Solo from Tas

 

Concrete animals

 Hobart has big concrete water tanks scattered around the outskirts of the city. Often perched high above in parkland well out of sight, these concrete animals make a perfect canvas for graffiti. Soloist one of Hobart's most consistent is found amongst the mix with Odius from IKOE crew displaying an ability to manipulate letters into a range of unconventional styles. Despite some uneducated jerk capping his first graffiti piece, the other 2 have remained untouched and respected for 10 years. 

Most Southern Street Art in Australia

50 minutes South of Tasmania's capital is a little town called Geeveston. Driving from Hobart you be welcomed by street art covering what would otherwise be plain steel objects. Here they are brought to life by artists like Odius and Seven (from IKOE crew, Incredible Knights of Enamel https://www.facebook.com/theikoecrew/). 

This is a great example of how street art can improve the local amenity. Surprisingly progressive work in what is a traditionally conservative town built on logging. 

From the late 1800's to now forestry has been a significant part of the town. More recently from 1962-1988 the major employer was the APM mill. In 1988 the mill closed with mounting debt. Geeveston became a ghost town during the 1990's and lost almost a whole young working generation. The town began a revitalization program spear-headed by locals.

In 2001 than premier Paul Lennon (see photo below) counteracted "the lack of jobs" by opening a 4.5 million dollar Tahune Airwalk. This was a step away from traditional source of income forestry, however ironically the company running it was and still is the controversial state owned Forestry Tasmania (responsible authority for earmarking forests for logging). In 1997 a Regional Forest Agreement between the state and federal government enabled a Victorian company to invest in Southwood timber mill. Now owned by Malaysian Timber company Ta Ann (to see more information about the company visit https://taann.wordpress.com/).

Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon (from 2004-2008) wanted forestry, conservation and tourism to co-exist. Forestry in Tasmania has regularly received priority over conservation due to perceived short term benefits like employment. The nature of the industry is unsustainable and detrimental to the ecological integrity of Tasmanian landscapes. 

Source-http://www.abc.net.au/landline/content/2004/s1181101.htm

Street Art projects like this one are essential for small regional towns to keep moving and adapting away from an unsustainable forestry industry. The regional community in Benella, Victoria has seen the potential benefits from Street Art and now holds an Annual Festival celebrating aerosol art. http://www.benallastreetart.com.au/

Related Links

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/go-fund-me-drysdale-group-street-art-project-john-drysdale

https://taswegian57.wordpress.com/2015/02/18/the-artist/

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Political Satire in Hobart of former Tasmanian Premier. For more info on Paul Lennon and allegations of corruption follow the link..

http://www.tasmaniantimes.com.au/index.php/article/lennon-the-claims-a-wrap 

Sirum

Hobart Graffiti

Sirum MSA, F1

http://www.ironlak.com/person/sirum/

https://www.instagram.com/sirumvsvenom/

The Hobart underground

Underneath Tasmania's capital city is the sandstone built Hobart Rivulet. Back in the day the Rivulet was an important source of freshwater for the aboriginal Mouheneener people and later on the early settlers. Without a reticulated sewerage system the rivulet was used as a dumping ground. In the early days of settlement the 1824 Hobart Gazzette described it as having "disgusting pollutions." From pollution to artistic talent, the rivulet is now visited by urban explorers and graffiti writers. It contains the longest continual graffiti wall in Tasmania making it a centrally important to the graffiti sub-culture.

Pieces occupy flat concrete walls, consistently throughout the underground section the rivulet. Much of the work has been done recently with no noticeable evidence of historic graffiti. Access and egress can be tricky with only one main entry point.

Source-http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-01/going-underground-in-the-hobart-rivulet/7676134

Tasmania's on fire

Every now and then you come across an abandoned house which is absolutely trashed. Wandering through it you wonder what series of events has caused the place to be so neglected. This place in Hobart is freaking weird. Its like someone had a crisis and just hoarded loads of furniture, books, magazines and clothes. But what caused the fire, deliberate or accident. Its strange because the house just sits there, time forgotten waiting for something to happen.

Bogan graffiti

 Desktop computer a sign from a different era

Floor filing system

Music that melts your stereo

West Hobart

This is an old house site in or near Knocklofty Reserve. The foundations are all that remains. Just enough space for a couple of pieces. Both artists using earthy colours to blend in with the natural surroundings.

Tassie Throw-ups

 Tassie throw up culture is vastly different to Melbourne. Throw-ups often last for years regardless of the skill or notoriety of the writer. Tasmania is a fascinating place for a case study of graffiti. The pre-internet era would have potentially shown an independent scene with no strings attached to mainland. Artists develop styles isolated to tassie, with a fresh perspective on graffiti. The scene is an intriguing graffiti experiment, constantly evolving in unexpected ways. 

Launceston

Since there is lots of other websites, fb pages and blogs devoted to inner-city graffiti and more so street art, here's some regional graffiti for balance from Tasmania's Northern city, Launceston.

Abandoned Woolshed, Launceston, Tasmania

North of Launceston CBD lies the suburb of Invermay. The town is largely built on a former swampland associated with the Tamar and North Esk Rivers. The low-lying landscape makes it prone to flooding. Markers on electricity poles illustrate past flood peaks (including the devastating 1929 flood). The Launceston City Council and Launceston Flood Authority have invested a significant amount of money to reduce the future impact of floods. In May 2015 Launceston councilors voted to demolish the former Tasmanian Woolgrowers agency store as part of the compulsory acquisition associated with the construction of the flood walls. 

This big building has been empty for a long time. There's plenty graffiti art accumulated on the walls. Its going to be sad to see another site lost to the "progress" of development. Local bmx kids have claimed the smooth wooden floors by sweeping tracks and making some sick DYI jumps.

Hobart Graffiti Video

For all the Hobart Kids..

Squatters, Junkies and Graffiti

Who would thought, a small town like Devonport with a multi-story abando. I remember when I first walked past in 2011 and I instantly wanted to know the story behind the bricks. Set back away from the slow hustle and bustle of Devonport this art deco building stands as relic of the past. A huge building dwarfing the adjacent residential area continues to sits silent. The local community have complained about the "eyesore" and want it demolished or redeveloped.   https://www.facebook.com/TheAdvocateTas/posts/615618835116339.

Its difficult to get projects moving in the small island economy of Tasmania. Devonport is suffering from the highest youth unemployment in Australia at 21%.

http://www.examiner.com.au/story/2108598/tasmanias-youth-unemployment-shame/

http://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/665713/lives-put-at-risk-what-will-it-take-for-someone-to-do-something-what-will-it-take-for-someone-to-do-something/

Mural-town Sheffield, Tasmania

Sheffield in Northern Tasmania is a great town for anyone to visit. The major tourist attraction is the murals  (Town of Murals) for which it is famous for. The town of just over a 1,000 people have held an annual international mural festival since 2003. There is a competition with a theme of which the nine finalists proudly display their artwork in the park. 

This is an interesting mural of work. The depressing mood of the painting is created using dull-grey and black colours. Then there is the shinning, bright, graffiti piece which draws the viewers attention. This mural is made interesting because its taken graffiti and put it in a positive position amongst the bleak urban landscape. Behind the built up society is a distant natural environment separated by an impenetrable concrete wall.   

This is a classic. The mural is titled "No Demands Land" spin-off of Van Dieman's Land (the name of the island prior to being called Tasmania). It really goes to show the relaxed nature of the Tasmanian lifestyle. 

 This is a graffiti wall in Sheffield. The legality of painting this wall is very unclear. There is no formal declaration by the Kentish council that it is a legal wall.

 The other icon of Sheffield is the incredible backdrop of Mt Roland (1234 meters) which sits South of the town.

Tasmania the "state of art"

Tasmania's graffiti dynamic is complex and diverse. Its geographical isolation is a driving force for new styles and concepts. Sure we may live in the age of technology where the internet is at our fingertips, but artists tend to follow and watch their own local scene. Devonport absorbs (probably because of the Spirit of Tasmania) a significant amount of artwork for the towns size. Launceston is a very progressive graffiti/street art town with the longest official legal wall I have ever seen. Hobart sits down near the bottom with a inner city graffiti scene which would rival much bigger Sydney. Tasmania probably has the highest graffiti to population ratio of any state in Australia.