Mural Arts Provides Open Source For Color and Geometry in Fishtown
If you’re riding north on Frankford Ave., you may notice a new splash of color when you cross over Berks Street on your daily commute. On Thursday, August 13, 2015 the artist MOMO began work on a new mural at 1832 Frankford Avenue in Fishtown with the help of students enrolled in Mural Arts Education Program. The display of public art is part of the Mural Arts Program’s Open Source project, which brings artists together with the intention of investigating social issues such as behavioral health, criminal justice or, in this case, education.
“Momo, for example, the design he’s doing here comes out of his head, out of his genius, and his work with the kids and his methodology connected with our education program,” said Jane Golden, Executive Director of the Mural Arts Program.
The artist, MOMO, will complete another mural in late August on the Sonesta Hotel at 1800 Market St. /Matthew Albasi
As part of his involvement with Open Source, MOMO has been working with Philadelphia-area high school students from Kensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts and Freire Charter School. These students have spent the last few weeks learning techniques to create geometric shapes.
These techniques are, at first, alarmingly simple. Students attach a can of spray paint in a special carriage to a length of cord. The cord is anchored in one or more places on the wall, depending on the desired shape. The can of paint is moved along the wall while keeping the cord stretched tight. With only one anchor, the line of paint will make an arc, continuing into a full circle if it is completed. The real magic begins once you add more anchors. Suddenly, this simple setup is capable of creating ovals, spirals and squiggles galore.
Michael Blount demonstrates one of the methods he learned to create an oval. /Matthew Albasi
Michael Blount, one of the students participating in the program, spoke about how the program has influenced him. He talked about a project they did on the first day of class. Students were asked to draw a simple bottle. Then, they examined the geometric shapes that composed that drawing and learned techniques to recreate them. Finally, they used the new techniques to draw the bottle again with impressive results.
“Just thinking about how there are perfect geometric shapes that have been here established in our society for centuries is pretty amazing to me,” said Blount. “It’s just knowing how beautiful things can be made simple.”
MOMO talking to students in front of the in-progress mural. /Matthew Albasi
MOMO has worked on a variety of pieces in the past, from an enormous tag the size of Manhattan he did in 2006, to an augmented reality mural he created with Re+Public Lab in St. Louis. Originally from San Francisco, MOMO now keeps a studio in New Orleans. It was the allure of Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program that led him northeast to work with Jane Golden in Philly.
“It’s the whole program that’s really fascinating,” MOMO said. “To work with Mural Arts, which is such a singular organization that I’ve heard about forever, doing murals everywhere. That’s a kind of deep and meaningful honor to get time to come here and do that.”
So, what is it that the artist hopes we take away from the large, abstract piece?
“I’m not arriving with a message or placing anything on the space besides just the formal things to be enjoyed. Which, I think, are really universal and people can relate to directly as their own.”
Students learned techniques using simple tools to create geometric shapes. /Matthew Albasi
The mural is scheduled to be completed by August 23.
