Participation

Most days I'm in town, I have a look around different laneways, and try and check out the street art 'hotspots' (Hosier Ln, Centre Pl, Union Ln, etc). There are always people taking photos, and enjoying the art. Fair enough; it's Melbourne, and the city certainly has a well justified reputation. It does frustrate me though. Not the picture taking (people should embrace art), but what I see as lack of participation. It seems like loads of people observe, but don't realise that it is super easy to be a part of street culture. I believe it's a right (almost imperative) that people interact with their environment. It's yours. Engage with it. Do whatever you want.
Tonight I did some pasting, slightly drunk (thanks Riki!). I put up 60 hearts. 60. And it was super easy. And fun. And think of how many people will see them (and hopefully smile a bit. Or engage romantically). One guy said 'you're doing a great job'. Get out there and do something. You'll probably surprise yourself.
(I also found (via the lovely Georgiebird) this picture by Vivian Maier, which made me want to cry. I drew a picture of it - I was happy with how it turned out)

Flash

I have a new job - it's at Palais Westgarth cinema. That meant I was able to leave the soup cafe, which I was happy with. I've had three days between ending that job and starting the new one, and I was determined to make the most of them. After blogging yesterday, I caught the train to town for a bit of exploration, guided by the rather intriguing Deductive Logic Test, set up by CDH. Aided by my map book, I found the first part of the puzzle, and solved each step before moving to the next one. It was really fun, and very well put together - their work is great, and fits the environment so well. I enjoyed finding my way around new lanes, and there were plenty of interesting distractions along the way.
I stopped by ACMI to watch a bit of American Night, a five channel installation which was very inspiring. I read a few design magazines at Mag Nation, and found a piece about maniac crochet artist Olek. Fantastic! I'd seen her work, but it had been uncredited (big online faux pas). I caught the train home, and watched the world flash past me, zoetropically. Lying in bed, my mind flashed dozens of creative plans.

Wish Box

Here's a new project I came up with. It's called Wish Box, and aims to make the world a wee bit better
 

It's simple

1. Write your wish on a slip of paper
2. Put it in the box
3. I'll try and make it come true.









I hope that it will get people to think about what they really want. Then I can try to make it happen. I figure most wishes will be anonymous, so perhaps I can turn the wish in to a random good deed. Raise the World Goodness Total a bit.
Wish Box is in place now, attached to a traffic camera on the south east corner of the Colombo/Bealey corner.

The city

The central city is still very much cordoned off, though access is slowly being allowed. I had a look on Google maps and street view to remind myself what parts of the city looked like. Knowing that they've changed, and that everyone is disconnected from those changes is saddening.
Sometimes I think about the streets of the city, and how empty they are, and how lonely the city must be. There are no people flowing through her, and she seems very frozen in time, from what I've seen. In particular, I like the street art in Christchurch, and knowing that so many pieces are sitting, unseen, in the CBD, feels very empty. Street art requires an audience, and is the work of individuals in response to the urban environment.
Last night I was very pleased to find the work of two of my favourite individuals on Flickr. I really love Vision, and how creative and versatile they are. And it feels like Vacuousity really 'gets' Christchurch, and has done some very inspiring pastes (you've quite possibly seen them).

(On the topic of street art: the latest video from Blu is mind blowing - Big Bang Big Boom)

World Buskers Festival

This week, the World Buskers Festival has taken to the streets of Christchurch, and it's been fantastic. As you may have gathered, I really like spending time in the central city, and it's brought plenty of other people in to experience some really impressive acts. Buskers from all around the world have been performing on a number of stages around town, and it's added to a real vibrancy, which feels cyclical as the performers are encouraged by enthusiastic crowds. The quality of performances I've seen range from 'pretty good' (Jonathan Burns) to 'awesome' (BlackStreet Boyz) to 'astonishing' (The Flash). Even if I've not been overly impressed with the routine, almost all the performers I've seen are funny and entertaining. And making me laugh is always worth at least a handful of change.
I didn't catch much of last year's festival, but I'm pretty hooked, and would want to support it to make sure it stays in Christchurch. The international performers it attracts have vastly overshone the locals that I've seen, (perhaps it's the exotic, or all their experience) though I'm yet to catch The Boy With Tape On His Face, which looks brilliant. If you're in Christchurch with some spare time this week, I'd highly recommend checking out - it'll be the best value for money entertainment you'll find

Cupcakes for Christmas!

I hope you had a nice christmas. I called my family in Palmerston North, and had lunch with Gina and her family. It was really nice. In the late afternoon, I went pasting with some friends. It was still light and I wanted to give the city a present. The City Council has erected a number of very helpful information signs and maps about the city centre. Quite fortuitously, I found that a cupcake pasting I'd made perfectly covered the council logo at the bottom of these signs. I made up a new 'batch', and went about giving all the signs we could find a fun addition.

I think the council do a generally good job, though cupcakes make for a nicer logo. Christchurch City Council = CCC = City of CupCakes.
Thanks to Jasper for the photos

In the city

I really enjoy spending time in the central city, as you probably could've guessed from a number of my posts. It feels like there's always the possibility for discovery: you can see people living their lives, evidence of their previous actions, or completely serendipitous moments. The thing that continually surprises me is that everything, everything, is the result of human action. All the buildings, every sign, each piece of graffiti - all were done by a person, at some definite point in recent history. Adbusters often talk about the disconnect with the natural world, which is certainly a problem, but being able to connect with people, directly or implicitly, in an urban setting, is something I will never want to stop.
To that end, about a month ago, Simon and I were exploring a carpark, when we found a basketball hoop on an adjoining rooftop. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, we settled on Christmas Eve as the date for court action. Today, he and I and six other friends squeezed through a gap in the fence, and shot some hoops on a lovely day, in a place that just seemed perfect.

Streets

I went out pasting for the first time in a while (well, maybe two weeks). I'd been a bit bummed out at failed attempts, and windy evenings, and really needed to get out and get some stuff done. It feels like I need to do something grand and definitive, I'm just not sure what that something might be yet. I've nearly finished a large project, which I'm quite excited about, but tonight I stuck up a bunch of leftover cupcakes (I'd made ~40).
It was such a warm evening, and felt so peaceful. I made some paste and biked in to town. There were plenty of amazing night smells, and people were walking about. Some tourists were pointed in the right direction, which made me smile. Simon was cycling to work, and I bumped in to him in Victoria Square.
Down Cashel Mall, some people came and talked to me. They were really friendly, and we did a bit of pasting together. It's really great meeting people under such nice circumstances.
I felt in a pretty good mood about things.

Denouement

Last night I was in town, and it was warm and I was wearing short sleeves. And I biked around by myself.
I like being in town. I really enjoy the urban environment - it feels like it's all filled with so much promise of things to discover, people to meet, and occasions to stumble upon.
I made a couple of pastings that I wasn't happy with, and I started feeling really bummed out. It was frustrating because the rational and irrational parts of my mind were at loggerheads, and I knew which part should've won, but it's never that simple.
I rode home as fast as I could, listened to Matt and Kim, read Shoplifting from American Apparel and fell asleep, still not feeling quite right.

The Paper Heart Project

This has been going for a long time, though it's taken ages for me to actually post about it. It's pretty straight-forward though. A bunch of hearts, with nice messages, on the streets of Christchurch.
The two in the middle column were the first I put up, months ago. A few are left for people to add their own touches, like those on the right ('I Belong To Johnny -Bianca xoxo'; 'Dear Tracey... Love, Vincent').

Oh, love.

Falkor!

I recently bought a large roll (100m!) of newsprint, so large scale pastings are pretty much imperative. First up was Falkor, the luckdragon from The Neverending Story. I was really impressed with how he turned out. I first found some pictures online, and traced it from the screen to a transparency, before using an overhead projector to get the image on to some newsprint I'd stuck up on my wall. Then out to the driveway to poster-paint the lines, and cut him out.
T'nealle and I stuck him along the edge of a carpark building. Neither of us are very good at heights, so it was quite exhilarating, but it turned out so well!
If you'd to see him, head to the Lichfield/Madras corner, and look up Lichfield (he's above The Bedford)

We've made a dedicated paste blog at PasteCity. I guess there are questionable legal issues regarding pasting, so check in there for future updates (though I'll certainly be letting you know about the other awesome projects as they unfold!)

The Love Police

This was my first large scale wheat-pasting - it's based on a screen shot from this video, a montage of activity from The Love Police. It's pretty cool; some pretty inspirational and awesome quotes from a guy talking through a megaphone.

I used a bunch of sheets of A4, 6x4 of them. The paste was probably too thick, but overall, I'm really happy with how it turned out. Thanks to T'nealle for being my Wing-Paster. I was going to make a speech bubble, but wrote in chalk - I intend to change his message nightly.

You can head down Aberdeen St in Central Chch if you'd like to see him...

Street workers

I've lived in Christchurch for about four years now. The first two were spent in the dull, student-centred suburbs around uni. Then I moved in to town, and discovered real Chch. Which includes prostitutes. I live on a street parallel to Manchester, the main street for such business. It was an odd thrill seeing these women - I could conceivably pay them for sex. Walking home at night, I've found most of them to be very friendly and polite, and I return the courtesy.
For the most part though, things seem pretty terrible. Hearing people yell things at them from their cars is disheartening, as is seeing single men driving past, doing U-turns to reevaluate their options. Knowing that substance abuse drives a lot of women to the street is also really sad, and though it's decriminalised, it still seems very dangerous.
Most of the action takes place between Armagh St, and near Bealey Ave. One night, friends and I counted 17 women along this stretch. T'nealle and I pasted some messages last night, which read '11: Love Thy Street Worker'. I think it's a nice message (to clients, and the general public (they are part of our city)), and perhaps also suggested being an 11th Commandment - I'd like them to be treated nicer, and judged less.

Get well soon cards

I suppose I could say that this is part of my ongoing series of street art in response to the Chch earthquake. I was walking through town yesterday, and thought that some cards would make the city feel better. I didn't have any Chch-related images, so just used old National Geographics. T'nealle and I went pasting, and once again, these photos were taken by her (I really need to get a camera...). I don't expect them to last very long, but they say nice things like 'Dear Christchurch, Sorry to hear about the recent tremors. I'm hope things will be back to normal in no time, and we'll be amazing again. Best wishes.'
It was signed by stickboy, which I'm going to use for pastings in the future. It was my high-school nickname - partly (I'd like to think) due to my playing field-hockey, but mostly due to my rather slender build. I think it's a good pun now, what with all the sticky paste I'm using.

I also put this face on a light in the ground in the Square



I went for a walk up town the following afternoon. Four of the five cards had been removed (the card in the third pic is still there)

Stickers

Here are some photos of some stickers I put up around town back in June/July. My friend Daniela took the photos when we spent a really nice day together, eating lunch and walking around. Most of them are gone now, but I was really pleased to see one that said 'you are art' was still on Flour Power.

Urban

It was a Saturday night spent with a pretty girl. She picked me up from work and we walked town. Standing on a rooftop, you could see the lights of the city, and take your pick of which concert to eavesdrop upon. It's spring, and the air was warm and richly fragrant. We avoided the people yelling and lining up for clubs, but were entertained by a possibly homeless man who was drinking, and had been 'on the run from the police for five months'. We explored the art of my favourite alley-way, and I planned my own additions.
It felt like a perfect night, and it makes me feel a little giddy that someone so wonderful could come so out of the blue.

The Best of Christchurch

The university student's magazine Canta is currently running a competition called the Chur Chur Awards, where students nominate the best things to do in the city. I feel like my list is quite definitive, and that I know the city far better than the students who live near the uni (I love city living). Here are my nominations:

Best Video Shop - Alice in Videoland. Hands down
Best Live Music Venue - Dux de Lux
Best Music Store - Galaxy Records
Best Burger - Vege burger at Krishna Cafe!
Best Men's Clothing - Toffs
Best Op Shop - Toffs, or any of the City Mission ones. Plus the free shop!
Best way to spend Course Related Costs - High interest savings. Or... sexy new wardrobe
Best Movie Theatre - Rialto
Best Supermarket - Pak N Save Moorhouse
Best Pizza - Spagalimi's
Best BYO - Osaka
Best Bookstore - Scorpio, or Smith's, or UBS
Best Cafe - Soul Food
Best El Cheapo - ummmm - Good to Go? The one behind Whitcoulls on Cashel
Best Dairy - Laxmi Dairy, cnr Edgeware/Barbados
Best Takeaway Place near Campus - Captain Ben's
Best Recreational Activity - exploring the central city
Best Way to Occupy Your Time for Free - Chch Art Gallery. Or the library. Or exploring the central city

If you live in Chch, what are some of your favourites?