Meeting of Styles Melbourne 2016

Meeting of Styles Melbourne 2016.
Meeting of Styles Melbourne 2016

A few weeks ago now, Melbourne was host for the first time to the internationally renowned Meeting of Styles events. Meeting of Styles Melbourne 2016 saw around 300 artists paint all of Melbourne’s legal laneways over four days – as well as a couple of secret spots in and around the city. This was the first time this many lanes had been painted simultaneously.

This event was different to the usual arts events I have attended and posted about in the past, this one focused on graffiti and paid homage to Melbourne’s rich history and still strong graffiti scene.

Apart from the amazing pieces produced and having all of he city’s walls look their best, the vibe over the four days was incredible. Artists and their friends and fans filled the streets – it didn’t feel like we were right in the middle of the Central Busienss Districy of Melbourne at all, which is where many of the lanes are located. Thousands of spectators came to watch and tourists stopped and took hundreds of photos. Check some of the photos out here: #MOSMelbourne

It was refreshing to see some of Australia’s best writers come to town and remind us why Melbourne/Australia has a rich and vibrant graffiti culture, and how much we have to thank graffiti for it’s cousin, street art – also a massive and important part of our city’s fabric and culture.

Locations included, Hosier and Rutledge Lanes, Union Lane, Flinders Court, Croft Alley, Blender Lane, Electric Place, Drewery Lane, Lovelands (next to the Queen Victoria Market) and Whiteman Street and a number of “secret” spots in Footscray and South Yarra.

Check out these great photos by David Russell of the event – more here.

Meeting of Styles Melbourne 2016

Continue reading “Meeting of Styles Melbourne 2016”

Interview with Goon Hugs

11348328_866161616801271_489476474_n
Goon Hugs Stickers – Photo by Goon Hugs

Melbourne has always had a healthy and organic sticker culture, whether it be writers with their slap tags, or the little street art characters and slogans adorning the backs of street signs, rubbish bins; actually anything with a surface that takes to a sticker.

I think stickers are an awesome and important element of graffiti and street art, giving artists a way to quickly and less incriminating way of sharing their work. Stickers, slaps, slap tags – whatever you call them are a worldwide culture, pretty much every city in the world I’ve been to – there are stickers everywhere (I’m currently writing this article while in Tokyo – which has been well and truly slapped, so to speak).

I’ve enjoyed watching new stickers appear over the years as existing artists evolve and new ones appear. Although, I can’t recall anyone that’s caught my eye as much Goon Hugs. Goon’s stickers are not only unique, they’re also prolific and often cover entire shopfronts, abandoned spaces and objects, even a drunk person passed out in a shopfront in one instance haha. This guy is out of control. His stickers are mesmerising and somehow beautiful.

I also love tags and mad hand styles. As I always tell the non beleivers (generally the “I love that street art, but i hate those tags” type people, tags are beautiful. They represent some major dedication to an art form, they are an individual’s own font, typeface, style. I’d much prefer to see a full window of tags rather than a dull, drab abandoned and unused space, or horrible generic advertising.

Not only is Goon Hugs a sticker machine, he also has a massive interest in all things stickers, tags and throwies, which he continues to document in his zine “Goon Pizza”.

Check out some photos of his work below and also make sure you follow him on Instagram to keep up with his latest escapades.

I caught up and had a good chat with the Goon himself, and this is what we talked about.

LM: Generic question, I know, but what does your name mean? It fascinates me, considering goon is one of my most used words haha.

GH: I got my name from when I used to drink goon and do bongs as a filthy teenager and when ya mix that with emotions you just wanna hug everyone. Simple as that. It’s a fun name with good and bad references that people can relate to.

Note from Luke – Goon is an Aussie colloquialism for cheap wine.

LM: How did you get into what you do?

GH: I first got attracted to stickers back in 2007 when I did graphic arts in the city everyday. I was turned on by seeing tags & little characters on stickers on signs in alleyways, that I lost my shit. I just wanted to be part of this very underrated scene. Took me a while though to become as consistent as I am now.

LM: Your tag looks (to some) like an alien text. Where does it come from? I love it!

GH: I’ve always been into tags that have a really clean, fast flow. So I tried for years to perfect this. I got inspiration from the Thai language as they have a lot of loops in their letters. I don’t think there’s ever a time when your tag stops evolving. Mine is always evolving as the flow gets faster and I start to add organic lines and curves to create the ‘interest factor’. Which I think is something you gotta have in a tag. Some line to make it go POW!

LM: You clearly are one of the most prolific slap taggers in Melbourne I’ve seen for a long time. How many slaps do you reckon you’ve put up?

GH: Wouldn’t know to be honest. I’m a gentleman. It would be arrogant of me if I knew though. But every now and then I see an old sticker and I have no recollection of when I put that there. To be honest, I feel like I haven’t done enough.

LM: Are all your slaps hand done, or do you photocopy some of them? Doing so many tags looks therapeutic, is it like that for you?

GH: When I bomb windows, I usually print them off ‘cus its fast ,easy & for me free and then I use wheat paste to put ‘em up. But for general get-up most are hand done stickers/duck tape. I can tag stickers at my desk all day long, listening to mad beats with no breaks, so it definitely is therapeutic. You could call it my day job. Unfortunately it doesn’t pay too well.

IMG_4417
Goon House – Photo by Goon Hugs
IMG_2065
Goon Stop – Photo by Goon Hugs

LM: You don’t just put your slaps up, you completely take over spaces, which I love. Is this just a sign of your prolificness/obsession or do you do this for another reason?

GH: When I first started I just thought why stick one behind a sign or on a poll when you can stick a few hundred in one spot and get full impact from the pedestrian traffic. I don’t ever think for spots where the sticker will last. To me it’s about getting ‘ridiculous’. Literally a sticker bomb. Using up all my supplies so I go home empty handed and enjoy a nice goon sac or two. Someone’s gonna notice something that’s over saturated no matter what. Most of my true fans are Real-estate agents and the Yarra & Darebin councils.

LM: How do you feel about advertising? I’m guessing you’re not a big fan?

GH: To me everything is advertising and we’re all advertising ourselves to an extent. But for some who got the big dollars they can put their shit on anything for as long as they want. Sometimes I paste on advertising spots like bus/tram shelters. To take the focus away from the one light box ad they have, I paste my fluoro tags over all the glass panels. I’ve had hundreds of stickers on a ‘for lease’ shop front window for over a year. I mean that’s basically the same as a billboard except it’s free. The average Joe won’t have a clue as to what it means, but the name ‘Goonhugs’ already has quite a cult following.

LM: What’s with the Japanese references in many of your slaps? I can read it funnily enough, and it always gives me a good laugh.

GH: I just like how Japanese typography looks. Sometimes I camouflage my tag onto flyers in Japanese to paste on polls/walls. Also the translation doesn’t always work and it gets random and funny.

11378500_680618068750938_1944618717_n
Japanese Goon – Photo by Goon Hugs

LM: AS.250? Is this your crew name? Are there any other members, or just the Goon?

GH: AS.250 stands for ‘Adhesive supasta’ and 250 is the bus route outta the ghetto. Not part of any clan, just me the wondering goonsman, although if I did have a wing person shit would be a lot easier to do and Melbourne would have one of its biggest litterers on a rampage.

LM: When do you do your work?

GH: Depends on certain spots I got planned out. Sometimes in peak hour traffic, sometimes from 3am to 8am. I sometimes only bomb shop fronts during peak hour as people just wanna get the fuck home and have their dinner so not many people will hastle me plus there is not many cops on patrol. Also, Rainey evenings are a good easy cover. Summer is the worst. People will not go home.

Processed with VSCOcam with m3 preset
Goon Taxi – Photo by Goon Hugs

LM: How do you procure your materials?

GH: If I told you my main source I’d be out of the job. But usually, most shops that sell adhesive products will let you take a free sample guaranteed, as long as the product can fit down your pants or in a green bag.

LM: Have you done any collabs?

GH: I’ve done some off the mill quick collabs with a few mates but nothing really spesh.

11379931_740735942704293_1189655475_n
Goon Pizza – Photo by Goon Hugs

LM: Tell us about your Zines. How many have you done what are they all about?

GH: My zines(GoonPizza) are up to its 5th issue. They’re just a quick documentation of graffiti bombing around the northern areas of Melbourne. I find there’s a lot of stuff on instagram but eventually it all gets lost and forgotten. But having a homemade publication that you can produce and distribute online and through mates is a good way of preserving that time when that person got up or remember when this crew was fuckin shit up. My most popular zine was a super thick sticker zine of stickers all over Melbourne that got sold very well and had to make a second edition.

LM: You’re clearly a massive fan of slaps, tags and throwies; so who inspires you and why?

GH: The crazy Japanese bombing scene, it is off its rocket. Absolutely nuts! The Melbourne locals getting around and getting up hard inspire me too. Can’t go wrong with BTM, AC, PAA, TGF, ID, CI, CME, RPG crews. The list goes on I love ‘em all really. Also, a little cute shout out to Mio and FELON!

LM: I’ve been loving your little dioramas you’ve been doing of mini shop fronts etc, how do you make these?

GH: I just make these out of foam and cardboard just as an off the clock thing to do. Trying to capture local buildings but in a grimy, abandoned, graffiti bombed kind of way.

LM: What else do you have planned for 2015 and into the future?

GH: I’m not into talking myself up, but I hope to be the longest serving sticker bomber in the universe. Definitely gotta put the CBD on goonhugs lockdown at some point. The streets are too clean. Otherwise, keep doing what I do best. It makes me happy and I’ve met a lot of fans when I am out and about which totally bamboozles me as for me it’s just simply putting up a piece of paper. How can people like this? Shits real cray!

11353503_1445610342409003_1674050712_n
Goon Hugs – Photo by Goon Hugs
IMG_4273
Goons for lease – Photo by Goon Hugs

Check out more of Goon Hugs’ photos on his Instagram page here.

All photos and videos courtesy of Goon Hugs.

SOFLES – Graffiti Mapped – Presented by Juddy Roller

SOFLES - Photo by David Russell
SOFLES – Photo by David Russell

I was going to wait for my Jan/Feb post which is coming very soon, but this can’t wait and deserves its own post.
A few months ago SOFLES came to Melbourne to paint this EPIC piece. Selina Miles and the guys from Juddy Roller were also hanging around, so there bound to something special going on… Special is not the word to describe what came next.

The piece itself was spectacular in black on a all white background – reminding me of a raw sketch straight outa Sofs’ black book. I also love how he left all the raw throws and tags around the piece. The piece was painted over 3/4 days using a massive crane and a fuck load of paint. Note the cheeky PORK roller that just popped up recently..

After the painting was completed – that’s when the projection mapping started. You can tell by the video that’s it’s an excruciatingly detailed process – which is also evident in the final production.

The production was a part of Melbourne’s annual ‘White Night’ Projection festival. This year was the first time graffiti and projection were combined. Clearly a great idea as the project attracted hundreds of spectators.

Shaun Hossack, creative director for the project (who also runs Juddy Roller studios and runs one hell of a party) did a fantastic job bringing all the parties together and providing overall direction.

From the Press Release: “Over 5 stories high, Sofles’ inner city mural is his biggest work to date. Add to that Grant Osborne’s incredibly detailed motion design and a musical score by New Zealand music producer Opiuo, and you have a truly innovative work of art. Visible for one night only, but destined to leave an impression on the city’s skyline Sofles – Graffiti Mapped was one of the most exciting events of the entire White Night Melbourne festival”.

Check out the full length video below to show the full projection sequence – it goes for about 7 minutes in total.


Also make sure you check out the incredible video below by Selina Miles (director of the famous/viral Sofles – Limitless video) of the end to end process. Selina’s videos not only show off Sofles’ amazing work – they also pay homage to the process and the context around the piece as well ad the scale. I love the movement of the lift with the music and the use of a drone camera (from UAV drones) also brought a great perspective to this piece.

I can see this graffiti mapping business has a big future – the possibilities are endless. Unlike other forms of moving art (e.g.: INSA’s gif-itti) this form has so much more flexibility (and while labour intensive for the projector – much less laborious than re-painting an entire wall).

Watch out for my January/February Melbourne post – coming soon..

Photos courtesy of David Russell.

Video courtesy of Selina Miles and Sofles.

Projection by Grant Osborne.
Music bu Opuio.

2014 Melbourne Catch Up and Wrap Up

WOW! It’s been way too long between posts! I feel bad that I’ve not been sharing all the goodness that is Melbourne over the last few months, so here’s a catch up of what I’ve missed and other cool stuff happening in and around Melbourne. Also my New Years resolution for 2015, more posts on Vandalog! 🙂

Streets and Walls

There’s never a shortage of new stuff going up in Melbourne, here’s a selection of some of my faves snapped by Melbourne’s finest paintspotters over December. In summary – Lister was in town briefly, he painted and did a few ad takeovers, some super fresh graff by some local and visiting legends. My faves are Jack Douglas’ monster, Senekt’s fluro body parts, RASHE’s pieces, a couple of dope Putos pieces and of course the absolute burner by Bales and Skale.

Lister 3. Photo by Dean Sunshine
Lister. Photo by Dean Sunshine
Lister. Photo by Dean Sunshine
Lister. Photo by Dean Sunshine

Continue reading “2014 Melbourne Catch Up and Wrap Up”

PUBLIC by FORM Gallery – Perth – Western Australia

ROA - Photo by ROA
ROA. Photo by ROA.

I’m back after a brief blogging hiatus. I’ve been meaning to post my review for this great event that happened back in April over in Western Australia for a while now…

Leaving a cold wet 17 degrees in Melbourne, I was pretty damn excited to fly to Perth on the 10th of April, right in time for the grand finale of PUBLIC by Form Gallery in Perth, Western Australia, which I posted a preview of a while ago.

I arrived to a perfect sunny 30 degrees and soon as I hit the ground, I had a good feeling about Perth, I hadn’t been before, but something felt right. I went straight to the hotel and dropped off my bags, and went for an explore. Within a few hundred metres of my hotel, I could see the amazing Phlegm and ROA murals in progress. I made a beeline straight for them. Upon entering the car park I also saw the work of many other great artists. The works were spread throughout the CBD and inner city suburbs. Here’s a selection of some of my favourite pieces from the event.

ROA - Photo by Bewley Shaylor
ROA. Photo by Bewley Shaylor.
Pixel Pancho - Photo by Dean Sunshine
Pixel Pancho. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
Pixel Pancho - Photo by Pixel Pancho
Pixel Pancho. Photo by Pixel Pancho.
Pixel Pancho - Photo by Pixel Pancho
Pixel Pancho. Photo by Pixel Pancho.
Phibs - Photo by Luke Shirlaw
Phibs. Photo by Luke Shirlaw.
Hyuro - Photo by Luke Shirlaw 2
Hyuro. Photo by Luke Shirlaw.
Hyuro - Photo by Luke Shirlaw
Hyuro. Photo by Luke Shirlaw.
Phlegm - Photo by David Dare Parker
Phlegm. Photo by David Dare Parker.
Alexis Diaz - Photo by Alexis Diaz
Alexis Diaz. Photo by Alexis Diaz.
Alexis Diaz (detail) - Photo by Alexis Diaz
Alexis Diaz (detail). Photo by Alexis Diaz.
Amok Island - Photo by Amok Island
Amok Island. Photo by Amok Island.
Ever - Photo by Ever
Ever. Photo by Ever.
GAIA - Photo by Dean Sunshine
GAIA. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
GAIA and Ever - Photo by Brendan Hutchens
GAIA and Ever. Photo by Brendan Hutchens.
Lucas Grogan - Photo by Dean Sunshine
Lucas Grogan. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
Lucas Grogan - Photo by Jean-Pierre Horre
Lucas Grogan. Photo by Jean-Pierre Horre.
2501 - Photo by Luke Shirlaw
2501. Photo by Luke Shirlaw.
Maya Hayuk - Photo by Jean-Pierre Horre
Maya Hayuk. Photo by Jean-Pierre Horre.
2501 vs Maya Hayuk - Photo by 2501
2501 vs Maya Hayuk. Photo by 2501.
Beastman and Vans the Omega - Photo by Dean Sunshine
Beastman and Vans the Omega. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
HEAVY Projects - Photo by Dean Sunshine
HEAVY Projects. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
HEAVY Projects - Photo by Dean Sunshine
HEAVY Project. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
HEAVY Projects - Photo by Dean Sunshine
HEAVY Projects. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
HEAVY Projects - Photo by HEAVY Projects
HEAVY Projects. Photo by HEAVY Projects.

While the event spanned over ~30 days, the main event was the painting of Perth’s 1st ever giant murals over the last 3/4 days of the event. In total there were around 30 murals painted for the event, spanning across the City of Perth. I was very impressed by the organization of the event by the FORM Gallery crew. With a logistical nightmare trying to coordinate over 45 artists, paint and equipment, all in 35 degree heat, the FORM Crew did an amazing job, Well done guys!!! A very friendly and hospitable crew. Thanks very much for taking such great care of us while we visited.

There was a great selection of artists from ac cross the globe representing all different styles and genres. Unfortunately there was no graffiti, but I suppose street art was a big stretch for conservative Perth, so graffiti may have been avoided for this reason. For a city not really known for street art, the public reaction was encouraging. People of all ages and walks of life filled the city over the weekend. I love walking around randomly and listening to some of the conversations and questions people ask each other. In particular I was really impressed by the public’s reactions to the HEAVY PROJECTS installations (interactive works of art that use Augmented Reality on smart phones and tablets). Here’s a short video the guys out together to document the event (plus some footage from a previous project).

Re+Public: Austin + Perth from The Heavy Projects on Vimeo.

On the Friday night there was also a great show at FORM Gallery – PUBLIC SALON showing off canvases from the contributing artists, some great work on display, check out some shots here.

And finally. This great video by Chad Peacock is a really accurate representation of the event and well put together. Damn it takes me back!!!


The FORM guys also took a number of artists to visit the Pilbara, a very special part of top end of Australia with breathtaking views and incredible nature (also sadly known for mining – the 2 don’t really go hand in hand). A few of the artists had a paint while there, I particularly like the piece by Remed.

Remed - Photo by Ben Fulton-Gillon
Remed. Photo by Ben Fulton-Gillon.
2501 and Remed - Photo by 2501
2501 and Remed. Photo by 2501.
2501 and ROA - Photo by 2501
2501 and ROA. Photo by 2501.
2501 and Alexis Diaz - Photo by 2501
2501 and Alexis Diaz. Photo by 2501.

After all of the above, any street art fan in Perth would have to be pretty happy, but it didn’t stop there. FORM has continued putting up murals in Perth, with Creepy (aka Kyle Hughes-Odgers) painting at Perth Airport (a sponsor of PUBLIC) and also Vans the Omega and Beastman’s new piece that went up last week.

Kyle Hughes-Odgers - Photo by  Kyle Hughes-Odgers
Kyle Hughes-Odgers. Photo by Kyle Hughes-Odgers.
Kyle Hughes-Odgers - Photo by Kyle Hughes-Odgers
Kyle Hughes-Odgers. Photo by Kyle Hughes-Odgers.
Vans the Omega & Beastman - Photo by Jarrad Seng
Vans the Omega & Beastman. Photo by Jarrad Seng.
Vans the Omega & Beastman (detail) - Photo by Jarrad Seng
Vans the Omega & Beastman (detail). Photo by Jarrad Seng.

What I loved most about the event wasn’t just the art, and was not unique to PUBLIC; is the sense of community I felt. This is something I really love about the street art scene. I got to catch up with some great old friends, and made some new ones who I will undoubtedly randomly catch up with again somewhere around the globe.

Fingers crossed that this event is on again next year. I will be there with bells on!

If you are in Perth, check out the full list of artists and the mural map. FORM has also put together this short book called PUBLICation available for Purchase at the Gallery and viewable online for free here. FORM have also started “PUBLIC Urban Art Walks” to give fans a guided tour of the city, well worth checking out.

Ok, so that’s enough, right? Actually no, there’s more. And it’s massive. Due to some logistical 😉 issues SANER was unable to make it over for the original dates. I was gutted to hear this when I found out, but when I found out FORM are still bringing him over in August to paint in Perth and also the Pilbara, I was pretty damn excited! I’ll make sure to cover this later in the month.

Photos courtesy of: ROA, Dean Sunshine, Bewley Shaylor, FORM, Pixel Pancho, Luke Shirlaw, David Dare Parker, Alexis Diaz, Amok Island, 2501, Ever, Brendan Hutchens, Jean-Pierre Horre, HEAVY Projects, Ben Fulton-Gillon, Kyle Hughes-Odgers, Jarrad Seng.

Melbourne Monthly Madness – February (belated) 2014

Still playing catch up on my posts, so here’s my favourites from February. Lots of great stuff yet again in February featuring works by Melbourne’s local talent and a few from our many interstate and international visitors.

To start off the month AllThoseShapes brought us some great bits and pieces, including this great paste from Lucy Lucy, another neon piece from Straker (loving this new style of his), some more rad stencils from Akemi Ito, this apt piece by Spie with an angry gorilla commenting on taggers in Hosier and Rutledge lanes (2 of Melbourne’s most tagged/capped lanes) and a couple of slaps from MIO, who is killing it at the moment with stickers and lots of throwies around town.

Lucy Lucy. Photo by AllThose Shapes
Lucy Lucy. Photo by AllThose Shapes.
Straker. Photo by AllThose Shapes
Straker. Photo by AllThose Shapes.
Akemi Ito. Photo by AllThose Shapes
Akemi Ito. Photo by AllThose Shapes.
Spie. Photo by AllThose Shapes
Spie. Photo by AllThose Shapes.
MIO. Photo by AllThose Shapes
MIO. Photo by AllThose Shapes.
MIO. Photo by AllThose Shapes
MIO. Photo by AllThose Shapes.

Dean Sunshine captured these great abando pieces by Slicer, Rashe and Jaw. A shot of the finished wall at the annual Park St Party paint up by Mayo, Steve Cross, DVATE, Ethics, Askem, Sat, Porno, Awes and Simple Sime. And finally 3 from Dean’s top ten, amazing pieces by Choq and Sueb, Makatron and SAGE.

Slicer. Photo by Dean Sunshine
Slicer. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
Rashe. Photo by Dean Sunshine
Rashe. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
Rashe. Photo by Dean Sunshine
Rashe. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
Jaws. Photo by Dean Sunshine
Jaw. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
Mayo, Steve Cross, DVATE, Ethics, Askem, Sat, Porno, Awes and Simple Sime (Park Street Party). Photo by Dean Sunshine
Mayo, Steve Cross, DVATE, Ethics, Askem, Sat, Porno, Awes and Simple Sime (Park Street Party). Photo by Dean Sunshine.
Choq and Sueb. Photo by Dean Sunshine
Choq and Sueb. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
Makatron. Photo by Dean Sunshine
Makatron. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
SAGE. Photo by Dean Sunshine
SAGE. Photo by Dean Sunshine.

David Russell was a busy man as usual. Rad pieces from the Pull UP party at Juddy Roller (which saw a full repaint of the space) by Choq, Slicer, Shawn Lu, Adnate, Jaw, Rashe, DEAMS, Taylor White and Brian Itch. A nice new piece from Kaffeine. And finally Ink and Clog, who visited us from Singapore, painted these 2 great walls. I’ve also included another great shot by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva showing a different perspective again of the Hosier Lane with his awesome 180 degree technique.

Choq. Photo by David Russell
Choq. Photo by David Russell.
Slicer, Shawn Lu, Adnate, Jaws, Rashe. Photo by David Russell
Slicer, Shawn Lu, Adnate, Jaw, Rashe. Photo by David Russell.
Slicer, Jaws, Shawn Lu Rashe, Adnatea and DEAMS. Photo by David Russell
Slicer, Jaw, Shawn Lu, Rashe, Adnatea and DEAMS. Photo by David Russell.
Taylor White. Photo by David Russell
Taylor White. Photo by David Russell.
Brian Itch. Photo by David Russell
Brian Itch. Photo by David Russell.
Kaffeine. Photo by David Russell
Kaffeine. Photo by David Russell.
Ink & Clog. Photo by David Russell
Ink & Clog. Photo by David Russell.
Ink & Clog. Photo by David Russell
Ink & Clog. Photo by David Russell.
Ink & Clog. Photo by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva
Ink & Clog. Photo by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva.

Ink and Clog also put this short video together after their trip to Melbourne.

Phoenix the Street Artist -  Photo via Invurt
Phoenix the Street Artist. Photo via Invurt.

Finally I had to include this interview by Fletch from Invurt with Phoenix the Street Artist, one of my favourite interviews I have read in a long time, about one of my favourite Melbourne street artists. (Check out his work here).

That’s all for February. March post coming soon.

Photos courtesy of AllThoseShapes, Roberth Pinarete Villanueva, Dean Sunshine, David Russell and Invurt

Video courtesy of Ink and Clog

Melbourne Monthly Madness – January (belated) 2014

Ok, So I am a few months behind on what’s been happening in Melbourne since the start of the year. Summer in Melbourne is always action packed with lots happening. Here’s some of my favourite work from January. February and March posts coming soon.

AllThoseShapes is always capturing all the happenings on the street. I’m loving Akemi Ito‘s stencils that seem to be popping up everywhere lately, I not only like the imagery but also his process drawing, inking and cutting each stencil from scratch. Good to see some new stencils. A great paste by Lifetime Stickyfingers and I love these abstract pieces by Quellle Atak and Madmax. AllThoseShapes also released his new book Figment – which is available here. A great book.

Akemi Ito - Photo by AllThoseShapes
Akemi Ito. Photo by AllThoseShapes.
Lifetime Stickyfingers - Photo by AllThoseShapes
Lifetime Stickyfingers. Photo by AllThoseShapes.
Quelle Atak - Photo by AllThoseShapes
Quelle Atak. Photo by AllThoseShapes.
Madmax - Photo by AllThoseShapes
Madmax. Photo by AllThoseShapes.

David Russell, chief photographer at Invurt, has really stepped up his game lately and has captured some amazing photos. I have also included a couple of shots below Dave’s by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva, a new photographer in Melbourne, to show the contrast in styles. I love what Roberth does and his shots give you an amazing and different perspective of the works. Roberth takes photos from all angles and then combines them, with stunning results.

Adnate and Two One - Photo by David Russell
Adnate and Two One. Photo by David Russell.
Adnate and TwoOne - Photo by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva
Adnate and TwoOne. Photo by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva.
Adnate and TwoOne - Photo by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva
Adnate and TwoOne. Photo by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva.
Kaffeine - Photo by David Russell
Kaffeine. Photo by David Russell.
Kaffeine - Photo by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva
Kaffeine. Photo by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva.

Awesome pieces by Putos, Style, Straker and TwoOne. I’ve also included a shot of Keith Haring‘s mural painted in the 80’s which was recently restored (and if you look closely some idiot has tagged it already, hmmm).

Putos - Photo by David Russell
Putos. Photo by David Russell.
Straker - Photo by David Russell
Straker. Photo by David Russell.
Style - Photo by David Russell
Style. Photo by David Russell.
TwoOne - Photo by David Russell
TwoOne. Photo by David Russell.
Keith Haring (restored) - Photo by David Russell
Keith Haring (restored). Photo by David Russell.

One from StreetsmART featuring Senekt‘s infamous fingers  alongside another stencil by Akemi Ito.

Senekt & Akemi Ito - Photo by StreetsmART
Senekt & Akemi Ito. Photo by StreetsmART.

And to finish off the month, here’s my picks from Dean Sunshine’s top ten – great pieces by Shida, Senekt and DEAMS.

Shida - Photo by Dean Sunshine
Shida. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
Senekt - Photo by Dean Sunshine
Senekt. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
DEAMS - Photo by Dean Sunshine
DEAMS. Photo by Dean Sunshine.

Photos courtesy of Dean Sunshine, David Russell, AllThoseShapes, StreetsmART and Roberth Pinarete Villanueva

PUBLIC – Art in the City – FORM – Western Australia

A little while ago I heard whispers of something big happening in Perth, Western Australia. I usually only cover Melbourne based art and events, but this is an exception and needs to be shared. I’m heading over to Perth tomorrow so I will be covering the remainder of the event for Vandalog.

PUBLIC started on the 5th of April and continues through to the 13th and will feature street art, projections and installations across the city. 45 amazing artists will paint over 30 giant murals and walls over the fortnight.

The line up is mind blowing and an Australian first, with names like 2501, Phlegm, Yandell Walton, Hayley Welsh, Jordan Seiler, Jerome Davenport, Amok Island, Ian Mutch, Casey Ayres, Chris Nixon, Darren Hutchens, Martin E Wills, Paul Deej, Daek William, Stormie Mills, Hurben, ROA, Ever, Kyle Hughes-Odgers, Peche, Natasha Muhl, Phibs, Beastman, Lucas Grogan, Andrew Frazer, Hyuro, Mekel, Mow Skwoz, Drew Straker, Jaz, Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, Maya Hayuk, Reko Rennie, Pixel Pancho, Jetsonorama, Gaia, Alexis Diaz, Nathan Beard, Remed, Vans the Omega, The Yok and Sheryo and more.

Here’s a couple of work in progress shots I stole from Sam Gorecki via Invurt. More here.

Pixel Pancho - Photo by Sam Gorecki
Pixel Pancho
Phlegm - Photo by Sam Gorecki
Phlegm
ROA - Photo by Sam Gorecki
ROA
Phibs - Photo by Sam Gorecki
Phibs
The Yok and Sheryo - Photo by Sam Gorecki
The Yok and Sheryo
Maya Hayuk - Photo by Sam Gorecki
Maya Hayuk
Lucas Grogan - Photo by Sam Gorecki
Lucas Grogan

More to come once I get to Perth.

Photos by Sam Gorecki

Interview with Junky Projects

Junky Project. Photo by KayVee.INC.
Junky Project. Photo by KayVee.INC.

Daniel Lynch aka Junky Projects is and has always been one of my favourite Melbourne street artists. The reason is simple, because he’s different. Junky’s creations are a breath of fresh air in Melbourne’s street art scene. With his red hair and awesome taste in fashion, Junky is also one of the most interesting characters in the scene.

Junky describes his work on his website: “Essentially I create sentinels from junk and install them in strategic positions around the place to help remind passers by that if they continue to create so much waste in their lives one day it may come back to haunt them.” I find this idea fascinating and I love finding new characters around the city staring down at me from lamp posts and walls. He also makes amazing sculptures much greater in size than his street work.

Junky has a show coming up on the 21st of March at Dark Horse Experiment called Wasted. I’m looking forward to seeing what he creates for the show. You can see more of his work via this Flickr pool.

I recently caught up with Daniel and this is what we talked about…

LM: Where did your name come from?

JP: I had been toying around with the junk medium for a little while and using old tags that I had been using previously for straight up bombing, but it didn’t seem right. At the time there were a lot of artists popping up with really unusual names, and I dug that straight away. The old kinda more traditional tags were sorta flashy and 80’s sounding. When I heard tags like ‘RotGut’ Or ‘Snotrag’ I thought these were the kinda tags that stood out for me and sounded different. Because I was using recycled waste materials in my work I decided ‘Junky’ sounded like a nice brutal tag and straight away it stuck. But that was when it was all more anonymous. There is a certain luxury in the anonymity which means you can call yourself whatever you want. But then some dickhead Melbourne “Art Critic” took it upon himself to announce on the internet my real name and tag, so I had the problem of people coming up to me at shows calling me Junky, which can be awkward in certain situations. So I added the ‘projects’ part to kind of try and separate the person from the work a little, So that I am Daniel Lynch and these are my ‘Junkyprojects’.

Junky Projects - Photo by AllThoseShapes
Junky Projects. Photo by AllThoseShapes.

LM: Where did the idea for your characters come from? How did you come up with the idea?

JP: Coming to Melbourne from a smaller town like Newcastle can be a pretty intimidating experience. I had been making art, working a bit of graphic design and getting really involved in the graff scene for some time and of course Melbourne is the place to be if your into that stuff, so down I came. But once your here there are so many big personalities and crazy painters doing their thing everywhere, and doing it well. I just felt like my old approach to getting up was pretty much just that, old. I had seen some work by some guys around the world installing plaque’s and mosaics, even ‘Fuckin Revs’ steel welded sculptures, and I decided to have a crack at something like that. The junk aspect came naturally. I’ve always collected weird crap that I find, this just gave me an outlet for it. Once I put a few up they were really well received so I kept at it. Now its just a snowball I can’t stop.

Junky Projects - Photo by AllThoseShapes
Junky Projects. Photo by AllThoseShapes.

LM: How long have you been doing what you do? How did you start? Have you always been into art?

JP: I grew up loving art. Art galleries were always amazing beautiful special places for me as a young person. Somewhere to go think and reflect. Very early on I decided that I wanted to be an Artist, but as it goes everybody around me told me that it was a silly pursuit for Bleeding hearts and hopeless romantics, fraught with poverty and woe. Of course I paid no mind and went ahead with it anyway. I did a Visual Communications Degree at Newcastle uni and came out a qualified Graphic designer, but I hated the idea that it was now my job to help the advertisers of the world sell crap to the public that they shouldn’t buy and don’t need anyway. So I decided to use my powers for good instead of evil. I’ve been working as Junkyprojects now for about eight years.

Junky Projects - Photo by AllThoseShapes
Junky Projects. Photo by AllThoseShapes.

LM: Are there certain materials you like to use the most?

JP: I love the look of old rusty steel. For my street work that’s the best. I also love using old timbers because they have such a rich history. A block of wood was once a tree, then maybe a carport, then maybe get thrown around for a dog to chase, then washed out to sea, makes its way back onto shore and into one of my sculptures, I like those possibilities. Theses days though im really enjoying building sculptures with polystyrene packaging. Its such a disgusting oil based waste product which is available in such abundance if you just look. But it’s also really light and quite strong, and I love the shapes that are inherent in the forms already when I find the materials.

Junky Projects - Photo by AllThoseShapes
Junky Projects. Photo by AllThoseShapes.

LM: What do you always carry with you on the street?

JP: Hammer, Extra Nails, Stickers, Sunglasses.

LM: Tell us a little about the process. Do you make these characters at home or in the studio and then attach them to things? Or do you make them on the fly?

JP: Usually I make them at the studio, I’ll collect up all the crap I need and the assemble a heap all at once then go out and install them, easy. Sometimes if I’m out somewhere having fun installing work and I run out of pre made pieces, I might make some there on the spot with whatever I can get my hands on. That’s where the spare nails come in.

LM: Aside from your street work, tell us a little about your larger sculptures? Where can we see some of these?

JP: The larger sculptures are just a natural flow of the work I guess. The street pieces are just quick tags for me so I like to put some more time and effort into larger work sometimes. And sometimes I install the larger stuff out and about. There are still a few around Brunswick I think, but because of the ephemeral nature of art out in the streets and because I’m kinda making it all up as I go along, a lot of the bigger stuff has disappeared. But keep your eyes peeled for more to pop up soon. Also the best place to see my larger sculptural work is at my exhibition on Friday.

Junky Projects - Photo by AllThoseShapes
Junky Projects. Photo by AllThoseShapes.

LM: Do you dabble in any other forms of art? Like aerosol for example?

JP: I’ve always painted aerosol. I love the freedom and the social aspect of painting with a group of mates. It’s good to keep those skills and stay up. And Graffiti will never die.

LM: Apart from your art work, how else do you contribute to Melbourne’s street art culture?

JP: Well I’m a tour guide for starters, so I take tourists and school students around to check out all the amazing art in our alleys and laneways, that keeps me busy. I also do a lot of workshops with young people and disadvantaged youth. Those are great. We really get to engage a wide cross section of kids who are all facing different issues. Art can be a great outlet for these kids and being able to do something creative often really makes a difference to their lives.

Junky Projects - Photo by AllThoseShapes
Junky Projects. Photo by AllThoseShapes.

LM: Tell us about “Wasted” your latest exhibition at Dark Horse Experiment? What can we expect from the show?

JP: Wasted is a collection of sculptures, collage, assemblage and installation which for me are all to some extent about magic and myth. All these materials have a life force and a spirit and when we turn materials into waste that spirit is broken down . When I create artworks from these wasted materials it feels like I am creating a new life force and a new spirit for that object. The work I have created seeks to harness this mythology and manifest it into real objects.

LM: What else is coming up for Junky Projects in 2014 and beyond?

JP: Who knows. I’d really like to get out and do some serious traveling over the next few years, maybe some artist residencies here there and everywhere. I’m also really interested in going out into regional areas and partnering with some of these communities to create public artworks made from local waste products. Basically I just wanna get out there and make much more art in many wide and diverse places. Have hammer, Will travel.

Junky Projects - Photo by AllThoseShapes
Junky Projects. Photo by AllThoseShapes.

Photos courtesy of Junky Projects, AllThoseShapes and KayVee.INC

Adnate – Paint UP – Hosier Lane – Melbourne

Adnate - Paint UP - Hosier Lane
Adnate – Paint UP – Hosier Lane

I’m happy to finally share this project with Vandalog. Completed in late February, Hosier Inc’s 1st project “Paint UP”. It’s been a long time coming and lots of hard work by the members of Hosier Inc, a not for profit community association made up of anyone that loves Hosier and Rutledge Lanes, the community, residents, local businesses, and artists themselves. (Formed in order to oppose the installation of CCTV cameras in the lanes).

Not to mention the amazing piece itself by Adnate! Painted over 3 days using a swing stage to access the canvas, conveniently available while the building owners repaired the damaged wall. Not only is it a beautiful piece, it also has real meaning and a real affinity to the location.

The project was called Paint UP; a simple play on words; extending access to artists to the untouched walls (never painted before) above ground level in Hosier and Rutledge lanes, 2 of Melbourne’s most recognised street art locations.

From Hosier Inc: “Six artists were invited by Hosier Inc to submit a concept for a large-scale image to be painted on the rear of McDonald House in Hosier Lane. The successful proposal was to demonstrate a rationale and a design that showed an affinity with the location of the wall & building. Members voted and selected Adnate’s submission”.

Adnate’s submission was a portrait of an indigenous boy looking over the lane way & out towards Birrarung Marr – a sacred indigenous land mark in the centre of the city.

(For more information on the project check out the Hosier and Rutledge lanes blog and the vimeo page).

I’ve always thought we are missing one vital element as a recognised street art city, more giant murals in the city itself. This is a good addition to the few we have in central Melbourne and I hope there are many more to come!

The reaction to the piece was also very welcome. Two major newspapers ran the story, as well as every Melbourne news station the evening the piece was completed.

This great video by Michael Danischewski gives you a glimpse of the piece being painted over 3 long days, as well as these awesome photos by David Russell.

HOSIER INC, Paint Up! round 1 : ADNATE from Michael Danischewski on Vimeo.

Continue reading “Adnate – Paint UP – Hosier Lane – Melbourne”