Drink and be arty

’All pictures that’s painted with sense and with thought / Are painted by madmen as sure as a groat; / For the greater the fool in the pencil more blest, / And when they are drunk they always paint best.’

These lines from William Blake’s ‘To Venetian Artists’ underscore something we probably knew anyway: that art and booze are practically inextricable.

So perhaps the latest collaboration between Becks Vier and artists will come as little surprise.

Today the latest and final instalment of Becks’ Shape Your Music project goes live, which sees the beer teaming up with a series of creative networks to commission artists to create original music-inspired artworks.

Shape Your Music has thus far seen artists create live art billboards in London and Birmingham, and roped in French band Phoenix to create limited edition art labels for Beck’s bottles.

In this final part of the project, artist networks YCN, Jotta.com, Culture Label and Don’t Panic have joined forces to create a series of artworks.

Don’t Panic have commissioned the street artist Pure Evil, and other artists involved include Mr Bruce of band The Correspondents.

A few weeks back, the page started showing videos that document the artists’ creative process, along with a selection of clues to give hints at what the track that inspired them might be. 

Members of the public have the chance to win four original artworks by guessing the tracks that inspired the artists through the Becks Vier Facebook page.

The videos will only be up until November 5, so best get your skates on to be in with a chance of winning.

If you’re unlucky, however, there’s still the opportunity to explore the ties between art, music and booze, if you needed an excuse. For every bottle or can of Becks with an art label, you can download a free track from Play.com.

Best get drinking. In the name of ‘art’, of course.