Fortress Europe

Fully equipped to fight ISIS, migrants, refugees and Cobra command…

Sometimes things come about when you have some form of inspiration, some come through perspiration and some come when you’ve watched too much news and have an idle afternoon on the computer. This is the latter. I’ve got no idea what I was searching for when the GI Joe Headquarters flashed up in front of me but there it was and my eyes drank it in and the idea came fully formed into my little brain. A little bit of digital tinkering later and here we have ‘Fortress Europe’ ready to defend her borders from ‘ISIS, refugees, migrants and Cobra command’…

Cheers

id-iom

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The devil makes work for idle hands

The devil makes work for idle hands

So there we were painting a wall last Friday when we stopped as we needed a picture of the wall before we could progress any further. Due to the fact that the sun was shining directly onto half of the wall we just couldn’t get a shot of what we needed. Hmmm. What to do? Waiting around for the sun to move or a cloud to get in the way is difficult when there’s loads of spray paint to hand.

So we did what any self respecting artist duo would do and decided to paint up another wall in the interim so that we could at least get a photo for Next week. A sustained and furious twin attack on the wall later and this is what we had.

Cheers

id-iom

The buff man cometh

It would seem that everyone is indeed a critic….

We only painted this wall up a few weeks ago and it’s already been buffed. How very disappointing. Especially as it was done with the owner’s permission as part of our annual street party. Apparently the Man is always going to have his say on such matters.

The way I heard it was that the insurance man came round to the garage it’s painted on and insisted that it be removed as it would attract vandalism or some such nonsense. As it goes I reckon our piece was largely graffiti-proof due to the busy background whereas a white painted wall is something of an invitation to many of the people I know. Oh well, c’est la vie…

Cheers

id-iom

Me and Mr Snuffles – by Lila (aged 4)

It’s funny isn’t it. If a 4 year old passed you just about anything and motioned there was someone on the phone for you you’d probably have a quick fake phone call using the banana (or whatever you were handed) before passing it back and suggesting whoever was on the line wanted to speak to them again. You would probably feel a bit stupid doing it but you’d do it all the same to make the child happy.

Somehow, on the transition from childhood to becoming an adult we lose this mysterious skill of being able to imagine just about anything is real. Or face being carted off to the nearest mental institution. Which is quite a harsh penalty for something that’s positively encouraged as a child.

Anyway, this little girl is strolling round without a care in the world as she has her imaginary ‘dog’, Mr Snuffles, to keep her company. And who’s to say she’s wrong. Not me as I did the picture in the first place.

As a little bonus here’s my original child-like sketch of Mr Snuffles…

Cheers

id-iom

Beware Super S

Beware Super S

It is with serious misgivings that we even mention the name ‘Super S: The man of extraordinary power’ here at id-iom HQ and there’s a reason for that…

The first time we met him he was all in our face shrieking that we’d infringed his copyright for using the letter S in one of our pieces. He reckons he invented the letter S back in the 80’s and everyone has been biting him and copying it ever since. The second time ended even worse when I had to restrain the other member of id-iom after Super S poked him in the chest whilst reeling off an obscenity laden list of trademark lawyers who were apparently going to eat us for breakfast.

Our third encounter was in court and it turns out that not only did he come up with the letter S back in 1982 but he’s also been working on a new letter ever since and it’s due to drop soon. In lieu of not having any money to pay him we agreed to do a piece as compensation so here it is. And that’s how it happened. I swear.

Cheers

id-iom

Surprise sausage!

Only a limited percentage of the population are going to get this one. If you have decent eyesight, are of a certain age and were brought up in the UK then this one’s for you.

In all fairness i’ve made this one a bit easier to spot…

Listen close for I have a tale to tell. A tale of woe and hard times. It all started with a dream. Although the simpleton who had the dream thought it was reality. Let’s say this person we’re talking about is one half of an street art duo called, for the sake of argument, id-iot. He thought he’d come up with a great idea for a site specific bit of street art but had somehow dreamed a fallacy. His simple idea was to have the sausage from the opening credits of 80’s/90’s school drama Grange Hill next to the street sign for Grange Hill which he was convinced they’d driven past some days previously. How impossibly amusing that would be.

With a stencil of a surprise sausage in hand he then convinced the other half of id-iot to take him to the location an internet search had revealed was to be found not too far away in South London. So far, so good.  Upon arrival at Grange Hill it soon became apparent that they’d never driven that way before and that there was nowhere suitable to spray it. He’d somehow imagined the whole thing. Confusion reigned and they eventually drove home with the braying sound of laughter ringing in his ears. Determined that his efforts hadn’t been in vain he searched for another Grange Hill nearby but there were none to be found. There was only Grange Hill station in Chigwell which was many miles away.

Rather than never letting the stencil see the light of day he decided to spray it on wood and cut it out in the hope that one day they would be passing somewhere near Chigwell. More than a year passed with the woodcut resting unhappily in his front room before the call came that they needed to measure up for a job nearby. After almost failing at the last hurdle with nowhere suitable to put it it turns out if just fitted in the space next to the noticeboard. And, you could just about cram the Grange Hill sign into the same shot. Phew. Mission complete. And that is how ‘Surprise Sausage’ came about. So now you know. Never trust your dreams.

Cheers

id-iom

Baba Bo Peep

Baba Bo Peep at dusk

So it was that time of year again for our annual neighbourhood street party. As one half of id-iom lives on the street we were asked if we’d like to paint again and, after a fun time last year, could hardly turn the offer down. This time we were allocated the rather unloved looking front of the garage on which to work our magic. It was something of an uneven surface but we do so love a challenge so set about trying to come up with a good plan.

Thankfully after a few days of gloom even the weather decided to play ball on Sunday and before long we were happily throwing paint around and being ably assisted in our endeavours by local kids and residents in order to generate a messy background. Cue some beers and general tomfoolery and before too long we could almost see the finish line. We just needed some kind of finishing move. This was where local resident Veronica (#Vron) came to our rescue by suggesting the neon outlines on the heads which, as night was falling, allowed us to get a couple of LED’s in to give their eyes a sparkle and then call it a day. I wonder if we’ll be invited to paint again next year…

A big thanks to Baba motors for allowing us to decorate his wall, Charmian (#Pchar) for organising it all and Veronica (#Vron) for suggesting our finishing move.

Cheers

id-iom

Hexabeard 5000

The Hexabeard 5000 experimental beard serum had some side effects…

Lining up the painted beam with his head proved trickier than anticipated…

Sometimes when you take an experimental beard serum weird things are going to happen. Gary here used to have a scraggly teenager’s bumfluff beard at the ripe old age of 32 and he wasn’t a happy chap. He had long yearned for a thick luscious hipster’s beard like his best friend Fitz and intended, somehow, to get one. He’d tried all sorts of so called remedies – from rubbing his face with peanut butter to shaving every 20 minutes in an attempt to force growth, all to no avail. His prayers would be answered soon enough however.

In desperation, after a late night’s internetting, he clicked on a link to a somewhat shady company that sold research chemicals and promptly parted with a week’s wages for a course of the unproven and experimental Hexabeard 5000. With the instructions being in Chinese he did the best he could when his package arrived and did all the pills over the course of a week. The following Monday new growth could definitely be seen and within a few days he had a full beard. He was over the moon. Then the coloured hexagons started appearing, web-like growth would materialise overnight and his eyes started to change.

At first he was scared but it quickly made him the coolest hipster in town. Unfortunately this was only for about 2 weeks until a 7 year old with a 2ft long bushy beard came along and blew all the competition away. The moral of the story? Well, like life you’ll just have to work it out for yourself…

Cheers

id-iom

Nomina Stultorum Parietibus Haerent

Here at id-iom we are generally unashamedly low brow but that doesn’t mean we don’t like to mix it up every once in a while and fire something a little more pretentious and contrived your way just ‘cos we can. There I was reading an article about the Roman city of Pompeii when inspiration struck. As i’m sure we’re all aware Pompeii was destroyed during the eruption of the nearby Mount Vesuvius in 79AD. Apart from the bits that were destroyed there was a blanket of volcanic ash a few metres deep which covered the entire town and preserved it for future generations to discover.

In amongst the more grisly discoveries there was a lot of graffiti found on the walls which shed some light on the day to day goings on in ancient Pompeii and the musings of the common man – and that was enough for the seed of an idea to germinate. I’m not expecting South London to get hit by a giant volcano any time soon however so who knows how long our graffiti will last?

Anyway, what does it all mean? I could just give you translation but in this day and age it’s only a google search away so I’m afraid you’ll have to do it yourself if you’re at all interested. Howzat for interactive street art?

Cheers

id-iom