Day 18 'Enter the knife'
Just after the New Year, I received an e-mail from a spokesperson for a documentary crew in New York City called The Ritual Project, currently working on an art and film project commissioned by Stella Artois.
The Ritual Project Painter Crew - Sky High painters are some of the last purveyors of the hand-painted advertising tradition.
They’ve been working with the guys at Colossal/Sky High Murals, New York’s finest outdoor advertising company that “specializes in high-impact painted wallscapes.”
Wallscape
As was explained t0 me, Stella Artois commissioned “the guys over at Sky High Murals” to paint the entire 9-step Belgian pouring ritual, step by step. Over 21 days of painting, the documentary team created a stop-motion film on a 20×50 wall.
The spokesperson went on further to say, “As you’re quite familiar with the craft of handpainted signage, I’m sure you can image the scale of the project — and then to keep painting over it! That’s a lot of hard work, and a great effort from the painters to keep the talent and creativity going from day to day.”
Beyond that, The Ritual Project is delving into the painters’ world. In the coming weeks, they will be releasing a short documentary about them online and at events around the U.S.
Belgian Pouring Process
Belgian Pouring Process close up
The entire documentary process is beautifully documented with photography and videos on The Ritual Project website. Thank you for giving us at FAB an “insider’s peek” at the upcoming project. Also featured is a great interview with our friend and fading ad enthusiast in the UK, Ghostsign’s Sam Roberts!
