BY STUDIO RAREKWAI
Publisher: Laurence King
ISBN 1856695670
UK £14.95
Review by Chloe Cane
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“Creating a book full of stickers is a great way of bringing people closer to the artists – we wanted to use the medium of stickers as a way of showing what some of the best artists today are doing”Sticker art is everywhere around London and most large cities, whether you’re aware of it or not, some of the great street artists and illustrators have been promoting their work in this way for years. And so it only makes sense for SRK Studio’s to create a book which does just that.
Stickerbomb is full of diverse images, produced by fine artists, illustrators and animators from around the world giving an insight into how sticker artist’s transcend their work from page to the 3D world. The book contains, as well as the images, a short piece from three artists each giving their own spin on why they have chosen to take part in this project and what they think of sticker art in their own cultures. The remaining pages are made up entirely of usable stickers with numbered references to the various artists found at the back.
An added extra included in this publication is the strong smelling adhesive which I’m not sure was part of the initial impact but causes quite a big one when you first open it. Whilst it is not completely intrusive, I would advise reading this book for short periods at a time.
Seeing as the concept of sticker art is one that is aimed at the younger generation, the scope for promoting art in this way should be huge, however some of the chosen artists seem slightly out of place, such as Antiheroe and ORES’ additions which are detailed and delicate illustrations which would be hard to view on a bus top or tube escalator. Images that do hit the mark are the multicoloured rockets by Jimi Crayon, and the Stickerbomb logo created by RIOs, these are simple, to the point and have consistency to their style. These qualities are what make a name recognisable, what makes an artist respected within street art culture and what distinguishes one artist from the next. Some more insight from the more unknown, diverse artists such as System/Jason would of made this more of a book than just a sticker collection, his half mutilated spray cans obviously contain a strong message about street art, and it would of been interesting to read more than a couple of opinions.
The question of whether or not SRK’s Stickerbomb is successful in terms of a good read is a definite no, but, it does deliver a collection of eye catching illustrations which allow you to interact with them, to take them out of context and give your own input on how they should be seen by others. Stickerbomb wants you to be involved in the process these images were created for, whilst some are more usable than others, how you use them is entirely up to you.
