Jacob Root, a.k.a Distranged Design has a way of getting on with things – whether it is flying across the world to immerse himself in the creative scene in Los Angeles, or staging exhibitions of his work here in Ōtautahi Christchurch, he tends to find ways to make things happen. For his latest solo show, Reclaimed, he set about making a body of work that both explored new ways of making (from paint application to the use of up-cycled materials), and found a space through a mural contact – eventually coming to life in a weekend pop-up show.
The well-attended opening night, despite the drizzly Friday evening, showed that Distranged Design has built a solid following of fans eager to see his latest work. The showroom setting afforded a spacious and uncluttered layout for his large works, many painted on recycled palettes and found objects. The styles employed also highlighted a changing approach, clearly influenced by the artist’s increasingly large mural works. The stencil background is still apparent, including the Snik-inspired Moire-styled technique, but a new painterly approach, deploying more freely constructed layers, is arising, an approach the artist admits is, in part, to give relief from the work-heavy cutting process.
Despite his youth, Distranged Design has been a presence in Ōtautahi’s scene for several years, and Reclaimed shows an artist beginning to explore new paths…
It has been a while since our last Street Treats volume (sorry about that, we’ve had a bit on…), but that means we have a pretty decent archive of the smaller things that make our city streets exciting – so we look forward to a slew of volumes coming thick and fast over the next few months! We think it is vital that the small details are given a platform, not least as we get closer and closer to the launch of our first ever Little Street Art Festival in November. It is the smaller things, the more subversive things, the thoughtful things and the rebellious things that make a city come to life. These things serve as a barometer of the multitude of voices surrounding us, not the authorised and endorsed, but the dissenting and adventurous. This is the driving energy of these Street Treats series, the desire to celebrate the full spectrum of urban art’s creative impulses. So we are proud to present this series of works, straight from our city to you…
This volume features work from Irons, KP, Dove, Tepid, bz.streetart, The Losers, Bloom, Bols, Astro, Dark Ballad, Klaudia, HonHonn, and tributes to DSOLV.
For the latest installment of Street Treats, we are serving up a selection of pieces, pastes, pixels, petals and beyond. From a reminder of an old pal’s legacy, to epic collaborations and tiny treats, the streets have provided a range of goodies. That is, of course, the joy of the urban environment as a setting for creative (and naughty) interventions, there is no curation. The result echoes the physical presence of our cities, where thousands, indeed millions of people interweave as they go about their own concerns, trials and aspirations. Any city is a collection of individual voices and the art of the streets reflects this diversity, each piece the compulsive expression of an individual that can be read in infinite ways by the passing audience. In a world where online communication has become increasingly toxic and antagonistic, the art in the streets provides something different, still capable of asserting beliefs and ideologies, but devoid of the escalating tensions or echo chambers of comment sections. Indeed, as one image attests, often the response to uninvited additions is not so much beautification as silencing, ensuring a monochromatic environment. So enjoy this platter of pictures and relax, our cities and our communities are not monolithic, and the streets provide the platform for that multiplicity…
The necessities are vital…
Wisdom is often silent. And old friends are found again – Carrot Boy in North Beach
Bloom’s ceramic works provide small surprises across the city…
Especially in contrast to some larger works
Ghostcat’s street pizza is a tasty treat
9 Iron shows the Hereford Street spot is still alive, for now
Big is good
Oxy goes psychedelic
OCKSY’s on call
PKAY shows small, in the right place, can be effective…
Anyone else a sucker for a beautiful doorway?
Drama above and an impressive collab below with a raft of names…
A Levi Hawken piece goes incognito
Beautification?
Cape of Storms’ newest works are vibrant reflections of nostalgic Kiwiana through the lens of new eyes…
Vez and friends Diva Dog and Fuzzy Logic
Who needs a billboard?
Major Tom? We need you…
Cropping is everything… Cape of Storms, Vez, Lost Boy and more…
Lost Boy goes off planet
Mark Catley celebrated another May the 4th with some iconic Star Wars toys Bossk and Greedo (Han shot first?).
and a lesser known Power Droid (yes I had to look that up)
A trip to Auckland provided some stencilled goodies… From social commentary…
to pop culture riffs
and Component’s stunning balancing act.
This throw back from Askew
was set against more fresh work…
And a reminder of the city as a site for exploration…
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland is a strange beast. It is the only mega-city in Aotearoa, and when you touch down from Ōtautahi it is hard to comprehend the sheer spread of the northern metropolis. While you can easily navigate Christchurch’s inner city in 15 minutes, Auckland’s urban centre seemingly sprawls on forever, with each area displaying a distinct identity. Our quick trip to Tāmaki meant we didn’t get to endlessly explore the diversity of the city, but we did get to see a fair bit of art. Of course, there is no chance we could have achieved a full coverage of the city, but what we saw, we loved. Auckland has the longest and largest history of Aotearoa graffiti and street art, so spotting a legendary figure’s name or character, whether fresh or faded, is always a possibility, but still exciting for a nerd like me, while you can always find a new name that is on the come up as well. It also has a truly urban feel, where you can get lost down alleyways, led by the trace of some preceding presence who was compelled to leave their mark. It is a real city, and it’s streets are always talking…
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Misery
Margarita Vovna
The Mercury Plaza and Sunset Tattoo, with a piece by Askew One above…
…with Deus nearby as well
Slime
03 Til Infinity by the Cut Collective
Askew One
And Askew One going way back on Ponsonby Road
BMD
Deus in blue…
Misery’s sculpture in K Road just outside St Kevin’s Arcade is a pretty fit…
The Whakaako Mural Collective’s Once a Panther, Always a Panther
Urban wordfinder…
Cheros One gets around…
All roads lead to Berst
DMYZER in the grease
Cinzah’s first Defend the Deep mural
Margarita Vovna and Oscar Low/Trust Me
Finn Gerry Wilson
Oscar Low/Trust Me
Component
Haunt
Frail
GBAK throwback
LSD
A visit to the Avondale Pavilion awaiting Race A2D’s touch…
Avondale Art Park
Ares Artifex
Fluro
Shane Cotton near the Waterfront
Excellent…
Here’s Johnny
Silence
Home Sweet Home
Even in a crisis
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Where should our next postcard cover? Let us know at hello@watchthisspace.org.nz
This edition of Street Treats is eclectic and varied, ranging from playful whimsy to blunt anti-establishment messaging. That ultimately is the beauty of guerrilla practice (or in the case of some of these works, permissioned but free from curatorial censorship), the opportunity to say what you want, how you want. As contemporary muralism has taken over the popular image of ‘street art’, it has also transformed the imagery and ideology deployed. While this still results in some pretty stunning works occupying our skylines and there are, admittedly, different levels of input and freedom, it is left to the smaller interventions to speak in an unfiltered voice. The content is not always explicitly political, but the act itself is, always. So whether it is a beautiful surreal flower sprouting from a concrete pillar, a constantly recurring pencil, playfully collaged scenarios, vibrant names or scrawled messages that question the colonial history of our city, look and listen, they are speaking to you and about us…
Lyds’ flowers are resplendent in their fantastical glory.
Teeth Like Screwdrivers knows the power of a splash of yellow, and it looks like Bexie Lady’s ghost does too…
While also recognising it can all be pointless.
Spoons and clouds and cats and Doctors… A doorway brings everyone along – Vez, PK, Vesil, Catscult, Dr Suits and more…
Spyrit keeps it subtle.
Cape of Storms issues a warning.
MFC Lowt’s surreal collage’s poke fun at pretty much everything…
…including glam rock
Trailer park philosophy from Ray…
Thinking…
Togo and Bongo slaps
SENZ slaps are some of the best going…
You cannot stop what you cannot see…
AIMS along the Moorhous Ave tracks
A busy track is always a sight to behold…
Weks in Bromley where houses can be interesting…
Morks out country…
New Vesil with the retro charo…
GOMSER
LEGO in New Brighton.
A tribute to JUNGLE by Ikarus, Drows and Semagol
Smeagol goes from the ground up.
How are we lads? Nice arrows…
Lost Boy’s illustrative drawings are always a treat…
No problems…
Cheros One’s sculptural installations are fresh, from tags like this to his rockets and fauna…
Googly eyed stencil cat with an on point message…
A kiwi paste up by Parisian artist The End of Animals reminds us of our heavy footprint.
While this kiwi seeks to escape…
Bols gets in on the crypto craze as Yasiin Bey looks on…
Nemo stencil tags…
and slaps.
Jacob Yikes and the spectre of death
While the Rolleston statue gets a blunt reminder of our history.
If you have submissions for upcoming Street Treats volumes tag us on Instagram or email your pictures to hello@watchthisspace.org.nz!
Wellington. It’s a personal favourite. The capital city is perfect for an urban weekend away, with it’s cool bars, vibrant street life and innumerable cafes for mornings after (personally, no trip to Wellington is complete without a breakfast burrito from Sweet Mother’s Kitchen). While Ōtautahi will always be home, a trip to Wellington always leaves me planning a return, looking for reasons to make my way back soon. The beauty of the city for me is that the main event (Wellington is a favourite gig venue personally) is supported so well by the city’s additional charms – I always take a day to simply wander, up and down Cuba Street, along the waterfront, up the hills, and in doing so, catch the urban art that marks its walls and alleys. From big murals by well-known local artists, to the array of smaller additions, Wellington’s urban art is always fun to explore and seems a good fit with the city’s lively profile and physical layout. From painted boats to schools of sharks, piles of skulls to bicycle rides, playful to meaningful, what follows is a postcard from Wellington’s streets!
Xoë Hall’s Bowie mural has become a much photographed icon in Wellington, to the point that the artist started a campaign to ensure artists were fairly acknowldeged for their work
BMD’s legacy can be found all over the city.
Including the massive anti-shark finning mural
While DSIDE’s work now extends from boats…
… to smaller additions.
DRYPNZ’s work is also prominent…
… with his stylisitic evolution evident.
Askew’s Rita Angus tribute mural is impressive
Sean Duffell’s work can be found around the city
While Cracked Ink makes a good pairing with Wellington’s own Garage Project
Fluro’s striking letter forms appear in a CBD side street
Burger Liquor not only takes care of your food and drink needs, but also features some rad art, by Los Angeles’ artist Steiner…
and our pal Chimp!
Out in Lower Hutt, a growing collection of murals includes work by the ‘Bird Gang’ Charles and Janine Williams (Phat1 and Lady Diva)
and Askew One.
But it isn’t just the obvious stuff. TOGO’s distinctive graffiti can be spotted in unexpected places…
and at different sizes
Alleys and doorways are busy…
HaHa’s robots can even be found if you look close enough.
T-WOOF
Bork! Bork!
Muchu 108’s radiant heart character
Gary Silipa’s piled skulls
Carrot Boy, DSIDE, Garyb Silipa, SMORE, VISAH and even UTAH and ETHER slaps
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)
As the city continues to shift, refresh and transform, the little things matter more and more. The vacant and damaged spaces that encouraged more bold and brazen interventions are now less prominent (some of our favourite spots around the city face imminent revitalisation). The necessary contrasts of our urban surroundings are increasingly supplied by the small, unexpected things, clashing with the washed concrete structures and shiny facades that continue to stretch and grow. (Do I sound like a broken record?) Those little details that make a city lived in and alive can raise so many ideas, from the explicit to the subtle, the pointed to the more amorphous and undefined. Yet in each case, their mere presence serves to explore what it means to be part of and have a voice within a larger conglomeration. They provide a sense of the human and authentic (with just a touch of dissent, of course) and signs of contrast and contestation amidst the monolithic towers of progress (both literal and metaphoric), .
This second volume of Street Treats features a host of artists and threaded themes, from the traditional, yet entirely timely ACAB/1312 element, to graffiti’s unerring ability to speak of ugliness and beauty concurrently, or in the case of Teeth Like Screwdrivers’ ‘buff bluff’, the inherent potential in the blocks of grey paint that cover graffiti. Levi Hawken’s concrete sculptures have echoed the physical make up of the cityscape while speaking of his graffiti and skateboarding roots, and notably the Black Lives Matter movement. Vesil’s graffiti continues to be a highlight, diverse and well-placed, with an assortment of accompanying characters and accoutrements raising the spectre of playful nostalgia. Anonymous scribes contest election billboards and the future of human utility (I think…), or more hopefully, remind us that ‘love is rife’. Stickers and paste-ups continue to have a rising presence in the city, with acerbic, humorous and intriguing additions to urban walls and fixtures. In the case of FOLT’s skull cut-outs, it is as much the absence as the presence that is striking as these popular sculptural pieces are removed. Cosmik Debris’ paste-ups suggest the molecular science behind all things and the scale of being, while Dr Suits blurs the line between art and advertising, without anything to sell. This collection revels in the details of the city, details that many overlook. Yet, when you start to look closely, there are always surprises, always discussions, and always alternatives…
At the risk of losing the graffiti purists in the room, while the rebellious and dynamic aesthetics of graffiti were an awakening of how art could be more than what I had experienced as a child, it was stencil art that was a better fit for my personal mode of expression. There are numerous reasons; from the punk aesthetic of early styles, to the specific yet expansive potential of the process. It still embraced the physical nature of aerosol (hard and soft lines, over sprays), but there were also the intricacies of cutting, breaking down an image, and the plates that became stratified objects of interest themselves (from plastic sheets, to light card, or even cereal boxes, the chosen material reflects an important aesthetic decision). Importantly, there was also a conceptual aspect, beyond the stylistic and procedural; something harder to express but imbued within the apparent urgency of street stencils.
While I have spent many hours in small studio spaces cutting and spraying stencils, frustrated at the things that go wrong, exhilarated at the discoveries that unlock new directions, there is something about the presence of stencils in the streets, sprayed directly on rough concrete or worn surfaces. Street stencils are a contemporary incarnation of a primal mode of expression, utilising new cultural references and tools to navigate the current landscape, while exuding a sense of a longer, often political, always existential, lineage.
While it may be the accessible, iconographic visual language stencil artists have harnessed (such as the pop culture imagery almost universally favoured by stencil artists still finding their style) that attracts many, for me, it is this connection to history, the sense that a stencil still represents rebellion, revolution and anarchy. Furthermore, the mechanical nature of the process renders stencils democratic; anyone can cut a stencil and produce an image. Of course there are stencil ‘superstars’, but there are also countless anonymous stencils, reveling in that anonymity and the act of painting in the streets.
The following images have been taken from the last decade, from Ōtautahi, around Aotearoa and even abroad. Some are by well-known artists, others are completely anonymous. Some are fresh and sharp, others faded and obscured. Some are sprayed on surfaces that make the image harder to comprehend, others play off the graffiti covered walls. Some are figurative, some use phrases, some are explicitly political, others harder to decipher. But each is an example of someone acting out, becoming part of that lineage and grasping the inherent qualities of stencils…
This month we continue with a guest contributor to our ‘And That Was…’ series. Since the start of the year, Millie Peate-Garratt has been working for Watch This Space as an intern through the Pace Programme at The University of Canterbury. For the last few months Millie has been hard at work developing our social media and generally being awesome, so we thought it would be a good idea to ask her to compile the ‘And That Was… May 2019’ list. From optical illusions to protests and video premieres, here is what Millie enjoyed throughout the month of May…
The S.A.L.T Mural – Evolution Square
SALT Mural, Dcypher and Paul Walters, with OiYOU! Street Art, Evolution Square, Tuam Street, 2019
This stunning optical illusion signals the inner-city return of OiYou! Street Art, who worked with local hero Dcypher and Paul Walters of Identity Signs, on this new addition to Evolution Square. Dcypher and Walters co-designed the transformative piece, drawing on their unique skill-sets to create a collusion of urban art and sign work. The mural was marked out simply with a pencil, ruler and three templates, with all the straight lines skilfully hand painted. Reading SALT and Ōtautahi in 3D, the piece beautifully alters the unconventional surface of the building in the newly branded S.A.L.T district (framed by St Asaph, Lichfield and Tuam Streets). The project kicks off the goal to bring street art to the blossoming area, with new buildings and shops in need of art to transform blank walls. This playful, spatial piece has done just that!
Community Projects – The Grove of Intention
The Connection Tree, The Grove of Intention, Rosie Mac and Kerry Lee with the people of Christchurch,Hereford Street, 2019
Christchurch has been host to a rising number of community-centric mural projects, providing a different presence from the collection of graffiti and street art landmarks. In May, I met with one of the creators of the Grove of Intention project, Rosie Mac. The Grove of Intention is the largest work of its kind in the world; a series of seven Gustav Klimt inspired metallic gold trees, inviting the public to give one-word answers to the questions posed by each tree. Providing a point of difference through its communal and participatory nature, which is as important as the visual manifestation, the Grove of intention is a unique addition to the Christchurch CDB.
Public Protests
Anonymous sticker, ‘Egg the Racists’, central Christchurch, 2019
Extinction Rebellion poster, central Christchurch, 2019
May has witnessed a number of protests and public conversations targeting social or political change. While this may seem a strange inclusion in this list, the energy of public activism is an important aspect of urban art’s history and potential – from scrawled messages in unexpected locations, to the placards and banners artists such as Keith Haring, JR and Hanksy have contributed to public demonstrations over the years (not to mention the humorous versions created by Banksy). The value of utilising public space to express the desire to be heard and for change, from striking teachers, to environmental activism posters and anti-racism stickers, is a central tenant of urban expression and reveals an engaged and active citizenry.
FAUP Crew – 2 FAUP 2 FURIOUS Video Premiere at Fiksate
2 Faup 2 Furious video premiere, Fiksate Gallery, May 2019
2 Faup 2 Furious video premiere, Fiksate Gallery, May 2019
On a cold Saturday night in mid-May, local skate crew FAUP took over inner-city gallery Fiksate to present the premiere of their latest video 2 FAUP 2 Furious. The event attracted a impressive turn out, with people crammed inside the gallery and pouring outside onto the Gloucester Street footpath. The vibe was enthusiastic and infectious, with the crowd living every trick, failed or nailed, documented in the funny, heartfelt production, a celebration of youthful, DIY spirit and the anarchic urban freedom of skateboarding
New stencils around town…
Unknown artist, stencil, NG building, Lichfield Street, 2019
One thing I have quickly learned is how street art and graffiti are ever-changing. One of the fun aspects of this state of flux is never knowing what will be and what will disappear. This May, I have been enjoying seeing new stencils popping up around central Christchurch, and this life-sized, ghostly apparition is a favourite. I would love to know the artist behind it, but the anonymity is also a powerful element…
So there is Millie’s top five from May 2019, let us know if there was something that caught your eye during the month, or if you have any reflections on Millie’s choices…
