gi_past_and_present

**PAST & PRESENT**

• Home Page • Focus Questions • Artists • **Past & Present** • Laws • Influential Art • Interactive Map • Glossary • Mind Map • Photo Gallery • Bibliography • Reflections • Melbourne has changed a lot since its first founding, with each decade bringing something new and unique, which in turn has helped shape the city. Laneways have changed from grubby spaces in between buildings to places where business flourishes and art work rules. Sculptures have changed in style and are now less distinct or obvious at first glance. Graffiti laws have changed and it is now recognised as an art. All of these factors have helped shaped Melbourne in some small way and below we have researched the past and present of each area of street art.

 Laneways-** Before the most recent commonwealth games were held in Melbourne, laneways were just the spaces in between buildings with a few bins and tags here and there, but now they are the home of some outstanding pieces of street art. Cafes and boutiques thrive in places such as Degraves Street, which has some great art work while also combining shops to match the old and slightly shabby look of Melbourne's laneways. In our opinion, this combination is one of the many factors that makes Melbourne unique.
 * ORIGINS


 * Sculptures-** One of the earliest sculptures in Melbourne was the two-tiered Victoria Fountain on the corner of Collins and Swanston Street which was built in 1859, but unfortunately is no longer there today due to increased amounts of traffic. Another early sculpture is a model of the Roman god Neptune, which is also known as 'the river god'.This statue was built by Charles Summers in 1862 and can be found in Fitzroy gardens. We found that sculptures of now and past generations differ a lot in style. Take 'Angel' for example, it appears as many different things depending on who looks at it and ,if you use sterotypical images of angels, the sculpture does not look even remotely like its name. Today, art could be anything whereas ,in the past, a lot of the artwork was quite detailed and it usually represented or was relevant to its name in some way. An example of of what sculptures used to be like is Neptune, which is quite clearly the Roman god, Neptune.

**Chalk art-** Chalk art in Melbourne has really taken off in the past decade or so and has evolved from plain drawings done by children on pavements to a recognised form of street art. At the weekend on Southbank you can usually find chalk artists drawing anything and everything whether it be an abstract impression of the city or a detailed replica of a famous portrait.


 * Buskers-** Buskers have been around for centuries and are pretty much the same everywhere you go, they either play instruments or perform in some area of drama or comedy. The main changes in busking are in the area of technology in that instruments now use speakers and enhancers and CD's of the performers are usually available. Also busking now requires a licence and if you are under 16 you must have parental permission.


 * Graffiti-** Graffiti styles and methods have changed drastically with each decade as it can represent current political views or events. Something that has stayed relatively the same through out is tagging as tags are mainly the creators name. Graffiti has also become a more accepted form of art in the past few years as it was made legal in certain places whereas before it was just considered vandalism. We believe that graffiti in Melbourne has matured as well as changed and as the city counsel have made some parts of it legal, the job of a graffiti artist is now seen as a more serious profession, which in turn has made them produce some very detailed and outstanding works of art.

