I was walking down the street one day, when suddenly three words popped out of a grey wall.
You
Are
Beautiful
"Wow," I thought. "How nice! And so sweet that someone wrote it."
What I didn't know is that "You Are Beautiful" is a worldwide Street Art movement. It aims tomake the world a better place by catching people in
the midst of daily life and creating moments of positive self
realisation. Advertising constantly tells us that we're not good enough; this project tells us that we are.
A You Are Beautiful website actively encourages people to spread this simple, powerful statement. It provides downloadable templates (in a variety of languages), and if you want, they'll send you free stickers.
It began in Chicago in early 2003, and since then, the
stickers have spread to every continent in the world (including
Antarctica).
Adelaide, Australia
Aruba, Central America
Alabama, U.S.A
Prague, Czech Rep.
Rome, Italy
Cape Town, South Africa
Berlin, Germany
Cairo, Egypt
Beijing, China
Dublin, Ireland
Ironically, if you type "You Are Beautiful" into Google, the first site that comes up is.... a plastic surgery company. Not to be mistaken folks!
A DJ I know recently posted a deadly tune on his Facebook page. It was accompanied by a music video that mixed live action, sets, green screen, animation, and computer graphics. Sophisticated, highly-stylised, and cool, yet it didn't it hold my attention. Why? It was all style, no substance.
Art doesn't need to have a "deep meaning". It does need to come from a unique, inspired place. That's what makes it "art", right? That quality that distinguishes something aesthetically slick from something pretentious.
"Mr. Brainwash" sold over a million dollar's worth of art, in spite of it being a blatantrip-off of Andy Warhol and Banksy.
This video ticks a lot of boxes. Black+white animation, old-school set design, surrealist fable - all great. But the piece doesn't take you anywhere or make you feel anything: there's no spirit, no journey.
I have to confess, when I sensed something was amiss, I did a little bit of research. Turns out "Uniforms for the Dedicated" is a clothing range that has branched into music and art. In their words: "Uniforms for the Dedicated forms a
continuously growing playground of men’s fashion, music, art projects,
and film..... We captured our alter egos on March of No Coincidence,
a concept of a board game which play instructions merely are left to be
challenged for realization of any vision or destiny of liking."
What does that drivel even mean?! In fairness however, the tune is cool ;)
"Tron" hits cinemas today, featuring a much anticipated soundtrack by Daft Punk. And quelle surprise, how boring is the theme tune? I'm not even going to use the "S.O" phrase because this musical effort is simply the latest in a long line of mediocrity since "Discovery".
