Today I have plans: a prowl through six lanes known for their street art. On the way to Hosier Lane I encounter three anorexic gentlemen, besuited, briefcased, and eternally waiting to cross at the lights; a foretaste of wall-and-footpath art; and a few other pieces of street art.
I’m not the first to enter Hosier Lane, camera at the ready, at 7.30 this morning. Two young men with far more sophisticated equipment than me are already scrutinising every image.
The walls are covered, but the pavement isn’t neglected.
Pursuing my project of failure to read maps, I can’t find the next lane on my list and my nose leads me across the railway lines towards parkland with an Aboriginal-sounding name. Birrarung Marr, river of mists, is the way the Kulin Nation refer to what we, colonial toadies, named Melbourne. As I cross a long pedestrian bridge I hear a fugitive sound and suddenly I’m in the presence of gong-like music. The source is a collection of thirty-nine upturned bells controlled, if you must destroy the magic, by a computer, and installed to celebrate the centenary of federation. Enchanted, I walk amongst them feeling peace in the heart of the city, and forget all about laneways. I’m eager to see what else my nose will lead me to.
ββ
I amble along the river. A three-legged tiled sculpture by Deborah Halpern called “The angel”. An old stone drinking fountain. A stubby wooden wombat. A mosaiced and graffitied elephant. Birrarung Wilam (River Camp) designed by Inigeoys artists Vicki Couzens, Lee Darroch and Treahna Hamm, an Aboriginal circle of stones carved with animal images. An Aboriginal totem pole and pavement engravings. A playground featuring children’s drawings. A splendid red in art and nature. My nose is serving me well.
My stomach suggests it’s time for breakfast, so I cross the vast expanse of tiles in Federation Square to a meal that satisfies both hunger and my aesthetic sense.
Where to next? There’s a photography exhibition at the NGV, so I cross over to the Arts Precinct and wander around the sculptures surrounding the two buildings, including a lumpy one by Rauschenberg and and a glorious female by Henry Moore.
I go into the gallery through the back door under a stained glass ceiling, look down on a sparkling chandelier, pass a buxom woman and a quizzical man, and enter the darkness and light of Bill Henson’s photographs, of which my representations are feeble. For a better look, click here.
The second photographer I visit, William Eggleston, is a portrait specialist capturing the feel of a period.
It’s now time for what’s billed as a Garden River Cruise, the only disappointment of my Melbourne visit. There are far more river works than gardens, or is it just that I’m suffering overload?
And so … back to the apartment to wash my hair and finish my tiny bottle of Grand Marnier.
Kate said:
Thanks for the reminder Meg about the delights of city wandering, opening our eyes and senses to these glorious offerings full of shape and colour.
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morselsandscraps said:
I love the serendipity of such rambles.
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BeckyB said:
oh I want to be back in Melbourne now! What a wonderful walk . . street art seems to be the theme for my blogpost stroll this morning. Loving it
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morselsandscraps said:
Back in Melbourne? But you’re in the Algarve! A very different kind of street art.
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BeckyB said:
Hee hee . . . . . was thinking back to a Melbourne trip I made some years ago!
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Lucid Gypsy said:
So much street art and enough sculpture to satisfy even my hunger, Melbourne is quite a city isn’t it?
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morselsandscraps said:
I like it much better than Sydney I think: it’s friendlier and more accessible. Sydney’s heart is spread out a lot more.
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Rosemary Barnard said:
Good heavens Meg. So much packed into one day. I doubt I could have done it. I hope that I didn’t hold you back earlier. But all interesting, if in smaller doses for me.
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morselsandscraps said:
Our days weren’t packed????? Come on! I was pacing myself: it looks like a lot because there were so many different bits of it.
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Rosemary Barnard said:
That would have been the challenge for me, the sheer number of the different bits, and making the transitions between them all. I have always thought that you had stamina. Take it as a compliment.
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morselsandscraps said:
Oh, I take it as a compliment alright. I just find it hard to accept it as applying to me., Mme Laze.
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Heyjude said:
Gosh that’s a LOT of street art. Don’t you feel that sometimes there is too much in one place and you stop appreciating it? Or is that just me? Melbourne certainly has a lot to offer. I have only spent a few days there and loved the very little I saw. Thank you for taking us around with you π
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morselsandscraps said:
I’m glad I diverged from the six-lane plan. I’ve also discovered it’s more fun to stumble across something than go hunting for the known. I love the way Desley uses the odd bit as background for glamour shoots, although she told me the one she used has since been painted over. My pleasure to have your company.
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Heyjude said:
I’m feeling a bit jaded with my photography at the moment. Either I need to get my mojo back or I need to embark on something different.
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morselsandscraps said:
You’ve been sick. Sickness steals mojo.
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morselsandscraps said:
It’s so wonderful having a fellow bark-tragic in my inner circle. Are the houses near you late nineteenth century? Our architecture obviously, and often stupidly, came from the Mother Country. (The capitals are ironic!)
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Heyjude said:
Not many houses near me Meg! Stone farm houses and buildings – a few terraced cottages. Not sure of the dates. I haven’t found much of interest in Cornwall architecturally speaking.
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Sue said:
The street art in the second gallery could be in the East of London! I love thes posts, a walk with Meg turns up some amazing, unexpected things! And that breakfast looked wonderful…avocado, egg and either salad or wilted greens? Have a great weekend, Meg π
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morselsandscraps said:
Kale, of course! Breakfast was at the centre for the moving image, a must on the next visit. My weekend is Shakespeare and J. You have a good one too.
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Sue said:
Thanks, Meg!
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restlessjo said:
Goodness me! It’s a good thing I have stamina. There I am, passed out on the grass! π π This must be what’s called an eclectic mix, Meg. I was enthralled by the bells too, and rather fond of those wafer thin folks at the beginning. I think this one will have to wander its way into my walks so I can gaze at leisure. π I so like that ‘river of mists’ description too. It looks a fascinating place. Wishing you a happy, relaxed weekend,hon. Aiming more hugs in your direction. Boing! Boing! I’m a terrible shot π¦
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morselsandscraps said:
I almost want to go and live there! I most enjoyed this walk because of its unexpectednesses: I’m now reding a brochure which would’ve guided me to all these things, but it wouldn’t have been as much fun. First real use of my voice memo app to capture the bells – I was proud of myself for remembering I had it and then transferring it iPhone to iPad to iMovie to Photos to blog- nearly as long a journey as my walk. I had to be out early to catch the wafer-thin ones: they were at a really busy intersection. I’d love it to join your walks – or tomorrow’s if you prefer. Your hugs are behaving like a kangaroo. Are you sure they didn’t jump on my meter box? Which H has hidden under an old esky for safety! Have sandy hugs in return – a beach walk this morning, me in my daggiest, and I met two neighbours. I never meet neighbours when I walk. And have a great weekend. I’m seeing “Twelfth night”, skyping warsaw and overnighting with J – first time since we got back.
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restlessjo said:
Full marks for perseverance and it sounds like a lovely weekend. Take care! And love to J π π
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Suzanne said:
You have certainly some interesting street art and public art to photograph. I’ve never taken the river cruise. I always thought it looked a bit boring π
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morselsandscraps said:
The “garden” cruise (still to come) was boring, but for some reason I find industrial stuff pleasing – maybe because form follows function and that is satisfying. Also I’m a ferry tragic, and if there’s a ferry I have to board it.
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Suzanne said:
I love industrial landscapes too. I guess your ferry thing comes from Sydney. I love my memories of ferries across Sydney harbour – the best way in the world to get to work π
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Heyjude said:
I have to agree with you here. π
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