INVURT

Another week, another collection of fantastic videos from across the Australia street art scene – so dive on in, and enjoy the viewing!

To start off, there is this link to a great video on the ABC website that covers the emerging street art scene in Darwin – its actually really encouraging and a great thing to hear a lord mayor say “we’re far better off working with people and getting places where the legal side of this can happen. – check out the video here (sorry, no embed!).

Next up, we have an awesome preview video of Does exhibition “Between The Line” – to follow up on the interview that we did with him this week.

DOES | Between the Lines Preview from Carl Allison on Vimeo.

There was also a really great time lapse video posted for the setup of Misos show "Les Lumieres" that opened up at the No Vacancy project space at Fed Square a week or two ago.

Les Lumieres: Miso @ No Vacancy from Andrew Chew on Vimeo.

Streets of Melbourne posted up this really cool montage video of the current state of Hosier Lane – lots of different stuff up there at the moment!

Not the best quality video, but this one is a bit different – it shows the GRL (Graffiti Research Labs) crew in Perth doing some experimentation with projector bombing, using the modified software with the Microsoft Kinect camera – very, very cool. GRL does some really interesting stuff with tech and street art, you should check them out.

Lastly, we have something pretty funny and cool – Sirum posted up this video of the preview for the Indian movie "Orange" that was filmed in amongst the laneways of Melbourne last year – hilarious stuff, cant wait to see it haha.

Thats about it for this week, as always, if you have a video you want to share, just contact us!

This is Press-Mill Wednesdays (we were going to call it WTF Wednesdays but thought this title was maybe a little less abrupt) .

Press Mill Wednesdays is a new fortnightly column where we’ll be summarising all the crap, cool, scary, delightful, misguided, spot on, angry and supportive articles that have run through the more “mainstream” press week in and week out. We thought it would be a cool way to keep you all up to date on what is happening in media-land, and what the current opinions and issues are out there … and, maybe even spotlight a few artists along the way, who have been showcased in the press – if we can do that as much as possible, we’ll be happy…

This is an experimental column, and if we feel it doesn’t work or if anyone has rational issues as to why we shouldn’t link to news articles, we’ll discontinue it. Also, if anyone has issue with any specific links to public domain articles, just let us know and we’ll remove them. We will admit that this column will show a little pro-bias towards graffiti, street and urban art (that said, we don’t condone illegal activities – we just understand that it is a part of the culture, and that it is being combated incorrectly), but we’ll attempt to keep it as neutral as possible, as always, where we can. There is a lot of goodness out there in “mainstreamland”, so don’t let all the negative media get to you – we’ll do our best to weed through it all, and find the good, as well as the bad …

• The big one for the past week, is that new NSW Attorney General feels that the government should “emphasise more the anger that society feels toward the damage done by graffiti.” with his new plan to toughen of NSW graffiti laws, he also thinks that artists should go to jail for it – apparently painting pretty pictures more than once is a “serious offence”, so much so that the artists who do it should be thrown into jail with all the murderers and rapists, because, allegedly, street art and graffiti are gateway crimes. There’s a great blog entry on the ABC showing the other side of the argument as well – have a listen to it.
• Cairns artists are apparently running out of space to get up on the walls – they’ve been working really hard to get the back lanes and uglier spots looking beautiful again, but they really need more spots, and more support from local businesses (ed. having gone to high school and lived in Cairns for many years, I love seeing this shit happening up there). If you know anyone up there that has a business and could use a lick of cool paint, let them know.
• We don’t hear too much news from up in the NT, but this show looked like it was pretty cool – it included an urban street art laser exhibition, and the comment from the curator, Carol Phayer,  was pretty cool – “Street Art seeks to connect the everyday viewing audience with the streetscape and in doing so link the community back to the creative, cultural and natural landscape.”
• Strathmore Secondary College is encouraging their students to brighten up the environment by painting colourful and rad murals – its nice to see councils and educational institutions teaching the up and coming artists of tomorrow that street art can be beautiful.
• Skaters & artists honoured a fallen mate as a part of Mannings Youth Week Celebration, where “youths learnt the finer points of professional graffiti art during a session at Manning Regional Art Gallery, and came up with their own concepts and designs for the mural to adorn the skate park.” – grand.
• Apparently Graffiti is on the rise in Ballarat and the police there are “working hard to tackle the city’s growing graffiti problem” – if you’re in Ballarat, you might want to go and check out Eureka street, because apparently its “just become a big billboard for everyone else to spray tags on there.” – they should just get someone to paint the wall up – maybe someone should give Ballarat City Council a call or something …
• It’s a little older, but we liked this article of a piece that was done down in Tasmania by Hobart artists Trent Fischer and Lukan Smith on the MyState Financial building – cool stuff, dudes!

There’s so much more – but that’s enough for this first round. If you see something in the news and general media thats interesting, and relevant, and want to send us the link to include in this column, then please feel free to contact us and we’ll put it up for you …

As per our comments on the latest Last Chance show in Port Headland yesterday, we love seeing regional stuff – and when its an actual creative conference outside of the capital cities, its even cooler – if you’re thinking of conferences and places for inspiring ideas, there’s a few coming up, Carbon in Melbourne and of course, Semi-Permanent across Australia – but if you’re near the Sunshine Coast in May, Analouge/Digital is where you want to be.

“Analogue/Digital is a regional creative conference which delivers high profile creative leaders to the intimate backdrop of your local nook/cranny. This year’s conference features six exceptional speakers from a range of diverse backgrounds, cultures and creative avenues including:Claudio Kirac: Art Director, Vaughan Blakey: Editor, Sofles/ Luke Shirlaw: Graffiti Artists,Simon Degroot: Fine Artist, Jeremy Wortsman: Agency Drrector & introducing Matthew O’Brien: Photographer.”

Who: Claudio Kirac, Vaughan Blakey, Sofles, Luke Shirlaw, Simon Degroot, Jeremy Wortsman, Matthew O’Brien and others.
What: Analouge/Digital Creative Conference
Where: BC & C Sunshine Plaza Cinemas, Sunshine Coast
When: Friday 13th May, 2011

Via Ironlak. Check out more details on the Analouge/Digital website.

One of our favourites, Rachee Renee, teams up with Zsandor to bring you a joint exhibition at the most awesome At Large Gallery. The show will “explore a personal journey into the past, digging out cobwebs of forgotton life tales, and shedding them onto the canvas to make way for the new.”

This looks like a great duo show, from two highly talented artists, and we can’t wait to see what they’ve come up with!

“With both artists stemming from a street art background, this exhibition mixes street art and fine art elements using aerosol, acrylic, oil, markers and a host of other mixed media.”

Who: Rachee Renee & Zsandor
What: Let Go duo show
Where: At Large Gallery, 208 High Street, Northcote, VIC
When: Show opens Friday April 15th, 6pm til 9pm, and runs til April 29th

Check out the At Large website and the facebook event page for more info.

Just spotted this event on the Everfresh blog. Looks like it will be a great auction to go and take a look at, and, if you have some cash, grab some noteworthy art from some of the finest artists around.

Having a browse through the catalogue, there looks to be around 232 pieces of art, from so many different names, but, as a sampler, you’ve got Shepard Fairey, Junky Projects, Cracked Ink, HAHA, Adnate, Phibs, Deb, Ghostpatrol, Meggs, The Tooth, Drewfunk, Rone, Miso, D*Face, Dirtfish, E.L.K., Adrian Doyle, Swoon, Vexta, Wondalust, Damien Hirst, Anthony Lister, Blek Le Rat, David Bromley, Hush, Static, Andy Warhol, etc etc … and so much more.

The viewing is on Saturday the 19th, so it would be a great thing to just go down and check out the work that is on show (Yeah, all 230 or so pieces), and decide whether you want to buy something. A lot of this stuff we recognise, so its definitely worth a look. Go sign up as well, the first fifty to register for the auction will get an Everfresh print, so go for it.

Who: Shepard Fairey, Junky Projects, Cracked Ink, HAHA, Adnate, Phibs, Deb, Ghostpatrol, Meggs, The Tooth, Drewfunk, Rone, Miso, D*Face, Dirtfish, E.L.K., Adrian Doyle, Swoon, Vexta, Wondalust, Damien Hirst, Anthony Lister, Blek Le Rat, David Bromley, Hush, Static, Andy Warhol, etc etc … and so much more.
What: Life is Different – Street, urban, Contemporary, Pop Art Auction
Where:  Lawson-Menzies Auctions, 1 Darling Street, South Yarra, Melbourne
When: Viewing Saturday 19th March, 10am to 5pm Auction is Sunday 20th March starting at 12pm

Check out the catalogue for the show here.

We heard about this the other day, and couldnt be happier to see it – its well and beyond time that Phoenix had a show all to himself. Co-curated between the Surface POP-UP exhibition space in St Kilda and Dean Sunshine, we’re really keen and curious to check out what Phoenix has installed for us with his show.

We’re big fans of his work around the raps, so seeing how he can transform a gallery should be a real treat – we’re going to see what more we can find out on this one …

 
Who: Phoenix
What: In Here Out There solo show
Where: Surface POP – 11-13 Carlisle St, St Kilda, VIC
When: Show opens 10th March from 6pm til 8pm, and runs til the 21st of March

Check out Dean Sunshines blog for more info, as well as the Surface POP site, as well as the facebook event page ..

Ha, love the flyer for the show coming up for Lush at Backwoods Gallery in Collingwood – it reminds me of an ad for one of those rug places that have been going out of business every weekend for the past ten years. I’m a big fan of Lushs work, its dirtycool – always fun seeing artists taking the piss in such a cool way, and Lush does it with style.

Mintox.

Who: Lush
What: Sale on Street Art …
Where: Backwoods Gallery, 25 Easey St, Collingwood, VIC
When: Show opens 6pm to 9pm, 17th December and runs til 23rd December

Check out Lush’s flickr page too. Saw this one via Kompound. Also check out the facebook event page.

I made my way down to help out with the opening of Urban Intervention last Friday night at the Yarra Sculpture Gallery, and was pretty impressed by the whole affair (sure, I’m helping volunteer for the festival so maybe I’m a biased, but fuck it, I like what I like). The curating, by Anna Briers and Kelly Madigan, was excellent, the attendance was fantastic and the whole interactive nature of the show itself was, as Junky Projects mentioned in passing on the night, something different that hasn’t really been seen much of here in Australia, or even elsewhere around the world.

The sculptures in the show were varied, from the political to the ephemeral, there were some great light paintings, a cool walk-through installation off to the side, and it was just generally great seeing this part of street art on display to such a wide cross section of the community – and those at the launch were as varied a group as any I have seen at these events so far.

As I mentioned before, one of the parts of the show was the launch of their interactive Urban Intervention Art Trail map, a very cool trail that leads you through the streets of Collingwoodcool and Fitzroy and covers a bunch of its artistic treasures, some existing and some that were created for the show itself. As its an interactive map, people are encouraged to go through and tag and add their own work to it – so if you have something up on a wall around Melbs, get to it.

Here are a couple of not-so-professional-shots from the opening night …

Melbourne Art @ Culture Critic also has a mention of the show here.

On a side note here – one thing that has impressed me over the last week or so of Sweet Streets has been presence of the Yarra City Council at this, and various other events of the festival (I’m pretty sure it was Cr Geoff Barbour that been representing last Friday night). I am often pretty skeptical on the views of both government and local councils in regards to their approaches to street art – on the one hand there are tough penalties for even carrying a damn spraycan around in a bag, on the other they use street art as an attraction (yada yada yada you’ve heard it all before), and I guess I’m the kind of person that always thinks “Instead of constantly buffing that wall all the time, why not get some artists to come and paint it for a tenth of the cost of constantly painting over it, and a hundred times the coolness factor of a boring blank wall?” – but, that said,  its genuinely great to see a councilor get up and do an opening speech, and actively be a part of the discussion, and looking towards implementing fair and reasonable guidelines and practices in conjunction with the street art community.

Its nice to see them taking a progressive approach that I still dont see in too many other places, apparently its part of that State Wide review thats been going on to assess the cultural value of street art in Victoria, or whatever that all means, so we’ll wait to see what the report comes of all that before commenting on it more.

Anyways, this is a gentle tip of the hat to Yarra City Council for their willingness to actually engage the street art community, and not just write it off as “those fkn vandals,” and to start looking at the work adorning the streets as a significant part of Australias artistic, cultural and creative heritage.

Sweet Streets keeps building up steam as it continues along its eventful program, and another awesome event of note is the upcoming Urban Intervention exhibition.

In partnership with the Yarra Sculpture gallery, Urban Intervention concentrates on “site specific installation, culture jamming, yarn bombing, guerrilla knitting and other public art forms that relate to an engagement, subversion, dialogue or interjection with the urban topography.”

They have coupled the event and exhibition with a google maps system in order to add context and historical notes and value to the art trail portion of the event and it really does look like a wonderfully unique and cool way to spend a Friday evening, wandering the streets and checking out some amazing guerilla-styled works.

“A Google map will be launched live on opening night. The map locates existing works by the artists on Melbourne’s streets. This open access, collaborative platform will enable the public to ‘tag’ the location of artworks on the trail and surrounding area. This project has the potential to produce an endlessly expanding web of connections between sites, artists and artistic interventions. Prospectively it could deliver an endlessly growing archive of Melbourne street art.”

Who: Mic Porter, Magnus McTavish, Nick Ilton, Will Coles, Junky Projects, Melbourne Light Painters, Van Rudd, Phoenix, Public Assembly, Yarn Wrap, Thomas C. Chung. The exhibition also includes an installation by Michelle Robinson, Lani Fender, DJ Element and David Murphy.
What: Urban Intervention Street Sculpture & Art Trail
Where:  117 Vere Street Abbotsford, VIC
Parking: Street parking is available (Melways ref. 44 D5)
Train: The gallery is next to Collingwood train station
Bus: There is a bus stop on the corner of Vere and Hoddle Street
When: Opens Friday 15th October 6 pm – runs til 23rd October – (closed Monday and Tuesday) – 12 – 5.30 pm

Check out the Sweet Streets website as well as the facebook event page for more details!

Monsters, beasts and strange entities are all going to be displayed at an upcoming show at the National Grid this Friday, as they play host to a variety of artists from across the spectrum, all presenting works from their interpretation of the “creatures” theme.

Again, teleporter required, please.

Who: Gaspian De Looze, Luke Morrell, Sam Clark, Tez, Camilla Zavattaro, Claire Reid, Apeseven, Bigfoot, Jason Maloney
What: Creatures Group Show
Where: The National Grid Gallery, 24 Chard Road, Brookevale
When: Opens 24th September, 6pm – 10pm, show runs until October 23rd

Check out more info at the National Grid gallery.

Via Nice Produce

I just realised that it’s been almost six months since I decided to, mostly,  move on from writing about music, and to really getting back into covering my first love: art.

Its always been the goal that once I managed to regularly cover events here in Melbourne, that I wanted to begin to cover events and artists out in other parts of Australia – so, I’m looking for people to help out here and there to cover events and artists across the rest of Oz. (more…)

So I’m playing catch up for most of this week, but I saw this and thought it’d be worthwhile to post for anyone looking at something to do over the weekend.

IRENE is an underground arts festival in Brunswick,  running for all three days of the long weekend, and will incorporate everything from live painting, to workshops, food, music, street art tours and an art auction, plus a lot more – definitely looks like fun, and I’m sure if I can shake this plague that I’ll be heading across the river to check it out myself.

A diverse range of artists will be in attendance, representing the local, interstate and international vibe: including: Ha Ha (melb), Junky projects (nsw), Ben Howe (melb), Presto (nsw), KA’a (france), Makatron (Melb), Zombie arms (usa), Moutard Zlodeykin (russia), Drab Art (nz), Will Coles (nsw), Paul Kalemba (melb), Losers/Kills, Aeon (melb), Urban Cake Lady (melb), Mishap & Simz (melb), Seekayem (nz), Georg (bris), Dieter/Zakatak (melb), Stink, RSPND (melb), Snotrag (melb). There will also be a live concert by ELF & Mc Izzy.

Festival will be held at and around 5 Pitt Street, Brunswick.

Schedule is as follows:

Friday 6-9pm

Street Art Exhibition opening night with live music from Elf Transporter & MC Izzy

Saturday 3–12pm

Live music by Blades, Toasters Boutique, tenfold, Scotty B the Digital Assassin, Anon Speak, Laird and Lomas feat Madman, Ida, DJ Luke Presto plus many more!

Saturday & Sunday

Live painting, stencil art, and paste ups from some of Melbourne’s best creatives.

Art auction (Works from the street art exhibition!). You can also go on guided, local street art tours.

Enjoy snacks from FOOD NOT BOMBS!

Sunday Only 12–5pm

Workshops, artist talks & a sizzling BBQ”

Via  We Make Stuff Good and the events Facebook page.

It seems the year for it. With several book launches already been and gone this year, its no surprise that there are plenty more on the way. Alongside the up coming Everfresh Black Book being released later this year, and the recent publication of Peace of Wall, another important publication is set to hit the shelves within the coming month, in the form of the Thames and Hudson publication Street | Studio. Written in collaboration between Ghostpatrol, Miso, Alison Young and Timba Smits, Street | Studio focuses on the Melbourne street art scene, and will offer an “exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how street art has entered the mainstream and become one of the most collectable new art forms.”

Focusing several of Melbournes more prominent artists and crews, including Al Stark, Ash Keating, Everfresh, Ghostpatrol, Mic Porter, Miso, Nails, Tai Snaith, Tom Civil, and Twoone, the book also will provide an essay by prominent Melbourne street art commentator and researcher Alison Young, which will give “an insight into how the featured artists are integral to the history of Australian street art.”

“With more than 200 full and double page colour spreads, Street/Studio explores the diverse range of styles beyond street work. It includes painting, drawing, sculpture, installation and performance art and reveals how these artists have been inspired by Melbourne’s laneways and its supportive vibrant culture. Read about the adventures and the challenges of the street as well as the demands of the studio and gallery – outlined by the artists themselves.”

This is a launch not to miss, and a book that will be essential reading for anyone interested in the global street art movement.

Who: Al Stark, Ash Keating, Everfresh, Ghostpatrol, Mic Porter, Miso, Nails, Tai Snaith, Tom Civil, Twoone, Alison Young
What: Street | Studio Book Launch with Ghostpatrol, MISO, Alison Young, Timba & Friends.
Where: No Vacancy Project space, The Atrium, Federation Square, Melbourne.
When: Friday, 4th June 2010, 7pm – exhibition runs to Sunday 6th June.

Visit the (pretty damn cool) official Street | Studio website here.

In amongst its pages, Chris Parkinson’s newly published Peace Of Wall presents a view of the nation of East Timor that has seldom been contemplated outside of its boundaries – that of one of its strongest social engineering methods; street art.

In honesty, I just binned the editorial introduction for this interview, in which I spieled on about the importance of reflecting on liberty, the ways in which art can enable change, and how humbling it is to see it playing such a healthy role in the foundations of a new nation. After reading back, I realised that the interview already does justice to all those things, and more -  and sometimes you just have to let these things speak for themselves.

So, read on, and hopefully, like me, you’ll be thinking about it long after you’ve clicked away … and bought the book, of course …

(more…)

Moving to another city in order to pursue an artistic dream, let alone another country, is one of the biggest challenges any artist can face – and yet, collaborative duo Dabs Myla have not only overcome challenges in doing so, but have flourished within their adopted scene. In the past year since their move, they have further enamoured fans worldwide with their unique  artwork, and now, with their second solo show being presented at the Per Square Meter Gallery here in Melbourne, they are set to unleash the fruits of their artistic sojourn onto their home town.

Thankfully, they had some time to speak to us to give us a run down on what they’ve been up to of late, and let us know their how their invasion of Los Angeles has been progressing …

(more…)

There would be no stretch of the imagination involved if one was to suggest that Melbourne artist Makatron has been making waves in the past year with his exhibitions, murals and street art. As part of the Everfresh crew, who have a large array of colossal murals and more subtle pieces spread across both Burn City and the world, it can also be said that he, along with the rest of the crew, are at the top of their game.

As an individual artist, however, his work conveys a thoughtful, and at times chaotic, interpretation of personal interaction with both the environment and the people contained within it. His extensive travels, coupled with his unique personal experiences and his love of the grittier underside of urban art have all combined to present a unique, emboldened style that has garnered him a solid body of fans.

Invurt recently had opportunity to conduct an in-depth, thought provoking, and generally kick-ass interview with Makatron, wherein he explains his work and ethos, and where racing a courier bike through the streets of Sao Paulo fits in to it all …

(more…)

As far as collectives go, the crew at We Make Stuff Good have all the talent required in order to make their mark upon the Burn-city art frontier. Numbering over thirty individuals locally, nationally and internationally, many involved also crosshatch their membership with other luminous entities such as Sketch City, Melbourne Tours and Dont Ban The Can, to name a few.  Given this composition of deviceful minds, from all walks of the creative path, the crew at WMSG are at the top of the game, and contribute more than their fair share of passion to the cities flourishing scene.

Drawing upon that talent and energy, five of the women involved with WMSG have embarked upon a mission to promote both their own creative outputs, as well as WMSG as a whole, in a celebration of the strength of their female members. From amongst that contingent, Ania Stuff, Cammy Stuff, Krystal Stuff, Rachee Stuff and Verona stuff are all poised to unleash their work on the public, with a much anticipated tie in with the launch of the WMSG store as well as a tie-in event presented by Sketch City the following week.

Invurt recently had the opportunity to catch up WMSG’s Cammy Stuff, Krystal Stuff and Rachee Stuff to talk about art, their upcoming exhibition, and all things made good and proper.

(more…)

Two of Melbourne’s finest, Ghostpatrol and Miso,  have produced their own map of the cities best known street art – its in a downloadable PDF which lets whoever wants to go around exploring M-towns art to just print it out on a piece of paper, jump on a tram and go …  such a great idea!

You can download the map here and here.

Via Ghost Patrols website