Hey Kids,
So last week I was hanging out at the Oxford Art Factory to see the most recent Sydney battle in the Secret Walls series. The night’s battle raged between Ben Brown, long time graphic designer and artist, and graffiti artist Pudler. The artists are given ninety minutes to go head-to-head and create a work of art that disses their opposition in a similar style to a rap battle. The artists are only allowed to use black paint and markers, and have no sketches or books to reference. Personally I was pretty stoked with the night’s performance but don’t take my word for it, here are the pics.
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| Pudler |
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| Ben Brown |
A few weeks back I spoke to Shannon McKinnon, the organiser for the event on behalf of Westsyde Connection. He said that they’d been asking Ben Brown to compete since it all started back in 2006, and so I feel like having Ben up there on Wednesday was a really big achievement for the Secret Walls team and really emphasized just how far they’ve come.
The art itself was at a pretty high standard on the night. I think Pudler had a better dis going and the typography was dope (probably due to his graffiti background) but as a piece of work I liked Ben’s more and the judges agreed. The crowd vote went to Pudler and both judges sided with Ben, making him the overall winner.
At the end of the night Shannon emphasised that the importance of Secret Walls is not about winning but rather about competing, and it although it sounds corny it’s very true. Trampling over the other artist is unnecessary and doesn’t achieve anything; instead the idea is to get out there and show people what you’re made of, have a few beers and a good time.
As always, thanks for reading, props to the Secret Walls team, and looking forward to the next event on Wednesday 12th of September with Ape Seven vs. Okay.
Peace
J
rainbowlungs 