Straya!

Each year, our rad mates from Brisbane throw a backyard party on Aussie Day. The party changes as the tribe grows but the essentials are all there, like goon-inspired punch, snags on the barbie, bogan inspired costumes, and the Triple J Hottest 100 on the stezza. Since everyday is a good day for a paint, Sauce contributed to the party vibes and smashed out this chrome-effect filled piece. Mad props to our Brisbane friends who know how to throw a party!

And I don’t want to get too political, but Sauce and myself would like to pay tribute to the First Peoples who walked this country. Australia was colonised, not settled and was indeed inhabited for thousands of years before Captain Cook made it to our shores. When are we going to get a new flag?

Elevation

Positive Energy Activates Constant Elevation - Gravediggaz

In the current political climate it is challenging to find suitable walls for aerosol artists, so when the principal from Upper Mt Gravatt gave Sauce the all clear, he jumped at the chance to smash out some 3D work. This wall was completed over two days, as the first day was spent at the school rejuvinating some old work and looking at another site for a new mural. On the second day, Sauce worked on the details of the 3D elements. 

Sauce was pleased with his efforts, and when he made it home, we discussed the need to just paint. How sometimes, it is difficult to balance painting murals with koalas and painting a good solid graff piece. Sometimes, just finding a wall to paint is a mammoth task in itself! I really like the colour scheme in this one and Sauce is already itching for another paint. If you’ve got a wall that needs a good old fashioned graff piece, let us know!   

How was your Monday?

How was your Monday? At The Sauce Studio, it was a regular, no nonsense Monday. The kind where a little bit of work gets done, some procrastination happens and then it’s lunchtime and the day is nearly done. Monday, was just the regular run of the mill Monday until Sauce made a follow up call to the Manger at Visible Ink. 

For the past six months, at The Sauce Studio we’ve been following the Walls and Colours project. You might have seen the post where we expressed frustration about the project delivery, and, you’re probably wondering why we’re bothering to continue to whinge and whine about a project. Our complaints, might even sound like sour grapes, but…

At The Sauce Studio, we stand up for what we believe in, and we believe aerosol art is a legitimate art form which deserves more recognition than it currently receives. Aerosol and graffiti art is a part of the bigger sub-culture of Hip Hop and has been exploited by marking gurus for too long. We value transparent processes and practices when delivering projects to the public. Paperwork, the necessary evil, provides accountability and ensures agencies and organizations have a tangible justification for service provision.

Which takes me back to the original complaint. This Walls and Colours project, well it’s a pile of shit. The $150,000 project which is funded from the Proceeds of Crime has zero accountability. At no point has The Sauce Studio received or found an Expressions of interest. Even when we specifically requested one. But really, the bigger problem and the most disappointing fact is that young people, aerosol artists and the greater community is missing out when it comes to great public art and activities for aerosol artist enthusiasts. The proof is in the pudding. You can see the artwork and judge it yourself for quality and talent. 

As a business, The Sauce Studio doesn’t require to maintain or hold a monopoly on aerosol art projects or murals, but here’s the thing; out of ten walls, and $150,000 worth of funding, we find it difficult to swallow that The Sauce Studio and Sauce would be so systematically excluded from this project. Here in the studio, we can’t join the dots to find out why this is the case. Sauce has worked with countless other councils and community agencies, all over the East Coast of Australia and we find it hard to believe that his years of experience and artistic talent could not be utilised in come fashion for this ten wall project.

So, our Monday, was a bit overrated. And that phone call with the Manger from Visible Ink, well, it was an hour of talking in circles. In fact, it would have made more sense to play chess with a pigeon.

Why are we ‘airing our dirty linen’ on the blog post? Because traditional media outlets don’t care. We want something positive to come out this mayhem. It it truly disappointing to think this type of mismanagement, incompetence and nepotism is allowed to continue while the community misses out on something which could be the benchmark for public art and community engagement. These types of tokenistic projects do little more than alienate the target audience and they certainly don’t effect cultural change. 

City Girl

Last week I put the finishing touches on a mural at Coolnwynpin State Primary School, and I enjoyed working with the different subject on this colaboration with Skone. As an artist, I am always looking for new ways to broaden my skills base and work with new themes, and this portrait is another example of trying new methods and ideas.