Skulls in Sao Paolo
Alexandre Orion (27) is a Brazilian born graffiti artist who gained attention in 2006 for his unique blend of graffiti and art photography, public space and public interactivity with his series of works entitled Metabiotics, soon found himself in the global spotlight in 2007 with his Reverse Graffiti piece Skulls in Sao Paolo. Alexandre doesn’t offer a unique message, it is one of hard and fast committed environmentalism, but his method of delivery for a greener world has drawn far more media coverage than any poster or television campaign by the eco-establishment. The fact is that the man or woman on the street has heard and seen it all before. No matter what new information science discovers, no matter how bad the news, most of us will do little more than recycle our waste, insulate the attic, switch to unleaded fuel. Plus the fact that governments, corporations and institutions around the world do relatively little to improve the situation, and further more with an economic depression looming on the horizon, it’s a case for a vast majority of see no evil, hear no evil.
The genius of Orion’s work Skulls isn’t so much the artistic conception, although it did for a brief time provide an extremely powerful muralist frieze, a highly public one at that, the genius was in his choice of medium. Reverse graffiti is in fact cleaning, the removal of dirt, grime and polltants generated by transport and industry across the world and everyday. Armed with little more than a wet rag, Orion drew worldwide attention to a worldwide problem in the most applicable medium possible. Furthermore his efforts literally blackmailed the authorities into a citywide clean-up operation of the Max Feffer Tunnel. After their first attempt at arresting him, the police and the powers that be realised they didn’t have a leg to stand on, all he had done is what they should have done years ago, and that was clean up the city. As they removed the dirt and obviously his work from one side of the tunnel, he turned to the otherside and began redrawing Skulls. Before long the city launched a clean-up operation of all seven tunnels in the city.
Without realising it San Paolo’s governing body had been duped into a two-fold campaign of temporary measures and long-term disapproval by the city’s population and the world at large. Mere soap and water could not hide the fact that the city as are many in the world, is heavily reliant upon the combustion engine for all its vital and public services, the pollutants are stll there, the problem has not been solved, but with little more than a cleaning rag and a whole lot of ingenuity, Alexandre Orion has upped the ante in the ecological argument.
Politically and cultural environmentalism has but one meaning, and that is the ecological impact of Man upon the earth. However in the arts there is a long tradition of site-specific artworks that draw the viewer’s attention to more than the image or object, but rather the context in which it is placed. The gallery system and especially the largest and most famous galleries of the world pay great attention to the placement and spacing of art, Traditionally, when art in context broaches the gallery doors, one can expect to see sculptural commissions, public and mainly community murals, works for the main part which have been officially sanctioned by the authorities who have a vested interest in portraying a positive image of their place and role in society. Perhaps a mural is commissioned in order to disguise a run-down hosing project or industrial wasteland, or a sculpture is designed with the intention of highlighting the cultural progression of a city, or a memorial to its personal tragedies.
In many examples commissioned public works are there for the sake of a local authority’s ego, a city planner’s wish to "out do the competition", say a neighbouring city with a greater reputation for the appreciation of the arts, or even cultural and artistic amenities or perhaps a former administration from an opposing elected party. Montréal, amongst other cities famous for commissioning public art, having a set budget for commissioning public works (even though at times certain pieces have "got in the way" of the city’s development, be it commercial, transportation or otherwise), are extremely intolerant of real public art, as in art by the people, otherwise known as graffiti.
Alexandre Orion’s public art, especially his stencilled pieces including Metabiotics do quite the reverse, they shine a spotlight on the nitty-gritty of real life in the city, they interact with the people and the environment around them, they do exactly what public art should do, engage with local people on a human scale, not simply impress the tourists. Take a look at a few examples:-
A collection of astounding photographs of Orions work can be seen online at the Foley Gallery.
