inexpensive projects to beautify
cities. Europe, South America, and some cities in America have embraced
this idea, and now, some companies with cultural clout are beginning to
help make these programs viable for artists.
San Francisco and Brooklyn are two major hubs of creativity both with
unique and distinct histories in graffiti and street art, with San
Francisco in particular being a city with an extensive mural history.
This past Winter in SF, two local artists, Amanda Lynn and Lady Mags,
were given a unique opportunity (and original storyline) to be
documented by JanSport through the process of painting a football-field
sized mural in downtown SF on the side of a major chain, The Holiday
Inn. Now, here is where it gets interesting. One, general
day-in-the-life reality based narratives don't include mural artists,
nor do they involve artists who have in the past done illegal graffiti.
The project,
"Live Outside," was
about celebrating a form of creativity rarely seen by an outside
audience. The emergence of street art as a major international art form
has lacked a story that people outside the scene can relate to. With
cameras on them nearly 24-7, Amanda Lynn and Lady Mags planned, plotted,
and painted one of the biggest murals in SF.
Juxtapoz sat down with
Mags and Amanda Lynn a
few days after they finished the mural, to get a little insight on
being documented and how cities and companies can work together to
support the creative class.
The Brooklyn portion of the Live Outside Project, featuring the artist
LNY, Mata Ruda & NDA, where the artists are going to work on 3
murals around Brooklyn in May, 2014.
Juxtapoz: Let's get a little background about the both
of you. Where you are from? Can you talk a bit about how you two have
collaborated in the past?
Amanda Lynn: Well, I have been a SF based artist for the past
14 years. I am originally from a small town in Western Pennsylvania,
where I painted under my mentor, Robin Grass. I met Lady Mags about 3
years ago. We painted our first wall together in Oakland, and have
pretty much collaborated on every mural since. After some encouragement,
I got her to start showing her fine art watercolor work in galleries
and have started collaborating on fine art pieces with her as well.
Lady Mags: My writer name is Mags, Lady Mags. I’m from New
York City. I started doing graffiti some 10 years ago maybe more in
Chicago, actually. Still, New York City is my home. I met Amanda Lynn
about three years ago at her gallery called Cassel Gallery. Later we
went down to LA for a friend’s show at Known Gallery, and all the boys
fell asleep on the ride back. We were awake and chatted the whole way to
SF in the car. We decided to do a wall then. I invited her to paint
with me on a wall in Oakland- we painted a Queen Bee wall because we
were planning these for a wall at Art Basel. Anyway, that experience was
great, and we never stopped painting together. Three years down the
road, we have painted 30 or more murals and 30 or more collaborative
fine art pieces. We are trying to move into doing a 3-D art installation
soon. I feel very lucky. Its probably once in a life time that you find
such creativity, inspiration and balance through collaborating with
another person. It’s been a real privilege.
When you first found out about the JanSport project, and that
the both of you were chosen, did you have any inhibitions or concerns
about being on camera?
AL: We have actually had several videographers do pieces on us in the
past, so being on camera has gotten to be a pretty natural thing. This
job was a little more extensive than any of the others, as in there was a
larger crew and we had to be on microphone the entire time! I really
don't feel nervous being filmed while working, but the talking directly
into the camera is definitely something I need to work on.
LM: Well, I am always concerned about showing my face, I don’t reveal
my identity. We had to draw up a contract with our attorney that
included penalties if they showed my face on accident. Other than that,
Amanda and I have done a few short films before (notably with Lea Bruno,
the title is Flora Fauna), so we thought we would be used to it. When
it came to the process though, it was much more intense than we
anticipated (being mic-ed up, followed around). That said: the
videographers were so nice and so supportive. They loved what we did and
really enjoyed filming us doing it (I think), so we all got along. It
was fun. A lot of silliness.
How did the piece develop, in its early stages? Was this an
idea for a mural that you had in the past that you wanted to execute and
was this the perfect place? Or was it entirely site-specific? And
should I call this a mural?
AL: We hadn't necessarily pre-thought the imagery as an idea, but we
had been working on the concept of integrating our pieces together more.
We both had really been yearning for the opportunity to do a
large-scale production that incorporated our individual artistic imagery
in a manor similar to our fine art collaborations. This project really
gave us the opportunity to explore this concept on a very large scale
with lots of support. As far as location, we got to choose from several
different walls, and upon seeing this wall as an option - we knew it was
the one! I think you could call this anything you like, it combines
elements of traditional mural art, fine art, graffiti and street art -
basically it's just a big artistic explosion.
LM: Yes, this is a mural, a graffiti mural. The piece developed in a
few ways. First, we collaborated as we always do: I’ll do watercolor
backgrounds and some letters, Amanda will do a series of figures, we
email them to each other or meet and discuss them, I veto some of her
stuff, she vetoes some of mine, I approve some of hers, she approves
some of mine, we pick a color palate, and we hit the Photoshop- from
there we mock up a few versions using our final round picks. Everything
is hand drawn first. Amanda does all the photoshopping. The JanSport
crew scouted the locations and gave us choices, and we chose this wall,
not really knowing how huge it was. I mean we knew but we didn’t KNOW.
If you know what I mean. At first, the JanSport folks liked the design
but said: “Does the graffiti piece have to be so big? And does it have
to say MAGS?” Which was funny and scary because they saw all of our
previous work. Amanda really had our back she said, “Absolutely yes it
has to be that big and it has to say MAGS” and there was no more
discussion after that.
Was there any jealously amongst your peers, based solely on the size AND location.
AL: Our peers all seem to be really supportive of our work. We had
several dedicated friends help us fill in some paint in order to finish
this piece in 5 days.
LM: No. People were so supportive. In fact, when we had a time crunch,
we called in the troops to help us finish in the time allotted. Everyone
was super happy for us.
Going through the process of being documented while you worked
and prepared, make you learn anything about your own workflow or
process?
AL: I feel the greatest thing that I learned in the process was the
amazing advantage there is to having assistance. Lady Mags and I usually
do our projects by ourselves, the whole marketing, film, and sound crew
were incredibly helpful to us on this project.
LM: We learned that we are really good at both collaborating and
leaving each other alone. One day we hardly even spoke, Amanda was just
doing her thing on the scissor lift, and I was up on another lift and
that was that. We trust each other. We always did, but this project
showed that we could do something that big without an ounce of worry.
For years, companies and media have really focused a ton of
attention on other creative fields, music comes to mind, and the process
of "making an album" or "on tour," but art and artists rarely get
personalized during a work in progress. Do you think other artists will
be excited or interested in being documented?
AL: This project was a really great experience, and I would encourage
other artists to work with this team. It really seems like lately the
media, as well as, the general public are becoming more and more
inquisitive about the process of creating a mural production. I do hope
that this excitement towards street art and graffiti keeps building and
encourages younger generations to keep painting and showing their skills
to the world. Mural art and graffiti art both have a long time history,
but it seems the dynamic nature of the creative process is finally
getting recognized through documentation.
LM: YES I hope so. I think there may be mixed feelings too. I could see
some artists being super excited and others worrying about the
commodification of graffiti. As is always the case when a subculture
starts to get corporate recognition. Luckily, JanSport really respected
us and let us do a 100 percent Alynn-Mags piece where they literally
gave no input. They wanted the artists to have full reign. That was
amazing.
What in hindsight was the hardest part of the project?
AL: Waiting patiently for the rain to stop so we could start painting!
LM: The rain, the time crunch, the physical tiredness when you are working until 3 am.
What is the current state of Public Art in San Francisco? What
can be improved, if say, you were in city government and could change
anything?
AL: San Francisco has always been an incredibly inspiring place for me.
It is one of the few cities that seem to have art almost everywhere you
look. I really feel lucky to live in a place that always seems to yearn
for more creative expression. As far as me being in city
government...that just sounds like a bad idea! But if I could change or
create anything, I would simply encourage the idea of having a
designated area where young kids could come out and paint. A safe place
for them to explore working things out on a wall, where they don't feel
intimidated to create. I was recently in Taipei for a short time, and
was able to visit this area called 'graffiti area'. It was a big long
wall overlooking a river where the government had allocated it as a free
zone to paint. They have a sign telling you that all artwork has a
shelf life of 4 months; meaning that they come out and paint over the
whole wall every 4 months, but anyone can paint it. This seemed like
such an amazing concept to me, and was a great way to visit a place and
leave your mark, if even just for a short time.
LM: Of all cities I have lived in, SF seems to be super open to public
art. I love it. If I were in city government I would offer more money
for murals, like prizes for murals or something. So many blank walls, so
many artists: put 2 and 2 together! Paint all the walls!
