symbolism: taylor square

If you cum to Taylor Square, Darlinghurst you’re in for a hard one.

You’ll probably pull your eye-balls off selectively placed phallic symbols erected in the area.

But i wood recommend sliding your gaze to squirting streams coming from the blowing fountain installation jizzing between Bourke and Oxford Sts.

Or you might sack that idea to cock your attention toward these ribbed poles. They’re below waist height and above knee height. Mmmm dickalicious.

to the street

Saw this plumbing on Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay before a work xmas party this month.

The ‘pipe gnome saying hi’ idea is clever. Maybe a little too clever because it draws almost no attention to itself in that tiny wall cavity.

This was probably drawn by an ‘alternative’ Korean kid. If i was this kid i’d call it From the Honda Dashboard to the Street.

Then i’d ‘off’ myself on Facebook.

mr squiggle vs crack cocaine

Shot this graffiti portrait in Kings Ln, Darlinghurst.

Now i realise it's hard to prove, but this appears to be painted with only two lines.

The first is basically the freak's entire head and its features, the second is the little tuft of hair on top.

The practicalities of creating street art like this - i.e. dude, hurry the fuck up before the rozzers get here - has directly influenced its aesthetic qualities.

These include intuitive use of line, repetition of concentric circles, using an inverse colour to the panel, improvisation.

"I'm in a rush, i'm nervous", the artist says.

In a sense this reflects on the artist. Without any other evidence it could therefore be considered a self-portrait.

 Another squiggle portait found in Holdsworth Ln, Paddington.

I think it's painted with only one line. It's also quite large, the top is probably about 2m from the road.

Note the inverse colours again. Simple (yet) effective.

These pieces show that the human face is simply made of circles and triangles.

Remember seeing a Da Vinci sketch for his giant Horse. At its most basic the sketch is little more than well-placed circles.

meth man

Here is a portrait of an unknown figure on a shop wall on Little Oxford St.

Seems like a character from a Spawn comic. Vile, repulsive, underworldly - yet strangely attractive.

Anthony Lister, the artist, has created a figure with deformed features, facial scars and swollen gums.

Meth Man seems a fitting name for it.

Name suggestions lovers, please.

guy on heroin

Snapped on Crown St, Surry Hills on Sunday afternoon.

See your family this xmas.

animal collective

I saw Animal Collective at the Enmore on December 11.

They were unbelievable. Thinking it's the best gig i've seen.

 

Before the doors opened a Hipster Collective filled quickly out front.

Seems skinny jeans are out and slim trousers have taken over. So has an indie-intellectual aesthetic, i.e. have a shower and polish ur boots.

 

Bachelorette played a support slot. Made my eyes dribble. Her accent made me cringe (kiwi).

Then Animal Collective came out and picked up their instruments (samplers/sticks). Noticed a weird art-banner at the back of the stage with a huge mermaid on it. It all seemed pretty placid.

 

Then INSANE lights started flashing in time with the music.

There were atomic strobe lights interspersed with red/blue/purple/green lights that flashed across the stage and inside tables the band’s equipment was on.

 

You've seen the cover art for their latest album Merriweather Post Pavilion? Do you like the optical illusion?

Well that mermaid banner DID THE EXACT SAME THING TO OUR EYES as the cover. The lights behind it made it appear to move back and forth. It was so trippy. Then the strobes would come on again. Then back to the marine colour lights. I was in a daze.

 

The mermaid and marine colours tied into the water motif running through their music. Seems to be Panda Bear’s influence; his solo work has water samples too. So well thought out.

Then the music. It was…wait for it…INCOMPARABLY BETTER THAN THE STUDIO ALBUM. They had long improv-type interludes between every song that sometimes went for 10 minutes. Then they'd lead into each track with tiny hints of a chord/riff and the audience went crazy.

Had some ravey beats and some hip-hop beats. I went from jumping up and down to being completely calm, depending on the songs they played.

 

After the gig came the Hipster Convergence. Spectators didn't want to kick on at a pub or go home. They all wanted to stand IN THE FUCKING DOORWAY.

Many of us were barged onto Enmore Rd. Made me happy.

 

Then we realised it was over. One of the last gigs Animal Collective would play for their Merriweather Post Pavilion tour. One of the last great gigs of the decade.

I wasn't down. Seeing them live confirmed their buzzband hype across the blogosphere. It's true. Animal Collective is unique. Their music represents our 'taste' in world music. It represents our post new-rave wardrobes. It represents the 'me' in all of us.

we're all sinking

I walked up Crown St, Surry Hills last weekend to meet a collective of writers and alcoholics at the Gaslight Inn.

They were from Sink Magazine and had been on a six-hour pub crawl that I was about to step in.

On the way I noticed Sink’s logo painted on this obscure door at the corner of Crown St and Fitzroy Pl.

Maybe the party was behind that door. But, um, i’ll never know because no one was even at the Gaslight when i got there.

cross training

Dude 1: Dude, why you wearing only one shoe?

Dude 2: The other one had to go.

D1: What? You got rid of it?

D2: Yeah. Left it on Little Oxford St on the way back from The Columbian. Only so many blowjobs I can give in a pair of trainers. After squatting 1000 times they tend to lock up.

D1: So did you walk home with a missing shoe?

D2: Nah, the guy I fellated like a broken vacuum pump gave me a ride home. I couldn’t really see after we were done.

D1: Dude, need to borrow a pair of mine?

D2: Pfft, don’t be ridiculous. Every pair you have is locked up too.

with intent to fornicate

People live above Pocket Bar, so you better not have a good fucking time.

Sit down, order your Pimm's and lemonade and shut the FUCK UP.

Otherwise the Pocket Police will rock up in skinny jeans, slung below that tuft of hair between their ______ and _____sack, to arrest you for socialisation with intent to fornicate.

But, um, Pocket Bar closes at midnight every night. Who’s in bed before 12 on weekends anyway, apart from you and i?

x

the seamiest scenes

Read this passage by Australian surrealist James Gleeson.

It’s inscribed on Roslyn St, Kings Cross and describes the talents of one of our most famous artists, William Dobell.

It portrays a man so attuned with his abilities that he could find aesthetic beauty in what a socialised mind would call “pretty fucking ugly”.

The Acid Midget grew organically from the mouldy gutters of Sydney.

He included that bin in the frame to be poetic. What an artist.

the politics of heroin

Four milk crates are wedged in the ridges of this tree trunk at Green Park on Burton St, Darlinghurst.

This could be proof that homeless bros are getting either:

A) Too intellectual. They have regular meetings “under the old oak tree” to discuss the dialogues of Plato.

or

B) Not enough heroin. For these dudes to have time for “discussing” shit, they’re obviously not:

A) Asking people to “spare some change” for 18 hours, before finding more coins in a payphone refund slot

or

B) Munting on a staircase, which could suggest:

A) Street-purchased smack has become weaker

or

B) There is a supply shortage brought about by:

A) Bureaucratic assholes like you keeping dealers in prison

or

B) A crashing market caused by homeless bros chatting on milk crates because it's more “upwardly mobile” than getting high.

on all paws

Surry Hills dogs are a ridiculously pretentious reflection on their owners. They don't exactly match the seedy side but, in some ways, show the Eastern Suburbs-ness of Surry Hills.

This photo was taken at a flower shop. Flower shop + art deco dog = mad pretentiousness. The art deco dog is one of the best symbols of the contradictions in Surry Hills; it's practically part of the east, but also right on the border of Darlinghurst/Redfern/bit of a scummy newtown vibe...

- Zilka