URBAN INTERVENTIONS - THE JESUS OF STANLEY STREET

The Jesus of Stanley Street

Harry Seidler's Horizon in the background

Sydney has a burgeoning street art scene with new works appearing every day. Stencils and paste-ups are the mainstay of the Urban Interventionists and the Jesus of Stanley Street is an example of the former, executed in black paint on the interior facade of a dilapidated building on the corner of Bourke and Stanley in Darlinghurst - note Harry Seidler's Horizon in the background. The building has council approval plans so the Jesus of Stanley Street probably won't be around for much longer! 

URBAN INTERVENTIONS

What are Urban Interventions? In what way do they alter the urban landscape? Some may consider uncommissioned public art as petty vandalism, others as enriching the tapestry of the built environment. Yet Culture Jamming surely has a valid place in a society dominated by the media, and journals such as Adbusters do a great deal to legitimise the plight of grassroots interventionists. The following are recent excerpts from the UK's Guardian newspaper:

"Princess Hijab: underground resistance

The Paris metro system is under attack - by graffiti artist extraordinaire Princess Hijab, who provocatively adds veils to billboard advertising"- http://bit.ly/aMYhyR

"Graffiti art divides councils' opinion

Is graffiti a renegade art form or a public nuisance? Hackney council is demanding a giant rabbit be whitewashed while Brighton is using graffiti as advertising" - http://bit.ly/bgtE0r

URBAN GROWTH - c3 ASAKUSA, TOKYO

                                                
The Central Capsule Co-operative, Asakusa. A project attempting to synthesize the characteristics of modern Japanese instant gratification, exemplified by the myriad vending machines littered around the streets of Tokyo with traditional Japanese artisanship to create a modular building capable of reprogramming and upgrading in response to evolving social needs. The building grows organically from the fine-grain of the pixelated urban landscape with discreet capsules morphing over time and changing the overall form.