Sunday 16 May 2010

Large scale commercial painters

I have a huge respect for artists/craftsmen who work using the traditional method in which they were trained. Hand painted signage/advertisements and letterpress are skilled trades, which are dying out in our society. In these busy 2000 something times it seems we have no time for traditional work of this high level, which is very sad. It is very easy from a corporate viewpoint to renew your workforce in favor of more efficient and modern processes. But I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that the quality and attention to detail grabs our attention as a consumer a hell of a lot more than your standard printed sign or vinyl billboard campaign. The advantage of speed and price that these mass produced campaigns bring bear no relation to the effectiveness that it has on the public, its just easier from their point of view. I think its fantastic that Stella Artois still seem to value the use of artisans by commissioning this series of works in New York, which I'm sure were not cheap. Although expensive I really believe that overall it would have been financially worth their while from the people who actually stop and soak in their surroundings, I'm sure Londoners would appreciate this kind of thing and would love to see more work popping up in our city. A lot of people, including myself, find the bombardment of advertising on us offensive, maybe this is a way we could learn to live with it. At least it is beautiful and gives skilled artists work. But that’s a separate debate.

UP THERE from Jon on Vimeo.



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