A photograph of graffiti on a building on the corner of Colombo Street and Peterborough Street. Originally a recruitment advertisement for the police, the image has been altered and the words, "You can paint, but we can't!" added.
A photograph of graffiti on a building on the corner of Colombo Street and Peterborough Street. Originally a recruitment advertisement for the police, the image has been altered and the words, "You can paint, but we can't!" added.
A graffiti-style recruitment advertisement for the NZ Police, depicting police officer Spence Kingi pulling a woman from the rubble.
This thesis considers the presence and potential readings of graffiti and street art as part of the wider creative public landscape of Christchurch in the wake of the series of earthquakes that significantly disrupted the city physically and socially. While documenting a specific and unprecedented period of time in the city’s history, the prominence of graffiti and street art throughout the constantly changing landscape has also highlighted their popularity as increasingly entrenched additions to urban and suburban settings across the globe. In post-quake Christchurch, graffiti and street art have often displayed established tactics, techniques and styles while exploring and exposing the unique issues confronting this disrupted environment, illustrating both a transposable nature and the entwined relationship with the surrounding landscape evident in the conception of these art forms. The post-quake city has afforded graffiti and street art the opportunity to engage with a range of concepts: from the re-activation and re-population of the empty and abandoned spaces of the city, to commentaries on specific social and political issues, both angry and humorous, and notably the reconsideration of entrenched and evolving traditions, including the distinction between guerrilla and sanctioned work. The examples of graffiti and street art within this work range from the more immediate post-quake appearance of art in a group of affected suburbs, including the increasingly empty residential red-zone, to the use of the undefined spaces sweeping the central city, and even inside the Canterbury Museum, which housed the significant street art exhibition Rise in 2013-2014. These settings expose a number of themes, both distinctive and shared, that relate to both the post-disaster landscape and the concerns of graffiti and street art as art movements unavoidably entangled with public space.
A photograph of street art on the wall of the Textile Bag & Sack Company building on Byron Street.
A photograph of street art in Sydenham. The artwork is signed "Liz, Morks, Apek".
A graffiti-style recruitment advertisement for the NZ Police, depicting police officer Spence Kingi pulling a woman from the rubble.
A photograph of a graffiti paste-up on the wall of a damaged building. The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Victoria Street".
A photograph of street art on a fence on Hawke Street in New Brighton.
A photograph of street art on a fence on Hawke Street in New Brighton.
A photograph of street art on a fence on Hawke Street in New Brighton.
A photograph of graffiti by PWR on a wall in Edgeware Road.
A photograph of street art on the wall of the Textile Bag & Sack Company building on Byron Street. The artwork has signatures in the corners that read "Def Star" and "The Izm".
A photograph of street art on a wall beside a building site. The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Barbadoes Street".
A photograph of street art on a wall beside a building site. The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Barbadoes Street".
A photograph of street art on a fence on Hawke Street in New Brighton.
A photograph of graffiti by IMK and BRAVO on a garage in Fitzgerald Avenue.
A photograph of graffiti by ROAM on a house in Hulverston Drive, Avondale.
A photograph of street art painted on a fence at Central New Brighton School.
A photograph of street art and graffiti at the Addington Saleyards. Text on one of the art works reads, "This is therapy... helps me get shit off my chest!".
A photograph of street art on the side of the Impulse Imports building in Colombo Street. There is a cordon fence around the building.
A photograph of street art on the side of the Impulse Imports building in Colombo Street. There is a cordon fence around the building.
A photograph of a weather-worn graffiti paste-up of a sticking plaster on a damaged wall. The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Gap Filler Monopoly Board site, corner Manchester and Dundas Streets".
A photograph of a weather-worn graffiti paste-up of a sticking plaster on a damaged wall. The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Gap Filler Monopoly Board site, corner Manchester and Dundas Streets".
A photograph of graffiti by JOTER on a fence in New Brighton Road, Burwood.
A photograph of tag writing on the support pole for the billboards next to the Durham Street overbridge.
A photograph of tag writing on the support pole for the billboards next to the Durham Street overbridge.
A photograph of street art on the side of the Couplands Bakery on Hawke Street in New Brighton.
A photograph of street art on the side of the Couplands Bakery on Hawke Street in New Brighton.
A photograph of tag writing and street art on the wall of a building on Fitzgerald Avenue.