Sculptor Will Coles, 1972-20??

Will Coles was an artist intensely misunderstood by his audience not because it had trouble understanding him, but because there is more to love than 140 characters. His pop sculptures - plaster remote controls, mobile phones, televisions - made him well-known in the street art ecosphere. For years they littered cities and were a means of "breaking swizzle" from the restrictions that being an emerging gallery artist imposed.

Applauded within the Sydney street art hierarchy for enthusiastic vandalism of public space, Coles built up a devoted following - some may call it cult - of educated left-leaning art groupies and professional protesters who disliked "fine art" but enjoyed satiric, subversive and accessible jibes at consumerism.

Having once declined to be interviewed by Acid Midget, it has been difficult for this blog to "understand the man" that Coles had inside of him. It was easier to track his professional ascension after he achieved mid-level fame while exhibiting at the Outpost Project (pictured) in Sydney last year.

Although the DIY method was a staple of his long but short career, Coles trained at no less than three art schools - Ravensbourne College of Art, Wimbledon School of Art and Glasgow School of Art - after growing up in Suffolk in the UK. He brought a solid understanding of classical sculpture to his work, citing Michelangelo and Rodin as inspirations, while also employing conceptual and Postmodern techniques in his studio pieces.

Yet the mystery remains - why was Will Coles misunderstood? Perhaps we will never know.

You might like:

■ Outpost Project is over :(

■ May Lane street art

■ Will Coles plaque 

■ More May Lane art

■ Will Coles phone sculpture

■ Will Coles is anti-art/capitalism/life

More from the Outpost Project

This is an Anthony Lister sculpture of a partially naked Batman roped up to an H-beam. There is no subliminal message here - it is a direct juxtaposition of Batman's heroic iconography with that of a helpless little bitch.

I met Ben Frost yesterday. I saw him, I said hi. We smoked menthol cigarettes in the rain. We talked about street art and San Francisco and his Pastemodernism project (pictured).

Frost was hanging with Vexta. She's a cool lady. We spoke about New York and her beautiful mural on Cockatoo Island (pictured). If only these moments would last a longer.

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Outpost Project is Over :(

Street Art of 2011

It's that time of year where we look back on what's behind us and decide what sucked and what was bloggable.

Aside from posting a bunch of street art this year, I interviewed Beastman and Philjames. I also spent a month in Europe seeing incredible art and posting it on Facebook.

I think 2011 was the year street art began to plateau; I'm looking forward to seeing if that's the case in 2012.

(Found in Athens)

The European Debt Crisis has been a staple news item for the past few months. And the sentiment this massive mural conveyed - "we're f-cked" - was quite effective.

(Via Unurth)

Banksy made this stencil after British graffiti writer Tox was sent to prison for more than two years for tagging. The sentence generated a strong reaction from the graffiti community.

And in case you forgot, Invader was also arrested in LA for vandalism in April. Comes with the territory.

(Made by Fukt)

This Iwo Jima parody is my favourite Sydney stencil of the year. Not only is it eye catching; it's poignant, ironic and hilarious.

(Submitted by Bag)

This was the year of Slug. The prolific artist left this spastic dog on so many Sydney walls that he is now one of only a few artists working illegally on a regular basis.

He is also selling a zine called Sugar Shark.

The infamous (and highly irritating) hipster posters that popped up this year are still plaguing the streets. I tried to contact the number on one of the posters. There was no response.

However, the response to my post was good. Thanks to everyone who wrote in.

Monsieur Andre also guest blogged on Acid Midget in 2011. He wrote about being in love with girlfriend Annabelle Dexter-Jones, having a rad time tagging...and feuking a lot.

Andre also brought quite a bit of traffic to the blog this year. Don't ask me why.

By far the biggest street art event in Australia this year was the Outpost Project. It only finished a couple of weeks ago, but fortunately some of the works will be kept there this summer.

Tens of thousands of people visited Cockatoo Island to see a showcase of the most important urban and lowbrow artists in the world.

In my opinion, it was a watershed event.

Another turning point in street art's transition from underground to mainstream was the release of Banksy's mockumentary Exit Through The Gift Shop.

He was nominated for an Oscar and then banned from attending the ceremony. He didn't win. But the film was successful at least.

I also wrote the Acid Midget Manifesto in June. It began as a Facebook status, then grew and grew. This blog was never intended to be anything more than an exploration of Sydney and its streets - tinged with conceptual ruminations - but it has become more than expected.

Have a happy New Year - see you in 2012!

Outpost Project is over :(

I'm a little sad that the Outpost Project is finished already. I was hoping it would last foreverandever.

But all things end. What were the highlights for you? I liked Pastemodernism. I liked the outdoor DJ.

Most of all, I liked being part of a community where my skin colour and taxable income were lesser factors in who befriended me on Facebook while the festival was on.

And the good news is, some of the exhibits will remain on Cockatoo Island during the summer.

We can go back for more.

Invader in Melbourne

(Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne)

Acid Midget is undergoing emotional renovations. As a result, there has been a shortage of new street art and new writing on the site.

Big things have been happening in the Australian street art community this month. About 12,000 people visited Sydney's Cockatoo Island for the opening week of the Outpost Project. It is the largest street art festival to be held in the southern hemisphere.

It's a real landmark in the evolution of street art not only in Australia, but globally. You should check it out before it ends on December 11 (it's also free).

The image above of an Invader mosaic was taken on my last trip to Melbourne. And to think - I thought Melbourne was the street art capital of Australia. I wonder what you guys down there think of Outpost?

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Invader in Sao Paulo

Invader Arrested in LA