The Flour Mill

It was somewhat of a cool winter's day that the 2095'er decided to explore this location known as The Flour Mill.  

Having gone past it quite a few times on the way to work, the 2095 knew where it was, however actually getting there was an entirely different story.

Bearing in mind the her famous complete lack of geographical know-how, the 2095 began what ended up being an absolute epic of a journey which was to be repeated not once, not twice but THREE times.  Massive even by the 2095'ers standards.

Having painstakingly mapped exactly WHERE to go using the web as a GPS and hand written directions (left here, walk up three blocks, right here), the increasing frustration started to take it's toll on the 2095. "What's the bloody point!  I have made a complete balls up of it".

And just when she was about to throw the towel in she spied the light rail and out of the corner of her eye there was some colour!

FINALLY!  Eyes slowly turned upwards and there she was.  In all her glory.  The external of The Flour Mill.

All that was left to do was to work out exactly how to get to this place way on high. As with all perfect timings the heavens opened up.  The 2095'er was sufficiently encouraged to return when the weather behaved itself, she wound her way home content with at least achieving the goal of actually taking 2 photos.

Attempt number 2 again resulted in complete frustration having elected to walk down one of the main streets, the 2095 again became totally exasperated at the complete lack of a) streetart b) her ability to navigate what would eventually be a ridiculously easy route to nirvana.

Ok so 3rd and final attempt: SOUND THE TRUMPETS!  CLAP THOSE HANDS!  Yay....and then with a little bit of self chastisisation ("you idiot!  all you had to do was walk that last block!) and the spying of a very obliging bend in the fence, the 2095 chick climbed through and found what she now presents to you as The Flour Mill.

Recently this lot has finally had some movement and sadly the walls will become bare and sterile so The Flour Mill we commend you.

5 Questions with Bunkwaa

In the days when the 2095 chick had a teeny tiny Canon SX20 (which fit ever so sweetly in to the bag so the rapid "take it, shoot it, put away post haste"  routine was maintained at all times) she happened upon a funny little cartoon character stuck way up high on a corner in Cleveland Street. 

Such was her intense intrigue with this creature, little did she realise the act of standing still to study this little cutie, caused other folk (who ordinarily wouldn't have given it the time of day such is their need to get from A to B with eyes firmly planted on the ground: god forbid eye contact being made!) to stop & see what the 2095 was looking at. 

Amid a lot of "oh how cuuuute" verbal emissions, the 2095 realised her private discovery moment had been become public, whereupon she continued down Cleveland Street in pursuit of other street-art discoveries.

Not long after, another discovery was made and being somewhat more enlightened, the 2095'er was most confident with her self-talk: "yep, that's a Bunkwaa" 

Like most things, once you see one you see many, almost multiplying at the rate of new postcodes. 

Ok time to get real.  When one accepts that as a photographer one must embrace and acknowledge street-photography-whiplash'itis THEN you see these little nuggets of Bunkwaa gold appear more often than not.

Thus my 5 questions with Bunkwaa begin.

You are a man who wears many hats. When did the world of Bunkwaa begin: was it a style or a doodle that came to life or was it one of those lightening moments where it was AH HA!  THIS IS IT!

I've been Bunkwaa for over 10 years now, so bear with me while I ramble through my story. 

I've always drawn.  I was compelled to draw.  For me it wasn't choice, it just "was".  I had so many different styles and loved making comic books. From a young age I realised I was born to be a cartoonist.

I went to art school when I was older and decided to put away the cartoon drawing and focus on becoming a "real" artist.  For 2 years I put aside my cartoon drawing.  By my 3rd year of uni, I couldn't hold it back anymore: cartoon characters exploded out of me.  It was almost as if they had built up under the pressure of my resistance.

I couldn't stop.  I drew frantically.  I drew so quickly I remember the pencil flinging out of my hand many times.  I kept making happy  "accidents" as I drew.

One of those accidents was to dra the top lip through the eyes of the character: splitting eyes into eyeballs and teeth.

I remember looking at it thinking "this looks great!".  I refined it and over time, the characters have become   to be what is now known as the Bunkwaa's

What is that really triggers your creative side.  Do you find yourself getting delightfully distracted and simply continue to completion, or are you having to compromise your time in order to keep whatever projects are on the go, remain "on the go"?

My art is a very important part of my being.  If I look back at my life, my has been compromised too many times.  I like hiding in my cave (studio) and working on my comic book.  It's the one thing that keeps me going.  One day I will be dead, but I'd like this particular piece to continue living.  

The first issue is nearly ready.  I've made heaps of comics before, but this one is my opus.

It's a mix of 1984, a brave new world and adventure time!

Being somewhat tall, what has been on THE most bizarre places you have put the teeny Bunkwaa so as to ensure that street-photography-whiplash is in full effect when "on the hunt"

It's funny you should mention that as most of my characters I stick around the place are at foot level. I'll have to start taking advantage of my height. Thanks for the tip!

You (relatively) recently started BUNKWAAcomics: are you able to give a bit of insight as to its birth and possible future for both yourself and it?

A little while ago I decided to look back at to when I was kid and tried to remember thing I used to do.  I dug through old boxes and found a stack of old comics I had made.

Not having seen them for 20 years I surprised myself at how good they were!  I realised a had a natural sense of composition, timing and story.  

It was at that moment I decided to become a comic book creator.

I disappeared in to the bush recently to write scripts for all three parts of the comic.  It's my Star Wars Trilogy, I guess.  It deals with my angst for the world in a humerous way.  It Keeps me sane

In 5 words how would you describe the world of Bunkwaa

Interdimensional

Psychedelic

Cute

Cuddly Clawed

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Huge thanks to the man known as Bunkwaa  for not only sharing his time and allowing reproduction of some of his works! (and it would be remiss not to mention the fantastic t-shirt of Voyage to the Moon worn for this photo!)

BUNKWAAcomics

5 Questions with Abyss.607

Like most of my street-art ventures in the early days, you see a little squiggle and think to yourself "odd, but best take a shot cause they'll buff it & you'll kick yourself later".

Admittedly, I did find it difficult to read the tag. Nonetheless photo duly taken and on my merry way I went, thinking nothing more about it.

A few months later a jaunt to Canberra was planned, and after desperately trying to identify locations on-line where there may be some street-art, I had all but given up hope.

With absolute respect, Canberra is one hard city to navigate. Combine that with the 2095 chickz infamous inability to be geographically accurate at the best of times, it was becoming increasingly frustrating as we were restricted for time.

In one final attempt I spied a MASSIVE piece of work by Swerfk, screamed "STOP THE CAR!"

As a rule of thumb, when one piece of art is spied, there are bound to be more.  Thus, the car was duly parked, the 2095'er climbed through a gap in the fence, jumped across the divide (aka a canal), and in a breath-taking moment fell instantly in love.

(Ironically, another street-artist had told me about this Abyss person which until then I really had no idea who he was talking about.   Of course that changed instantly)

Here are my 5 questions with Abyss.607

Do you have another life beyond Abyss.607, and if so, do you feel at times it intrudes on your alter-ego?

It's given me, I would say, more of a reason to be content with my life.  I skate & play RPG's.  I spend most of my time alone drawing or painting, so what I do resonates through my art.

What is the inspiration behind your street name?

Abyss is really a visual form that's reflective and expressive of a lot of my thoughts. Sometimes dark, but not evil; bright but not to burn, and endless with a destination only you can give yourself.

Your work is immediately recognisable and seeing it "in the flesh" (so to speak) is breath-taking.  How long does it take to formulate the concept, identify a location and then complete the process.  And how much of it takes place under cover of darkness?

A lot of the time I see a spot.  I think first of what would be best suited for it: ie. paste up if it's a busy spot where I'd like to put something nice, or spray paint if I have got the time to cover and do something big.

Paste-ups can be really effective on different coloured/textured walls, so sometimes I will make something (specific) for the wall.  My paste-ups are hand painted mostly with acrylic and do take some time to make, depending upon the size.

Pretty much all of my street work is done at night.  I think I've only done one outside wall in Canberra where I was commissioned.

Mostly I go out alone.  It's definitely not easy sometimes (eg: rooftops), but I plan out pretty much every spot I choose which will have a story (or reason) behind it. I'm sure a lot of similar artists can relate, but for me personally, it's more than just a painting.

When you're out there alone in the middle of the night, it's one of the times I don't feel suffocated by the things we are subconsciously fed and think about during the day.  It's engulfing and free.

When you're jumping into private property, risking your life climbing something, start painting, all the while trying to be quick and silent, having to hide for much longer than you paint: you're up against so many elements that are otherwise nullified regularly.  It really wakes you up and makes you feel alive.  It uses your senses all whilst being creative.

Nothing beats that feeling. Although it can suck, if you've done something good and it's already buffed when you go to get the flick the next day.

A lot of what we express through graffiti, the general public are ignorant of and usually lost under wrongful "vandalism"

When did the Abyss come in to being: was it evolutionary or was it "bang! here it is! let's do it"?

More evolutionary.  I've always been drawing monsters and strange entities.  The main character I do I call "Seers".

They are watchers of time and space, on the walls they guide the heart and the spirit with strength for those who view them with unchained minds.

They also stand as glyphs symbolising our demise, depicting nostalgic ancient art and abstraction warning us of a bleak future if we don't change for the better.

If you could sum up in one sentence the difference between street-art and capping (so as to educate the uneducated) what would they be?

All I can say is the streets are unrelenting.  Just stay true to yourself and whatever it is you want to accomplish: do it.

See ya in the void!

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My thanks to Abyss for sharing his stories and allowing his works to be used in this interview.  

For the 2095 chick, her love for his work is unrelenting and she is most impatient to get back to our nation's capital to go on the hunt for more of the Abyss!

Abyss.607 Creatures

Abyss.607