You want a booth at Coney so you can play a Carney? Do it yourself!
Shout out to tireless creative New Yorker Kosbe and the Sticker Social Club who quickly set up shop in the Coney Art Walls compound with their carnival style game booth last month and have been entertaining passersby ever since. It wasn’t originally part of the formal Coney Art Walls show but the Street Artist/graff writer/art director/hustler/hard worker/Renaissance man got this sculptural installation up in a matter of days and the booth has been showing original artworks and playing games with curious art fans since then.
Sticker Social Club. Coney Art Walls 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
“We used found material sourced from the boardwalk and felt this reclaimed material was a good representation of Coney Island,” Kosbe says about the booth that is topped with a “Down the Clown” sign that they found in a refuse pile. Elsewhere in the show is signage that borrows from popular amusement vernacular by Stephen Powers. For Kosbe, its about the process as well. “It created a dialogue between us and several of the residents and employees of Luna Park and the neighborhood who actually contributed to the build out and came back later with a sense of excitement and pride at being a part of the art project.”
A sword swallower at the Sticker Social Club. Coney Art Walls 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
With handmade stickers and artworks by many friends and local NYC based artists who regularly get together to make art, the sense of collaboration with Sticker Social Club is always palpable. A tireless advocate for collaboration and participation, Kosbe is the driving force behind many of the clubs activities, meetings, installations.
This booth recalls Coney Island’s magical past, and “We also feel it relates to graffiti’s roots in making something out of whatever you can source on a bare minimum and utilizing materials from the street,” says the affable and energetic Kosbe. On opening day a number of people could be seen tossing beanbags and other projectiles while being goaded on by artists who sometimes gave out stickers or original drawings to winners. Curator of Coney Art Walls Jeffrey Deitch stopped by a few times and talked with the artists, happy to discover this collaborative team was willing to contribute so much to the exhibition.
Sticker Social Club. Coney Art Walls 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Always sensitive to his environment, the artist didn’t want to encroach on the wall by artist Sam Vernon, who had placed her new work up as part of the formal show. “We lucked out in finding that ‘Down a Clown’ sign that we feel complimented and didn’t detract from Sam Vernon’s vision or color palette. We like how both pieces evoke imagery and a sense of the Coney boardwalk as if you are visually walking through it.”
Sticker Social Club. Coney Art Walls 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sticker Social Club: Sticker Social Club hosts art events and drawing meet-ups as a means for young, upcoming artists to gain exposure as well as meet and learn from other like minded artists. The club regularly hosts events including drink and draws featuring artwork and music from live bands and DJs. Artists include: Cosbe (or Kosbe), Abe Lincoln Jr., Fling, OneTooth, Alone, Royce Bannon, Baser, Buttsup, Chris RWK (Robots Will Kill), Crasty, Dano, Tony DePew, Doper Jones, Jos-L, Froot, Herm, Imamaker, Adam Lawrence, Mister Guh, Sameshit, Tako Venus, Tone Tank, Wish 194 and many more.
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
They’re doing Double Dutch again up in the South Bronx. Way up. John Ahearn & Rigoberto Torres. "Banana Kelly Double Dutch" The Bronx, NYC. 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper) Restored to look like ...
A true graffiti jam is still possible. This location in Barcelona, the Plaza de las 3 Chimeneas, is a platform for an ever-changing collection of works by new and established practitioners of graffit...
“The painting is resolutely European. A kind of flash about Brexit in England,” says Gautier Jourdain of the new globally framed hand in this working class district of La Grande Borne in Paris. Cas...
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities. Now screening : 1. "Serenity" with SNIK in Manchester 2. Hellbent in Albany, NY 3. And Now a Message From Our S...
Public space is full of opportunities to shine like a star, bare your soul, set the record straight, and to make a fool of yourself with an audience. And really, what’s the point of doing it alone? G...