IDa4 in Europe: November 2013

Saturday 30 November 2013

#11 IDa4 MURAL IN EUROPE: Milan, Italy, Zebra Hostel

So About Milan

Once again we were blown away by the hostel staff, we enjoyed a night out with Marvin who also runs an excellent and informative walking tour at the weekend, well worth a go, to get the insider knowledge on some of the fantastic sights around the city

Milan is famous for its wealth of historical and modern sights - the Duomo, one of the biggest and grandest Gothic cathedrals in the world, La Scala, one of the best established opera houses in the globe, an ancient and glamorous arcaded shopping gallery, the Brera art gallery, with some of the finest artistic works in Europe, , the San Siro, a huge and famed stadium, or the Castello Sforzesco, a grand medieval castle and the UNESCO's World Heritage Site Santa Maria alle Grazie Basilica, containing one of the world's most famous paintings: Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper.

So About the Hostel,

Near Milan's University district, Zebra Hostel has great metro and tram links around the city centre. It offers air-conditioned dormitories and plenty of common areas to socialise with other guests.
In the large common room you will find free Wi-Fi access, computer terminals and fun activities such as table tennis, pool and table football. There is also a bar and a shared kitchen that you can use whenever you like.
The dormitories overlook the courtyard and feature a locker for each bed. There is a shared bathroom on every floor.
The bar is open 24 hours so we were never far from a large Peroni! There is also fantastic food available within a short walk of the hostel

So About the Art
We carried on the tradition of the life sized stencils holding the monuments of the local area, this is a favourite of every hostel we go to and we like to represent what we do with what they are about. a good mix.

The location we chose was in the main passage way into the hostel. You see it as soon as you enter and leave the hostel, which is really great.

The monuments we used were the Peace arch, the Duomo and Cattelan's finger monument. If you ever visit Milan we highly recommend going to view this statue, positioned across from the stock exchange it is one of our favourite monuments that we've seen so far

This whole exchange idea has been amazing so far, we paint for free and we stay for free a service for a service. its great mentality to have, a old way of doing things... we believe in it and want to do it more in the future. we hope to live our lives this way... why not?

But in Milan a opportunity came up to paint to social club/nightclub for actual money. opportunities like this you cannot let go by.

They wanted IDa4 to paint the main wall with a international theme. This gave way to a personal project that we have been dying to do for a while. A huge world map filled with IDa4 iconic images.
The owner liked the idea, we liked the idea, so a small fee was agreed to help us on our joinery, with petrol and food. all we need is the essentials to make this thing work

This is one of IDa4 favourite pieces he has done on the trip. a chance to let the creative juices run free.

Wednesday 27 November 2013

#10 IDa4 MURAL IN EUROPE: Interlaken, Switzerland Balmer's Herberge

So About Interlaken

Interlaken is a small city in the Bernese Highlands Region of central Switzerland. Located between two Alpine Lakes (Brienzersee and Thunersee), Interlaken is a popular base camp for outdoor sports and travel in the surrounding Bernese Oberland Alps. Interlaken has beautiful scenery and it serves as a good base to discover the neighbouring valleys, mountains and lakes,

So about the hostel

Balmer's is the oldest hostel in Switzerland and is one that travelers from all over the world come to, again and again. The hostel is a base for people doing all types of extreme sports including,

snowboarding, skiing, sky-diving, canyoning, rock-climbing, mountain biking, and paragliding, or if you're on a budget climbing a hill that turns out to be a mountain.

Balmer's is connected to the Metro bar, which is a popular place for travelers and locals. But the main attraction is the staff, they are great group who made us feel so welcome.

We were blown away by the location of the hostel, surrounded by some of the best scenery that we have ever seen, but once again the thing that touched us the most was the welcome we received from the staff. Everyone of them was fantastic and made our stay at Balmer's incredible. We will definitely be visiting this hostel again in the future and can't wait to sample some more of the Interlaken hospitality.

So about the Art

Balmer's is based in a traditional Swiss house and the art that was already there has a traditional feel, we wondered if they would want to keep to that, but the owner 3rd generation of the Balmer's family, wanted something fresh and funky.

We decided to paint the area next to the kitchen and common area with life-sized images holding the beautiful mountains surrounding the area and a traditional Swiss house.

This is keeping with the theme of the people holding the monuments from the local area.

Before

After

Monday 18 November 2013

IDa4 in Zurich: Partnership with Einzelstück

IDa4 can proudly announce that we have teamed up with a cool vintage boutique in Zurich called Einzelstück, it sells our unique IDa4 vinyl art as well as some really funky furniture and home design.