By JRS
Artists go head to head in Saturday's Art Battle in Williamsburg
In the emerging live-art scene, there is only one name that comes to mind. Art Battles, founded by artist Sean Bono is 2001, gives relatively obscure artists a chance to elevate themselves into the public eye.
Saturday, November 7th in Brooklyn was one such opportunity. Four young artists converged on the 3rd Ward in East Williamsburg’s industrial district to go head to head in a competition for a winner-take-all bout of…art. Tantamount to hip hop’s freestyle battles, each artist gets a certain amount of time to make their mark on the canvas—set to music, of course—and then their partner has a chance to add onto their work. Each artist gets thirty minutes to themselves on the canvas, then they get thirty minutes to paint side by side.
Round 1
Round 1
Bono, who supplies his stable of artists with materials, a venue, and a creative direction unique to each event, is known to join in from time to time and paint while events are going on. Having staged over one hundred of these events in less than a decade, it’s now down to a science. Some battles pay out $100 to the winners, but Saturday night’s winners took home the losing team’s canvas. Emotions ran high and the captivated audience provided a steady level of background noise to support their favorites. When the time ran out, the crowd first voted for their choice by vocalizing their support, but when that proved too hard to determine, the audience lined up on opposite sides of the room.
It’s an interesting take on the traditional art world. The level of enthusiasm and camaraderie among the audience, combined with the live DJ performance, makes for a unique experience.
Round 2
Round 2
Stay tuned for more to come about Art Battles. Check out their website at www.artbattles.com.
