Wooden Board Art in Dumbo

Dumbo is full of art galleries, shows, and installations, but there’s also art on the streets, and not just graffiti on empty warehouse walls. This is art created by talented and famous artists who create art for arts sake. There are meticulously created metalwork by Revs, paperwork by Swoon, mosaic tiles by Space Invaders, or paintings by Elbowtoe and Neckface.

But there are no opening shows at galleries. The art just appears on the streets and over time, if they survive the weather or cleptomaniacs, they become part of the environment. There’s an ephemeral nature of street art which makes it interesting to look out for new street art. One form of art takes the shape of wooden boards. They’re bolted onto street signs. I contacted two prolific artists who have boards in Dumbo, Plasma Slugs and Gore B. Gore B wanted anonymity and is “important to the work”. His work is followed in a Flickr group.

Plasma Slugs is another artist who installs boards and sticker art in the neighborhood. Plasma Slugs is a happy looking character who had the following message for us:

I speak for my creator, I am Plasma. I am a form of liquid blob that constantly moves. The paintings and stickers you see up on the street poles and other hidden areas is a still life, almost like a photo of us in our own insane environment. The Slug with rings around it is a portion of my fuel, my food, and the only thing I have to guard that I leave around in my trail so that I would find my way back. We work together in large numbers within our colony each of us individually here for only a moment. We are identified by class names, each of us here for a reason in our own section of work. Each pole we are found on is like a command post or head quarter for our colony. This way we can be found everywhere and know everything in the streets of New York City. The reason for our smile is simple: we have nothing to not smile about. In our whole life span, which lasts for a blink of an eye, we know nothing but smiling because regardless of how fast we move or how short we live compared to the average human, we know that our overall existence will only grow day by day as we reproduce.

You can see many more Gore B and Plasma Slugs in SoHo, East Village, Gowanus Canal, Williamsburg, and Brooklyn Heights. There’s fun is finding them, taking photos, and sharing them with others who keep an eye out for them. There’ll be more, so keep an eye out.


 Dumbo wooden boards, May 2007

{Plasma Slugs Flickr page}
{www.streetsy.com}
{Gore B Flickr group}
{Space Invader in Dumbo area, DumboNYC}

8 Comment

  • I love wooden board art! I’ve found a few here in the northern section of Bed-Stuy, and several in Clinton Hill.

  • I love wooden board art! I’ve found a few here in the northern section of Bed-Stuy, and several in Clinton Hill.

  • Plasma Slugs actually did have an opening and show at halcyon a few months back and we have some of his work still inside for anyone who is interested in owning a piece without removing one from the streets. And… for those who like art of this nature on the streets, it’s quickly becoming a thing of the past in dumbo as the zealots in charge of improving the neighborhood have funded it’s removal via the city and NYPD’s targeting dumbo with their anti-graf campaign. this largely pressures landlords to clean up their buildings and places the decision making about what is art of value and what is ‘scribbles’ into the hands of such noted aesthetic luminaries as Mr. Guttman. Take one look at the pearl st. side of 68 Jay whic as of this week has been sanitized for your protection from the works of revs, swoon and many others. this includes work done with permission on the facades of halcyon and jan larsen’s gallery which was erased in typically sloppy fashion. now the entire block is one drab dark red – that’s progress. disgusting.

  • Plasma Slugs actually did have an opening and show at halcyon a few months back and we have some of his work still inside for anyone who is interested in owning a piece without removing one from the streets. And… for those who like art of this nature on the streets, it’s quickly becoming a thing of the past in dumbo as the zealots in charge of improving the neighborhood have funded it’s removal via the city and NYPD’s targeting dumbo with their anti-graf campaign. this largely pressures landlords to clean up their buildings and places the decision making about what is art of value and what is ‘scribbles’ into the hands of such noted aesthetic luminaries as Mr. Guttman. Take one look at the pearl st. side of 68 Jay whic as of this week has been sanitized for your protection from the works of revs, swoon and many others. this includes work done with permission on the facades of halcyon and jan larsen’s gallery which was erased in typically sloppy fashion. now the entire block is one drab dark red – that’s progress. disgusting.

  • Is the Oliver Vernon piece a commission? Did Guttman give approval? I couldn’t believe the painter went over part of that.

    Across Water St they painted the long graffiti’d yellow wall a just lovely shade of grey.

    And they went to a lot of trouble to remove years old graffiti from the alley. I really don’t understand that one.

    I’d take even sloppy tags over bland uniformity any day. Blegh.

  • Is the Oliver Vernon piece a commission? Did Guttman give approval? I couldn’t believe the painter went over part of that.

    Across Water St they painted the long graffiti’d yellow wall a just lovely shade of grey.

    And they went to a lot of trouble to remove years old graffiti from the alley. I really don’t understand that one.

    I’d take even sloppy tags over bland uniformity any day. Blegh.

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