Hosier and Rutledge

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The final stop on Hosier Lane looks at trashcans that are covered in graffiti and an area of a wall that uses trash to create street art pieces. This represents my final point of disruptive realism. Using trash to create artwork is a technique that subverts the assumption that people hold in order to produce greater situational awareness. When walking past these trashcans and this wall it doesn’t appear to be much different than other parts of Hosier Lane. However when you look closely and think about the fact that trashcans are being spray painted on and pieces of trash are being used to create art pieces you realize that doesn’t really make sense. No one thinks of trash as art and no one would think to use trash to create art, but street artists in Hosier Lane successfully do so. Every street artist’s work is different and provides a different implication, but what I have learned through this tour is that when a street artist produces a realistic aesthetic in their work, including disruptive realism, people are more likely to respond than when they are looking at “meaningless” graffiti. People can appreciate something that requires creativity, and disruptive realism is a representation of very creative thinking.

Melbourne represents a street art capital that is continuously growing, which means there is an increasingly higher standard of work required by street artists. I believe realistic street art is only going to expand from this day forward and that there will be more and more street artists using their talents to spray paint beautiful murals and images that can be enjoyed by public rather than spray painting tags. I for one think a lot of tagging looks really similar, and I can’t find a way to appreciate it because I have no idea what it means. When I see street art that is actual drawings and pictures I am able to recognize the talent behind the spray paint, and when I learn about the meanings behind certain murals I have an even higher regard for the street artist. As a foreign exchange student I hope one day I can visit Melbourne again and see how far the street art scene has progressed from today.