Call them the Merry Pranksters of the ’08 film festival.
The mad scientists of the Graffiti Research Lab arrived in Park City Jan. 16 in order to scout the town for likely targets. Since then, they’ve been prowling around armed with pockets full of LED lights, laser pointers, a sophisticated projector, a laptop configured with their own signature software, and a boom box loaded with hip hop and rap tunes.
Members include a former NASA engineer, a college art professor and a bona fide Brooklyn tagger with a rap sheet for a resume.
Their venue? Any parking lot with a clear line of sight toward a big building or mountainside.
On Day 1, after hooking up with a local snowboard shop, the conspicuously urban band of laser specialists headed to Home Depot where Mike Baca, the aforementioned tagger, swooned over the self-serve selection. Apparently both graffiti artists and paint are kept behind bars in New York. Their first assignment was to provide the backdrop for a private party so they put Mike to work tagging vast sheets of plyboard.
But their real ambitions are focused on bigger canvases. Much bigger. Saturday night they were stationed at the Park City Library building to add a little excitement to the opening of “Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden.” Then it was on to a party to celebrate “Slingshot Hip Hop.” Sunday they waited impatiently for the sun to go down and then trained their lasers and projector on one of the unfinished walls of the new high school addition adjacent to the Eccles Center. Audiences filing in to see “Smart People” laughed at the GRL’s antics and some even got to try their hand at using the laser.
Thursday they plan to take their art to the people during Sundance’s annual Music on Main celebration. Local graffiti artists and, for that matter, anyone elsewith a message they want to see splashed three stories high in the center of Park City will be welcomed by these public-art open-source activists.
Sundance describes Music on Main as a “free night of music” with a “block-party atmosphere.” In addition to laser light graffiti, Elumenati Dome, plans to erect a GeoDome where it will screen “custom experimental immersive short films.”
Musical performers include the bands Gold Streets, Ha Ha Tonka and MedidianWest as well as DJ Stephen “Bam Bam” Santoro.
Music on Main takes place Thursday, Jan. 24 from 6:00 to 9:30 p.m., outdoors on lower Main Street. Parking near the event is scarce so attendees are encouraged to ride the free public buses to the Old Town transit center a short walk away.