weston culture » graffiti

Brilliant! Guerrilla crafters strike again in Pomona (Qld, Australia)

trish — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 01:51:06 +0000

In December, I wrote about stumbling across some guerrilla craft adorning a post in my nearby town of Pomona (Qld, Australia). Well, knock me over with a crochet hook, they’ve been at it again this week and the results are spectacular. The little nature strip at the entrance to the main street has been beautified with the woolly and the wild. We have cosies for rocks, beanies for bollards, wool ties for grasses, pom poms, tree sweaters, crocheted flowers and felty critters galore.

I can’t tell you how much I love this. It makes me smile everytime I see it. And I love the fact that nobody knows what to think of it.

Go Po crafters. You are brilliant.

More unexpected moments in street art: Craft graffiti in Pomona and Rogue Cosies in Brisbane

trish — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 00:46:24 +0000

I love finding unexpected moments of knitting and crochet on the streets.

My favourite is Rogue Cosie who has adorned the streets of Brisbane (Australia), San Francisco, Boston and New York (and I’m sure more…) with crocheted and knitted (?) delights. My favourite installations are the thanksgiving turkeys in SF and duck shawls in Boston. I like the cut of their cultural jib.

And, of course, Guardians of the Bridge is awesome for its scale and audacity.

Street art of the aerosol or crafty kind is usually found in urban areas so I was caught unawares when venturing out for my supplies to Pomona (Qld, Australia) early this morning, when I was greeted at the newsagent by this wonderful crafty rainbow newcomer. I was so surprised to see this in sleepy ol Po that I squealed with delight.

Go the guerrilla crafters! Can’t wait to see more…

Unexpected moments in street art: So you think you can graff and manga girls

trish — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 22:56:06 +0000

I’ve had a couple of “WTF Wow!” moments recently where I’ve encountered street art (graffiti, aerosol art) in either unexpected places (such as Brisbane’s way-outer suburb, Victoria Point*) or with unexpected content (such as the bondage manga girls in Newtown).

I not only love the disruptions these two pieces had in my city wanderings, but also the work is stunning.

So You Think You Can Graff, Victoria Point, Brisbane.

November 2010

Apparently, So You Think You Can Graff was a collaboration by Sofles and Mystik.

Bondage Manga Girls, Newtown, Sydney.

December 2010

Okay, I shouldn’t be surprised to find an image like this adorning a wall on a King St corner in Newtown… Newtown is the home of amazing street art, pop culture and urban dykes… but I was. Sure, pages could be written on its representation of women etc but but I just really appreciate its double-take powers…

(If you know who sprayed the manga girls, let me know so I can credit it.)

Happy wanderings…

*Yeah, yeah… I know Victoria Point is not a Brisbane suburb but for the sake of geographical clarity we will just say it is for the moment.

Craig’s other list: Guerrilla graffiti brings humour to the streets

trish — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 01:16:21 +0000

Bizarre notices have been popping up on lampposts around Melbourne.

On the surface they seem like legitimate notices you’d see on community noticeboards: items for sale, lost and found, and invitations to join groups with those who have similar interests. But once you start reading them, you realise that something is amiss. The item for sale is the lamppost the note is attached to (“Meet me at midnight. You may need a spade.”). The lost item is a sweatband. (Reward for its return? “We could go and see a movie. G or GA only.”) The found item is a free newspaper with a half-done crossword (“So you should be able to identify it”). Oh, and they are all signed off by someone named Craig.

I like graffiti. I see it as art, expression, and often, a much-needed political statement. Before blogging and the internet, it was one of the few ways for those with little power or influence to express themselves publicly. But I have to admit that I am a graffiti snob. I have preferences. And one of them is for the graffiti to have some wit about it.

Craig’s notices are full of wit. They bring humour to the streets. How often do we get a chance to stop and smile as we’re rushing through our day? A little moment of joy. A reminder that life can be ridiculous.

What I really like about Craig’s humour is that, unlike a lot of humour and pranks floating around the internet, it’s not taking the mickey out of anyone. There are no casualties. Even its form is light – an A4 sheet of paper loosely taped to a pole.

Brilliant!

Thanks to Gai for passing these on.

UPDATE: Text art! It’s text art. Thanks Ev for the reminder. Oh, and I didn’t mention anything about the reclaiming of public space through art … but that will come in a later post …. in the meantime, enjoy!

UPDATE 2: If you read the comments below, you’ll realise that Craig’s notes caused a bit of a kerfuffle internationally… Read the update, Craig Fesses Up: Original Notes from Chris. Okay, now you can enjoy!!