ISSUE 4

ABANDONED

CREATELIVE

EXPLORE

RESIDE...

Housed by these urban spaces,

these concrete pillars, rivers of stone, tow

ers of brick and m

ortar, floor to ceiling glass and m

etal.

Without people, it is nothing

but walls and pavem

ent.

We m

ake this city, we

built these mazes, gave

them nam

es, meanings

and mem

ories.

This city is ours.

It belongs to the people who walk these streets, to you and I.

You are part if the essential lifeblood that brings these walls to life, that makes this place live and breathe. Every action, movement, uttered word and caught breath.

...

IT’S ABOUT TRANSFORMING

A SPACE INTO SOMETHING NEW.

Our City, our streets. Our backyards, wetsheets, paved alleysand dark corners.

Our business suits concealing inked skin, our cinemas, footpaths, rooftops and bridges.

Wild Rice talks to Brisbane street artist

SkullCapper about creation, art and

abandoned places.

Opposite page: Model: Palawasha Makeup: dunkle authentic

Wild Rice Photography

“I’m not about defacing property,” he said, “I’d never paste or sticker a school or hospital or anything, you know. But if it’s a run down, derelict or abandoned place then to me it just feels like a blank canvas, and we are giving it a new purpose, a new lease on life. It’s all about rebirth.”

“To me, it’s about finding new spaces and interpreting them. The space finds me,” he said, “for most of the bigger works, it’s the location, size and features will determine the scope and design of the piece itself.”

THE SPACEFINDS

ME.

I’D NEVER USE A WALL OF A HOSPITAL OR A SCHOOL. ONLY RUN DOWN, DERELICT OR ABANDONED PLACES. IT’S ABOUT REBIRTH.

“I like to use non-traditional spaces, I guess that’s one of the reasons street art appeals to me.”

We stare at the walls, already laced with workds and images of artists who have seen the promise of the abandoned place as a blank canvas.

“I’d rather create a really great paste up or design and put it up on a wall somewhere that hundreds of people will see each day, than confine my work to the walls of a gallery.”

#iamwildrice“This is what I see myself doing for the rest of my life, it’s what gets me out of bed.”

THERE’S KIND OF A SET OF UNWRITTEN RULES AND UNSPOKEN ETHICS

There are some that are pretty straight forward- you don’t put your work up over someone elses- it’s called ‘capping’

THEN THERE IS ORIGINALITY;

“If you design something too similar to another artists work, its called ‘Biting’, as in biting at their ankles. Usually you can assume they didn’t know and you can just go talk to the artist and work it out.

“I try not to [collaborate often], there are a lot of politics involved in Street Art, it’s like highschool.There’s a lot of egotistical bullshit,”

“I mean nothing is really original anymore, we are all just creating used ideas in a fresh way, it’s bound to overlap here and there.”

...it’s mainly common sense, you learn them as you go, usually the hard way. Live and learn.

“However, sometimes you can’t help, there are limited spaces in Brisbane and as they get used, we have less and less space to put new work, so sometimes it’s unavoidable.

“Again, there are unspoken ethics with that, if you are going to go over someone else’s art, you had better be sure that yours is better!’

INTERVIEW WITH BRISBANE STREET ARTIST, SKULLCAPPER*

THESE streets

areOURS.

I AM WILDRICEJOURNALISM

PHOTOGRAPHYCULTURE

STYLEWild Rice, est. 2013, was created by Jessica Rhianas an exploration of the world and the stories of wonder within.

Articles/ Images / Zine Design by Jessica Rhian

Art: SkullcapperModel: Palawasha

Makeup by dunkle authenticLogo Design by Harper House

wildrice-online.com / @wildricetweets / iamwildrice@gmail.com