Outpost on Cockatoo Island

XX Mon. YYYY

For a start, Cockatoo Island has to be the grandest venue in the world for an arts festival. Set like a jewel in the middle of Sydney Harbour, the island is home to an industrial wasteland worthy of Mad Max #4. Enter the denizens of the streets, those artists who are reviled as vandals in the corridors of power yet weirdly in this case supported and indeed lauded by Maritime Services (Sydney Harbour Federation Trust). Following hot on the heels of Space Invaders at the National Gallery in Canberra (now touring the country), and with Anthony Lister gracing the cover of Art and Australia Magazine, it could be said with some authority that street art, paste-up, graffiti, stickering, skate boarding, stencils, in short contemporary street culture, has moved centre stage. And a good thing too.

Detail from PM3Detail from PM3

Paste Modernism 3Paste Modernism 3

Detail from PM3Detail from PM3

Detail from PM3Detail from PM3

Detail from PM3Detail from PM3

Paste Modernism 3Paste Modernism 3

As well as Paste Modernism 3, there were many individual galleries on the island and dozens of boards erected around the cliff faces and outside the old warehouses featuring graf and artwork by many well known Australian artists. Numskull, Phibs and Beastmen did a collaborative Temple. There was also an enormous exhibition of screen-printed T-shirts dating back decades and of course lots of appropriately funky merchandise.

 ears ears

Teepee TempleTeepee Temple

CMS added image

ELKELK

 ears ears

ListerLister

Out of all the amazing work on display at Outpost what really inspired me, in fact blew me away, was Kid Zoom's installation. A Perth artist who moved over to Sydney and into Hibernian House for a time, Kid Zoom's career has skyrocketted and justifiably so. He is "possessed by a vision, by a madness, by a rage to live, by an all consuming fire to MAKE ART!" Kid Zoom is so much more than a street artist: his multi-media installation Home on Cockatoo was worthy of a Biennale.

Home by Kid ZoomHome by Kid Zoom

Still from the videoStill from the video

The graphicsThe graphics

Still from the videoStill from the video

The carsThe cars

Still from the videoStill from the video

In the driveway to the house, which Ian built while living in the island, are the three vehicles which star in the video projected onto the inside wall of the house. With a deafening industrial soundtrack the piece was completely enthralling. The artist takes to the cars with a sledge hammer, jumping on them, pounding them with his feet, then begins overspraying them, with flames still leaping into the air and at one stage igniting the spray can: gripping stuff.

The Latest Happenings in my World

This blog is where you will find my latest news. It can range from posting images of progress of the current commission to art crit to political or social commentary, both national and international. Anything, basically, that's commanding my attention and I feel is worth sharing with you, my reader. Enjoy. My previous blog can be found at jeffreyhamilton.blogspot.com

Outpost on Cockatoo Island

18 Dec2011

For a start, Cockatoo Island has to be the grandest venue in the world for an arts festival. Set like a jewel in the middle of Sydney Harbour, the island is home to an industrial wasteland worthy of Mad Max #4. Enter the denizens of the streets, those artists who are reviled as vandals in the corridors of power yet weirdly in this case supported and indeed lauded by Maritime Services (Sydney Harbour Federation Trust). Following hot on the heels of Space Invaders at the National Gallery in Canberra (now touring the country), and with Anthony Lister gracing the cover of Art and Australia Magazine, it could be said with some authority that street art, paste-up, graffiti, stickering, skate boarding, stencils, in short contemporary street culture, has moved centre stage. And a good thing too.

Detail from PM3Detail from PM3

Paste Modernism 3Paste Modernism 3

Detail from PM3Detail from PM3

Detail from PM3Detail from PM3

Detail from PM3Detail from PM3

Paste Modernism 3Paste Modernism 3

As well as Paste Modernism 3, there were many individual galleries on the island and dozens of boards erected around the cliff faces and outside the old warehouses featuring graf and artwork by many well known Australian artists. Numskull, Phibs and Beastmen did a collaborative Temple. There was also an enormous exhibition of screen-printed T-shirts dating back decades and of course lots of appropriately funky merchandise.

 ears ears

Teepee TempleTeepee Temple

CMS added image

ELKELK

 ears ears

ListerLister

Out of all the amazing work on display at Outpost what really inspired me, in fact blew me away, was Kid Zoom's installation. A Perth artist who moved over to Sydney and into Hibernian House for a time, Kid Zoom's career has skyrocketted and justifiably so. He is "possessed by a vision, by a madness, by a rage to live, by an all consuming fire to MAKE ART!" Kid Zoom is so much more than a street artist: his multi-media installation Home on Cockatoo was worthy of a Biennale.

Home by Kid ZoomHome by Kid Zoom

Still from the videoStill from the video

The graphicsThe graphics

Still from the videoStill from the video

The carsThe cars

Still from the videoStill from the video

In the driveway to the house, which Ian built while living in the island, are the three vehicles which star in the video projected onto the inside wall of the house. With a deafening industrial soundtrack the piece was completely enthralling. The artist takes to the cars with a sledge hammer, jumping on them, pounding them with his feet, then begins overspraying them, with flames still leaping into the air and at one stage igniting the spray can: gripping stuff.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 18th, 2011 at 11:39 pm street art, australia, cockatoo island, graffiti, kid zoom, sydney harbour

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The Latest Happenings in my World

This blog is where you will find my latest news. It can range from posting images of progress of the current commission to art crit to political or social commentary, both national and international. Anything, basically, that's commanding my attention and I feel is worth sharing with you, my reader. Enjoy. My previous blog can be found at jeffreyhamilton.blogspot.com