Thoughtful reflections on the ever evolving street art, murals and graffiti scene in Christchurch, New Zealand
Street Treats, Vol. 4
High and low, under and above, inside and outside, protected and exposed. The city presents innumerable contrasts, all of which can provide opportunities for intrepid artists. From graffiti writers marking spaces no one else sees as useful or functional, to street artists creating moments of engagement in unexpected places, a city is always full of sites to explore and alter. From rooftops to wooden hoardings, lampposts to stop signs, revealing, playful and existential interventions can be found across and beyond our lines of sight. This diversity of locations is matched by the diversity of practice, with no material form invalid or off-limits; Chero One’s rocket ships, painted scrolls, or even hot sauce-filled buttons warning you not to do what you so urgently want to do. Always mimicking the visual culture that we come to expect, such interventions play on our tendency toward assumption. Popular culture rifs depend on your recognition of trends and eras, like digital memes, requiring some savvy understanding. Anti-advertising grasps the ubiquity and absurdity of commercial communications. Graffiti is an expected response to our dictum that success means having your photo on a billboard or the back of a bus. Ultimately, the streets are full of life, both official and unofficial, you just have to look closer and further, higher and lower, under and above, and start to sort out the relationships…
Toothfish Posters make the existential environmental discourse public
While small stickers remind us of some enduring truths
All of you, most of you, some of you, none of you… The words of a Lord Huron song evoke the changing nature of relationships on a small scroll banner, best encountered at night
Lost among the barbed wire of the city
Mike Beer’s Do Not Press buttons appeared across the city, daring you to disobey (those that did were met with an ooze of sriracha sauce)
Cheros’ rocket ships require closer inpection on take off…
And as the fungi grows…
Funky traffic management by Akeem the African Dream, a paste-up by Bols
Step to the Exit keeping heads above the clouds
One really has to wonder about the impending end of the world some days…
The passage of time can make for the best curation (featuring Bongo, PK, Teeth Like Screwdrivers, Cape of Storms, Morepork and more)
As can carelessness.
So it helps to break things down and start over, maybe with a plan (like Teeth Like Screwdrivers)
And then just find your place in the world
Analogue memes, with Vez, Teeth Like Screwdrivers, LARFN, and Bexie Lady
Vez’s spoon radiates with light
Lyds’ flowers are a simple, stylised, beautiful presence in the urban setting
Cape of Storms invites us all to Taco Tuesday, where the conversation is always frank
While MFC Lowt perfects the art of glam rock…
Brandon Flowers gets political…
I can’t see anything.
Something so kiwi about this… Suzy Cato and burn-outs
Ghost Cats haunt the city
In New Brighton, the Couplands Laneway stays fresh, this time with work by TBE crew (PK, Oxy, Sucker, Foul, Vesil)
Location, location, location (Vesil, Look)
Juxtapostion, juxtaposition, juxtaposition (Dofey and PNS)
It’s all about angles with Vesal and Dregs
Fuk Toes…
Keep your distance, but always know where you are (IMK)
Reuben is an art historian, writer and curator. His PhD thesis explored graffiti and street art within post-earthquake Christchurch. He also serves as creative director and lead tour guide for Watch This Space.
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