Surface intermediaries
Some of the matter that keeps matter together on city surfaces
The binding materials, intermediaries, glues, props.
Value of matter
What happens to public signs when their communicative potential is lost and they become redundant? Is this now just another obsolete piece of urban infrastructure? Can we describe the value of the matter which accumulates here, at the base of this street pole?
KGLW Brunswick graffiti
A local wall story...
These messages have been appearing on walls around Brunswick and Coburg in Melbourne's inner north for a couple of weeks now.
Raw, desperate emotions of alarm and vulnerability
Like writing a personal letter of heartbreak in an open envelope
Bring the chaos
Disorder is generative
Lack of clarity is inclusive
Mess is historical testament
A redemption of art
I wrote a redemption of ART in the conclusion of my book, as a useful category to define urban spatial production. This URBAN ART can be, as Lefebvre suggested, the art of inclusive, plural, agonistic cities: urban art as an art of the city, not in the city or about the city; not for the city or like the city; but THE ART OF PRODUCING THE CITY.
Visual thinking
One of my favourite aspects to explore with visual thinking is the classificatory logic of patterns. Organising my photo archive is a monumental task and the classes of image-surfaces are usually determined by material, inscription type, scale etc - but then sequences emerge that are unexpected and stimulating.
Victorian graffiti
Chiselled inscriptions at the Cow and Calf rocks in West Yorkshire, dating back as far as the mid 19th century. It was really incredible to discover this "hall of fame" not having known about it - it helps put things in perspective in relation to the value and acceptability of marking places with names. How blind we still are at the cultural value of tagging in the same lineage! 😓
Surface dwelling
“It is in this sense that the surface can be read as an architecture. Not only is it constituted as a space in itself; it is a maker of space. Furthermore, the surface has the character of architecture in the crucial sense that it is not flat. This surface is…
Book keywords
Compiling the index for my book today. Some of the keywords: semiotics, wall interview, order, public text, visibility, artwashing, criminal damage, value, moral panic, offence, spectacle
“love” Athens
Weathered, dusty, forgotten surfaces holding on to the voices that claimed them with bygone vigour
