Around Schots Emporium & Chien Wah Trading

Chien Wah Trading

When we are alerted to something we tend to notice it more often from within the maelstrom of patterns that afflict our minds as we go about our daily lives. Just bought a new car, now you see them everywhere you look, desire a particular pair of shoes, now every shop window is displaying them at discount prices. Obviously the frequency of their random appearance in our lives doesn't change, we can't change the nature of reality just by thinking about it. Rather we have developed a bias for observing and remembering this object, whereas previously our brains will have discarded the information like so much mental flotsam and jetsam.




Although I have driven past the above image some thousand or more times over the last ten years I had never noticed the graffiti looking down on Hoddle Street from the gabled section of the Chien Wah Trading roof. Can you see the "Dolphins"?

More "Dolphins"

I see the damn things everywhere, even to the point of being told (thanks Chris) that there is much nicer graffiti around to look at. He is right of course, but we never know around which corner the next little adventure will take place and I have rediscovered my taste for the smaller details to be found in the overwhelming mess of life. The burning question now becomes: how the hell did they get up there? and how the hell do I follow their example?


To this end I did a bit of reconnaissance.


The images below show the lane-way in behind Schots Emporium, we are looking South toward Melbourne. I do love this Edwardian architecture, these red-brick factories that can still evoke a strong sense of the history of a place.

Looking South

Behind Schots Emporium

Looking East

A little further South, just on the left, is a small lane that folds itself between some residential houses and the South facing wall of the building.

Small Lane

As I was poking about the discarded needles, spray cans and an abandoned supermarket trolley full of old shoes, one of the neighbours was playing the Smiths: There's a Light that Never Goes Out, soon to be followed by This Charming Man. I sat on the bluestone ground at the end of this odd gallery wall, among the discarded shoes, the sound of Morrissey's vocals and the clatter of the trains travelling between Victoria Park and Clifton Hill stations. It was a still moment, one of those discrete sections of our lives when melancholy is wrestled to the ground and placed deep within the context of our history; perhaps graffiti lets us participate in the absent narratives of those around us, perhaps it reminds us that we can only ever be known by the marks that we make, the etchings that we create in the lives of the people, and the places, that we have come to know.

Tribal Faces

Looking North

Alexandra Parade East

In order to find my way to the roof I had to circumnavigate the buildings and wander along railway line that lies at the back of the buildings. Following what amounted to a dirt track I stumbled upon some beautiful images:

The dilapidated house is in worse condition than the fence, but I liked the juxtaposition of the red elements set against the complimentary green of the graffiti lettering. I also like the window awnings, the house is occupied otherwise I would have had a closer look around.

Planet Sheen

Further down toward the Noone Street Railway underpass were some very cool pieces. However, once under the railway bridge itself you are faced with this billboard depicted below.

In a way Royal Dalton have captured the ambivalence that officialdom have toward graffiti. On the one hand graffiti such as that found around Melbourne is world renowned, this translates into tourist dollars. On the other hand graffiti is illegal, it is an act of defiance, a thumbing of the nose at those who would like to dictate to us how our urbanity should look and feel; blowing raspberries at authority.

This tension between the various meanings that can be associated with graffiti give rise to a variety of aesthetics on the subject. What is graffiti? Are some types better than others? Should tagging be stopped while pieces such as that on the left encouraged? Or is this just a different form of tagging?

Whatever your thoughts I most certainly remain ambivalent about Royal Dalton's efforts. The plates and mugs have been designed by the London graffiti legends Pure Evil (Charles Uzzell-Edwards) and Nick Walker whose street art has influenced graffiti all across the globe. I am not suggesting that making such a move is a form of selling out, my level of ignorance is far too high for me to justify such an opinion. I do wonder at a set of Royal Dalton plates depicting graffiti destined for the walls of middle-class homes where the kids are expected to be back before midnight though. What does it say of graffiti's political power or it's rebellious and non-conformist heritage when it can be sold on a set of fine china plates with the advertising slogan "I love Vandalism".

Or maybe that is the very point of it.

Vandalism by Royal Dalton