Found: Downtown SD, near Broadway and Horton Plaza
On the side of a barrier wall that was between a building under reconstruction and the street, I came upon this Twiggy wheat paste street art. The size, about two feet tall by one foot wide made is so that many people walking or even driving near the piece could see it. Additionally, the piece was accessibly at about face level height.
With the technique, it looks to me that the artist created a stencil of Twiggy that was spray painted onto a piece on contact paper in black, then the yellow for her iconic blond hair was added via an aerosol paint base. The piece then was cut out, and wheat pasted onto the diving wall. Different from other wheat pasted pieces I came across, this piece did not seem to have any claimed "author", as the others elsewhere downtown had the wheat pasted subject, then the artist tagged their street name on the piece somewhere discrete, for the sake of recognition.
I found the technique pretty similar to the way Shepard Fairey creates his work, as well as questioned what the "point" of the work was. Unfortunately, this piece only had a mustache drawn on and "cunt" sprawled across the forehead... I presume these were more vandalized than intended by the original poster.
Thematically, through this piece I was reminded of the "Function of Subculture" piece by Simon During we were assigned to read for the class. Being that Twiggy is undoubtedly the most recognizable persona from the 1960's British "Mod" fashion period, it comes as no surprise to me that she would be slapped upon a wall, seeing that she is used countless time throughout the ages as a marketing tool for the subculture she represents. While I wouldn't call it "cult-following" per-say, particularly, I was driven by the thought that During brings up of "fanship and niche marketing... fus[ing]". Idol worship is something that is so rampant in western culture, that I don't know if the Twiggy piece upon the wall is representative of the idealism of interest, or satire.
Does this piece call attention to the people who idolize Twiggy in a condescending light? Is this a piece drawing focus on the worship of psuedo-false idols? OR, alternatively, does the artist's namesake work just happen to be large-scale wheat paste stencils of Twiggy's face? As Fairey states in the Mod Painters article, his Andre the Giant pieces were meant to "Mimic advertising, but without a product". Could this come across as the same method of representation?
Overall, of works I saw during my time downtown, this was the one I liked the most. I appreciated that is was held with this mystery that kind of made me think a little bit more about why it was their and what its representation was supposed to mean. Also, because the piece was at ground level and still present for the public to see, it made me believe that it was found to be more "street art" that a random act of vandalism in the city.
Sources:
1. Joshua Bearman, "Street Cred" article
2. Simon During, "Function of Subculture" article
With the technique, it looks to me that the artist created a stencil of Twiggy that was spray painted onto a piece on contact paper in black, then the yellow for her iconic blond hair was added via an aerosol paint base. The piece then was cut out, and wheat pasted onto the diving wall. Different from other wheat pasted pieces I came across, this piece did not seem to have any claimed "author", as the others elsewhere downtown had the wheat pasted subject, then the artist tagged their street name on the piece somewhere discrete, for the sake of recognition.
I found the technique pretty similar to the way Shepard Fairey creates his work, as well as questioned what the "point" of the work was. Unfortunately, this piece only had a mustache drawn on and "cunt" sprawled across the forehead... I presume these were more vandalized than intended by the original poster.
Thematically, through this piece I was reminded of the "Function of Subculture" piece by Simon During we were assigned to read for the class. Being that Twiggy is undoubtedly the most recognizable persona from the 1960's British "Mod" fashion period, it comes as no surprise to me that she would be slapped upon a wall, seeing that she is used countless time throughout the ages as a marketing tool for the subculture she represents. While I wouldn't call it "cult-following" per-say, particularly, I was driven by the thought that During brings up of "fanship and niche marketing... fus[ing]". Idol worship is something that is so rampant in western culture, that I don't know if the Twiggy piece upon the wall is representative of the idealism of interest, or satire.
Does this piece call attention to the people who idolize Twiggy in a condescending light? Is this a piece drawing focus on the worship of psuedo-false idols? OR, alternatively, does the artist's namesake work just happen to be large-scale wheat paste stencils of Twiggy's face? As Fairey states in the Mod Painters article, his Andre the Giant pieces were meant to "Mimic advertising, but without a product". Could this come across as the same method of representation?
Overall, of works I saw during my time downtown, this was the one I liked the most. I appreciated that is was held with this mystery that kind of made me think a little bit more about why it was their and what its representation was supposed to mean. Also, because the piece was at ground level and still present for the public to see, it made me believe that it was found to be more "street art" that a random act of vandalism in the city.
Sources:
1. Joshua Bearman, "Street Cred" article
2. Simon During, "Function of Subculture" article
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