Bola Sociology Design

Design + Art: Sweatshoppe

October 26th, 2009

Sweatshoppe is the work of two masked artists, Bruno Levy and Blake Shawn, that develop technological alternatives, like softwares, to create specific performances. Their latest invention is a way to interfere with buildings and walls, working with graffiti aesthetics, using only LED, lights and video, without any use of paint or any material that will be affect the surface permanently.

This way of painting with video works like this: a painting roll with green indication LEDs is traced in X and Y coordinates with a video camera. Then the camera sends the values and information to a projector, which then draws the shapes on the surfaces. This shapes have patterns, colors and textures definied eletronically, and the art dissapears as soon as the machines are turned off.

The collective, which has been filming the interventions and the actions, has been leaving their mark in the virtual world, mainly uploading videos on the internet, and gives up the idea of an intervention leaving permanent marks like when someone uses traditional paint. Art is momentary and only lasts for the duration of the performance, the only way to see it afterwards is accessing the web, where the artists maintain their presence using vimeo and myspace.

From light sprays to a plataform that uses Wii and Flash technologies, the new ways that have been flourishing in graffitti art are usually free from pollutant paints, reach high levels of luminosity and allows to interact with surfaces that are much bigger than we were used to, and in different situations would be way too big to be worked on.

SWEATSHOPPE, The Landing from SWEATSHOPPE on Vimeo.

SWEATSHOPPE, 4spots, the landing extras from SWEATSHOPPE on Vimeo.

SWEATSHOPPE-Whip It from SWEATSHOPPE on Vimeo.