Places I go

No words. Well these words. But this post is a visual of the places I go. More specifically the places I went yesterday and the day before. Also the places I went last week. Hashtag #deansunshine #landofsunshine #factor #cantonese #hongkonghouseguest #viggietang #faither #shida #dammad (yeah this dude is back!) #barek #smel #klara #lewisfidock #fidock ... More hashtags late

Posted with Blogsy

Keep Clear Stay Nice

The sun does good things...Fitzroy, today.
     

      

         

 

Nock der Kunst: The Chameleon Nokroe.

This is my third post about Nock/Nok/Nox/Knock. I feel somewhat privileged to get a glimpse into his life now, a few years on from my original posts (Nock and the Spotters, The Inner Depths of Nock). I also feel a swell of pride like I want to say to anyone reading this "I bloody told you so!".

Nock is in the world now. In Berlin, specifically. Creating, exhibiting, tattooing. I am so glad he is practicing his Ink work. An artist as exceptional at line work as Nock really should. What serendipity for me, too, because I need a particular tattoo right now. It is brewing in me relentlessly. It is personal, I won't bore with the details. But I will tell Nock and I hope he will interpret it for me, on me, one day.

Image courtesy of the artist

When I was given this opportunity to catch up with Nock I was at first unsure of what to do, I felt so out of touch. He has been everywhere since I last posted about him. So I asked him to tell me his life is mundane (because anyone who is not in Berlin right now secretly wishes this to be so). It isn't though. He wakes up, rolls over and watches his Chameleon feed, reaching for a cigarette and ...okay I don't even know if he smokes, it just sounds good. But I do know that he has a Chameleon.

Image of Nock's pet fish courtesy of the artist

Image courtesy of the artist

So Nock wakes up, in his super cool flat, does or does not have a morning cigarette, watches his Chameleon, and then shuffles out of bed to the studio. He paints, hits the river for a spot of lunch, sketches the afternoon away, goes for a beer with mates and walks through the night, creativity teaming as he slinks into his bed again. Yeah I hate his awesome life, I told him to make it mundane.

Remind you of his great work in Melbourne? Image courtesy of the artist

Image courtesy of the artist

I am so happy for Nock and excited that this lad from Victoria is out there making a mark on the world. There is hope for all of us. He has just experienced success in the show Cunts Du Kunst in Kreutzburg, one of the white-hot districts. He is off to Glastonbury next; he is probably there as you read this. He will be painting it up there and then he is off to Bangkok in August where he has a show planned. He has been there before, involved in Oasis of Freedom V65 Art Studio celebrations last February.

Someone like Nock, out there in the world, must have some insider information and so I asked him where he thinks the Avant-Garde scene is right now. Surprisingly he told me Chernobyl. He said the art scene there is radiating (pun probably intended).  But yes, Chernobyl. Nock tells me: radical experiments and it is "just simply wild". I looked it up myself and felt it through to my stomach: 

My Modern Met

Street Art Utopia

The Guardian

Houk Gallery

Animal New York

Graffiti in the Dead Town - English Russia

This work is at the edge of everything we ever hope to explore, and a more perfect backdrop as an abandoned city you could not find, arghhh, the beauty out of the devastation. I couldn't help but think of Nock's Chameleon.

So maybe this is where we will see him next? who knows. This is a man on a creative junket with an eye for the future. I look forward to his regaling tales as he Inks me, if and when Melbourne ever see him again. He will return a bigger man that is guaranteed. Meanwhile if you want to make contact, he is busy but accessible and you catch him via his tumblr site.

Vignettes, rocks, Nock and Naz

Life is woven by hand with threads that are spoken, felt, heard and remembered.  The fabric is strong but fragile, random yet inter-connected.  It is the woven fabric of time, and I have always thought of time and space as the spirit of us.  We are separated just by time or space, within the fabric of time-space. It is the universes most incredible invention.

I like to think that the universe decided everything had to touch to be real, and without touch, cannot be real.  I am an atheist but if there was a mastermind who dreamt this shit up, we don't even have the language to begin to understand that kind of greatness. 

In my evolving blog posts I am speaking more broadly, I know. I make no apologies, because I really do want to spend more time exploring life, and what better way than by reflection on people's stories. Their multiple stories told and twisted into that magic quilt of life.

Where is this sentimentality coming from?  My Scottish roots, obviously.  Also, I just had a guy comment on my post about Nock.  I posted the comment, but I loved it so much I want to quote it here so you don't miss it:  

I was at a bar with my lady when a gent offered us his seat. We sat with him and spoke of life, travel and graffiti and then realised we grew up painting and creating right next to each other on neighbouring farms in WA. I remember driving past his farm on the way to school and admiring his artwork adorning any possible wall or surface. This fine gentleman was Nock. What a champion! Love this post FF. Thanks for sharing...

Time and space.  

I have a story of my own that I would like to share with you. I collect rocks and minerals.  Love them.  I was at a wee place in Tasmania called Stanley in 2011.  I found a shop that was obviously owned by an enthusiast, so I went in.  A woman stood silently behind the counter.  I asked for a closer look at a relatively huge chunk of Crocoite.  It's not an overly abundant mineral. It is fire engine red and the crystals look chaotic. It is stunning.  

Assuming the woman to be the shop owner, I asked her if it was local.  She attempted an answer, desperately fumbling with the tag, but then she choked on her own half formed words.  Her eyes welled with tears, and her hands shook.  She slowly looked away from the tag and into my eyes and said "I don't know. My daughter is the one who knows about this stuff, and she died last week”.  She looked away again, waving her hand at the shop “this is hers and I just don't know what to do with it".  I hugged her, we both cried, and I left with more minerals than I meant to.   But I will never forget that woman, standing in her daughter's store, shocked and scared. It was one moment in space, where we connected in time as well. A week earlier, her daughter would have sold that rock to me. A week later, the shop might have been closed.

Bringing this back to street art, that being my focus and your interest, I bring you my final vignette. Those of you not friends with Ben Naz on Facebook, he is this awesome street artist, going through a massive fight with oesophageal cancer.   Because he is so engaging, talented and awesome he has a massive following and street artists from around the world send him their art and well wishes.  He has roots in the East (Philippines) and is living in the UK (born in France), so he straddles the East and West.  As some of you will know, my recent journeys  spurred my interest in street art in Eastern Cultures. 

I can't help thinking artists who straddle that divide have so much more to say.  Anyway think of this post as something of an Arc.  I hope to bring you much more of his story. He has agreed to an interview, so more to come.   Like Nock, I hazard a guess there are a thousand people out there with a story to tell about this guy they met...I can't wait to be one of them.

The Inner Depths of Nock

He is an unassuming genius, I have concluded.  This lad that is Nock.  I first set out to interview him following my Nock and the Spotters post.  I am still waiting for a promised piece of graft ... but I will follow that up...  Anyway I pursued an interview and was pleasantly surprised by the total lack of ego from someone so adept at his craft.  This guy is not one for blowing his of his own metaphorical.  Rare in this world where we broadcast the slightest achievement.  Well, let's just say I am a fan.

Q: You seem to have covered the mainland of Australia, left to right, where do you actually hail from?

A: Started out in England but grew up all over the place.

 Q: You have done a heap of stuff in Fitzroy, do you think the Roy still has it or is it losing it a bit?

A: Yeah it’s definitely going down hill, too many people with no respect and no idea of so-called graffiti laws.

Q: What got you started and who do you admire?

A: I grew up with a few massive abandoned silo's nearby it kind of became my playground from a very young age, all the people who helped me get started really Nore & Rifs and many of the ol' crew members  Note from Flash: maybe Silo's in Fremantle? don't quote me I am just fishin'

Q: I see from your blog on Tumblr (http://nokroe.tumblr.com/) that you have engaged in a bit of travel, tell me about painting in Viet Nam?

A: Yeah a bit here and there, hahaha that was an interesting one the language barrier stopped me from procuring any legal walls, but I came to the conclusion that if I went out with enough cash for a bribe it would be ok. Note from Flash: I can't find the images right now to link to but they are awesome!

Q:Where do your characters come from?

A: The inner depths of the neural caverns

Q: The piece you were involved in on Fitzroy St at the start of this year blew my mind and I know it blew the minds of a lot of popular artists. Do you have any favourites of your own work?

A: Ahh not really. I usually cant stand anything I've done until like a year later, when I can look at it in a different light.

Q: Writer or Street Artist?

A: I don’t know how to answer that, I don’t think I'd class myself as anything in particular.

Q: You are a hard man to research, how many Aliases do you go by?

A: Hahah a few over the years, too many to count .!

Q: Have you got an opinion about the age old issue of walls and respect?

A: Yeah don’t touch a wall when you cant do something better..!

Q: You use everything from watercolour and ink on paper to aerosol and acrylic on board, do you have a preference?

A: Nah not really its good to mash everything up.

Q: Tell me about the shows around town and do you have any plans for more soon?

A: Yeah I've had a few here and there this year, yeah I'm working on a big body of work at the moment..

Q: What’s next for Nock?

A: Moving to Japan is on the horizon...Note from Flash:  I reckon you may have better luck negotiating commissions there lol - looking forward to seeing them, and following up with a further interview.