It’s hard when talking about Tumblr to not sound like someone’s dad, however, perusing the original art and design that sits in many of its farthest reaches has quite the opposite effect; the youthful exuberance of DIY culture is oft overwhelming, always fascinating – a lost few hours in the messed up minds of young artists who’ve grown up on a diet of social and mass media has you harking back to mixtapes, band practice and Pritt Stick-ing a spliff into a newspaper cut-out of Cliff Richard’s mouth. It’s invigorating stuff.
One of the most gripping is Cloaque.org, video and images from which can be seen here. The frenetic reappropriation of countless recognisable trends, dogmas and messages smashed together by the artists that lurk within is powerful and intoxicating – watch the video below, you simply must.
The brilliant Brooklyn art blog, Hyperallergic, clearly see the merit in shining this subversive sub-culture underneath a brighter spotlight, as they prepare for The World’s First Tumblr Art Symposium on 9th March – a collaboration with Tumblr themselves, that will see an exhibition (that features Cloaque.org) accompanied by discussions, drinks and DJs, who will hopefully soundtrack this bold new format with the kind of proto-22nd century electro-punk-step it deserves.
A bold concept for bold times, find out more here: hyperallergic.com/tumblrart
Images and video courtesy, Cloaque.org
cloaque.mov video by Chris Timms, Rollin Leonard,
Jasper Elings, Anthony Antonellis
and Emilio Gomariz
