The Guerilla Art Kit [Spiral-bound]

Keri Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 26, 2007 | ISBN-10: 1568986882 | ISBN-13: 978-1568986883 | Edition: 1

We are living in a golden age of self-expression. The explosion of user-created content on blogs and social networking sites moved Time magazine to name "You" their 2006 person of the year. But while we may be spending a lot more time in virtual worlds, we have not lost the urge to make our physical world more meaningful. By leaving art and ideas in public places, you can affect someone's daychange their mood or their mindand maybe even change the world in the process!

The Guerilla Art Kit shows how small artistic acts can start a revolution. Keri Smith, noted author of Living Out Loud and the blog Wish Jar Journal, uses her unique drawing and handwriting style to help anyone find and release their inner artist or activist. This visually exciting activity bookfull of step-by-step exercises, cut-out projects, sticker ideas, and morehas both fun assignments and handy tips to help you unleash your creative energy into the streets, where you can really make an impact. From the quick exercisesleaving books for strangers to find, chalking quotes on the sidewalkto the more involvedmaking a "wish tree," guerilla gardening, or making your own stencilsThe Guerilla Art Kit contains everything you need to put your message out into the world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...a collection of step-by-step projects and idea-inducing tips for aspiring creatives and activists alike....Get ready to leave things way more interesting than you found them. -- Penescola Independent News, September 2007

"Some people join Greenpeace and throw themselves in front of assive whaling ships.. which is a good thing, but not all of us are destined to become committed social activists. Inspired by the philosophy that great change can begin with smal steps, The Guerilla Art Kit is about inventive ways to not only take a stand on issues about which you feel passionate, but also contribute to the world creatively." -- Frances Atkinson --Make It Yourself, August 4, 2007

"The Guerilla Art Kit shows how small artistic acts can start a revolution. Release your inner artist or activist using the step by step excersizes, cut out projects, sticker ideas and more." --Avenue Bookstore

"the untrained would-be Banksy will appreciate her clear instructions, cool illustrations, and handy list of books and websites for further reading." --Time Out Chicago, November 22, 2008

"the perfect gift for your socially concious, NoLogo-loving friend who is too polite to throw a trash can through the window of Starbucks. Smith never turns preachy as she explains hwo to transform your environment and get other people thinking with simple tools like chalk, wheat paste, yarn and found objects." -- RL --Time Out Chicago, November 22-28, 2007

"The Guerilla Art Kit contains everything you need to put your message out into the world. " --The Brunswick St. Bookstore, 2008

"The most apealing feature to this new work is its whimsical apearance. The small 6 x 7.5 manual looks as if the author has just finished asembling it with a particular reader in mind.... The thrill of anonymity and adding to the environment creatively is quite appealing." -- Beth Hemke Shapiro --Fore Word, December 1, 2007

"author-turned-guerilla artist Keri Smith describes a basic formula for a seed bomb that incldes two parts native seeds, three parts compost, five parts red or brown clay(find this at a ceramic supply store), and some water. Form together in a small penny-sized ball, dry for 24 to 48 hours, and drop at will. " --Whole Living, June, 2008

"The lay-flat hardcover binder format is perfect for a toolkit on making stickers, wheat paste, stencils and more lending to putting a message out in the world. It's all about using inexpensive and common materials to put one's message out: chapter provide simple illustrations and recipes for slogan stickers and more. A top pick for any DIY business or advertising student." --The Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Keri Smith is an author and illustrator turned guerilla artist. She is the author of several books including Living Out Loud and Tear Up This Book and the creator of the popular weblog Wish Jar Journal, which attracts over ten thousand readers daily.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 144 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (July 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568986882
• ISBN-13: 978-1568986883
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.9 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,181 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #63 in Books > Arts & Photography > Drawing > Cartooning

More About the Author

Keri Smith is an author/illustrator turned guerilla artist. She is the author of several bestselling books about creativity including This is Not a Book (2009 Perigee), How to be an Explorer of the World -the Portable Life/Art Museum,( 2008 Perigee), Wreck this Journal (2007 Perigee). Her newest book, Mess: A Manual of Accidents and Mistakes will be released fall 2010 by Penguin Books. She is the author of the popular weblog the Wish Jar, and writes on occasion for a variety of magazines. Keri spends her days playing with her husband and son, and divides her time between upstate New York, and the countryside of Canada.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Guerilla art is for everyone. August 15, 2007

By april

Format:Spiral-bound|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is an EXCELLENT book! Anxiously awaiting its arrival, I came home from work today to find it waiting for me on my doorstep. I sat down after dinner and read it cover to cover. This book is a great source of inspiration - it's filled to the brim with fun projects and informational overviews of what guerilla art is, finding that art within yourself and projects to begin stirring up creativity within yourself - whether you choose your art to be public or not. It will definitely help to brighten up your creative life.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Wild and Unique November 21, 2008

By CLG

Format:Spiral-bound|Amazon Verified Purchase

I really didn't know what to expect with this book and so it is a great surprise to me to see that it actually encourages random, yet in a healthy, natural, non-crime sort of way, to do various activities to get others in our small little world to really think or react. Some activities are very pleasing to me - flower seed bombs - while others may give people pause if they came up on it in today's paranoid/terrorist world. Sad, but true. I do feel that the positive light in which it is written, projects recommended, and more is great. I just wish we all lived in the world where the author resides. Rather sad commentary, I know, but that is the way life is today. I think I had more fun reading it and imaging myself doing some of the guerilla art projects in my own conservative neighborhood. I will do the flower seed bombs with native plant seeds for boy, some areas of the city I live in could really use some bright purple flowers!! I already do this around my own yard and can say WOW for now my purple botanical natives are really showing some outstanding colorwork around my home, in places not normally flower friendly (earth-wise).

So if you are wild at heart or really need a book to make you become this way - get this book. It is not for the conservatives or the paranoids out there.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Guerilla Girl (or Boy) primer!! February 21, 2008

By Kathlene Kelly

Format:Spiral-bound

The Guerilla Art Kit is a charming addition to author/illustrator Keri Smith's curriculum vitae. Its attraction stems from its low-key style and a wealth of ideas executed well enough to appear at odds with the simplistic cover. Thumbing randomly through the book is unavoidable; it exudes an odd sort of charisma.

The concept of guerilla art is a clever one. Who doesn't find the idea of a sneak attack appealing? The notion of walking tiptoe through some moldy paradigms to pop up suddenly with a speedy installation of public art and slipping away before the masses shake the haze from their eyes feels personal and fun. As a self-defined non-artist I look for ways to articulate impressions that feel like me rather than feel like art. The descriptor "non-artist" relieves most societal and personal pressure and expectation leaving room to play with ideas that include genuine expression of my self and my experiences. When a sharp idea like guerilla art comes along it adds a measure of amusement to the process. I'm already envisioning an art rebellion complete with secret handshake and passwords and covert operations to be carried out by members of the creative underground - a sort of "Hogan's Heroes" meets Bansky plus flash mob.

Jennifer New's book gave me insight into what a journal could be but the artistic skill exhibited in those pages is a bit daunting to one who scribbles on scraps and torn pages and later can't read her own writing. The Guerilla Art Kit, while not a journal oriented, fleshed out my perspective with fun, quirky ideas and created a new line of thinking for me. Its unconventional cover and construction siphon away the intimidation factor - it's a tool the average non-artist can love unconditionally. It truly is enchanting.