Usually it’s at the end of a building’s life, that point just before demolition, that you see it become a haven – or veritable home – to graffiti and street art. There were a number of abandoned buildings in Perth, pre-gentrification, that housed some amazing collections of work where artists had essentially entered the premise illegally to adorn the walls with elaborate murals and pieces.
It’s strange then to find a building, here in Perth, that is starting its life off as being one of the largest spaces in the city housing an astonishing amount of street art and graffiti. What’s more surprising – yet potentially a sign of the times as street art gains wider acceptance – is that all the work inside has been commissioned by a single corporate body.
The space in question is Condor Tower Car-park. It’s home to hundreds of pieces of works by over 75 artists, the likes of whom range from locals to interstaters to the occasional international. It’s a street art gallery unlike any other here in WA, one housed in five levels of car-park right in the heart of the CBD. Inside are works by the likes of Stormie, Timothy Rollin, Creepy, Daek, Yok, Patrick Doherty, DrewFunk, Kid Zoom, Griv, THNK, Jodee Knowles, Reka and many many more, including old skool artists like Showbiz and Shime. Those responsible for bringing this project into being are Hurben and Shensing from OLOLO.
‘About a year and a half ago we got asked to come in and get rid of the grey walls,’ Shensing said of the beginning of the Condor Tower Car-park, a collection of street art that is being touted as the biggest of its kind in the southern hemisphere. ‘(Condor) felt it was a bit of a bad metaphor for life. They wanted a little bit of colour in here. So initially we thought we were just going to be doing the entry but when we came in and saw the whole thing we thought we’d invite some more artists in. So we put out a call out and got 75 artists reply, invited them in and it went from there.’
The project spans five levels: core, underwater, earth, sky and space. It’s an impressive spread which Shensing has documented in over 1,000 photographs. ‘It’s a bit of a capsule of Perth street art,’ he added. ‘It bridges the gap between the dudes who were starting out 25 years ago, in the ’80s, to the guys who are just starting out now. This space looks to the future as well, being able to encourage collaborations between artists and private industry.’
Condor have supplied all of the artists’ materials, an impressive $18,000 of spray paint. ‘The project started as a crazy idea I had to put a bit of colour and life into an otherwise dull, gloomy and depressing part of any high-rise development,’ explained Condor design, construction and site manager Matt Tomasini. ‘The original thought was to add some pieces to select parts of the car-park and make it more interesting. Fortunately (by pure chance) I was introduced to the OLOLO outfit and basically their professionalism, reliability and enthusiasm pushed the project further. The developers became passionate about the idea and were happy to continue to fund the artwork and together we pushed it to this end result. ‘
Unfortunately it’s an end result that can only be enjoyed now by the private apartment owners. But it’s the sheer existence of this project which speaks volumes – after all, it’s evidence of the perfect fusion between street artists and a corporate body working together to create something that is a testament toward the validity of the genre. And true to this electronic age, a massive library of images now exists online, not only on the official OLOLO website but various other image-sharing sites, such as Flickr (just google Condor Tower Car-park). And who knows, maybe one day in the future Perth street art lovers will have a chance to share in this impressive body of work once more.
Until then, visit www.ololo.info to see how extensive a project this truly is.
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
