What if there was no internet?

I Love Melbourne graffiti

I had this thought the other day. At what stage does a graffiti artist see his/her self retired? I thought this as someone from Queensland asked me who was rockin Melbourne? I had the instant urge to reel off a whole bunch of old school names and then I checked myself by saying they dont actually write anymore but really rocked my world. So at what stage are you retired? I figure if you were a true writer then you never really quit, even though your not active. It must be kind of like heroin?

Then I wondered what the old schoolers who didn't have internet or a gammit of books and magazines thought of newschool graff? Back in the days there probably wasn't the same level of diversity but due to the lack of external influence there was more inovation for the slower progressive changes that occured.

Thats not to say that new cats don't have style or inovation, look at Melbournes AEON. Theres a stylish dude for you. And inovative for a world full of stymulas. But what if there were no internet graff, would there be so many middle rung writers? It seems that the internet has raised the bottom level of graff and street art and lowered the top. So what if there was no internet art? Would this level change of happened normally? Would the inovators of old still be as innovative and would the youngsters be as fresh? Would we have some of the interesting Post New York styles that we now have? And the 3D action? Maybe DAIM would paint flat? Thats alot of to think about? On that note I will.
Peace..

Graveyard of the giants

It always amazed me how so many humans can be hearded into a rectangular steel box on wheels and extradited from place to place. I mean really, those boxes were clearly made for painting.

Well if you ever wondered "where have all the good times gone", this is it! Imagine tonnes of rollin steel not rollin and not much more then steel. Its a tetnus playground.

The beauty of this however was seeing all the old schoolers come out bang one more out for oldtimes sake. I really enjoyed an old school hero of mine NEW DMA having the props of a half cut up car laying upside down two storries up. Irony, the king returns to take the top of the pile one last time. It would of impressed me even more if there was a TAME DMA lying next to it. Just like when I was young.

Anyway, we are still working on the I Love Melbourne all planet mission which has tempted many. I feel that it wont be too long before we get up in Japan and New York!

Till next we meet.. Peace..

I thought I'd sweeten the deal with some colours. Hope you enjoy

Where have all the good times gone?

Its funny how people can obsess over trains. Some of us go to all means to get a photo of a painted train. I recently saw a very intense arthouse movie that had a fleeting scene of a train going past with graffiti on it. I flipped out and lost focus on the story line.
Then I returned to my cafe conversation I had with "Conservatore-queen of the stoneage" and wondered what she would think of where a train ends up. This is what her tax dollars protected. Meantine a pile of scrap matel grows and dissapears faster then it can gather rust.
I also wonder what countries like india think where the railaways are considered as noble a profession as teaching or medicin. Would they be apposed to a nice burner on a train?

I Love Melbourne Graffiti All City, All Planet!!

I often have deep and meaningful conversations about thigs that are both deep and meaningful. I suppose thats the way it go's except for graffiti conversations. They always tend to scratch way beneath the surface of what I normally consider deep. This one is excluded.

So picture a cafe, which I can be often found in, a book which I have a tendancy to read and a T-shirt that states the obvious, (please see black t-shirt picture below). Across from me are are two, lets say mature ladies that look like they never left Camberwell for more then 2 hours. Camberwell is a well-to-do suburb that is lined with the spoils of oldish money. Looks can be deceiving so I proceeded not to notice them.

Then they opened the wrong can of worms. "What is Melbourne Graffiti?" they asked.
"Its just that, graffiti that is created in Melbourne", (makes perfect sence to me?).
It is at this point that I get the lecture about "the guy that graffitied my fence and I'm a home owner and moral citizen to boot".
"What if it was a girl I asked"?
So I put it to them not to tar all urban artists with the same dirty tar stained brush and consider that some of us are not 14 years old bombing their fences(however some of us are). That would be their grand children.
I then proceeded to ask them if they or their family members drove cars and had any infringments?
Reluctantly they said "yes" (eventually) and I proceeded to argue that if they would of been jailed for speeding would that have improved their life in the long term?
"Of course not", they reply. So how does a kid that tags a fence become an artist, painter, designer or creater when some tags give him a police record? They have race tracks for car enthusiasts but they dont have practice walls for muralists.
"Ever thought of letting someone paint your fence with your permission? It would save you on money for painting it yourself and give you the time you would loose in painting it for regular yourself".

It was with that I belive the seed was planted to grow the graffiti vine. All it needs now is some water and sun!

This returns me to a little experiment that I would love you to take part in:
In the graffiti world it is everyone's dream to be all city. Well in this age of internet I'm aiming to go all planet!
I had this idea to invite owners of I love Melbourne Graffiti shirts to photograph themselves wearing the shirts anywhere on the face of the earth! Imagine some cat wearing a shirt on a Norwegian fiord, or on the Harbour bridge in Sydney or painting a tube in London. The posibilities are endless.

I shall endeavour to take a crazy Melbournian picture soon to set the scene unless someone beats me to it.
Stay tuned for the next rant and some visual gems..
Peace..

I Love Melbourne graffiti

Some of you may be wondering what inspired the obviousness of the slogan "I (Heart) Love Melbourne graffiti.

It came about slightly prior to the beginning of the March 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth games. During this period city of Melbourne and the state government decided to wage a war on the graffiti in Melbourne to improve the image of the Melbourne landscape for the consumption of our arriving visitors. Putting your best foot forward for the world to see I dig, it's good business. It's not so good business when you denounce a culture that for the years prior you have attempted to nurture. As Kenny from Beat Street said, " you can't just take a bite and leave the rest".

So off they went buffing Graffiti from the inner sanctum of the city leaving us with nothing more then detestable advertising and stains from where the homeless people used to exist.

Then I had a plan! Just as the memory had stuck in my head from those crappy I (Heart) Love NY t-shirts and their ugly stepchild I love Whatever else, I would create a newer, drastically more aesthetic bordering on FRESH t-shirt that put my passion and support out there in all it's glory!!! I (heart) LOVE MELBOURNE GRAFFITI....( and I do)

Off I went and created a small empire that has now amounted to nearly 70 or so t-shirts with props in places like Melbourne of course, Holland, New Zealand, Norway, France, Canada and also to our brothers in arms over there in Sydney. This is the spirit that founded the I Love Melbourne Graffiti ethos. If you dig it you can get on board at "This is it"- Swan Street Richmond or email at ilovemelbournegraffiti@gmail.com . Ain't nothin but a "G" (graffiti) thang baby.

So now you know what we represent lets interact...