#festivalvibes

Earlier this year, I was invited to contribute to Vibrance Festival 2021 and given my first taste of working within a festival environment in Tasmania’s capital — the quaint and quirky city of Hobart.

The proposed space, I soon learned, was local brewpub, T-Bone Brewing Co. - an elegantly-converted, early 1900’s-era building poised right on the main strip through town.

After meeting with the owners to make each other’s acquaintance, exchange ideas and establish a little context from my canvas-in-waiting up-close, I needed little convincing. There were some size constraints to consider courtesy of the building’s heritage listing — a matter of little consequence — and other than incorporating a nod to beer, I had, by all accounts, otherwise been given a green light to exercise as much artistic license in the design as I desired. Most importantly in any collaborative project though, everybody involved seemed to be receptive, engaged and on the same page.

Capturing lightning in a bottle

And so, with inspiration dialled up to 11 and but a few short weeks before the festival’s scheduled start date, I hurried back to the studio, lit the candle at both ends, and began to piece together a design; to snatch the intangible from the flashes of a heated imagination. Something which was not only commensurate with the brief but also sat in harmony with, and in direct response to, its surroundings…

Fortunately, the first draft was a hit and with momentum unabated, I could skip straight ahead to finding a match for the digital colours in spray paint form.

Ad tedium

This involves endlessly flicking back and forth through swatches before painstakingly inputting the corresponding RGB codes for a direct comparison. That is, of course, providing the necessary information is available at all. To further complicate matters, whilst some are better than others, they are not always exactly accurate either. But gripe though I may, at the end of the day, it’s a choice I make. A conscious decision to learn and accumulate experience but, most of all, to strive assiduously towards the high standards I set for myself. Sure, I could just wing it with a more fluid approach and make life easier for myself but working hard has always supplanted the necessity for finishing fast.

An intense week of blood, sweat and accelerated hair loss later, I had, in addition to smothering my desk in a thick layer of post-it notes, successfully mapped out a complex system of colour combinations I was confident would all come together on the day. So long, of course, I could keep a handle on it all.

Negative Nelly

Before I could put my hard-fought theory to the test in practice, I first had to lay down the construction lines - a satisfying stage of the process for some and for others, simply a means to end.

Sketching up in white marked yet another first for me. It wasn’t as difficult as I had anticipated; not as dramatic a shift from the way I was used to doing it but I still remain on the fence with the inverted effect.

OK, Go

With some 72 unique colours in tow and something at which to now aim them, I could finally pop the AirPods in, turn the volume up and bestow the wall (and festival-goers alike) with a little vibrance of my own doing.

This is usually the point at which any semblance of order in my process — any method to the madness — quickly dissolves and my focus begins to switch rapidly from one area to another. The overwhelming majority of artists who work with spray paint will employ the tried-and-tested technique of applying colours in layers. And they’re not wrong in doing so; it’s the most efficient way to complete a painting on this scale. An entire day may be devoted, in my case, to tidying up only to the bemusement of onlookers who ask in earnest what I have done.

So why do it? Why defy convention if it’s counterproductive? The answer is a relatively straight forward one: impatience. Although, in the end, that very lack of discipline comes at the cost of even more time, I like to complete sections at a time; to skip ahead and permit myself an advanced preview of the satisfaction the finished product may provide. You could even say it’s a way to keep myself motivated. Plus, it also affords the people paying for it all some assurance that I have, despite early appearances, in fact done this before.

There were one or two curveballs lying in wait, conspiring to confound my rhythm amidst the maze of colours, but all in all, my due diligence back at home had paid off with everything else slotting into place with relative ease.

Freaking out the neighbourhood

When you think festival, what comes to mind? A loud, radiant spectacle? A celebration perhaps? Something fun and entertaining. Well, Vibrance had all of that and more in spades. It was inclusive, rich in community spirit and underlined street art as a culture to be embraced. The event organisers should be proud they’ve built something bold and brave. A platform to nurture artists’ talent and a foundation upon which their selfless endeavour has real potential to grow in leaps and bounds. Long may their message reach the masses and continue to usher in a brighter future for the walls of Hobart city.

Cool story bro: The passing street art tours, along with my strained attempts to sound professional, provided some light relief from the rigorous schedule.

And we all get by with a little help from our friends — our able-bodied assistants who, when our legs lay limp before us, inert and bereft of the impetus to carry us any further into the day, pick up the slack and keep the gears of progress in motion.

Spot the difference

Three weeks to the day since the first flecks of paint hissed and fizzed their way out of my can, spattering the old brickwork, I arrived at the finish line. Tired, sore and a few kilograms lighter but inexorably satisfied.

That sense of accomplishment is elicited, in no small part, from having faithfully reproduced the digital design; from seeing what was once just pixels realised on a grand scale. It’s not all just about size and accuracy though. The wall stands testament to how, in a time of shrinking attention spans, a little perseverance can go a long way.

But don’t take my word for it. See it finished here while I catch my breath.

Images courtesy of Andrew Wilson Photography.