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Unexpected Art

As I was walking in Lincoln today down this random footpath that I've always wanted to go down but never have I came across a myriad of things. The canal ran along side the path; said canal was littered with ducks, geese, debris and - unfortunately - litter. Every so often I came across a 'Fish here with licence' type sign which more often than not had been graffitied on with a penmanship or a heart whose ink dripped down quite morbidly.

Hugging the canal was a spread of jigsaw houses. You could almost see the development of house after house, developer after developer. Every now and then a person would pass me, sometimes child in hand, others bag. To my right was an industrial sprawl and here lay the most unexpected part of my journey.

After venturing past factory after factory, some more decrepit than others, I arrived at this old, rusting, green-rusty-orange-brown-old factory. It was quite pungent around the area and the wall facing me as I approached had a sprawling of white tags and scribbles. It was much to my surprise as I began walking down the length of the building that it became clear that there seemed to be some sort of mural pasted all the way down.

From where I was walking I came across "LINCOLN" in big, typical graffiti font. Then the garden began; cats followed slugs who were next to gigantic worms emerging. Frog-like-creatures sunbathed whilst glasses-wearing-trees stood stoically, separating one bunch of images to the next. The odd little frog at the base of the building popped up every now an then, another artists version of a small addition.

As I got closer to the building coming to an end the images seemed to grow more wacky. Three mushrooms leered and laughed, one looking a little shocked. Two alcoves (obviously used by some people recently) were elabourately decorated; one seemed to be a view looking over a garden, the foreground a tree with a peaceful cat sitting on it. The other an ominous dark area with a figure above the opening leering down at those who enter.

I feel like this is one of the most beautiful pieces of artwork that I've seen. The exploration of nature in Lincoln showed aspects from the domestic garden to people cycling by the canal. This graffiti had copious amounts of people wandering past it everyday, and even residents looking out over it but the question that springs to mind is this: who really notices this? Who walks by it and doesn't disregard it as a not worth noticing because it's 'graffiti'?

This art, this unexpected art, managed to really brighten my day and clear my head. It always seems to be the finds that are completely unexpected or not really regarded as 'art' are the ones people find the most, I guess, rewarding. I'm not someone who often manages to find fulfilment in art (I'm much more of a words person) but this wall of this random building got to me and stuck in my mind for the whole day.

Comments

  1. Ruth23 February 2014 at 08:43

    I feel as if your writing has improved incredibly, Claire (not that I'm one to critique!). I just feel that the way you are describing things is really lovely. Have you been doing a lot of descriptive/creative writing in your spare time since going to Lincoln?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. paperbookmarks12 March 2014 at 15:40

      I didn't see this comment until now, sorry Ruth! Thank you so much - that really means a lot. I haven't actually, but it's something I'm wanting to work on. Two of my modules next year are creative writing modules so we'll have to see.
      Once again, thanks!

      Delete

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