My Live Art Southbank Show - Ctrl.Alt.Shift

Summer of love? Try summer of stress, hectic movements, and glorious graff/art/3D work! I was well pleased with the result of this one - the pre-event to the art, music, and activism event of the year, United Underground; organised by Riz MC Ahmed, British Underground and Ctrl.Alt.Shift. I hustled together 10 mad artists from around the UK in a timed competition to create a piece each that screamed CORRUPTION!. This fell in line quite nicely with Ctrl.Alt.Shift's anti-corruption campaigns of 2009 and our latest CORRUPTION magazine issue, set for release online and in selected stores later this year. Read below for the event coverage and results - and look out for United Underground 2 on February 20, 2010 baby!:



Ctrl.Alt.Shift Live Art On The Southbank
Last Saturday, on 18th July, Ctrl.Alt.Shift went down to the Southbank to put on a stunning array of live street art and music - we got some crazy results...

The challenge had been set: each artist had six hours (from 10am-4pm) to create an image based around CORRUPTION. Stepping up were graffer legends in the making, Remi Rough, Pure Evil, Ed Tizer, Chris Getliffe, plus up and comers Mr.P, Mock, Sam Bridge, Arthur Branco, and finally a touch of fine art through Karl Anthoney and 3D mastermind Wayne 'The Chiz' Chisnall.



For passersby, on an unexpected, but gratefully received sunny Saturday, it was a thrilling display (just outside the Queen Elizabeth Hall) to witness first-hand how these artists got down. The extended deadline of six hours was looking way too ample for the experts of the canvas (and The Chiz), as by lunch time, most were detailing the finishing touches. I even had to ask a few to slow down, take a break or two. Little surprise though – Sam Bridge told Ctrl.Alt.Shift: "I just want to get this done, I've been thinking about it for a while and it's such an exciting and engaging project."

Read the full article here, and check out the final mad array of art pieces below, starting with the winner of the Ctrl.Alt.Shift competition, graffer Chris Getliffe:


By Chris Getliffe


By Arthur Branco


By Ed Tizer


By Karl Anthoney


By Mock aka Daniel Mernagh


By Mr.P


By Pure Evil


By Remi Rough


By Sam Bridge


By Wayne Chisnall

United Underground 1 @ Southbank - Ctrl.Alt.Shift

Everything you need to know about our first United Underground Southbank extravaganza can be found below, on the preview article I wrote for Ctrl.Alt.Shift. It was MASSIVE, with a mad array of music artists, perhaps even madder graffers, a great line-up of speakers - all brought to the Queen Elizabeth Hall by us, Riz MC Ahmed and British Underground. The only downer? It pissed down with rain - but that didn't stop the 700+ capacity bringing the rave inside:

United Underground!
Ctrl.Alt.Shift have joined forces with Riz Ahmed and British Underground to throw a rooftop party at the Southbank Centre.



You don’t have to leave London for a summer festival experience. Across the spaces of Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall - including the re-opening of the roof as a venue space - hosted by Ctrl.Alt.Shift, British Underground, Southbank Centre and actor and musician Riz Ahmed/ Riz MC, United Underground is a unique mix of cutting-edge street culture, music, artwork, fanzines and film set against a backdrop of new-school activism.



The event has been specifically created to promote active engagement with new music and its potential as a catalyst for change.

Activism, music, talks, film, art and crafts will be the order of the day...

Read the full article here