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Street Art is not Graffiti?, by Daniel Silk on Oct 3, 2008 17:53:29 GMT 1, www.theage.com.au/opinion/street-art-and-graffiti-are-not-the-same-thing-20081003-4tgb.html
Street art and graffiti are not the same thing
Gabriella Coslovich
October 4, 2008
PREMIER John Brumby's hissy fit over the inclusion of graffitied lanes in a replica of Melbourne at Disney World was so ludicrous that I had to wonder whether we needed to take pity on the poor dear and write it off as a "senior moment".
How else to interpret this week's unfathomable tantrum? Except that to blame it on his years would be terribly ageist, mightily unfair to mid-aged folk who aren't nearly as confronted by spray-painted witticisms on laneway walls, and would ignore the fact that the first minister to get seriously uptight about the Disney graffiti was 36-year-old Tourism Minister Tim Holding.
Given my choice of dinner guests, I'd take 50-something Sydney-siders Lesley Workman and Peter Bertelle over straight-laced Holding any day. Wanting to test the mood on the streets in the aftermath of this week's graffiti farce, I ventured down to Centre Place and found Workman and Bertelle photographing the city's street art.
"John Brumby? Even we know he's out of touch and we're from Sydney," Workman said as she sat admiring the graffiti. The couple, on holiday in Melbourne for a week, had already photographed Hosier Lane and Cocker Alley (the site of our very own perspex-vaulted Banksy) and were heading next to Caledonian Lane at the suggestion of business analyst Paul Martin. Like the friendly Melburnian he is, Martin, in smart shirt and tie, directed the couple to other graffiti meccas after spotting them in Centre Place.
This would, no doubt, gratify the humiliated Tourism Victoria staff who were scolded for โ shock โ not following Commander Holding's orders and allowing Disney World tourists to think that Melbourne was a graffiti-guerilla haven. Those Tourism Victoria workers have good reason to feel confused โ street art might be heritage-listed, guarded in perspex like our Banksy, or illegal. The City of Melbourne's own website boasts that our street art is "internationally renowned". It even tells you where to find it.
Brumby's most risible comment was that the "nice part" of Melbourne's lanes was their "European" style, not their graffiti. Does the man think we're a bunch of untravelled yokels? When was the last time he ventured to Europe, and, more to the point, did he disembark from his vacuum-sealed limousine?
Had he done so he might have noticed a few things. Wandering through the cobbled streets of Rome he may have seen a recurring image, a stencil of a pig-tailed signorina depositing a Nazi symbol into a trash can, a protest against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's crackdown on Roma gypsies. For good reason politicians despise street art โ the spray-can can ever so stealthily be turned against them.
Wandering through London, Brumby might have stumbled upon an entire railway tunnel โ Leake Street โ given over to graffiti artists for the Cans Festival in May, a huge hit with tourists and Londoners. I was there and I loved it โ it was like 10 Hosier Lanes rolled into one. The festival featured work by 40 artists and was organised by the world-famous Banksy, who, by the way, was voted one of the UK's top three art heroes in a YouGov survey last year, and whose monkey stencil, Laugh, fetched the highest price (ยฃ228,000, $A513,400) at the world's first dedicated Urban Art auction at Bonhams in February. Furthermore, London's Tate Modern hosted "Street Art" in May, a group exhibition that turned the gallery's riverside facade into a canvas for street artists. That's nice old Europe for you.
Brumby and Holding are so out of touch they still think that street art is anti-establishment. What is hard to understand is that this anti-graffiti Premier is the same man who for a time sounded as though the only book he'd read was Richard Florida's The Rise of the Creative Class.
Brumby would start spouting Florida-isms virtually every time he came within sight of a lectern. Florida's premise is simple โ creativity is good for a city's economy, and to attract creative people, a city needs technological infrastructure, diversity of talent, and tolerance.
Why does tolerance hit a brick wall when it comes to street art? Sure, many people don't like "tagging" โ but a City of Melbourne survey found that most people can distinguish between "tagging" and "street art", and highly value the latter.
In any case, there are many things more offensive than tags. For instance, celebrity junk stories on "news" websites, with titles such as "Are these the world's worst boob jobs?" And no, it wasn't a story about two politicians chucking a tanty at some mock graffiti at Disney World.
Gabriella Coslovich is a senior arts writer.
www.theage.com.au/opinion/street-art-and-graffiti-are-not-the-same-thing-20081003-4tgb.htmlStreet art and graffiti are not the same thing Gabriella Coslovich October 4, 2008 PREMIER John Brumby's hissy fit over the inclusion of graffitied lanes in a replica of Melbourne at Disney World was so ludicrous that I had to wonder whether we needed to take pity on the poor dear and write it off as a "senior moment". How else to interpret this week's unfathomable tantrum? Except that to blame it on his years would be terribly ageist, mightily unfair to mid-aged folk who aren't nearly as confronted by spray-painted witticisms on laneway walls, and would ignore the fact that the first minister to get seriously uptight about the Disney graffiti was 36-year-old Tourism Minister Tim Holding. Given my choice of dinner guests, I'd take 50-something Sydney-siders Lesley Workman and Peter Bertelle over straight-laced Holding any day. Wanting to test the mood on the streets in the aftermath of this week's graffiti farce, I ventured down to Centre Place and found Workman and Bertelle photographing the city's street art. "John Brumby? Even we know he's out of touch and we're from Sydney," Workman said as she sat admiring the graffiti. The couple, on holiday in Melbourne for a week, had already photographed Hosier Lane and Cocker Alley (the site of our very own perspex-vaulted Banksy) and were heading next to Caledonian Lane at the suggestion of business analyst Paul Martin. Like the friendly Melburnian he is, Martin, in smart shirt and tie, directed the couple to other graffiti meccas after spotting them in Centre Place. This would, no doubt, gratify the humiliated Tourism Victoria staff who were scolded for โ shock โ not following Commander Holding's orders and allowing Disney World tourists to think that Melbourne was a graffiti-guerilla haven. Those Tourism Victoria workers have good reason to feel confused โ street art might be heritage-listed, guarded in perspex like our Banksy, or illegal. The City of Melbourne's own website boasts that our street art is "internationally renowned". It even tells you where to find it. Brumby's most risible comment was that the "nice part" of Melbourne's lanes was their "European" style, not their graffiti. Does the man think we're a bunch of untravelled yokels? When was the last time he ventured to Europe, and, more to the point, did he disembark from his vacuum-sealed limousine? Had he done so he might have noticed a few things. Wandering through the cobbled streets of Rome he may have seen a recurring image, a stencil of a pig-tailed signorina depositing a Nazi symbol into a trash can, a protest against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's crackdown on Roma gypsies. For good reason politicians despise street art โ the spray-can can ever so stealthily be turned against them. Wandering through London, Brumby might have stumbled upon an entire railway tunnel โ Leake Street โ given over to graffiti artists for the Cans Festival in May, a huge hit with tourists and Londoners. I was there and I loved it โ it was like 10 Hosier Lanes rolled into one. The festival featured work by 40 artists and was organised by the world-famous Banksy, who, by the way, was voted one of the UK's top three art heroes in a YouGov survey last year, and whose monkey stencil, Laugh, fetched the highest price (ยฃ228,000, $A513,400) at the world's first dedicated Urban Art auction at Bonhams in February. Furthermore, London's Tate Modern hosted "Street Art" in May, a group exhibition that turned the gallery's riverside facade into a canvas for street artists. That's nice old Europe for you. Brumby and Holding are so out of touch they still think that street art is anti-establishment. What is hard to understand is that this anti-graffiti Premier is the same man who for a time sounded as though the only book he'd read was Richard Florida's The Rise of the Creative Class. Brumby would start spouting Florida-isms virtually every time he came within sight of a lectern. Florida's premise is simple โ creativity is good for a city's economy, and to attract creative people, a city needs technological infrastructure, diversity of talent, and tolerance. Why does tolerance hit a brick wall when it comes to street art? Sure, many people don't like "tagging" โ but a City of Melbourne survey found that most people can distinguish between "tagging" and "street art", and highly value the latter. In any case, there are many things more offensive than tags. For instance, celebrity junk stories on "news" websites, with titles such as "Are these the world's worst boob jobs?" And no, it wasn't a story about two politicians chucking a tanty at some mock graffiti at Disney World. Gabriella Coslovich is a senior arts writer.
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