Oops, I blogged.

When art attacks.

Remember Art Attack? That awesome kids’ show that used to run on the ABC? It featured a chirpy little British dude who made giant art installations, and gave on-camera tutorials on fun little creative projects.

Yeah, well, this post isn’t about that show, as awesome as it was. This post is about those rare moments when you stumble across exceptional art in an otherwise routine day.

Picture this: you’ve just hurled yourself off the bus after spending an hour playing a rousing game of ‘Guess whose body odour?’ in bumper-to-bumper traffic. You’re hustling your lazy butt along your usual shortcut, and you’re grumpy; you really need coffee but it’ll make you later than you already are. Let’s face it, you can’t exactly use traffic as an excuse for your lateness if you scuttle into class holding a takeaway coffee, and you’re being marked on class participation. Who even does that these days? What, they actually expect you to turn up to lectures? Those demanding jerks.

And that’s when it happens: art attack.

There’s a moment of clarity, of serenity. You make a pleasantly surprised “Oh!” face. (Not that other kind of O-face, you sicko. Who the hell likes art that much?) You slow down, forgetting that you’re late, and muse curiously over what you’re seeing. If you’re a lame-o like me, you even take crappy pictures and upload them to flickr:

Taking art into the street changes not only the way the audience sees it, but also who is allowed to be in that audience. In entering the public field, art becomes an ambush. Moreover, it becomes an invitation, one that extends beyond the gallery-going few and indiscriminately pulls in any passer-by. In Sydney, it’s hard to find, and often misaligned. (Case in point: Google ‘public art’ and Melbourne City Council’s website is the second hit, followed closely by the ACT and Queensland. Sydney? Not even on the first page.)

Public art need not be limited to street art, or have any guerrilla connotations. In fact, the EyeSaw project is a part of SydneyDesign08, which is supported by both Sydney City Council and the New South Wales government. EyeSaw, a 24-hour public installation which runs until August 24, is on Omnibus Lane near UTS library (you can find it on Google Maps here.) It showcases the tongue-in-cheek humour and talent of members of the Australian Graphic Design Association, and transforms the much-used but hidden alley into a public art gallery.

This is the second time the EyeSaw project has run, and is hopefully a sign of more art attacks in Sydney.

You can see the rest of my photos of EyeSaw in my flickr set.