My Year with Bluestone: Redstone

A few days ago I posted about a contested graffiti site. Others are noticing too, and Alison alerted me to StreetsmART's facebook page, which is also following the saga.

This morning the flag had been radically painted over again by "Prism",

But then this afternoon, the flag had been restored. I know very little about street art, but had always assumed painting was mostly done at night. And this is a very public place, with constant heavy traffic.

But for the first time I went up close, because I was curious about how thick the paint must now be getting. I have also been noticing how the lowest curve of the sun on the Aboriginal flag sits just above the level of the bluestone. The flag is then painted on a smoother surface this way, of course, but it makes for a good close-up. Looking more closely you can also see the urgency of the painting and the layers of red and pink. I am taking pictures just with my phone, so the colours here are slightly distorted up close, but I must say I think this photo is amazing: the intensity of colour and layering; the stark contrast of red and pink and the unusual colour for bluestone. Looks a bit like a Rothko painting, or a cake or a piece of confectionary. Graffiti is probably mostly photographed for the panoramic view, of course, but I find this fragment of bluestone so heavily inscribed and re-inscribed really quite moving.