Super proud of my Seattle bestie @bookish_md for her cool new book which is a Seattle Field Guide to exploring nature in the city. We explored some rare wildflowers a little beyond the city…
Been cruising construction sites with K again. Call me a materialist but i find these places both super inspiring and totally appalling in their detritus. The resonance of such non-places is obvs in my work ‘Skip’ 2024 - the last two pics, shown in @m16artspace members show 2024. It’s intended as a piece about work and waste and the fine lines of value that divide the good the bad and the ugly.
Just yesterday i was having a conversation about Kodachrome with @martyn_jolly and today i noticed this slide on my desk - taken 60 years ago. My parents had recently met and were enjoying a trip to the Snowies. Long live the slide.
About 15 years ago I wrote a paper, with my colleague Sue, about Wandjina-like graffiti popping up in Perth streets. In Freo, 2025, and these little pen drawings appear on a rock by the beach. This is of course a complex issue - if you want to read our thoughts on it from back then the article is available online in Humanities Research.
It was great to catch up with old CBR friends @brunswickstreetgallery for the opening of Katie’s show ‘Blue Poles is Not a Park’. The show continues until Nov 30. i’ve included a couple of my personal faves here and the gallery has a great website if you can’t get there in person.
About 20 years ago I did an archaeological study of graffiti in Fitzroy, Melbourne. I published my results and ideas in the journal Archaeologies a couple years later. Yesterday i stumbled across the same laneway! Back then there were no smartphones so I was tempted to do a quick update - much easier to record today. And can i say the technique, scale, styles and content of the graffiti has really changed, much like it seems to have across Naarm/ Melbs generally. Way less stencils and way more stickers; political messaging and pop culture references continue to emerge but the times have changed. Big eff off wildstyle tags seem to have taken hold of the surfaces though…
My article is online if anyone wants to read it.
Images 3-5 from ‘back then’ all others Nov 2025.
#graffiti in #melbourne, #contemporary#archaeology #messaging #street art #urban#surfaces
If you happen to be in Naarm / melbourne later next week you can see Katie Hayne’s ‘Blue Poles is Not a Park’ exhibition at brunswick street gallery.
image 1: Jean Baptiste Apuatimi Crescent, 2024, Oil on board, 41x51cm. image 2: KH in her studio
