The Art of Life

The best things in life are free. 

Street art. 

Street artists. 

Both really cool. Both free. (tips are always nice for the street artists though) 

These guys were performing on St Patty's day in Derry - Londonderry. Awesome! 

Bagpipes are so cool!

 Sorta Picasso like graffiti.

 Why don't cities simply allow graffiti artists to compete for the privilege to paint various walls? Just give them a few guidelines. Maybe no one would do it if it was legal. :P 

 Nothing is more likely to get me distracted from where we are actually trying to go then this. Poor Ruthiey, we are never going to see all the free museums. :P 

 I think Ruthiey is beginning to appreciate graffiti art though... 

 ...as evidenced here. awwww. :) 

 That is simple but so cool. I bet that was commission by the city of Dublin though. :P

 I would like to live in this building, and have to climb those cool stairs everyday. 

 Yes, alleys are the best.  

 

 This creature is cool. It might be this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Elk

 There is a pedestrianized street in Dublin called Grafton Street. All kinds of musicians and artists come here to be seen and hopefully receive tips. These guys were playing psychedelic rock as far as I could tell. You can always see the ones that are going to continue successfully as street performers, they have a certain careless and unconscious attitude that is vital for this line of work.


On Good Friday, I was out watching the street performers, and at the end of Grafton Street, there was this guy named Oisin Charms - An Irish guy who is probably the most incredible street artist I've ever seen. Oisin's performance that I watched had him escaping from a straitjacket whilst on an 8 foot unicycle. He dislocated his shoulder on purpose to get out. 
I didn't have my camera that day but here is a video of him:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vqik9mxTgM0
Anyways really cool, but the other day at the end of Grafton Street there was this other guy who was doing a show very similar and I thought that was kinda odd, but figured he must have seen Oisin's show and copied some of the successful elements.
After a while I realized that Oisin was standing behind the show and watching him like he was the teacher watching his student.

so this is the student. balancing on a ladder and juggling torches and machetes. 

(one of the lines: "Fire! Oh and nobody cares. Watch this! Free Beer! And everybody looks!")

This image fascinates me. I love the image of the expert watching the student. That is Oisin standing to the right of the photo.
Anyways, if any of you get to Dublin, walk on Grafton Street often in the hopes of catching Oisin Charms' incredible show. :D