Pristine Is NOT Cool!

Banksy, guerilla artist extraordinaire has written a piece for The Guardian about the evil of clearing Melbourne's graffiti in the face of the Commonwealth Games.

Melbourne is the proud capital of street painting with stencils. Its large, colonial-era walls and labyrinth of back alleys drip with graffiti that is more diverse and original than any other city in the world. Well, that was until a few weeks ago, when preparations for the Commonwealth games brought a tidal wave of grey paint, obliterating years of unique and vibrant culture overnight.

What would Brunswick Street be without all that stencil art? The huge Mickey Mouse? The little girls in gas masks? They had better not have touched them.

Where do people get off thinking clean is beautiful. Sure it has its place. A Japanese sand garden. A national park. But not on a street. Chipped paint and the ratty ends of posters stripped from brickwork by the rages of the week is what makes Melbourne streets Melbourne streets. There is wealth there. Layer upon layer of expression and history. Take that away and Melbourne will lose its soul.

And grey? Why choose grey. Surely a nice green would have been better, or yellow, it certainly would have been happier. Especially when the stencil artists return. And they will.

Until then you can check out Melbourne's streets on the web. I have posted a few links here but make sure you check out State Of Flux because they have a database of photos linked to maps and you can search by street. That is where I found Damien, one of my favourites on Leicester Street, Fitzroy.

Tags: art, graffiti, Melbourne