Citylights - Concrete Content
January 1, 2002
Issue # 24
The Citylights Project Inc. is a non-profit Artist Run Initiative operating two 24-hour public lightbox galleries in Melbourne's Flinders Lane Precinct. Curated and directed by
Andrew McDonald, Citylights was first conceptualised in 1995 out of a desire to communicate with an audience in the public domain in a manner that was culturally relevant, challenging and which made use of contemporary modes of visual communication. Inspired to reach a broader audience than is possible in the traditional gallery
domain, and taking their lead from arguably the most effective communicators of our times, Citylights looked to the advertising industry and chose illuminated lightboxes as a re-useable medium for display.
The Centre Place site is composed of four large lightboxes (1.5 x 1.2 m.) situated 10 - 15 metres high above ground level in a cul-de-sac off Centre Place. A smaller lightbox at the head of the alley features information on artist's work, sponsors and Web addresses. This alley is visited daily by up to 40, 000 office- workers, shoppers, domestic and international tourists, thus making Citylights Centre Place as one of Australia's most visited art galleries.
The Hosier Lane site consists of eight lightboxes (0.8 X 1.1m). Three smaller lightboxes provide sponsor and artist details. This site forms a 25 metre long gallery located on the western side of the Forum theatre, on a bluestone cobbled thoroughfare adjacent to Federation Square, bars and cafes. Hosier Lane is increasingly used as a pedestrian access route into Flinders Lane.
This year Photographer Mike O'Meally and visual artist Max Creasy have collaborated for an exhibition at Citylights entitled "Concrete Content." O'Meally has been a professional skateboard photographer for the last ten years, working in the United Statesand his native Australia. He is currently the Associate Editor of SKATEBOARDER magazine in the US. Creasy has been an exhibiting artist since 1997 and his work is currently being shown at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.
The two primarily work with photography and have come together to have an exhibition on Skateboarding. O'Meally's link to Skateboarding is obvious however Creasy's is a bit more subtle. Creasy has been skateboarding since he was 12 and his art is based around the documentary. Here Creasy chronicles his own friends and works with O'Meally to document their subculture.
O'Meally has been residing in the states for the last five years and splits his time between L.A. and N.Y. His position as Associate Editor of Skateboarder magazine sees him travel the world extensively and document his skateboarding friends.
Max -
I know a few of the photos I have in the show are actually from Sweden. Your shots vary in their locale, what are some of the similarities you see across the countries?
Mike -
One of the major similarities is the phenomenon of young skaters congregating together in public spaces. It is as much to practice skating as it is to just have a place to hang out. Other than that, skaters are usually the loosest easygoing kids you'll meet in whatever country you visit. Skaters also use the different architectures of different countries for the same purpose.
Max -
I find it interesting the way skaters reuse these spaces. You've got graffiti artist who remark the city in a surreptitious manner whereas skaters are a lot more fleeting. One of the notions we were discussing when we were talking about the show was the idea of being a renegade, is this how you see yourself?
Mike - To an extent yes. One reason being that the guys I shoot are - despite their amazing physical skill - breaking the law in one way or another most of the time, and I am always directly involved with that. The other reason being that most of the general public do not see skateboarding the way I see it and it requires subversive tactics to get the message across. Other than that, it could just be some wackjob military fantasy that I'm lost in.
Max -
Does this effect the way you shoot as you seem to prefer B&W?
Mike -
It does not effect the way I shoot as such, but I am definitely attracted to the idea of surveillance cameras, recon and all that cool stuff.
Max -
A lot of my photographs are very still where as yours are a lot more dynamic. How do you think these work together?
Mike -
Perfectly. The reason people appreciate motion is because we are usually still, and conversely because motion has no scope without stillness. What made you decide to shoot skaters while they were sitting still?
Max -
I think the stillness comes from an attempt to involve the viewer in my work. By documenting an object with no sentimentality so as to ask the viewer to interpret what's going on, a little Walker Evans, William Eggelston. There's also a certain amount of voyeurism going on. In the past you've mentioned Dianne Arbus as an influence, is she still some one whose work you look at?
Mike -
Yes, I like her even more now because she was just the ultimate lurker but at the same time she would have had to barge pretty hard to get most of the photos she got. I just like her because she went for it. She was a renegade. Another person that went for it, more relative to skateboarding was Larry Clark. His movie "Kids" and his earlier documentary photos seem to have influencedyour work a little. What do you think?
Max -
Well I'm definitely a big fan of Larry's. To a large extent the voyeurism is what draws me to his work. I also like the way he picked up on visual metaphors. At an early stage he was using magazine clippings. Sort of what Richard Prince would refer to as hisvisual scissors and makes up a lot of his work, particularly say the biker's
girlfriends. More recently some US skateboard filmers made a skate video (CHOMP ON THIS) about skateboard photographers and filmers (rather than
regular skaters). You had a couple of tricks in this tell me a little about it?
Mike - It was just a bit of a laugh. really a bit of a self aggrandizing stroke but hopefully people will get a kick out of watching the retards try to do the clever guys job for a change .....