I'M HARDCORE

This Video is part the show "Conceptual Vandalism" - It's a parody on the ongoing uprising aggression in the train graffiti scene. via vimeo

Pacman on trains - new & old

Schlomo in 2007 - via Ekosystem "Eat the Eater " by unknown artist in 2012 via spraycity 
typical train designs include often lines. Lines that remind poeple on playing pac man on trains. The pictures above are two examples that deal with pac man. I remember that i saw more, but i could not find the pictures .... so please continue playing arcade games on trains - I love it !

Love and Security - Video

Love and Security is a great example how train painters react on the ongoing wave of extremly fast cleaning actions in countries without crises (even they talk about the crisis) . The country of Austria is one of the most radical reacting countries in Europe against graffiti. If you pass by this country you find rarely tags or pieces of high quality along the train line. Only Vienna seems to have an active scene of painters - you can see it along the line and you the rolling painted trains of the s-train system. The video seems to be mainly a reaction on the process of the vienna metro company that cleans trains before they leave the hangar. A practice copied from New York. The aim was to stop the running trains to keep them from an audience and to frustrate the painters. In recent years this practice doesn't help a lot. Artists spread their unauthorized actions via Internet, Magazines and Videos. "If the companies don't show our works - we do it ! " could be a message. It seems to work. The harsh reactions on this video - even featured on heute.at  or österreich- show that an audience for this theme exist - positive or negative - it doesn't matter. On the other hand the text of the music (seems to be produced only for this video) explains why painters work on trains and that in contradiction to the pubilc thoughts , artists how paint on trains love the trains - but just with color. The vienna subway is maybe the best example for an ugly type of train design. In silver grey without any effects- without any additional color, it s maybe one of the most awfull commutersystems in the world.Immagine to see every morning this ugly train on the way to your job, friends , for some exhibition or whatever .... Poor people in Vienna !

opening "Conceptual Vandalism"

picture by A.Seeliger - some opening impressions of the recently opend show in Dresden. more pictures here

- reminder - this Wednesday - screening of Spraymasters at motorenhalle Dresden

- and more infos about the show are now in english available :

Urban Script Continues 2012 - Conceptual Vandalism
Contemporary Art on Trains

Motorenhalle - Wachsbleichstraße 4a, 01067 Dresden
>Duration 30.11.12-12.1.2013, closed between Christmas and New Year’s Day
>Opening-times: tue-fr 4-8 p.m., sa 2-6 p.m.

During the 1980s, the US-phenomenon to spray subway wagons spilled over to Europe. Because there were only a few cities with a large-scale subway-system, the sprayers concentrated on the local public transport system. The suburban trains and the regional railway system seemed to be the perfect counterparts to imitate the American model. Along the way, the sprayers adopted the writing ideology “write your name on trains as often as you can“. Since the year 2000, new trends have been discovered. A group of sprayers got bored with the simple “name-dropping”. They developed new strategies to paint on trains. Until 2009 it was a small group of „train-artists“ that separated itself from the classical writing on trains. Since then, through the impact of the internet, more and more writers have seemed to realize art-creation on trains as a serious new strategy. Conceptual Vandalism integrates a group of train-painters who were working conceptually on trains in the non writing context even before 2009.

Artworks of the exhibition
The original artworks are always destroyed in Germany in short time. Photography is the most common medium for the documentation of the works. Therefore, mainly documentary photos will be shown in the exhibition. It will be complemented by sketches, objects, videos and internet-contents.

Artists
Only artists who do not appear in the public space take part in the exhibition. They act solely in the underground. Train-painting is still illegal and criminally prosecuted.

Curator: Jens Besser