Ha-Ha (street artist)

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Ha-Ha is a notable street artist operating out of Melbourne Australia. His notability comes from the prolific nature of his art, the skill of his work and his unique and individual style. It is suspected that Ha-Ha is actually Regan Tamanui[1].

While Ha-Ha may not be the most famous stencil artist in Melbourne, he certainly is the most prolific. He is simply everywhere. Ha-Ha has an unusually strong work ethic and on some nights can put up literally hundreds of pieces. It is said that Ha-Ha goes out some nights with two cans of spray paint and does not return until he has completely used both. Ha-Ha says he's an artist and also says that he's never been to art school.

He says that Psalm inspired him a lot at the start of his stenciling career. He states that Rone and Phibs also inspire him. Ha-Ha started doing stencils around 2000 because most all of his friends were involved.

He used to work as a garbage man. To Ha-Ha, life is just one big joke. ^[1]

Ha-Ha is a professional artisan and gallery curator who has done many shows. He says that he's always strapped for cash and sells work so he can pay his bills and buy more spray paint. Ha-Ha also dreams of living on the moon. He says Earth is boring. ^[1]

Contents 1 Mediums 2 See also 3 References 4 External links 5 Other Sources Featuring This Artist

[edit] Mediums

Further information: Spray paint art

On the streets, Ha-Ha's preferred places to stencil are high traffic areas, but as that limits where most of his stencils end up, Ha-Ha stencils everywhere, as much as possible. Ha-Ha often paints in broad daylight, and frequently stencils whilst drunk. He states that it's "the best rush you can get".

"Ha-Ha (street artist)"

Street Art Formats

Types of Street Art Graffiti • Stencils • Sticker art Wheatpasting • Poster Art

Street Artists

List of Street Artists List of Graffiti Artists List of Stencil Artists List of Wheatpaste Artists List of Poster Artists Graffiti artists Category

Graffiti Culture

Activism Culture Jamming Direct Action Graffiti Terminology Graffiti Uses Guerrilla art Hip hop culture Installation Art Murals Propaganda Screenprinting Spray paint art Stencil

Artist Idologies

Art Intervention Anarchy Anti-Consumerism Community ownership Contemporary Art Property is Theft! Punk ideology Reclaim the Streets Situationism Subversion Subvertising

Street Art Related

Built environment MTA Private Property Public Art Public Space Psychogeography Rapid transit Street Party Urban Planning Vandalism

Street art by country

Australia • Spain • Germany United States • Italy

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Ha-Ha's larger images require much more time to put up, so he uses wheat pasting to put up images.

Ha-Ha's style relies heavily on Pop Art and repetition with some stating that his work is nothing but stencil tagging. Much of Ha-Ha's subject matter is taken directly from popular culture, with iconic images such as Osama bin Laden and Star Wars.

Ha-Ha's favorite and most recurring theme is robots. Ha-Ha loves robots and says he really wants to be one. He studied mechanical engineering for one year. He has built three robots. ^[1]

In his art, Ha-Ha tries to create an emotional response. ^[1]

[edit] See also

• List of Street Artists
• Types of graffiti
• List of graffiti artists
• Spray paint art

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Artist Profile: tyRONE. Stencil Revolution. Retrieved on 2007-02-18.

[edit] External links

• Ha-Ha's interview on stencilrevolution.com
• WORKHORSE VISUALS displaying pictures of Ha-Ha
• A gallery with work by Ha-Ha

[edit] Other Sources Featuring This Artist

• Jake Smallman; Carl Nyman (2005). Stencil graffiti capital : Melbourne. New York: Mark Batty Publisher. ISBN 0976224534. 

• Rash - Scratch it and it Spreads, 2006. Documentary. TV, ABC (Australia), 2006. April 23. 14:00hrs. (Featured artist)

• Citylights Gallery, Melbourne, 2004. Featured artist.