Create or die

Create or die… true in London and anywhere else on earth

Being pro creation doesn’t mean you need to procreate or you will die. Nor does it work out if we just pick words out of create and say things like eat or die or rate or die. But then I guess we have all sorts in this world. After all, our eateries are thriving and so are our creative rating agencies as they seem to be in an immortal embrace with business houses and educational institutions. I’ve always found the worst colleges boast about the best rankings from unheard of agencies. Newspapers too are in this act now and are busy starring everything and everyone, including nominees for any presidential election. I know for sure that this is the case in India… but then other countries are certainly not lagging in this race. But wait, I do not intend to talk about ratings in this post, however creative it might sound. And so let us hop out of this rating tone and hop into the heart of creative wall art in London.

Creativity on walls pops out suddenly and it is easy to miss it… for instance, I have tried twice but have not been able to identify chewing-gum art on the Millennium Bridge so far but I am going to persist and picture at least some of the hundreds of them that are supposed to be trampled mercilessly by the joyfully stomping tourists here. If you’re in or around London, take some time out and visit Camden, Shoreditch, Spitalfields, the famous Leake Street tunnel, Covent Garden, Brick Lane, Turnpike Lane, Brixton, and probably hundreds of spots where, as I have mentioned earlier, this form of creative expression pops up unexpectedly. I remember the time we were walking towards Embankment with 10, Downing Street on our left when we noticed an anti-Brexit protestor and all the chalk and paint art-forms that he was surrounded with. So we stopped and talked about Brexit, photographed those creative expressions and walked on. Sighting art is as easy as this. Just keep walking and stay away from the temptation of stepping into Starbucks every five minutes… unless you happen to notice a great wall expression inside a café as we did… and we simply entered and clicked it. Creative art-works are not always on walls or left dangling over streets… they could be on human bodies as well. But this is quite another story and I’ll talk about it in another post.

The wall artist… his tools, including a sketchbook that I stumbled upon near Brick lane

We were talking about graffiti and wall-art… and if you’re lucky you will certainly stumble upon some charming works done by artists like C215, Space Invader, Bambi, Jonesy, Ben Wilson, ROA, Phlegm, Il Mac, Vhils, Sweet Toof, Eine, Jimmy C, David Walker, Banksy, and Stik. Ben Wilson is the one who has converted discarded chewing gum into miniature works of art and some observers say that there are more than 400 pieces on Millennium Bridge, which is why I plan to go there with a magnifying glass as I have not been able to spot even one in two visits. Stik is known for his ‘Mother and child’ artwork in Acton. We loved the 9.1 metre bird artwork in Hanbury Street, walked on Grey Eagle Street and spotted Trump posters besides monster sculptures. Rivington Street has a lot of stuff by Banksy. Brick Lane will not allow you to stop clicking.

The 9.1 metre bird artwork in Hanbury Street

The truth is that once you get into your art-mode it is virtually impossible to come out of it without hugging and kissing each of them. You know you are tired and want to sit down for some coffee… or beer… but keep postponing every impulse and keep going. Art-spotting is not just exciting but infectious. As we stepped out of Hanbury Street, a group of excited teenagers ran towards us shouting, ‘Where is that giant bird? Where is that giant bird?’

I smiled and said, ‘You’re not far now. Keep running in this direction.’

Brick Lane, by the way, has street names in Bangla as well and we did locate shops selling the sort of shagan-envelopes that we buy and stock in India. Yes, there was this shop selling books by Nazrul Islam and another where sherwanis were sold.

‘Who wears sherwanis in London.’ I asked the owner of Sunrise, who is a Bangladeshi.

‘Lots of people come and buy this stuff,’ he replied, ‘After all, a lot of Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis do get married. And these events are when we sell massive number of sherwanis. We have created designs that are London-specific.’ Now this was a redefining of creativity and so deserves a mention though I will be including their pictures in another post, if possible.

Getting back to wall art, we came across some really tiny ones that are difficult to notice if you’re walking fast… so the best way is to forget your hurry and walk slowly. A slow walk is almost like saluting artworks and they respond by getting visible… if you don’t believe me, try this method and you’ll win the sight as well the insight of many of them that would have remained invisible except on the pages of posts by others. I will include a few pictures of creative posters in this post but will talk about creativity on boards outside cafes and pubs… in another post dedicated to them.

Travel is all about understanding contemporary sensitivity and social nuances that may remain unexpressed if this art-form is absent or discouraged. Street art is all about getting a grip on the mind and thoughts of a city… and London has multiple pathways leading to this treasure. Enjoy my pictures of wall-art in this city.