A Graffiti Phase

I said in my application to study abroad that I was interested in Copenhagen because it's an great place for art and artists. I was lying, like I was in most of my application, about my reasons for going. In truth I was more intrigued by the low GPA requirement for the program as well as the convenient fact that it was estimated to be the cheapest study abroad location offered (hard to believe in such an insanely expensive place). But right now it seems like I actually have been harboring some fascination with art. Since first arriving here I have already gone to the National Gallery six times and actually enjoyed myself. I've even been drawing everyday, which is sort of a shame since I should be reading or writing more since I actually plan on making money with those skills some day.

In any case, it's obvious that Copenhagen has more artistic energy than the average metro area. In addition to the numerous private and public galleries, the expensive art dealers, and the modern architecture that everyone can see in any guide book, there is also great variety of entertaining graffiti covering buildings around town.

Many of the spray paintings and stencils I've seen have been cool enough to belong in an Urban Outfitters coffee table book. It seems like all the creative energy has overflowed from hands of the rich and high brow art of the ritzier areas of the city and developed into a strong community of anonymous street artists. Although most of the graffiti I've seen has been nothing more than the usual stylized typography, there's a lot of work out there that I would argue is genuine art.

But some of the typography is pretty rad in its own right:

In conjunction with my new drawing habit, seeing all this casual creation is making me want to try out tagging for myself. I've been learning enough about light and shadows to make a good stencil by this point without using Photoshop to filter an image for me. I've wondered if I have the skills necessary to free hand a big fist. Since I've never touched a spray can before, I can't be sure. It would be sweet though, I saw that a guy had already beat me to the idea in an abandoned building near Christiania.

On second thought, this looks like it may actually be a print that's been pasted to the wall. In that case, I don't feel so bad about not being able to replicate it with nothing more than a couple spray cans.

Trees and Beauty

So I've been getting into aesthetics lately. Denmark seems like an appropriate enough place to begin and artsy phase. They're all about beauty here. The buildings, the women, the clothes, everything around me is deliberate and captivating. The weed here's great too, and cheap, which makes it that much easier to take time to stare and appreciate my surroundings.

Case in point: Copenhagen's southern suburbs. Many of the residential buildings in town are built in striking geometric shapes that make any photo of them look like a work of modern art. My great grampa would have probably shat at the sight of these houses and apartments that would have maybe seemed natural in Metropolis.

I went out at night today to take some pictures of the buildings. Many of the buildings are made of vibrant colors that grab my eye even while I flash past them on the train. I had some trouble getting good pictures since it was black outside and hella foggy. My dicking around with the light settings on the camera probably didn't help either.

Shit, wouldn't you want to live in a place that cool? You can't see it very well from here, but it looks like each condo is 2 floors. Also not visible, but super cool, is the lame looking section on the bottom right of the building. During the day you can see it's a mountain range created by perforating the metal that covers the parking area.

I went around to the campus of Copenhagen University where I'll be studying. There's few cool buildings, but I was more interested in getting a closer look at the graffiti I've seen there. The university is tearing down part of the Humanities campus and rebuilding it. The demolition site is fenced in by a long wall of plywood that has been completely covered in artful spray paint designs. I liked this one in particular because stylized fonts can only entertain me for so long:

The dog is smoking a cigarette! Do you see that? Oh my God! The were maybe a hundred more sections that appeared to be from all different artists. There also were a couple art installations in the same area of the campus. I guess I can upload one for your viewing pleasure...

I'm not sure how long I'll be able to stay satisfied spending time standing around appreciating stuff. I think some partying is in order, but I'll wait until Thursday to see how that goes. I've heard of a bar called the Hornsleth (pronounced "horn slut") that has a sex theme. I've walked past it once and wondered whether the logo was an illustration of a vagina. It is.