Graffiti or Art
It’s been a question of debate for many years — for some there is simply no right answer. However, if the legendary Banksy was caught creating one of his “master pieces”, which would no doubt sell for thousands, he would likely be accosted, abused and potentially remanded by authorities.

Regardless of its cultural influence or artistic merit, street art is a definitive legal gray area that is only occasionally recognised in the public domain (and through public funding), one such festival to do this was the recent Base festival which took place at the end of February in the Ulster Hall. Over two days the main hall was converted to a workspace for numerous local and foreign artists — they got on with painting while being peered at by the curious public; who, when they got bored watching the paint dry, could turn towards the stage to watch local bands perform.

In the beginning there was Invader who pasted posters of Space Invaders around the streets of Paris, an idea inspired unto him by his cousin, Thierry Guetta, a likable Frenchman with a compulsion for recording everything with his video camera. Naturally he would take his camera with him in the dark of the night as Space Invaders took over the city, and soon he was introduced to other renegade nocturnal artists including Shepard Fairey, creator of ‘Obey Giant‘, and subsequently, the Obama poster. There were no plans for the footage. That hadn’t even entered his mind. The tapes were simply thrown into boxes. Many unlabeled. No order given. He just recorded what he saw.

Exit Through the Gift Shop
It wasn’t until much later, when Banksy, the illusive creature that he is, came, suddenly, unexpectedly; yet to much delight, into Thierry’s life, that the recorded footage began to be put together. It was decided that a documentary would be made; Banksy was the final piece of the jigsaw, the current biggest name in the world street art scene, and Thierry became his right-hand man in LA. He was now a documentary film-maker.

After leading the Bristol-born artist to the best locations, helping him any way he could, and, in time, becoming his most trusted and loyal accomplice, Thierry played a “trailer” for him of what had come of the last few years of recording. It was shit, and not the documentary it should have been. It is here the tables are turned. Banksy tells the now failed French film maker to go and make his own art. And so, under the name Mr Brainwash (MBW) he does. He creates more shit. But his shit makes thousands of dollars in an over-hyped, over-produced exhibition of “art work” produced en masse.

How much of this is real and how much is crafted is a mystery to the viewer. A certain amount of insight is given to the history and workings of these artists and the sub-culture of street art, while raising the question of its very validity as art, or simply duplicating what is already there and pointing out its own worthlessness, our dependence on materialism, objects and symbols though rebranding, recreating and remanufacturing the work of others before them.

The only truth is that once again, Banksy is laughing at society. Is everything art? Is none of it art? How much of the film is real? Maybe all of it. Maybe that’s not the question.

Exit Through the Gift Shop opens in the QFT today and runs until 25th March: details.
Alongside the screening, local street artist Kev Largey will have a number of pieces on display in an exhibition which opens at 6pm today, 12th March.

Thanks for stopping by, you can subscribe to my RSS feed or keep in touch via Twitter.

I’m beginning to not feel the need for a cigarette after having a pint.

I had my last cigarette close to 10 weeks ago. 3 weeks after that I had my next last cigarette.
Yes I enjoy smoking, and yes I would love one right now, yet I feel it is time to end that part of my life, and the cravings haven’t been so bad this time either.

Maybe I’ll take it up again when they don’t tax the shit out of it, oh and when it doesn’t give you cancer…

A couple of months ago – only a week from my last cigarette and out for a meal and drink with some photographers/bloggers I almost begged John and Peter for one. They refused. I wasn’t so happy at the time.

However, I was in fact determined to quit then, and I did.

Yes there are plenty of methods of quitting: Nicotine replacement therapy, prescription drugs, patches, gum, lozenges, nasal spray, antidepressants, hypnotherapy, vaporizers, electronic cigarettes, acupuncture, self-help books, spirituality, group therapy etc. Most of these are bull shit — though apparently they work for some. I tried the gum once, but it make me feel ill.

A friend once quit and swore by Allen Carr’s book, He became one of those righteous non-smokers, preaching the word of this book, telling everyone how, on the first page you are told to light a cigarette as you read and suddenly, as you are reading you will not want to light another. He was smoking again a few months later.

I’m not saying I’m better than anyone else, or that my method (of just not smoking) for the last while is any better either. I wasn’t a 40-a-day sorta guy. There is the phrase that goes ‘once a smoker, always a smoker’. I know people who have quit many years and still want one today.

I’ll miss the camaraderie of the smoking area of a pub — and especially since Lavery’s bar has a huge smoking area with a bar on its first floor — and with summer coming there’ll be the heat and much time spent in these out-door spaces, completely with a great atmosphere. Yeah I’ll want one then.

And the excuse to take a break from whatever arduous task I’m up against, something to do at the bus stop, the habitual “night cap”, or simply to procrastinate for a bit. I won’t miss the smell or being in the minority — even if I did look cool while doing it.

There is an art to rolling — and after many years, I did master it (occasionally mixing other “herbal remedies”) and as much fun as it is — as a lifestyle, it’s no longer one I wish to pursue; I’ve never been one for dark and dingy, smoke-filled pubs, preferring natural light, and to remain indoors when it’s cold and wet, rather than seeking shelter for that mini high — out of boredom and routine.

Something I’ve always agreed with:

University of Ulster grounds.

Took a drive with Mum and Chris yesterday.
Somewhere north of the city.
Sunset happened.

I spoke to Debbie Metrustry, known as @debbiemet on Twitter on many occasions, although I hadn’t met her, she was a wonderful person and it was a pleasure to know her. I’ve never felt this way about someone I’ve not met before.

One of the saddest pages on the internet right now is http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%40debbiemet, as the messages of shock condolences are sent on Twitter.

My thoughts are with her friends and family.
Messages can be left on the Irish TImes website.

Sabrina has a beautiful blog post, and will post details of a meetup in her honour.

Yahoo! Buzz was released in August 2008, but where was the hype and fuss surrounding it’s launch? Yahoo, according to Hitwise statistics (as of week ending 06/02/2010) is the biggest webmail provider, followed by Hotmail and Gmail. But rarely do the others cause as much of a ‘Buzz’ (pun inexcusable) as Google, and naturally Yahoo! aren’t too happy about this. Whereas Yahoo! Buzz is more of a social news service, it also claims to have over 200 Yahoo! and third-party sites feeding into it, and is fully implemented throughout the Yahoo! network.

Google, is trying to get in on the Social bandwagon, but are they too late?

They released Google Social Search at the end of last month and yesterday they begun rolling out Google Buzz.

Social search

The layout of Google’s search results page has changed quite a bit in recent months with the addition of the toolbar on the left-hand side providing various options for search, along with the inclusion of twitter [real-time] results relating to current/hot topics.

Social Search provides results from those within my “Social Circle” – that is those I’m connected with online, and have told Google about in my Google Profile.

Data Google is trawling for my social search results:

• Direct connections from your Google chat buddies and contacts (7)
• Direct connections from links listed on your Google profile (305) such as Twitter and FriendFeed
• Secondary connections (1491) that are publicly associated with your direct connections

By looking at the Social Content page I can see which of my profiles are being implemented into the search results. No Twitter or Facebook yet – if ever?

From here I can see what people I follow have to say.

As we trust the opinions of those we know, this is a step forward giving relevant results from sources we can hopefully rely on.

Google Buzz

Buzz has been implemented into the Gmail accounts of users and is also available on mobile. Followers can be added through their public Google Profile. Not dissimilar from the social networks we are aware of at this stage; status updates, complete with GPS location tracking - not limited to 140 characters public or private sharing of media and fully supported to send updates from Twitter, Flickr, Picassa, Blogger and Youtube. Though no Facebook integration.

It won’t be a surprise to many that Google have brought out a service like this. The question is will the uptake be big widespread. Remember Wave?

The Internet is social, and when all these tools combine, more choice is offered and indeed greater ease to those who are set in their ways of using one or the other. There will be those who don’t want another Social Network to be distracted by, and yet another site to check regularly to see what their friends are up to. On the other hand – for those who aren’t yet on Facebook (really, who isn’t), implementing this into Gmail, one of the most popular, and at least most respected webmail services, it will likely encourage the others to try out a bit of ’status updating’ and sharing links and photos and such.

One of the problems I find with many new services added to the Google portfolio is that they are enabled for gmail users before Google Apps users. I first got my @gmail address when it was still in private beta, but no longer use it having moved all my mail to my new address, managed through Google Apps, I don’t want to interact with people using my Gmail address. Although I have a standard Apps account, there are those who pay for the service, and although Buzz may not be designed for business use, surely, paying customers shouldn’t be left behind? Google have stated that they are in the processes of introducing this and will notify of changes through the mailing list. I feel I share the exact sentiments of David Coursey of PCWorld in asking why we are left behind – and why any documents saved in Google Docs disappear from my apps account, but that’s for another time…

It is quite an assumption to think I want to follow those I’ve emailed in the past, or vice versa. As well as having my inbox clogged with the buzz of crap. I get enough of that elsewhere and really don’t need another.

Blogging has been minimal lately due to on-going research for current university projects.
I’ve done a lot of thinking, and learning, of what it is to study photography, what my aims are, and how to go about it.

Research can be defined as the search for knowledge or any systematic investigation to establish facts. The primary purpose for applied research (as opposed to basic research) is discovering, interpreting, and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of our world and the universe. Research can use the scientific method, but need not do so. – wikipedia.

In a similar way, I’m searching for ideas. Looking at the books and works of photographers, both online and off, methods of practice and style, as well as trying to determine what I want to say in my images. Discovering, probably not quickly enough, that the teaching of an art form (photography anyway) is about moulding the development of ideas – and much less about teaching the skills required. Do it yourself.

I’ve never been one to “reblog” something verbatim, though this post from Grannymar sums up how I feel right now, somehow.

Just because…

You are not in full time employment, doesn’t mean you don’t need to eat.

You are on a diet, doesn’t mean you cannot peruse the menu.

You are alone, doesn’t mean you are lonely

It is Sunday, does not mean the sun will shine.

If the sun don’t shine, does not mean you cannot be happy.

I barely know what the Super Bowl is, other than the most hyped sporting event in the US calendar. However, it isn’t the game that many people are concerned with, its the commercials – with around 50 being aired during the game.

The idea that the Super Bowl is full of “crass commercialization, exuberant prices, gimmicks like wild-card teams and, most of all, artificially bulked-up athletes who looked like they belonged on a circus midway” (Walter Shapiro) is clearly not important to the fans of the most popular game in America.

The ad itself is cute, and works well, though I makes us wonder why, in this day and age, when “to Google” is synonymous with “looking something up” online, do they feel they need to spend $3.01 million on a television ad to simply remind people to do that. Interestingly, this takes place the very year that Pepsi ends their 23 years of Super Bowl advertising to concentrate on online-based Social Media campaigns.

Today most people still associate Google as being a Search website. Most people don’t think about, or know about, Chrome – the browser, Nexus One – the phone, Google Apps which they are promoting more online, as well as all the products.

I heard that this may be the ad that Google would use on Saturday, after rumours spread following a tweet from Eric Schimitd, having then had over 1million views, it seems strange to spend so much money on for the TV slot, though in saying that, I doubt their audience is among the people who have already seen it, and some people may be using Bing or – shock – Yahoo!

It was all go yesterday, as Belfast did a fantastic job of raising a hell of a lot of money for Haiti.

The campaign which started less than 3 weeks ago, and on Twitter if I remember correctly, by Aaron and Anto, massively surpassed the original £20,000 target.

A 5km fun run took place yesterday morning, raising £7,500 through the help of the hundreds of people who took part.

This was followed by an incredible gig in the Limelight, Katy Daly’s and the Spring & Airbrake, 50 bands and 1000 tickets, at £10 each – sold before the event began, but still people queued hoping to get a ticket! Throughout the venues the atmosphere was, as they say, electric. A fantastic line-up of some of NI’s best music.

I’m hearing unofficial rumours of £27,000 raised so far, so a massive congrats to those involved for doing such a great job in putting everything together; to those who provided stuff for the raffles, merchandise, and those who attended!