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Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Eastern train station
Train station are tresholds - or passages - people come and go, continuously, they move between different worlds.
Keleti (Eastern train station) and its sourroundings is one of the dark and sometimes surrealistic places of Budapest. It is a place where you can change money with Arabs - if you wanna do that .... and it is not cosidered to be safe around here. There used to be a great fleah market just behind the station, which was supposed to be closed down last year. It was so funny, as at the antrance of the market a huge sign said: "it is forbidden to out your goods on the ground" - and just behind the sign you saw ca. 50 meter long various used staff - packed naturally on the ground. At the entrance, right next to the sign, there were policemena and women keeping the feel of security... in the market you may be able to buy back your stoled bike, or bike-seats, but like on any other flea-market, you could get all kinds of shit. I was there last year, ehen they were about to close it, and many vendors had put up papers saying - we will be selling our stuff a corner aways from here, and they also tried to protest against the clsoure of the market.
Its a multi-cultural place, and opposite to it is a traditionally Jewish area, e.g. the famous "Nefelejcs street", where the protagonist of Faithlessness by Imre Kertész returns back from Auschwitz, and in the end of that street the Bethlen square synagogue, a former center of undergound Zionism, and the location where Marom has been founded, and organized its first festival, on the 1st December 2001.
Some parts have been renovated and it is eclectic.
At the moment Metro 4 is buing built here. The photo was taken in a dark tunnel, next to a surrealistic butcher shop and some shop where you can order your own grave...there is quite a lot of street art around here lately.
Keleti (Eastern train station) and its sourroundings is one of the dark and sometimes surrealistic places of Budapest. It is a place where you can change money with Arabs - if you wanna do that .... and it is not cosidered to be safe around here. There used to be a great fleah market just behind the station, which was supposed to be closed down last year. It was so funny, as at the antrance of the market a huge sign said: "it is forbidden to out your goods on the ground" - and just behind the sign you saw ca. 50 meter long various used staff - packed naturally on the ground. At the entrance, right next to the sign, there were policemena and women keeping the feel of security... in the market you may be able to buy back your stoled bike, or bike-seats, but like on any other flea-market, you could get all kinds of shit. I was there last year, ehen they were about to close it, and many vendors had put up papers saying - we will be selling our stuff a corner aways from here, and they also tried to protest against the clsoure of the market.
Its a multi-cultural place, and opposite to it is a traditionally Jewish area, e.g. the famous "Nefelejcs street", where the protagonist of Faithlessness by Imre Kertész returns back from Auschwitz, and in the end of that street the Bethlen square synagogue, a former center of undergound Zionism, and the location where Marom has been founded, and organized its first festival, on the 1st December 2001.
Some parts have been renovated and it is eclectic.
At the moment Metro 4 is buing built here. The photo was taken in a dark tunnel, next to a surrealistic butcher shop and some shop where you can order your own grave...there is quite a lot of street art around here lately.
Imaginary courses - in times of crisis
One of them would be a course on "Small region usury" the other one is "Crisis communicator course". The crisis communicators' task is to be able to talk about the crisis, so that no one understands it, but everyone believes in it. He needs to go on most of the media in peek time and talk as much as possible about the crisis with the least content of information. After finishing the course you will become fluent in proving fact of crisis even with two contradicting arguments. Only politicans or their relatives can apply for the course....(a course of the IMF)
On the usury course you can learn how to blackmail small villages, how to use weapons, and if u wanna apply you should not read the Bible...is supposed to be also a course of the IMF.
The photo represents the yard of a poor house.
On the usury course you can learn how to blackmail small villages, how to use weapons, and if u wanna apply you should not read the Bible...is supposed to be also a course of the IMF.
The photo represents the yard of a poor house.
Fake advertisments - a kind of subvertisment
The changes of advertisments that I mentioned before are called "subvertisments"
These I am not sure to count in this category...
They are funny texts, that look like advertisments, but they are selling useless staff.
I found many of them in the Jewish district lately...The first one above tries to sell us some hernia ... it even has a small photo of it.
The second one above says: "Money for sale" - Hungarian, foreign and Japanese ....
"Bokros-package"
I dont remember if I had mentioned the young guys putting out posters, for "you be the prime minister" after Gyurcsány has resigned ...
here is an other reaction to the political circus we are experiencing in the last 15 years in Hungary...
Lajos Bokros was the finance minister of the Horn-government between 1995-96 and became infamous for his so called "Bokros-package" - as a result of which he is still today the most unpopular Hungarian politician. The package was the strongest economical constraint-plan after the changes in Hungary.
Now that Ferenc Gyurcsány has resigned from being prime minister of Hungary some people wanted to nominate Lajos Bokros to be the ney prime minister (as a nominee of MDF middle right conservative party)
The sticker is on Király street, on a phone cell.
Other candidates were also related to Bokros, just like György Surányi, who was a co-author of the Bokros-package, anno and is currently chair of the Hungarian National Bank. One of my acquiantences, a middle aged businessman, with a relatively stronger Jewish identity, raised to me the nomination of Mr. Surányi as a problem, since he is Jewish, and a Jews cannot be the prime ministers ... good old fears, and it show a lot about how Jews and Hungarian think about politics and jewish identity.... I find his argument strange, just as, when he was telling me, that he does not eat Chicken-paprika with sourcream, but only because he does not like it, and not because it is not kosher :)
here is an other reaction to the political circus we are experiencing in the last 15 years in Hungary...
Lajos Bokros was the finance minister of the Horn-government between 1995-96 and became infamous for his so called "Bokros-package" - as a result of which he is still today the most unpopular Hungarian politician. The package was the strongest economical constraint-plan after the changes in Hungary.
Now that Ferenc Gyurcsány has resigned from being prime minister of Hungary some people wanted to nominate Lajos Bokros to be the ney prime minister (as a nominee of MDF middle right conservative party)
The sticker is on Király street, on a phone cell.
Other candidates were also related to Bokros, just like György Surányi, who was a co-author of the Bokros-package, anno and is currently chair of the Hungarian National Bank. One of my acquiantences, a middle aged businessman, with a relatively stronger Jewish identity, raised to me the nomination of Mr. Surányi as a problem, since he is Jewish, and a Jews cannot be the prime ministers ... good old fears, and it show a lot about how Jews and Hungarian think about politics and jewish identity.... I find his argument strange, just as, when he was telling me, that he does not eat Chicken-paprika with sourcream, but only because he does not like it, and not because it is not kosher :)
By the way Bokros was also the director of the CEU universtiy, which is one of the few places where you can study in a really progressive environment...
his moustache is real!!! See the Hungarian moustache contest of the New York Hungarian Institute here There use to be really funny videos about it, I jsut cant find it now :)
Getto revival
Street art in the 7th district I saw in the last week.
This one I had before at some point, but here it is more sharp, and not only a stencil, but it was on paper - and had an extra message "The municipality does not have the right to demolish buildings" - my problem is the same with this, as before - street art can be very didactic - and then it looses on its "art" quality. The important thing on street art is that it is an "enigma", an open secret, somthing that is clear an moving but not blunt in a stupid way...
Eger
One of my far far relatives is Rabbi Akiba Eger - who has nothing to do with the Hungarian city of Eger - where I have been on Saturday.
Suprisingly, I found some street art on the streets of Eger. They had a strange, somehow unusual effect in the small town. I realised how much I associate street art with the jungle of big cities ... nevertheless some pieces were really beautiful.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Behind the fan
This is one of my favourite pices around the Jewish district. It is located right next to Szimpla, a ruin Pub in Kazinczy street -the street of the Kazinczy orthodox synagogue and the mikveh. Szimpla was the first among the ruin pubs, it used to be locate on a different place, actually in the same street. It was very simple - just couple beer-benches in the middle of a deserted house, where some gipsy families were about to be kicked out, being squatters. Óvás, an organisation that fights for the preservation of the Jewish district was able to co-operate with Szimpla from the beginning, and the foundation of the alternative place helped them to save that particular building!
Trabi in the wall
This is at the entrance of the Jewish district in a tiny street at the side of Madách sqr, on the location of the famous Orczy ház, the first seed of the Jewish district, ahouse that included a whole "shtetl" - a shul, apartments, butcher, cafeteria - and much more until the time when the city ruined it in the 30ies and replaced it with a disgusting, reddish "Stalin-baroque"-stlye building...
The nice thing about this Trabant stencil is that you can only see it if you pass it by, as it is hidden. The Trabi on the wall actually reminds me on the Berlin wall. Parts of the wall were used for "suicide", desperate Eastern Germans drove into the wall with full gas
Orthodox butcher
This used to be the orthodox butcher.
I know that some people occupied this building for a while. There was even a movie about it... I dont understand why someone needed to spray the script: Orthodox butcher... who could have done it? The municiaplity? Or the people who moved out? It looks like the metaphor of the district - there is Jewish contect behind the layers, its still visible, but it is on the edge of complete disappearance. Of course there are new, alive phenomena, as well, but this house is really touching. Today, it is covered by a huge net. It stands empty since several years and decaying from day to day. The Jewish butcher family who lived here for several generations needed to move out, the the old butcher, Kővári has died not long after he was forced out of his place. And for what was it necessary?
deistorted stiff
distorted stiff is one of the first street artists of Budapest.
He used to start street art in the 7th district ca. 7 years ago. I think he is close to the 1000 % group - the member of which is Attila Starck who introduced street art in the Hungharian fine art scene...
zacsi / baggy
This is made by a young guy, about 17 years old, I met him in Sirály once.
It is located in the 8th district.
The text says: "Plant a tree today"
Objects trouvé - The street as art
I am looking for a name for objects, phenomena / still lifes in the public space that look like art, but are actualy a result of real life happenings. The term also need to include the special framing that is achieved by photographing these phenomena, and talking about them as street art
This red cross is in the 8th district, it says above "Dr. True". I wonder what is the story of it.
This red cross is in the 8th district, it says above "Dr. True". I wonder what is the story of it.
Street art against cigarettes
Location: Jewish district, Budapest
Its an ironic "advertisment paraphrase" (subvertisment) for / against cigarettes.
Front of the Gundel house, Király street
A new stencil, first I liked it, but it is over-used and put on weird places, like this one.
This is on the front of the building in Király street that is about to be demolished. It can also be found on the building and in on several other locations in the Jewish district.
The famous Gundel family used to live in this house. You may have heard about the famous Hungarian crépes -the "Gundel palacsinta" that is named after him, who was professional in catering. They owned one or more apartments here, which were taken in the communism partially (they needed to move to a smaller part of their own apartment.) In the end they needed to move out because of the state of the building and the demolishment - after several generations having hav lived here...
This is on the front of the building in Király street that is about to be demolished. It can also be found on the building and in on several other locations in the Jewish district.
The famous Gundel family used to live in this house. You may have heard about the famous Hungarian crépes -the "Gundel palacsinta" that is named after him, who was professional in catering. They owned one or more apartments here, which were taken in the communism partially (they needed to move to a smaller part of their own apartment.) In the end they needed to move out because of the state of the building and the demolishment - after several generations having hav lived here...
Women's day 2009
This was an ad-heck on women's day at the Király street tram stop. I have seen some of this ad-heck art in the last year on this line, here and at Rákóczi streeet, as well.
This piece evokes folkclore, and quotes a folk-song: "The cabbage is round, its leaves are like laces, come on, my baby, sit on my lap" The drawing is simple, folk-ish, but instead of a men and a woman we see two women figures.
This piece evokes folkclore, and quotes a folk-song: "The cabbage is round, its leaves are like laces, come on, my baby, sit on my lap" The drawing is simple, folk-ish, but instead of a men and a woman we see two women figures.
Distortion
I don't understand what this is supposed to be. This is on Rákóczy street, a huge motorway destroying the face of the city -
The text says: In the majority of the cases I focus rather on the solution of the problem and not exploring the case thoroughly...
the text above with blue says "Shopping is boring". Its older than the poster.
I saw the people - or some of them who are doing street art in this area. After our Minister president, Mr. Gyurcsány have resigned last week, they have posted some posters with the slogan: "You shall be the minister president" - we are looking for a minister president :)
The text says: In the majority of the cases I focus rather on the solution of the problem and not exploring the case thoroughly...
the text above with blue says "Shopping is boring". Its older than the poster.
I saw the people - or some of them who are doing street art in this area. After our Minister president, Mr. Gyurcsány have resigned last week, they have posted some posters with the slogan: "You shall be the minister president" - we are looking for a minister president :)
Montage modell
I have photographed an other girl by the same artist close to Rakoczi ter, where I lived. This I found close to Wesselényi, in the Jewish district.
The text says: Time does not make you happy.
I wonder if the text is by the same person who does these women montages
Szigony utca
Not long ago I moved to Szigony utca, more deep in the 8th district, the "dangerous" "dark" eight, where most of the Roma live, and many Chinese, and lately some Arabs, as well.
This wall painting is located on the wall of a building that I think will be demolished, since there will be the so called "Corvin sétány" built, as part of the district development project.
This wall painting is located on the wall of a building that I think will be demolished, since there will be the so called "Corvin sétány" built, as part of the district development project.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
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