Staff + Student LoginHamilton is for the most part a very beautiful city. The Waikato river, the stadium, Victoria Street, the lake, the Hamilton Gardens, even Uni Campus, are stunning. I love how in the middle of farmland and pasture you can find huge palm trees and water, it is very much unlike back home. It also provides a convienant escape from study and campus when you just really a short break and a little change of scenery.
However for me, there is a place in Hamilton that although not classically beautiuful, is one of my favorite places to go and check out. Its an old wall, located at the south end of a car-park, and sandwiched between the downtown Warehouse, near the central bus depot, and the Wintec Campus. What makes this wall so cool is that it is covered in constantly changing graffiti.
A couple years ago I had the idea of capturing on camera some of the better pieces of graffiti found at the local skatepark and around in Lehtbridge, like this one:
I have no idea who did it, but its really well done. And to me, it represents a very skilled artist who has worked hard at their ability to use a can of spray paint. Believe me, I have tried once or twice to make paint from a can create interesting art, and its not easy. The closest I came was spray painting a stencil on a snowboard, and then later, the same stencil on an old coffee table that lived in my room.
The thing about so called "urban art", is that most of it is unskilled rubbish, and in the rare occurence that someone produces something worth looking at, it is either removed by the city or covered by more rubbish.
The exception is a place like the wall previously mentioned. This wall is always covered only by very skilled art, done by what appears to be a small group of skilled artists. Every few weeks it seems one or two will change, and for a very long time, I had planned to go and take some pictures of it but just never got around to it. However Sally did one time while in town, and so I present to you a small sampling of this art for your appreciation, with special credit to the mad skills of the photographer.
Back home in Calgary, there are places around the city that have been more or less designated for graffiti, and the city just doesn't remove it as it does 'art' everywhere else. I am not sure what the Hamilton City Council policy is on graffiti here, but I am glad that this wall is allowed to be what it is. Providing a place like this is both good for controlling WHERE graffiti is painted, but also allows people like me to enjoy what I see as an integral part of city living. Here's hoping it continues.
Leave a comment