Manchester Lane - art

Who here remembers the classic PC game Alley Cat? It was the bees knees back in the day. And here, in Manchester Lane we are reminded that today's architecture and design is not all composite materials and state-of-the-art manufacture. That the good old tile and grout has just as much place in today's design handbook.

What a nice little piece of homeliness to see outside your apartment block each evening.

> LOCATE THIS

Presgrave place - art

Tucked behind the Capitol theatre and little sister to the bigger Howey place, Presgrave place is a little functional laneway with a hidden secret. Pushka cafe (here's an Age review) has become unofficial custodian to Presgrave place and has done a mighty fine job of it.

The plant-life notwithstanding, Presgrave place comes to life with artwork small and large, classical and modern. The waterfall tiles take the red bricks back to nature and the little gallery of classical prints just shows that nowhere is safe from a little bit of creative refuge.

BTW I can't believe after six months of Googling Melbourne laneways I haven't come across this before. Laneway Magazine! Yes, a website dedicated to the humble Melbourne urbanite.

> LOCATE THIS (sorry, Google streetview, this is a strictly pedestrian haunt)

Banksy's art vandalised in Melbourne

Wow, only 10 days after my last post, and the gray ghost seems to have struck again, or has it? In my last post I mentioned the grey painted billboard on the corner of Smith and Gertrude streets, and it's resemblance to the Gray Ghost of New Orleans.

Well, I'm not sure if it is the same person, but it looks like someone has decided to get back at Banksy.

Back in August Banksy toured New Orleans and mocked the locally infamous Gray Ghost in a series of news stencils.

Now, as reported in the Age the Gray Ghost seems to have got one back.

Is this a random coincidence or a shot at the heart of the mythology being created around street art in Melbourne?

(Image linked from the Age)

Rankins lane - art

OK, so I have finally started uploading my photos to Flickr so I can safely store them until Yahoo eventually dies and I loose my photos when the Yahoo computers get blown up in the final battle for computer domination ...

... back to the photos, these were taken in Rankins lane, just off Little Bourke Street. A great lane way for street art, and home to the McCulloch Gallery.

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Bullens lane - art

The invasion continues. It's been a few years since Invader graced our shores, so it's good to see the space invaders are still monitoring our daily lives.

Here is a small invader monitoring the hustle and bustle of Little Bourke Street from the heights of Bullens Lane.

Also, I couldn't resist posting a picture of Astro Boy that was also protecting the good citizens of Bullens Lane.

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Rothsay lane - art

More a functional alley for the Coles supermarket on Elizabeth St, Rothsay lane does throw up its own little surprise.

As you can see here, Rothsay lane plays host to an unloved space-invader piece by Invader. I almost passed it by, but the red really stands out, even behind all the tags.

The stained glass poster also gives an otherwise lifeless lane some inspiration.

> LOCATE THIS

Update: 20/01/2009



A kind soul has pulled out the cleaning equipment and given the invader a scrub. I think from this, we can say someone just wanted to make a point with the Banksy vandalism, that there are still more laneway art lovers than haters.

Brumby needs a re-think

I applaud John Brumby on highlighting the importance of Melbourne's lane ways to Melbournes culture and Tourism. I am dismayed, however, that the same Premier while holding up lane way culture with one hand, can simultaneously throw lane way culture back 20 years with the other.

The latest comments and subsequent action by John Brumby in regards to Tourism Victoria's stand at the 2008 Epcot® International Food & Wine Festival in the USA is a blight on Victoria's cultural freedoms and lane way culture.

Melbourne's lane ways are a gastronomic AND artistic experience. Without one you would not have the other. Ask any lane way restaurateur or shop owner their opinion on street art in the lane ways and I'm sure they'd have a differing opinion to the Premier.

Safety cannot be an issue either. I personally feel safer in lane ways with more art. I know these lanes are popular and well looked after. The lane ways I don't like going down are the barren lanes left alone with no business at all.

If you feel the same way, I urge you to contact the Premier and let him know how you feel. Also contact Tourism Victoria and show your support in their efforts to promote tourism in the best city on earth.

Corrs lane - art

Come to Chinatown and I recommend you can't go wrong with anything in Corrs lane. Great Chinese (Ants Bistro and Dainty Sichuan), Japanese (have eaten there but looks to have good write-ups) and drinks @ Eurotrash.

Also, I've decided to take a slightly different tact with my photos. If the photo I take with my trust camera phone (phone is awful but the camera on it quite good) isn't that exciting I'm gonna play around with the colours until it looks good. And if not good, then just plain fun.

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Lush lane - art

With a name like Lush lane, it'd surely have to be one of the most coveted lanes in Melbourne, alas, this lane is a very functional lane only for parking cars. Used for previous Laneway Commissions in 2004 and 2006, it is in a primo spot, yet does not have much 'cool' potential.

One link that I have bookmarked (delicious tag: Melbourne), is eMelbourne a website created by Melbourne University, it gives a great synopsis of each laneway's history, amongst other things.

Also found through the wonders of Google was the Melbourne City Council CBD Lanes Built Form Review ( I found A to L of lanes).

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(Strange, there is a black spot in Streetview for this lane)

Niagara lane - art

One of the new batch of laneway commissions, this one is right out there. I'm going to put this one into the "how did they, why did they, but?" basket. To me this is a bit of an insiders artwork. Hundreds of people probably walk past the stair case every day without thinking about it, but if you stop and have a good look that's when you appreciate the randomness of this installation.

As far as a laneway goes, I like Niagara, cool name, great looking old warehouse buildings, a few random chalk-on-wall quotes, oh and a nice sticker to end of with at Little Bourke!

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Finlay Alley - art

Here's a new challenge that I've set myself. On top of getting to all the Laneway Commissions I am now going to see if I can also document all the registered Street Art areas in the Melbourne CBD.

Each area has been given a "STA" code so I'll tag all the posts with STA. First up are the images above, this is Finlay Alley, STA005. Some great pieces are up and down this area, the nice people that manage this area have also installed motion sensor lighting to give you a chance to view the art at any time of the day or night.

If you want to know more about the Street Art permits you can go here, but be prepared for some reading! I haven't bothered to read through it all because there's about a million different forms on the page.


NEW TO LOCATE THIS - GOOGLE STREET VIEW ...

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Warburton lane - art

One of the great things about the City of Melbourne is its creative use of public space. Laneways, the otherwise forgotten ugly sister to the wide boulevards, are embraced with vigour. Like Cinderlla, Melbourne's laneways have the chance to shine and put on a show throughout the year. Melbourne's Laneway Commissions are an annual chance for public artists to slip a glass slipper and ball gown onto the dusty utilitarian laneways.

This example here is from the 2007 commissions. As I make my way around the city with my trusty camera phone I will also be bringing you 2008's intake of cultural and artistic interpretations of laneway art.

Balcombe Place - Art

It's like there's a party in the lane and every shoe is invited. Creativity comes in all shapes and sizes, sometimes it's even a size 9.

> Locate this

Hardware Lane - Art

I love the grunge of many of the lanes in Melbourne, I'll be photographing plenty of them in the following months. But I thought I'd start off with a really nice piece of art I saw in Hardware Lane, it really fits in with the surrounding restaurants. This particular piece is outside Vialetto Restaurant