Meeting of Styles/Can You Rock !?!

 

Recently we all heard about the cancelation of the annual Can You Rock graffiti jam here in Montreal. Every year invitations go out to select and respected writers, both local and afar, to participate in what has been considered by many to be one of the premier graffiti jams in the city. I personally look forward to events like this (and Under Pressure) that bring the crews and community together, even if loosely, for a weekend of painting, chilling, and all hours partying. I meet new writers from all over and get to catch up with some of the locals I don't get to see that often. Even more, in recent years I've made closer ties with the organizers of these events, I volunteer, take pics, and help out where it's needed or where I can. So when Can You Rock didn't get off the ground this year, I felt it on a more personal level than I expected to. It also made me think about the importance of events like this not only to the local scene and its members, but to the image that Montreal has maintained as a pillar of the North American scene in general. This last statement might be a lofty one, but it's one I stand by. This city is arguably one of the most soaked and active around, has some heavy hitters and draws the attention of writers the world over.

I decided to dig into the vault to put together a MOS/CYR retrospective to fill the void of not having the event take place this year. It's not a comprehensive post, rather just some shots I never put up, and a few re-posted deservedly. Hopefully next year things will be more manageable and the team not too bogged down in other responsibilities. Remember, this is a volunteer run event and the organizers take a lot of their personal time to put these types of events on. So big ups to the crews, volunteers, and organizers over the years for putting on some great events and here's looking forward to next year's Can You rock being bigger and meaner than ever.

 

More soon. Stay posted.

April 2011: NYC Streets

Took a short visit to NYC at the end of April to catch the scene in its original format with my girl. This was a flick mission visit to get a taste of some of the streets in Southern Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, Williamsburg, and Brooklyn. Armed with our gear we hit the streets on the first day all over Southern Manhattan, China town, Little Italy, and anywhere else our feet could take us. NYC is a different scene and vibe, and minus a couple of altercations involving NYPDs finest, we were able to get some good stuff and enjoy our time there.

First of all, things are a hell of a lot more contained, controlled, and blocked off in the city (and as we would soon find out, just about everywhere else too) as compared to good ol' Montreal. That isn't to say that we were unable to flick anything, just that the dynamic wasn't as open as back home. There are no alleyways really in the city, partly due to the manner in which the architecture of the buildings was designed, and partly due to stringent security measures enacted by property owners and law enforcement. Almost every single alleyway was gated, locked, or barricaded off, with razor wire running along to boot. So no back alley fire escapes or anything to climb up to snatch some of those prime rooftops. There was access points, surely, but nothing that I was able to figure out in the short time I was there.

Secondly, beat cops are always walking the streets, and there certainly isn't any shortage of good Samaritans looking to get in with Uncle Sam for being such fine observers of public good. I sneaked into a few fenced in areas where I could get away with it but I wasn't looking to push the envelope too much on this visit. This much I can say: the NYC scene is certainly isn't dead. Rooftops are heavily done in tonnes of places in the city an its outer lying borders, stickers are huge -on every corner adorning mailboxes, signs, and lamp posts. Tags a plenty as well. Just about what you would expect for the streets in this city: fast and quick hits to keep under the watchful radar of the ever present NYPD. 

On our second day we stopped by 5 Pointz to pay homage to NYCs walls of fame. Got lots of goodies from that mission. So many in fact that I decided to make a 5 Pointz post just for those pics. I'll have that up soon enough. Big shout out to Meres for being a great host and giving us a nice walk around tour too. Another big shout out to Dave Foto for directing us to some good spots in Williamsburg as well. I got to say that Williamsburg and Brooklyn were by far the best spots, besides 5 Pointz, that we checked out with the time we had. Some fresh walls and some really intriguing street art too.

 

All in all we had a great trip and got to take in some great sites. Although for the most part it was difficult to get into some spots like Domino Sugar or alleys or abandoned locales, and we got lost in the industrial end of Williamsburg for a few hours, there was still plenty to take in on the streets and wherever we were able to get into. And next time I go to NYC I'm going to try to walk through the Bronx, Harlem, and take a few more chances to get me some train tunnels too. I wish I had the time to get into the New York scene like I have here at home, and I'm sure that if I had that time I'd be able to crack it open and find a lot more interesting spots.

I'll have more to post soon from 5 Pointz and regular updates back on track soon as I got me a shiny new laptop. Sorry for the disconnect lately. More soon. Stay posted.