the fly at top of barry road

[Sue]

Link to a great short film about the street art here:

http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?5,1159228

[scotslass]

Do the house holders get paid for having this c@@p on their houses? Wonder how it affects their selling price!

[Sue]

scotslass Wrote:

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> Do the house holders get paid for having this c@@p

> on their houses? Wonder how it affects their

> selling price!

xxxxxx

According to the woman from Dulwich Art Gallery who was key to having this initiative here, these are top international street artists.

Therefore I would imagine it would affect the house owners' selling price positively.

You may not like it. You may not even think it is art. But the fact is, the same has been said about almost every new art movement before it becomes more generally accepted.

Have you watched the short film? Almost all the street art was based on an existing painting exhibited in Dulwich Art Gallery, either directly or as an interpretation. I think that's a brilliant idea, myself.

[DulwichFox]

It amazes me that the local Authority seems to endorse these Acts of Vandalism.

THEN.. Prosecutes someone for installing the wrong type of Windows because

they don't fit in with the surrounding area.

DulwichFox

[Sue]

DulwichFox Wrote:

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> It amazes me that the local Authority seems to

> endorse these Acts of Vandalism.

>

xxxxxx

What acts of vandalism?

[IngridB]

Just found this thread. I imagine its like looking (or not) at reviews of a play you have been in. Scary to see what people think. There has been a lot written about the recent street art in Dulwich which I co-organised. As someone said earlier in this thread, there is an 18 minute film made about it that explains all.

This is a particularly interesting angle http://inspiringcity.com/2013/06/30/art-on-dulwich-streets-meets-art-in-the-dulwich-picture-gallery/

Im completely aware that this art, like all public art and architecture has been imposed on the public. Just like advertising boards and the recent Art Everywhere that has massive bad quality reproductions of British art all over the place http://arteverywhere.org.uk/artworks/ Possibly The Haywain is up somewhere!

The Dulwich art is painted by the artists and on walls that were just dirty 'white'. (all except the rat/weasel/dog on the Victoria). That one has been the most controversial. Its by the very famous Roa who went on to do similar things on the Southbank.

The bee/spider/fly was painted by Nunca, also an incredibly famous street artist. He is from Brazil and was one of the 6 artists invited by Tate Modern to paint its building in a street art exhibition in 2008. However he wouldn't have anything to do with Dulwich Picture Gallery and painted a queen bee (sitting on a throne) with her hive next to her. Its about hierarchy in society, the workers and the rulers, and I think the cups of tea in her hands refers to British colonialism and the profit that was made out of tea on the backs of the workers. (something might have been lost in translation here).

The wall belongs to a mental health charity who was delighted to have it on their otherwise dreary empty wall. I would think the value of that house has rocketed since the mural.

[IngridB]

Ive been asked to put together a book on this project and wondered if I could use some quotes from this thread. Im keen to show all opinions, so wont only chose the nice ones!

Rather than ask you all individually, could you message me if you DONT want me to use your words. That doesnt mean that I will, but that I have the option to.

Thanks!

[NickT]

IngridB the street art has been fantastic, don't be discouraged by the East Dulwich 'how will this affect the price of my property' crowd, they know the price of everything and the value of nothing. I think those of us for whom East Dulwich is a home not just a property investment have really enjoyed being presented with something challenging and interesting to look at. Great painting can come out of an aerosol can, not just a Farrow and Ball colour chart.

[Sue]

NickT Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> IngridB the street art has been fantastic, don't

> be discouraged by the East Dulwich 'how will this

> affect the price of my property' crowd, they know

> the price of everything and the value of nothing.

> I think those of us for whom East Dulwich is a

> home not just a property investment have really

> enjoyed being presented with something challenging

> and interesting to look at. Great painting can

> come out of an aerosol can, not just a Farrow and

> Ball colour chart.

xxxxxx

Agree with all of that.

I find some of the responses to the street art incredibly depressing.

[Twirly]

I suspect that some of this debate is to do with taste. Art that is hung in a gallery you walk past and leave it there, if it's on your street corner you still have to look at it every day even if it's not to your taste. It's rather "in your face".

Personally, I like the William Blake mural by Goose Green, but don't like the giant bee (though am interested in IngridB's description of the meaning behind it - I can't say I actually got that at all from it, looked more like multi-tasking/multiple consuming to me). But then you can't please all of the people all of the time.

As for how it affects the house price, again, I'd have thought it would depend on whether the buyer likes the piece and wants to keep it, or if it would put other buyers off? Personally, if I was to buy the house with the bee on it, I'd probably want to remove it (but would keep the William Blake mural). I wonder, would the owner of the property be allowed to do that?

[jimbo1964]

You only have to look at Artists Open House week to see that almost everyone in SE21/22/15 is, or lives next door to, an artist. It's great to live in such an arty area, I'm all for the big street art. The bee wall by the Plough has always been an eyesore and is now a thing of beauty.

[Sue]

Twirly Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I suspect that some of this debate is to do with

> taste. Art that is hung in a gallery you walk past

> and leave it there, if it's on your street corner

> you still have to look at it every day even if

> it's not to your taste. It's rather "in your

> face".

>

xxxxxxx

Yes, that's true.

But you could say the same of things like advertising posters, hideous "architecture" etc..

I flinch every time I walk past certain new-build flats round here, for example.

[maxxi]

Twirly Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I suspect that some of this debate is to do with

> taste.

Some or much - you like the GG Blake thing and I think it's absolutley hideous, an eyesore (and I don't care whether it was painted by children or chimps). For the Bee, I just think it's clumsy and amateurish but then I DO like the crapping rat/dog in Bellenden... no accounting for it eh?

[mako]

Love the bee wall and echo Nickt's comments.

[IngridB]

This is a great discussion! I have been interviewed by the Observer and led to believe that there will be a half page article about the Dulwich Street Art in the Arts and Culture section of New Review tomorrow. And there was a bit in the Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ben-j-cotton/street-art-on-the-streets-18-august_b_3776390.html about the most recent Dulwich Outdoor Gallery wall on the Florence in Herne Hill. So along with the mention in Time Out its been a good week.

[juicypips666]

Thanks Ingrid B for this lovely project, even if not all street artists have agreed to conform to the (great) concept of drawing their inspiration from Dulwich gallery, it has produced a number of arresting, interesting art and has added colour and quirkiness to the area. I am surprised at the number of people taking offence at the pictures (bar the controversial canine creature on Bellenden rd). For people finding the bee/William Blake and the number of murals offensive, might they prefer to have local facades covered by more JC Decaux outdoor advertising??

[IngridB]

We are in the Guardian! http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2013/aug/24/baroque-paintings-street-art-makeover#/?picture=415703479&index=0

[Nigello]

I think the street art initiative is a great idea, and I do usually have grave doubts about top-down projects delivered to/foisted upon residents by bien-pensant committee members. I'd like to see more and for the movement to be written about far and wide so that tourists - yes, tourists! - could come and see the works and spend a bit of money that wouldn't otherwise be spent here.

[juicypips666]

Does anyone know what's happened to Nunca's mural? It's been painted over in the past week and the vibrant queen bee and its hive have been replaced with... a brand new white wall.

Anyone knows more? Seems a shame as it was a nice colourful and quirky touch on this part of ED.

[dimples]

Oh noooo , I really enjoyed seeing that every day ,such a shame and so much work ,gone !

[PoisonIvy]

Noooo! I loved this project. I thought the Queen Bee was beautiful.

[paulj]

I really hope it's only been whitewashed to make way for a new mural.. otherwise it's an act of vandalism

[Penguin68]

otherwise it's an act of vandalism

Sadly the length of time the mural has been there suggests that that wall would probably be in need of an additional coat of paint, purely for normal maintenance reasons - unless you can get someone to re-paint the mural as-is then over-painting may be the only option, particularly where the initial painting was not itself done on a newly painted wall. Depending upon the paint quality (and number of coats) initially applied, 5-7 years would be a maximum 'ideal' time between repaints. Allowing the paintwork to deteriorate too far adds to costs. If the current owner of the wall is not particularly committed to the mural, the differential cost between over-painting in one colour or repainting the mural would be significant.

[Seabag]

Are we talking the one visible from the carpark of the Plough?

How long had that actually been there

I blame the Tory government

[DulwichFox]

Perhaps the owner is trying to sell the property.

DulwichFox