Wednesday 17 March 2010

taking it to the streets


I can't remember if I mentioned it in my last post, but I like street art. A lot. 'm pretty privileged to live in Melbourne, where the street art culture is thriving. In New Zealand, where I grew up, tagging and bombing are all that there is to be seen, but in Melbourne, a simple walk through the laneways of the CBD and the backstreets of suburbs such as Fitzroy yield numerous examples of pasteups, stencil based works, and vibrant colourful murals. In the city, Hosier lane is an ever-changing gallery of street art, with international artists such as France's Blek le Rat and Fafi both adding pieces when they've been in Melbourne. 


I like street art because it provides a space for art to exist without the pretentiousness of gallery-culture, and the (sometimes) ponderous nature of art theory. It's a joyous, unrestricted expression of creativity. It's interesting to look at the different manifestations street art takes in different places - the way it shapes, and is shaped by the existing substructure and the social history of the city. I also like that in a world where our  public space is invaded by commercial imagery, street art is independant, not-for-profit imagery, taking that space back bit by bit. Reclaiming space, and inspiring and surprising as it does so.


Anyway, that's all preamble. Why am I telling you this? Because I want to share with you what I consider to be the net's best source of international street art inspiration: Wooster Collective. Started in 2001 by husband and wife team Sarah and Mark Schiller, Wooster's aim is simple: "to discover and document authentic art experiences." Many street artists whose names are now all too familiar to me (Blu, Slinkachu, C215, JR), I first discovered through Wooster, and thanks to the fact that fans from all over the world are all too happy to post in sightings, not only is Wooster the best place to see new and ephemeral art, it's also going to always be the first place you'll hear about new and interesting street art projects and collaborations. Ears fimly to the ground, folks.

The mages above are all my own, taken on the streets of Melbourne. For more goodness by the incredibly talented artists featured on Wooster, stay tuned.

4 comments:

  1. I second that. How do you make your images nice and big? Grr mine are tiny.

    ReplyDelete
  2. http://s3.amazonaws.com/atimg/1005680/polaroids_rect540.gif looks kind of spiffy!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hmm. It has to do with the type of post-composer software you're using -- whether it's the old or new one. Easier to show than explain in words, will show you asap.
    PS speaking of aweomse polaroid displays, I'm thinking about doing this with my holga prints:
    http://www.daydreamlily.com/2008/09/on-my-walls.html

    ReplyDelete

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