Revs!

I cant believe that i havent mentioned him on the blog yet but Revs plays a role in the direction of some of my latest practice.

I wont give you a long run down of who Revs is and what he is all about but i wanted to point to an excellent autobiographical series that he worked on. This project consisted of a number of 'pages' of his own history being written in the underground and other areas of New York City. Each page would be executed by painting a large area of colour, usually yellow, then writing a fragment of text on it in black spray paint effectively making the city his diary. Each piece is labelled with a number in an edition series format with the edition number being 'of many' e.g. page 25 of many.

I looked up and.....

I am just sitting in the library at school doing work and i have just looked up and realised there is a great view of the RMIT owned building across the street that is currently being demolished. Now if only i had my act together sooner, perhaps i could have worked some magic with the beurocrats and made that one of my projects.



Stoked i had my camera at hand for that one, little bit tricky getting flicks through the glass window but you get the idea.

Dont Steal My Shit!

I wasnt too sure how much information to put out there into the interweb for fear of pilfered ideas and the unscrupulous nature of people. I know im not the greatest artist and photographer in the world but these are my ideas and artistic outputs so keep that in mind kids.

However i have an idea that i thought i would share with you all, basically i cannot think of a way that i could get the cash and support together to put this together so it might as well be out there for all to absorb.

One of my key areas of interest in my visual investigations is to contradict peoples general views of street art and graffiti as it relates to more accepted forms of art.In this i attempt to create exterior works for the street that are as intricate and refined as possible given the elemental circumstances. This is an attempt to challenge the general publics view of graffiti as being 'unsightly mess'. On the flip side of this i create works for the confines of the gallery that explore more immediate methods of graffiti inspired application complete with drips, imagery and lettering that is difficult for the untrained eye to decipher and subversive.

Thinking back to a couple of posts ago, i submitted an image of the interior of an old building which had the roof collapsed from fire and the remnants of a burned out car. Basically i want to deconstruct this space, or one similar to it, and reconstruct in the confines of a gallery. Transporting each graffiti clad brick, burnt beam and all the refuse that lay between the walls, effectively recreating the entire experience in a scaled to fit format designed for the interior of an exhibition space. This would transform the space to look and feel like an abandoned space complete with all the dirt, smells and detritus that most people would other wise not experience.

I could write more theoretical passages on the further implications and meaning of this project but i just wanted to share this one briefly, more to keep it fresh in my own mind i guess, like an online diary entry.

Influences

Thought i should pay some respect to some more specific influences that have contributed to my direction, outside of the obvious straight up graffiti and street art mentality.

The historical tradition of illuminated manuscripts and calligraphy


The Pixadores of Brazil


Retna and Chaz Bojorquez

More Of The Same

Also worth a mention are the 'Empty Shows' that used to occur in Melbourne, i havent experienced one but i heard about them some years ago, couldnt find much info on the but check out
http://www.woostercollective.com/2006/11/the_empty_show_in_melbourne.html
http://video.google.com.au/videosearch?hl=en&source=hp&q=empty+show+melbourne&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=Z_nbStrEAs6CkAX84ZjJDg&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCIQqwQwAw#

another project that i found out about through school was the 'Depot' project which also has similar ideas to what i am interested in
http://www.creativespaces.net.au/case-studies/grenda-bus-depot

One of my dreams would be to get a council legislation written that allows for these sort of artistic interventions to occur in spaces that are left unoccupied for years or are about to face demolition. The irony being that these interventions are taking place worldwide regardless of permission as street and graffiti artists infiltrate abandoned spaces to produce creative expression and leaving without anyone being aware of the hidden master pieces.

Coolness

A friend put me on to this blog http://suburbanopera.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/ some kick ass images, some of which have correlations between some of the ideas put forth on my blog.

There was also a rad post at http://www.cracktwo.com/2009/07/abandoned-tunnels-vast-underground-spaces/ which documented a series of abandoned underground spaces which was unbelievable, especially the underground train system in America that never had the train installed, however, sadly, the post has disappeared from the internet so we have to use the magical world of make believe.

This brings me to some critical theory/artwork that supports my project ideas. In 2006 there was a decision in New York City to redevelop a site at 11 Spring street, however instead of tear it down i believe they restored the exterior and renovated the interior. This site had become known to street artists world wide as an area where you could put up work without it disappearing as quickly as it had appeared and as such there was an immediate concern when the redevelopment plan was announced. A project was quickly formed which was spearheaded by the people that run www.woostercollective.com which is a blog focused on worldwide street art. They were able to work with the developers in order to secure the building for a short period of time in order to have artists install work and then open the building to the public for a single weekend as a temporary street art gallery. Given the generous nature of street artists they were able to have the building adorned inside and out with ephemeral works of art by widely recognised successful street artists from every corner of the globe for minimal cost which resulted in a hugely successful art event that was widely publicised and recognised.

Find out more:
http://www.woostercollective.com/2006/10/11_spring_street.html
http://www.woostercollective.com/wooster_on_spring/
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/14/arts/design/14graf.html

The Project

So this is my theoretical project the feasibilty of which is based on two major factors

1. If Lonsdale House gets the go ahead and is going to be knocked down but i can gain permission for the project prior to demolition.

2. Obtaining the funds to undertake such a massive task

My project is set to be undertaken in several stages.

The first would be to visually delete Lonsdale House (without actually demolishing it) by painting it entirely black. This references its eventual demolition as well as the fact that the bottom section of it has already been painted black which i assume is an anti graffiti technique. you will have to excuse the dodgy photoshop work.....


Following this the second stage would be to apply gold leafed lettering over the black. This too would cover the entire building with a series of passages referencing the passing of time, progress and the pace of life.


In the third and final stage of my project i would then take on the inside of the building, inviting a number of artists to produce installations, murals and other such interventions. Each artist being assigned a room or space in which to create a work of art based on their previous artistic practices. This project would therefore convert the entire building into a temporary gallery, inside and out, filled with ephemeral art works. The space would then be opened to the public for a period of not less than a weekend opening on the Friday evening and running through to Sunday evening, however preferably to be open for two weeks after which the entire project would close its doors and then come tumbling down in a pile of rubble, making way for progress and the future ideals of the city.

Ill try to put together a budget for the project but i think i would be realistically looking somewhere between thirty and fifty thousand dollars for the exterior art work which includes materials, labour and scaffolding. On top of that i would have to look at a separate budget for the interior works as well as some nice documentation and catalogues. Possibly a one hundred thousand dollar project which is a little mind blowing of for some but its just a drop in the ocean for the developers. If your out there Myer executives, think of the great PR to be putting that sort of cash into the arts, particularly in this time of economic crisis!

If i had a serious gallery career underway i would fund the whole thing myself, Christo and Jean-Claude are my heros in that respect and this project doesnt even hold a candle to the sort of budget those kids deal with....so....anyone want to buy some paintings or drawings?

The Wonderful World Of Interiors

Whilst it is a bit of a contradiction to my whole plight of the abandoned warehouse, i just thought i would share some of the things i dig about exploring these places when they are in a state of disrepair.




Another anti-smoking image cliche

Theres a bunch more but you get the idea

ABANDONED!

Here is another one that im digging. This is a group of warehouses that have a number on one side in various states of decay whilst the other side they are still very much in active use with security gates and surveillance cameras, kind of an interesting juxtaposition.


This warehouse is great from what i could see of it, complete with relief lettering at the top and graffiti pieces at the bottom, looks like it still might be in use which is good to see but i didnt want to snoop too much.


The classic saw tooth roof, unfortunately this one is burnt out and probably looking forward to a wrecking ball (yeah i know we dont do things like that).


Finally there was this gem. This place is awesome and structurally it still seems pretty good, a few new windows and a clean up, maybe install some plumbing and this would be a great place to stage some serious happenings and it has two levels which I havent seen alot of.

Gold Flows Through These Here Streets

Just a quick one to point out something obvious that you may have noticed in the city (most old cities actually) and thats the amount of gold lettering that actually features on old buildings, monuments and other such structures. Its either chiselled in and leafed or presented in a relief and if its not gold lettering its some other presentation of gold, but its everywhere, take a look.

on a slight tangent, when i was in Prague they have some old bronze work on the charles bridge and inlaid below the statue of 'John of Nepomuk' are two relief bronze casts with figures that are polished to a high golden shine due to a superstition/religious belief that leads the masses of daily tourists to place their hands on it. I was never able to find out what the deal was with touching the figures (something to do with good luck?) but it was pretty cool how the bronze remained polished.

Prague is also an awesome city, if i can swing some kind of residency there at some point it would be great to live and work there for a little bit.

Oh, keep the gold lettering in mind, it plays heavily on some ideas that i have...

Gimme Tha Cash!!!

Heres a couple of my favourite neglected Melbourne structures.


This place is just cool looking, nice old shop front, cool old signage and a location that people are hunting relentlessly. In its present state, if you know where it is, youll understand the irony of the business that resides directly next door. My brother clued me in to this one originally, as he too shares my sentiment for rad old buildings and artwork. However upon closer inspection this place can probably look forward to little more than a wrecking ball because the brickwork appears to be coming apart and has had to be braced.....i remain optimistic.




Ah, the Union Knitting Mills, i have my eye on you! This one first came to my attention when i was living at my brothers house and had to catch the train straight past this place whenever i had to head into the city. Great location and a cool as hell building, just look at that old school signage that has actually been built into the building! However when i went to check this one out i was bummed to find that the developer greed had kicked in, the owner has ripped up the floor boards and ceiling, i assume that this was an attempt to ensure that squatters wouldnt move in. The third photo illustrates the lack of flooring, the photo sucks due to the metal mesh over the window but i think you get the idea.

This place would be high on my wish list if someone hit me with some serious cash and said, 'here you go son, blow it all on an art project'. I seriously considered squatting this place, but then i realised that i have no idea about squatting and the last thing i need right now is getting busted and run up on charges thanks to an overzealous land owner. However again ill put it out there, if the owner catches wind of this blog, i am keen to take it off your hands rent free in an 'as is' state.

Well kids, its late and i dont have internet at home so im still at school and if i dont leave now ill probably miss the last train home and have to walk. My next post will outline my ideas behind these buildings...ill keep ya posted! (groan)

All I Want For Christmas Is A Low Aperture Wide Angle Lens!

*Well thats not entirely true but its high on the list because i keep running into problems with getting everything i want in the shot, so if anyone is thinking of me around that time......and thats enough of the consumerist bull-dagger.

Its been a while since the last post, I enjoy this blogging stuff and have a whole bunch o ideas I could put on here but I am too poor/tight to have internet at home and therein lies the crux. I guess y'all (all two of you) will have to put up with the multiple posts in a single sitting followed by lengthy delays.

Being interested in the art of the streets i am also keenly interested in empty, disused, dilapidated or otherwise under utilised areas and buildings that sit vacant for extended periods of time screaming out for attention and never really getting to fulfill their potential until they meet their final demise beneath the developers wrecking ball (or something like that). To illustrate what i mean i have done a brief tour of some buildings around Melbourne that i feel i could do some seriously awesome projects with if I (or any other creatively minded individual) had the permission or the funds to get amongst it all. 

All of these are relatively easily viewable from public transport so i dont think i am really giving away any secrets however i have taken care not to be too obvious in the photographs so as not to upset anyone feeling like I have given up their spots (its a graffiti territorial thing). I am also relatively new to Melbourne so you can see how easily these sort of places are to find. I could also show you numerous others as this is by no means a comprehensive list.

This old warehouse/factory is situated in a highly sought after location for renters and buyers alike looking for a nice place to live in Melbourne with great places to eat and happening bars nearby, yet here it sits vacant and going to ruin. Well i say vacant, however there are a few boxes stacked up inside that are enjoying themselves nicely. If the owner catches wind of this blog i am willing to move in rent free and work on it as i go. This one is in relatively good condition, not too much work to be done (in my unskilled opinion).



These two are also in a reasonably well sought after area, probably a little more damage has been done but people live in far worse conditions and all i am thinking is going in and setting up some artworks! For a longer term experience i dont even think that it would take too much money or work to get them online for practical applications.



This last one is just an example but these things are just about everywhere that there is a trainline intersecting with a road. They go hand in hand with the bricked up spaces on many platforms that used to be toilets (apparently no one needs to go to the toilet anymore), ticket booths and waiting rooms (you can wait in the cold suckers). This particular one is an old signal box where a worker would sit and change the signal whenever a train would come thereby preventing train vs. car/pedestrian collisions (or something like that). With the onset of technology, computerisation and cutbacks these buildings are now obsolete, boarded up and used for little else than storage of unwanted crap. I have not been inside one of these and possibly they have been retrofitted with computerised equipment to work the signals but i am doubtful. I know that my local station has old toilets and ticketing booths on the platform that are locked up and unused.

My proposal for these old public transport spaces would be to set them up as studios or spaces for installations and interventions of some sort like mini galleries, hell, with rents the way they are i think you could have people living in these things without a second thought, i know i would.

That Old School Funk!

I dig old buildings, that old sense of 'they don't build em like they used to', the history and the happenings. I actually just moved into an old terrace style house and that thing kicks ass! massive hallway, massive rooms, kick ass shower, just enough yard space to chill out in but not be a pain, slightly rough around the edges and if you stood on my shoulders you would be hard pressed to touch the ceiling (thinking i might build a loft bed!).

However these days everybody digs on progress and it appears that it is a much better idea to knock down a place that you could run a marathon in and replace it with a series of one bedroom studio shoeboxes that you only have to stand on tiptoe to reach the ceiling, but what do i know? 

What intrigues me is the amount of old buildings (and not so old buildings) that sit vacant for years awaiting their eventual demise, particularly when these buildings lay on prime real estate and have a killer lay out that would lend themselves to a multitude of uses. This point is particularly painful to me at the moment as i have recently finished running the gauntlet of home hunting on the rental market in Melbournes inner city suburbs. There are so many people looking for places to live, make art, work, play and all that day to day life stuff, yet there lie these totally awesome buildings, empty, locked, boarded up and disregarded (i have a few in mind and i think ill try to whip around and get some photos for my next entry).

One such place is Lonsdale house, again im new to melbourne so im not too sure how long it has been sitting mostly empty and neglected but i do know that it is showing signs of being just long enough to be annoying that something cool isnt really being done with it in the interim.

You see, the life of a vacant building usually goes a little something like this....

- Building is vacated for any number of reasons (building codes, poor economy, development, etc) 

- Building is neglected by way of maintenance and security

- Explorers, hoons, treasure hunters or thrill seekers break the seal and go for a look around

- Damn fool clowns realise that its easy to get in and proceed to enter, get drunk, do drugs, fuck and generally ruin a lot of the inside by smashing windows, kicking holes in walls or possibly the worst option - setting the whole damn place on fire and burning it to the ground (mind you, this action can sometimes take place at the hand of the owner, can you smell the insurance?)

- Building is boarded up, locked up and fenced off so that no one can get in there and further damage the premises. Then comes the ironic part.....

- Building is demolished! (good thing they kept out those people who were damaging it!)

Somewhere in that mix comes the core of where my interest lies with the idea of a vacant building, the creative types catch wind of the access portal and enter the premises with no intent other than to leave an artwork integrated within the core of the buildings fabric, transforming it into a secret gallery of sorts. It is this use of space that i would like to focus on for the main part of my blog/public art proposal...watch this space

I love the old hand painted signs that you can find on old buildings, 'when i was your age...'

Just a final note, these kids are crushing Melbourne with some sweet big old school style lettering in some decent spots and for those of you quick to write of graffiti as pure vandalism and nothing more, consider this, these pieces are done on the inside of those windows. That means that they would have had to work backwards in both their lettering and the way that they would be used to painting their styles traditionally with no real room for error.

More Flicks From Today....

Just because the dang blog would only fit five images at a time and thought that these two were pretty cool by way of statement....

Rock n Roll kids...

Now You Tell Me!

After deciding the location for my proposed public artwork, they tell me its going to succumb to the wrecking ball of progress all in the name of they lords Development and Consumerism! Three cheers for chain stores, globalisation, cookie cutter society and the all mighty dollar...

This information alone gave me a bunch of ideas in which to form my proposal but that will come later, now i thought i would share a few flicks from the rally i attended today. By the way, if your digging rad old architecture and into helping out with the age old uphill battle, sign the petition against the demolition of Lonsdale house. http://www.savelonsdalehouse.com/ (how do i hyper link?)

It was rad how this young lady went all out and got her period clothing on to look the part for the protest, would have made an awesome statement if there were more like this.... 

The Shit I'm Diggin'

I'm not into making this thing super professional, so just let it evolve and enjoy the cussin'!

Lonsdale House baby! I have not lived in Melbourne long, i only just got off my brothers lounge and moved into a room of my own on Thursday, but i have visited before and one of my first Melbourne memories is of Lonsdale House. I Cruised on down to Melbourne somewhere between the late nineties and early two-thousands (is there a better term for this? and dont say naughties because it is lame and annoys me) and crashed in a hostel right near the Queen Vic markets, where i also got sick due to the cold weather and the fact that they wouldnt allow me to use my sleeping bag but would only provide a single thin blanket (yeah i get sidetracked often). 

I knew very little about Melbourne and pretty much wandered aimlessly for the week or two that i was here. During one of my aimless meanderings i came across a super sweet little skate shop that just happened to be situated in a killer sweet art deco inner city building complete with metropolis-esque fins adorning the exterior. So dope was this skate shop that they had a back room with a mini ramp that you could get amongst.

Running down the side of the building in the laneway was a series of little shops which included cafes, retro clothing stores and a sweet little art store that sold some street art influenced art work and graffiti related books as well as supplies. Add to this the street art adorning the length of the laneway, i thought this was a pretty sweet little pocket that represented the unique nature of Melbourne's culture and history. Clearly this is what everyone was talking about when they referenced melbourne.

The unique nature of the facade and the side by side old school laneway shop fronts brought to mind the essence of a city like new york with its old corner store bodegas or the portobello road shopfronts typical of London.  

Hey Kids!

Welcome to my nightmare, cliche? proh...probably, but here it is. Putting together a blog to document my plunge into the depths of proposed public art practices in the new realm of Melbourne. Plus ill most likely fall into the trap of ranting like oh so many Blog-ites before me, so enjoy or dont. Most importantly let me know what you think, bring on the hate mail, lets make this little experiment as interactive as all heck (anybody remember 'Rocko's Modern Life'?)

Yeah suckahs!