Street Art helps Perth stand taller and encourages community engagement (Public Perth 2014)

It’s not often you get to be on the ground when a city ramps up another notch. I was incredibly lucky to be in Perth when 45 urban, visual, and digital artists transformed 30 walls. In the coming posts I’ll be showing how some of these works evolved. In the meantime here’s a taster of what happened during the week that Perth grew taller, and an example of how Street Art helps foster community engagement.



Street Art Public Perth Phlegm © The Ponder Room

 

The transformation began with a huge piece from UK artist Phlegm. While its sheer size captured the public’s attention, it was the astonishing detail which kept us all spellbound, coming back for more. 



Street Art Public Perth Phlegm © The Ponder Room

Nearby Stormie Mills worked his magic, adding yet another ponderous piece to Perth walls.


Street Art Public Perth Stormie Mills © The Ponder Room

For nine days the inner city beeped as large cherry picker cranes and smaller scaffolding rigs were inched into position. Up a bit, left a bit, down a bit, stop. It was simply a matter of following the beeps until you stumbled upon another blank wall being brought to life.

Street Art Public Perth Phibs © The Ponder Room

On the way to Wolf Lane we passed US artists Jordon Seiler and Heavy Projects , their piece asks you to download and App. When you look at the piece through the App the images move.

Street Art Public Perth Jordan Seiler and Heavy Projects © The Ponder Room

 
Then there was Jetsonarama or ‘Chips’ in Tiger Tiger.



Street Art Public Perth Jetsonarama © The Ponder Room

Wolf Lane was festooned with more pieces, including:  

Maya Hayuk’s vertical patchwork quilt



Street Art Public Perth Maya Hayuk © The Ponder Room

 

Alexis Diaz’s weedy seadragon

Street Art Public Perth Alexis Diaz  © The Ponder Room

These were just a few of the images. The climax was the Opening Night party at Form Gallery where the artists gathered to show and sell smaller works. The party spilled out into Wolf Lane where fairy lights merged with colourful projections, installations, DJ’s and impromptu conversations with artists and strangers.

Public Perth  © The Ponder Room

Public Perth  © The Ponder Room

Public Perth  VJZoo© The Ponder Room

1. The Public Perth exhibition had me exploring the city with new eyes. Sending me down laneways I never knew existed, and several I usually wouldn’t dare to enter. I never realised there were so many blank walls in the city;
2. Being able to quietly watch the artists at work was priceless, like being given a chair in a one on one Masterclass in Street Art;
3. The combination of artistry and digital wizardry used by Jordon and Heavy Projects was fascinating;
4. I can’t imagine the stamina required to keep backing up each day, adding line after line to a wall that’s exuding intense heat on a 35 degree day. It’s a wonder all the artists retinas weren’t totally fried;
5. How amazingly friendly the artists were. Street Art doesn’t only break down cultural and age barriers, it also seemed to provide a gateway into the ‘ubber cool’;
6. I also found myself in conversation with complete strangers, some short, some very, very long. The art gave strangers permission to connect;
7. Here’s hoping at least one or two policymakers got out amongst the crowd. This was Place Making and Community Engagement at its best;
8. It’s a shame that everyday life will see some of these pieces hidden behind cars;
9. Could we be so lucky as to have repeat performance in a year or two?
10. The final word goes to one of the interstate artists who said …

Huge congratulations to FormWa for all the work involved over the past two years. What a huge, huge effort, I hope they all feel suitably proud. Not only have they ignited the city and changed the skyline forever, they’ve also given a Masterclass in community engagement. Here’s hoping the friendliness and yarns continue.

Did you get along to see any of the art, what did you think?