Community Service Announcement

I have been loathe to comment on what's been happening lately in Fitzroy because I never want to discourage anyone's creativity. I always maintain that art is an action.  So whether good, bad or indifferent the act of doing street art IS art to me.  Graff in tall places, clever placement, mass bombing: these all make me look twice.

Unfortunately lately there has been some slacking off of standards.  I won't name names, nor pass judgment on anyone reading this who may feel this is directed at them.  I therefore will not attach photos either.  But PLEEEAAAASE people.  Fitzroy built it's reputation as a street art Mecca on the back of hard work.  Exacting work.  Think, among hundreds of others, of  HaHa, Everfresh, Awol, Aeon, Tres, iKool, TV Crew, Ghost Patrol and Miso, Lister.  These people are Giants. They made our reputation.

So with apologies for my arrogant opinion, condescension and paternalistic take, I implore every enthusiastic participant in the New World Order to:

1.  Stop pasting over other people's work - be it throw ups, pieces, or legendary stickers such as Ghost Patrol.  It pisses everyone off.

2.  Use good wheatpaste. No-one wants to look at creases or watch a paste up half hanging on a wall.

3.  Only put your good stuff up.  Say something, reflect, opine.  Give something.

4.  Look at a wall before tagging it to determine if any respect is due.

5.  Learn the history and context your work, today, is positioned within.

Thanks for allowing this self indulgent community announcement.  I have said it and now I will move on.  I still live to observe everything new that comes along.  I embrace the evolution of Fitzroy.  I just fear it's demise!

Series: Fuzzy 'round the edges. Part 1: Brunswick

It felt vaguely familiar.  I strode confidently along Lygon St and slid quietly, somewhat optimistically into lanes, over cobblestones hit by sun and cut in half by shade.  All the while I wondered if I might need to pull my passport out.  The differences whilst subtle were significant.  It was a bit like being in a Mall in Hong Kong.  You could almost be at Chadstone but for the occasional Hawker stall.  There were definitely a few more weeds squeezing through the back of yards in Brunswick.  That's where the differences began.  I walked farther and there were backyards created with landscape in mind.  This surprised me.  Odes to the original Eucalypt the new owner couldn't bare to cut down (or perhaps couldn't by Council regulation).  I imagined I would find more Nonna yards full of Heirloom Vegies.  The kind thriving from seeds smuggled in their jacket pockets as they set sail for the promised land.   I know we still have them in Fitzroy, in the North at least.  I believe them to thrive in Brunswick, just not in the part that I found.  Next time...

What I did find that made me feel right at home were some TV Crew tags, some early Doctor, which I wistfully ran my finger along.  Beside this, of course, early Kaff-eine.  I paused and felt a twinge of longing for the good old days.  I also found some figures I did not recognise, which pleased me, because, after all, I had travelled all this way...

Some familiar names, with bold pieces, were probably the highlight of this soiree, alongside the historical Above, Kaff-eine and Doctor of 2010/1.   I found a Snyder (covered splendidly by Melbourne Art Critic and the fabulous Arty Graffarti) split banana, thankfully, so I can now say I have found two.  I digress but rumor has it he will exhibit here soon!

Throw Ups

Arty Graffarti did a great post on Y-aieks and reminded me to think about Throw ups and take them seriously.  They really are the woven fabric of the street.  They have the ability to set the mood of a lane like no other.  Walk past them, and you are walking past walls that talk.  Throw ups contain mystery and history.  One crew over another. Codes of ethics.  Tags and territory.  The origins of graffiti, locally grown.  

If you want to get more 'High Brow' and analyse this with an Art narrative have a look at 'How to Read Graffiti' or of course, Google anything you want.  But this is a good read.

TV Crew

So when you are out next, go search out a throw up, look at it, imagine the can, the hand, the hoody.  Throw ups speak the politics of what graffiti is and does.  And graffiti is the Godfather of the street.  

 

Zac - TV Crew

Visible from Brunswick Street, and probably not a crowd pleaser...then again, why not?

FYG

Sadly this wall is gone now, but I would argue that the Lush Sold Out wall was for a long time, the greatest showcase for throw ups in Fitzroy

Hot Stuff 2011

Too many things to mention here - 2011 in Street Art internationally has been huge and locally I swell with pride.  Like Violet and My Darling Darlinghurst, I keep loving Fitzroy more every day.

The Juddy Roller opened and bought us local interstate and international artists...

 Makatron did some huge and awesome commissions everywhere, among other things like exhibitions...

 Love, truth, hope, these words appeared and stayed...unknown artist...

 Kaff-eine came into our hearts with paste ups, and is now captivating us in aerosol and house paint.  Literally, and metaphorically getting bigger and bigger...

 Precious little demonstrated more than a talent for words, with an innate capacity for total awesome genius with the Ironlak

Klara exploded in bombings on the streets and with Urbex adventures bringing us truly stellar pieces, Sikel Freid proved to be a master of line, and Ishi One proved to be a master of wheatpaste.  I have run out of space to include photo's but if I keep going along those lines it is Doctor, Suki, Be Free, Freshchop...Civil, Barek...

 The AV crue remained prolific, as did Flies crew

 Grizzly opened to balance the other side of Fitzroy with big names and bigger coffee and Vetti blogged about it first

 Waa Waa paid us a visit

TV Crew did some really nice pieces as did BNF crew, and Frits in particular, a few pics down

 Taggers kept tagging, love them or loathe them, and I love them..Osirus being everwhere

 Cave Clan did the most hilarious bombing, rivaled only by Lush, and it is most true that Stickers are the new black (along with street art cafes)..

So there are a thousand photos I could show you still, here are a few more...The Dead Sets from the Hard Rubbish Show still make me laugh...and I have acquired some of them as well...

Oh Yeah, Flake remains an all time Fav...