Easy it is now to find Melbourne's laneways plastered, those that are, with
graffiti. Finding subtleties takes time. It takes a readiness to stop and a readiness to watch, to listen and to absorb.
Heffernan Lane, in Melbourne's Chinatown, is nondescript, an alley, really, full of grimy back-doors...
...but it's here that artist Evangelos Sakaris was commissioned by the City of Melbourne in 2001-2002 to install his innoccuous and unexpected group of apparent street signs,
'Word and Way.'
A commercial hub, there've been, of course, in this knot of streets, all sorts of signs mounted to keep the traffic moving. How would I be, or even want to be, a nuisance here, now, gazing at these wonderful texts?
This is street art that makes you stop. The delight in finding a message not designed to be practical, but to open your heart is more than disarming -
- it puts a spring in your step. A cloud floats above the rational world. You aren't going to have the message thrust in your face. It's waiting for you.
What's so charming to me about this sharing of ideas, in a corner pedestrians otherwise avoid unless obliged, is the inconspicuous naivety, here where the bricks are sullied with years of labour and worldliness.
Art happens, and all of us have a contribution.
"If you open yourself to loss, the lost are glad to see you." How much I connect with this, I cannot tell you. To hear someone else say it, blows me away.
Right now I'm reading Byron Rogers' biography of the eccentric Welsh poet R.S.Thomas. His words, too, those of the poet, go straight to the heart of what is felt within what is visible.
I'm sure he'd have got a chuckle here; I'm sure he would have felt calmed in recognising an approach, a philosophy? sensible and caring.
This is art seriously un-serious. It gets added to, or bits fall away. No matter, it's been involved in the lives of us, here, wandering the streets, tired, perhaps, of advertising and warnings, of being sensible and of clocking into language as if it were made to define the world, instead of to lead us into it...
The work of the artist resides within a locale forever shifting. New work intervenes. I'm so very grateful to live in a city where art is allowed, somehow encouraged, enabled.
"The softest overcomes the hardest." Inarguably, that is the case here.
What a great post, i really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Thankyou buddy. I'm sure you know this street and its subtlety.
Deleteooo I love this..... THIS is the sort of art that lifts the soul (not the profits of a russian drug lord intent on collecting art for money not love) thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteArt's so democratic now, Ronnie, not something that belongs to the few. I don't miss the gilt frames. It's more important to hear how people feel.
ReplyDeleteThese are great, all of them in their own way. Something we don't get in smaller towns, at least this one, trying to be a big city. Some such deep expressions!
ReplyDeleteDavid, the artist here could have stuck up a series of hollow slogans, but has obviously considered what he wanted to say and done it with originality and flair. Which takes his work to another level. Thanks for your comment.
DeleteWow, great post, great words.
ReplyDeleteThankyou, Paul. They're poetry, really, eye-catching, arresting, purposeful, humble.
DeleteSo enjoyed reading this post. I am always intrigued by street art. I don't know that I ever fully understand what they are trying to say. Maybe, it is for the viewer's interpretation. Bonnie
ReplyDeleteStreet art's often so subjective/tribal only those in the know get it. But not here, I felt, which is why I had to post it. I'm glad to have you visit Bonnie.
Deletehere, there are yard signs, my favorite misspelled one went up post 9/11 (world trade tower attacks) : "THESES COLOR DON'T RUN". illiterate, heartfelt, defiant... annoyed me. huge red letters on white.
ReplyDeleteSum peple just cant spel Vealma.
ReplyDeleteCommit no nuisance! I wish there was more of that around, Faisal. I enjoyed their words and yours. I don't know if there are signs like this in Sydney, I hope so. Goodness knows there are enough official signs that often mean very little.
ReplyDeleteI'm not even sure if it's generally understood what being a nuisance might be any more Carol! Yes, absolutely, there are too many signs everywhere, so many we get blind. So much nicer then it was to bang into these.
ReplyDeleteYou know Billy I'm not much of a fan of contemporary graffiti, being more of a fan of the subversive stuff that appeared in the 70s. I like an idea and a bit of wit.
ReplyDeleteLove it. Something of the still, small voice.
ReplyDeleteThe voice I most like listening to.
ReplyDelete