Ha-Ha (street artist)

Ha-Ha (street artist)

Ha-Ha is a notable street artist operating out of Melbourne Australia. His notability comes from the prolific nature of his art, the skill of his work and his unique and individual style. Ha-Ha's actual identity is suspected to be Regan Tamanui [http://markcritic.artsblogs.com/blog/blog.asp?entryId=69462] . However, this has not been confirmed.

Work

Ha-Ha is one of Australia's most famous and prolific stencil artist's based in Melbourne, but originally from Hamilton, New Zealand. He is simply everywhere. Ha-Ha has an unusually strong work ethic and on some nights can put up literally hundreds of pieces. It is said that Ha-Ha goes out some nights with two cans of spray paint and does not return until he has completely used both. Ha-Ha says he's an artist and also says that he's never been to art school.cite web | title = Artist Profile: tyRONE | work = Stencil Revolution | url = http://www.stencilrevolution.com/profiles/index.php?id=3 | accessdate = 2007-02-18]

He says that Psalm inspired him a lot at the start of his stenciling career. He states that Rone and Phibs also inspire him. Ha-Ha started doing stencils around 2000 because most all of his friends were involved.

He used to work as a garbage man. To Ha-Ha, life is just one big joke. cite web | title = Artist Profile: tyRONE | work = Stencil Revolution | url = http://www.stencilrevolution.com/profiles/index.php?id=3 | accessdate = 2007-02-18]

Ha-Ha is a professional artisan and gallery curator who has done many shows. He says that he's always strapped for cash and sells work so he can pay his bills and buy more spray paint. Ha-Ha also dreams of living on the moon. He says Earth is boring.

Ha-Ha likes to also sometimes go "rolling" which involves taking buckets of paint (not spraypaint) and putting up a massive Ha-Ha sign using a paint roller. These Ha-Ha "mega-tags" are spectacular as they are often 3 stories high. He does not actually write what year he does his work, simply putting "2010" to all his work.

Mediums

On the streets, Ha-Ha's preferred places to stencil are high traffic areas, but as that limits where most of his stencils end up, Ha-Ha stencils everywhere, as much as possible. Ha-Ha often paints in broad daylight, and frequently stencils whilst drunk. He states that it's "the best rush you can get".

Ha-Ha's larger images require much more time to put up, so he uses wheat pasting to put up images. Fact|date=September 2007

Ha-Ha's style relies heavily on Pop Art and repetition with some stating that his work is nothing but stencil tagging. Much of Ha-Ha's subject matter is taken directly from popular culture, with iconic images such as Osama bin Laden and Star Wars.

Ha-Ha's favorite and most recurring theme is robots. Ha-Ha loves robots and says he really wants to be one. He studied mechanical engineering for one year. He has built three robots.

In his art, Ha-Ha tries to create an emotional response.

Technique

Ha-Ha's technique in multi-layered stencils of up to 45 layers put him in a league of his own. His exhibitions in past 7 years have seen his technique evolve from a simple 1 layer to 45 layers, with work that can be found in corporate andprivate art collections across Australia and now in the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.

Ha-Ha uses acetate to trace his images directly from newspaper or print outs. By using his eye he can trace up to 12 shades of skin tonesFact|date=February 2008 ( that does not include eyes, lips, hair etc ). The end result been an almost photo realistic image.

His imagery seems busy with figurative portrayals of famous people with a dark or sinister side such as Australia crime figures or corrupt sport stars, combined with everyday people.

See also

* List of street artists
* Types of graffiti
* List of graffiti artists
* Spray paint art

References

* [http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/stencil-art-world-draws-the-line/2007/05/08/1178390295197.html Stencil art world draws the line] 8 May 2007

Further reading

*

*cite book | title = Street Art Uncut | author = Matthew Lunn | location = Melbourne | year 2006 | ISBN = 0-500-51306-6

*
* [http://www.rashfilm.com/index.html "Rash - Scratch it and it Spreads"] , 2006. Documentary. TV, ABC (Australia), 2006. April 23. 14:00hrs. (Featured artist)
* [http://www.citylightsproject.com/extra_classic/haha.html Citylights Gallery, Melbourne, 2004] . Featured artist.
* [http://until-never.blogspot.com/ Until Never Gallery, Melbourne, 2007] . "Land of Milk and Honey" solo exhibition.

External links

* [http://www.stencilrevolution.com/profiles/index.php?id=6 Ha-Ha's interview on stencilrevolution.com]
* [http://www.workhorsevisuals.com/2006/11/melbourne-trip-number-2.html WORKHORSE VISUALS displaying pictures of Ha-Ha]
* [http://www.dominicallen.com/DAscissors_files/scissorsimages.htm A gallery with work by Ha-Ha]


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