As a regular bystander/walkerby I genuinely enjoy any kind of street art. Street art, public art, graffiti, 'vandalism' * ; Stuff that people make or do, usually for free, for other people to see or interact with, usually for free. Massive concrete canvases completely covered in a plethora (eh? eh?) of colour and shape; tiny spaces on public walls meticulously tended to with ink; sculptures taking up empty patches of footpath; even the glorious simplicity of a snickering street wang (actually these are almost my favourite).
* I'm not talking here about breaking stuff, or intentional destruction of stuff people like to use.
They
aren't always aesthetically pleasing. But neither were some of the
spaces they were put on. They all give varying degrees of delight. They
expect nothing back. There's no pressure to interact, only to observe.
And think what you will.
So from here to gardening. Specifically. geurilla gardening. Phwoarrrr! What better threesome could there be in the world??? Public space, art and gardens! Graffiti gardens! Using the same basic principles of our spray can artists but using shovels and dirt instead. Taking the private out into the open to share. Can't paint or draw? Dig.
The obvious appeal is the garden itself as a shared thing. The slightly less obvious appeal, however is the subtle dissent. Dig up a space WITHOUT PERMISSION and destroy it with er, flowers and plants. Yeah, take that!
It doesn't take a very long web search to find all sorts of exciting people taking on the streets at night with hoodies, hoes and shovels to become geurilla gardeners.
Here's a guy, Steve Wheen from London, who does it in potholes:
http://vimeo.com/41441550
He professed his inspiration came from this guy, Richard Reynolds, also from London, referred to as 'The Godfather of Geurilla Gardening' (nice title, mate):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCy76mePNyo
And these ladies take on the dangerous but essentially dorky mission of 'Seed Bombing' with a spot of Dad's jokes thrown in for good measure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWvp_EoRxY0&feature=related
When I went looking for a Melbourne-centred gang of rootsy rebels I was a bit disappointed to find the scene a little more murky. Stories about councils banning geurilla gardens and good intentions gone sour in the sporadic efforts of a few locals. And in the wikipedia article, even a mention of minor disputes between Melbourne geurilla gardeners over the true purpose of the illegal public garden.
It was heartwarming to finally come across Permablitz - a group that come hang out in your backyard of lawn for a day and help you turn it into a permaculture bonanza.
(The tagline - 'Eating the suburbs, one backyard at a time' Rad). Ok, so backyards aren't really public space. And in terms of breaking the rules, there's not much action. But it's a start at least.
I feel like there's more to be seen about geurilla gardening in Melbourne. And I, for one am all for it.
So, anyone out there know of a good curb side or median strip?
No comments:
Post a Comment