Chongqing- Nowadays, graffiti, an Italian word that means scribbling on a wall, is more recognized as an art form than vandalism. On June 19th, iChongqing has connected with Arkhangelsk, a city in northwest Russia, for a live stream on a graffiti battle between two artists, Martin and Andrei. This excellent creative activity was one of the series online campaigns of #UniversalCreativity on iChongqing' s social media platforms, which includes trending topics like graffiti, skateboarding, street dancing, and public art, to introduce the street art between Chongqing and the sister cities, as well as promoting the cultural communication in the context of this post-pandemic era.
X3K crew was creating works during the live stream(iChongqing)
As one of the artists who has joined the live stream to create work and translate, Vlad Martin, is one of the founders of the Russian art team "X3K crew", which is a graffiti team created by 9 members and will post their videos and artworks on the Youtube and Instagram from time to time. He introduced the graffiti creation process in detail during the live stream, from his commonly used nozzles to his understanding of creation. Martin was an architectural postgraduate at Chongqing University. He lives in Chongqing for several years and he takes part in some art events and festivals in Chongqing, as well as in China. As an artist, Martin thinks that the artistic atmosphere in Chongqing is going to be flourishing in the future because of the open circumstances here. However, he hasn't seen enough graffiti artists on the streets, consider that the art itself is supposed to be illegal in some places. "But I know all the famous graffiti artists in China, we'll connect with each other sometimes. I just want there will be more people to notice and understand the graffiti writing," said Martin. And Andrei Cherney, another artist who participated in this graffiti battle from Arkhangelsk, has been to Chongqing before. He is also one of the founders of the "X3K crew", and he keeps creating his work in nearby communities. Andrei said that he enjoys his journey in Chongqing and he is looking forward to revisiting it.
Martin and Andrei are connecting through the live stream(iChongqing)
The modern art form of graffiti is believed to originate in New York in the late 1960s. Russia’s graffiti and street art scene started to develop during the late 90s in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Many local artists became involved with the culture, visiting hip-hop music concerts and participating in graffiti and breakdance battles. In Russia, Graffiti artists were once part of Russia's underground movement, modern trends have made the practice further mainstream and accepted. More and more art events such as Moscow's Dream Energy graffiti festival, and some renovation projects of old architectures encourage Russia's graffiti artists to come out and let their creativity go wild, painting the grey walls of Moscow's power stations in everywhere. According to a report from BBC, Moscow authorities has commissioned street artists to collaborate in “graffiti jams” in 2013. Dozens of home-grown street artists, including Pasha 183 (dubbed “The Russian Banksy” for concealing his identity), transformed the city’s apartment building walls, underpasses, and bridges with more than 100 immense murals.
Martin finished his work during the live stream(Caro\iChongqing)
Martin and Andrei both created their works during the live stream. A feature that could be readily deciphered from Martin's work: he uses different sizes of nozzles to better reflect the contrast of lines. Besides, Martin used fluorescent hue, instead of traditional colors, to polish his works for creating a sense of the future. Compared with Martin's work, Andrei's graffiti is much more abstract; he used orange as the background and mainly drew two black dots, which, according to his explanation, represent the beginning and the origin of the world. A notion that he borrowed from Black Square, a famous painting depicted by the Russian avant-garde artist Kazimir Malevich.
Andrei’s work during the live stream(iChongqing)
Black Square, by Kazimir Malevich
In Martin and Andrei’s hometown, Arkhangelsk Art Museum walls covered with graffiti quoting Dmitri Vrubel’s and Kazimir Malevich’s works can be seen here.(Viktoria Malik\Russia Beyond)
In Chongqing, there is also a classic project of graffiti art that helps with the renovation of old streets-The Huangjueping Graffiti Street in Jiulongpo District. With a total length of 1.25 km and an area of about 50,000 square meters, Huangjueping Graffiti Street is expected to be the longest graffiti street globally as it is currently reporting the Guinness Book of World Records. The most special part of the graffiti street in Huangjueping is the cooperation between the government and one of the most prestigious art universities in China- the Sichuan Fine Art Institute(SCFAI). Most of these works on the walls were created by the students of SCFAI. They transformed the plain walls of the old community, which was a complex of a tobacco factory, an arsenal, and some residential houses into colorful ones. More than 800 workers, students, and artists participated in the production of the entire graffiti project, spent 12,500 kilograms of paint of various colors, and consumed nearly 30,000 brushes and oil brushes. After 150 days of meticulous production, a total of 37 graffiti buildings, 1.25 kilometers of roads were renovated and widened, about 9,000 meters of various pipelines were laid down, 2,700 square meters of dangerous buildings were demolished, and 18 sculptures were installed. The appearance of the entire block has undergone significant changes. It is on the top list of a trip to Chongqing right now.
Huangjueping Graffiti Street(ChinaDaily)
The making of Huangjueping Graffiti Street(ChinaDaily)
Watch the excellent graffiti battle live stream video on iChongqing's YouTube Channel, and feel free to subscribe to us!
(Caro Fang, the intern, has also contributed to this article.)