Outpost @ Cockatoo Island

Saturday, after a night discussing our Hunter Valley plans at Zoe's place I awoke to blazing sunshine and clear blue skies. I had previously planned to go to 'Outpost' at Cockatoo Island on Sunday, but I didn't have any plans for Saturday so I figured 'Hey, why not?' and went to Circular Key to see some kick ass street art and skateboarding!

OK, so the skateboarding wasn't anything, but the art was pretty cool. Of course, no 'street art exhibition' is complete without some stuff by Banksy, so I'll get some of my favourites of his out the way now...

A personal favourite, seeing as every security guard in Sydney searches your bag after leaving a shop, even though the bell-end watched you the whole time you were there.

It was nice to see some art that was genuinely awesome, like the huge image of a flying girl...

 And this awesome image that is so awesome that only the word 'ShitBad' can describe it...

I too had the chance to contribute to the whole thing through the medium of chalk on pavement.

Ryan, age 26, from Essex

Street art in general is all about rebellion, to me at least. Writing messages in a public forum has been a form of rebellion since the Romans and today it is no different,

UK viewers may not recognise some of the logos, but you would if you came to Oz.

Topical?

Meggs is a really good artist, seriously, look him(?) up!

So you can imagine my surprise and mild disgust when the likes of Microsoft use 'street art' to promote a product like Forza 4 and Just Dance 2 at an event designed to display the best Australia (and the world) have to offer the medium.

I found solace in the fact the artist clearly didn't have the heart to put all of their effort into it.

But the problem wasn't just the corporate/government sponsors, the real issue I had was the $7.50 beer, which I wasn't expecting as when I think 'street art' I think 'drinking cider at a skate park' not 'paying that much for a beer when White Lightning is so much cheaper'.

Don't forget your official merch!

I'm not sure if this was part of the exhibit, but I did chuckle.

Cockatoo Island is a strange place in general. It has nothing there but seagulls and relics from a former industrial age, old rusted cranes look on, knowing their usefulness diminished long ago. Huge warehouses and workshops lie empty, save only for a few amulets of industry, like old turbines and ship parts. The docks are home to nothing but seagulls as the ships that were once built there are long gone, either sunk during the second world war or used as museum pieces themselves. It is a haunting place to be, reading the various plates of information to piece together what was a rich history of industry, from the days of penal colonies and quarries to a ship yard in WWII, Cockatoo Island was host to a key part of Australia's industrial past but now it lies dormant and is used as a camp-site/events venue. A monument to the way the world has moved on in such a short time.

Back to Outpost, and the biggest installation was from Kid Zoom, entitled 'Home'. It was a full size replica of his childhood/adolescenthood house, inside was a projection of a film depicting the destruction of three Holden Commodores, and Lionel Richie presumably. I would have missed it had it not been for the huge amount of sound forcing its way out of the building it was housed in. I had to see what was creating such a haunting piece of audio, and here is what I saw... Although the sound was better.

Not forgetting the Commodores

That's why I'm easy...

A very good day, dare I say 'enlightening', the broken industrial setting juxtaposed with the images of a broken society were quite thought provoking in that "we never really know what will happen next, but we can help to determine what will be most likely.

Or we can just laugh at the dreamers...

And enjoy the ride down to the gutter..." - Ryan Whitwell, 2011
Quick! Put that on a t-shirt and sell it!