Vandalog
As the title may suggest, Vandalog is about “vandalism”, or more appropriately, street art. The site does not focus on just one geographic area, or one specific style of art. The writers include artists from all over the world and the art included varies from spray paints, to wheat paste, to murals, to yarn art, to even garbage art.
The website launched in October of 2008, and seems to be quite popular, having links to Complex Magazine, a pop culture magazine. It is run by “20 something year old” Editor and chief RJ Rushmore and contributing writer, Catherine Caldwell. There are many other writers who contribute to the page and their names can be found in the “About” section of the site.
Many friends of mine are also street artists, so over the past year, I have gained interest in this forbidden form of art. I actually admire that the site has a search box – yes, this is a small detail, but allows the viewer to view more posts about a specific artist, style of art, or region. I have recently taken interest in yarn art after following artist HOTTEA on Instagram, and was excited to see there were posts of his work as well links to the work of other yarn artists I have never heard of. Whether you are a person who knows very little about the street art world (like myself), or participate in it, Vandalog seems to be the site to visit to learn, or be updated on the latest projects.
Perhaps Vandalog is simple in its layout to avoid taking away from its content – the font is simple, as is the logo and the black and white color scheme. Vandalog moderates its comments, and does not post any comments that include inappropriate or excessively obscene language. This gives the site a more professional feel, which makes the viewer forget that the art they are admiring was done illegally.
I really enjoyed looking at this blog! Its so fascinating that art can be created from such ordinary and mundane items. This blog has expanded my personal idea of what “art” is; it doesn’t have to be in a museum to be beautiful! I find it ironic that Vandalog screens its comments (not allowing inappropriate or vulgar language) because the art it features could easily be deemed inappropriate to some more conservative minds. However, I value the respect they have for the art they post by moderating comments.
This blog ,I have to say , exceeded my expectations. Being that I was never such a big fan of street art , this blog proves that street art can be sophisticated in its own ways. The fact that street artists also get major recognition was a new idea to me ;I always thought they try to keep their identity hidden because street art is not always legal. this blog however shows a picture of a street artist by the name of El Seed on the opening night of the showing of his work which I found very interesting! nice choice!