Blek Le Rat 2007 

Editor: This is *Blek Le Rat 2007* by Blek le Rat, a mixed-media collage using stencils and acrylic paint. It seems like a statement on identity, maybe about traveling or carrying burdens? What catches your eye when you look at this piece? Curator: Well, focusing on the materials and method, the use of stencils speaks volumes. Street art often relies on easily reproducible techniques. The quickness of stencil application relates to the often illicit nature of its display and its wider visibility as it democratizes access by lowering labor input, allowing replication and a presence on materials other than canvases. Consider also the very *act* of stenciling—the labor involved in cutting the stencil, the selection of the surface, and the swift execution to minimize exposure in an urban environment. Editor: That makes sense. The "Blek Le Rat" and "Stencils" labels on the bags felt a bit on-the-nose to me, but what you say adds to a layer of context. Curator: The labels aren't just literal; they highlight the means of production, placing process itself in the foreground. Look at the French flag. Its presence is both nationalistic and humorous, since ‘rat’ is ‘art’ spelled backwards. What does that signify in relation to the artist's brand or the reception to unsanctioned urban creativity in society? Editor: It's like he's making visible all the components of his practice, the label and tools. So it's not just *what* the art represents, but *how* it's made and distributed that matters? Curator: Exactly! The choice of materials, the stencil technique, the implied movement within urban space - they all converge to challenge traditional definitions of art making and consumption, forcing a confrontation of the cultural space. The commercial art market itself takes interest and reproduces urban tactics like his but must also face its implications in his stenciled form that takes direct reference from mass reproductions of graphic design, a tension that asks us if all is now art, and if everything is now equally available for purchase, then what, precisely? Editor: I never thought about it that way, of really pulling apart the layers of labor and what gets shown. Thanks for pointing all of that out. Curator: It is vital that one examine production in tandem with what one consumes in relation to urbanity and even illegality, as we find Blek Le Rat, the man with luggage, making a very conscious act for you to find value.