Wall Fire

Dissenting voices

In and around the streets of Brick lane there has been an explosion of street art . Images change on an almost daily basis as artists find new hidden corners,doorways , lampposts, building site boarding and in fact anywhere that may support an image. Artists desperate to expose their work paint over existing images ,this living breathing art gallery is the place to speak to an untamed audience.

In an age where rebellion and protest are seemingly marginalised or viewed as extreme the alternative voice to the status quo is rare and so it is refreshing to see the shoots of disquiet appearing more frequently in this alternative street gallery. The voices at times maybe strange or disjointed but are at least here.

'The pen is mightier than the sword 'but here the spray can and montage are smarter. It is therefore fitting that in a street that is so symbolic of political protest that dissenting voice is heard once again.   

Masonic Musings

Garibaldi Crackers

An imposing building, grandiose even stands at the end of Longacre in Covent Garden in Great Queen street ( pictured above) . I have passed this building on many occassions and have been mildly curious to its function but never bothered to investigate more until at the beginning of this week i saw a poster outside the building advertising an exhibition about Garibaldi .Not knowing very much about the Italian general and politician and immediately recollecting my father's amusement at Garibaldi biscuits as a child i thought this was a perfect opportunity to discover more. My appetite whetted further when i discover the building is a freemasons hall, indeed the 'United Grand lodge of England'.

On entering the building i immediately recall all the stories of secret societies, corruption & Monty Python silly walks however i am greeted by two very pleasant security officers who give me a visitors pass and a seemingly free reign to nose around the building of a very secret order. The building is no less grand inside and ascending a large marble staircase i find myself in long corridors lined with dark mahogany doors leading to huge function rooms . With very few people about i take an illicit peep inside the rooms and am fascinated by various portraits of famous freemasons or masonic regalia.  

I finally find the Garibaldi  exhibition room and gaze at the various artefacts some of which allude to Garibaldi's strong ties to freemasonry .There are books about the secret societies of southern Italy and medals presented to Garibaldi from the Polish National Lodge of London. I discover that Garibaldi was made a  freemason in Uruguay 1844 .The freemason organisation in Italy was complicated in 1796/7 when Napoleon's armies had invaded Italy and brought the population into contact with the french revolution . By 1885 freemasonry 'became part of the machinery ..and dissemination of the Napoleonic cult' but after Napoleonic rule ceased masonic lodges were dissolved.  However the most startling sight was a packet of Garibaldi biscuits set inside a gleaming glass cabinet proudly exclaiming the most recognisable symbol of Garibaldi's fame . If i was about to take all this rather seriously i was now starting to feel the faint whiff of Pythonism.

All of which was mildly diverting but adjacent to this exhibition area is another gallery space dedicated to freemasonry memorabilia. Inside is an astonishing array of grand master ceremonial trowels ,tracing boards defining the 'morality play'. a cabinet dedicated to 'ladies night' ( where meals are held for wives once a year).There are photographs ,travelling irons and other various objects adorned with masonic symbols. In between the cabinets are wax dummies of  past grand masters in ceremonial uniform. It is at once fascinating but a little bizarre and python is ever present in my thoughts as these strange objects depicting unusual nocturnal ceremonial practices are presented as 'normal' everyday objects.The secrecy merely a by-product of a perfectly harmless organisation. I am not quite convinced  and as well as being slightly amused i am reminded of their enormous power base as i spot a picture of the present grand master who is HRH prince Michael of Kent a position he has held since 1982. 

My tour does not end there but in the most surreal of gift shops, dedicated to the lodge and  freemasonry where one can buy music by Mozart to accompany ceremonies . Book after book is dedicated to masonic practice but not of course 'The Brotherhood' by Stephen Knight the popular 80's book depicting and alleging corruption .  The walls are lined with costume ,even greetings cards but to complete the experience and end on a the surreal of the highest Python order are boxer shorts and socks adorned with the masonic symbol ( picture above). I am tempted to buy a pair and raise my trouser leg in honour of Monty Python and the silliness they depict but am put off by the uncertainty that a secret society still holds.

'The all seeing eye' is everywhere.

Busy Bee

Bee saver

The bee art campaign '#save the bees' is buzzing around the walls of east london . The top picture is one of two appearing in Sclater street just off #Brick lane the one below is off a small side turning off Bethnal green road. Both pictures have a cartoon apocalyptic appearance but are no less powerful for it.
How near we are to an apocalyptic situation im not so sure but to be concerned about these creatures has to be important . As the words on the wall say'' no more bees no more plants, animals, humans etc'' . Bees pollinate a third of our food , some scientists say that  bee products can help the reduction/growth of cancers and of course they produce honey.

Dreamcatcher sign

Love Post

 

Redchurch street just off brick lane is home to eclectic mix of galleries, restaurants ,boutique shops and street art . This unusual example of 'street art' caused a number of uncertain stares yesterday and grabbed my attention. I asked another passing aficionado of street art what he thought it meant replied ' Well I'm trying to document it all ( street art ) but this something else ,I don't know what it's about ....yes it is interesting but what its about i don't know ..?

On closer inspection i thought it resembled a dreamcatcher or some other primitive efergy displacing the no entry sign on which it is placed perhaps attempting to defy its urban setting. Attached to the art piece was a note that said 'please take me ' on which was written a beautiful poem :

'A perverse love

When darkness falls

He engulfs me

The shadow who looms above

He inhales me

Purity devoured

How well the savage sleeps

Into the abyss

possibly

Ashes of innocence that blanket me 

Morbidly alone

Strangely comforts me

I liked this offering , this art, this piece of love this eccentric moment in  East London. 

Puppy wall at Chrisp street market

Puppy Wall

Rather than 'hidden' this enormous gob-smacking wall art stopped me in my tracks today . This kitsch  dog painted to enormous scale on the side of a block of flats at the back of Chrisp street market.  Reminiscent of a Jeff Coons sculpture and perhaps more ambitious in its intention and delivery it is quite thought provoking. At the bottom of the picture scrawled across the legs is GENTRIFIED does this apply to area or a general exclamation of discontent.?

Chrisp street cannot really be described as gentrified and is in fact a poorer less glamorous area of the east end when compared to Brick lane for example. Maybe this is the point  the art is not 'trendy'  and therefore resonates with its surroundings. It is though certainly eccentric and can only be described as stunning.          

Masked Mavericks in Brick lane

Masked Mavericks

A day out in Brick lane recently i came across these two young good humoured hedonists wandering the streets attired in wrestling masks. When i asked why they are wearing the masks they replied in an existential manner ''You know we haven't decided yet' Suitably brick lane.

Brick lane Upside down head

                              Eccentrically London

A project to seek out, explore and document the eccentricities of london . The unknown individuals we pass every day but make us look twice. From  the strange ,humorous ,sad to the alarming. Peculiar occurrences and weird buildings ,dirt and grime ,beauty in odd places .

                                                      UPSIDE DOWN HEAD                                           

.

This picture was taken on a very warm day on May 25th may in Brick lane market . The extraordinary sight stopped many passers by amazed by this gentlemans prowess or idiocy but certainly his ingenuity. I love the 'all seeing eye' cut into the bucket. He managed to maintain this posture for several hours that day with very few breaks and fully deserved any monetary donations.