Mr Tom Tate & His Lovely Opinions.

When Justin Bieber left his mark on the wall of QT Gold Coast it made headlines across the world. At the time, we posted a link to the story and made our opinions known on Facebook, which, is the standard thing to do. And then, we saw the video Mr Tom Tate made about his thoughts and opinions regarding the artwork in question. At The Sauce Studio, we’re not happy with Mr Tate’s approach to this issue, and, we believe, sometimes, you have to put your money where your mouth is.

Firstly, I want to point out that Justin Bieber’s art, (Both music and aerosol) is not to my taste. We are not advocating in his behalf, nor do we appreciate his abilities, but as Voltaire says “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” While Justin’s actions may be immature, he still has every right to express himself. I know I did plenty of dumb things when I was younger, so who am I to judge?

Secondly, the coverage of this story is what I think is a part of the bigger picture issue. Aerosol art, graffiti and the sub-culture of Hip Hop are all things which can be enjoyed and created in a safe and legal manner. In this instance, Justin sought permission to create his artworks, and therefore it is not vandalism. Mr Tate’s actions of sending a graffiti removal kit to the hotel are just down right rude and ignorant. These types of attention grabbing tactics vilify and demean the cultural structures of Hip Hop and Graffiti Art. If Mr Tate is unable to tell the difference, or act in a manner which is respectful to artistic expression, I question his ability to be a fair and thoughtful Mayor. 

I am also disappointed by Mr Tate’s response to Justin’s artwork, as I don’t believe these types of actions are conducive for creating a vibrant and culturally sustainable future. This year, the Gold Coast Cultural Precinct was unveiled and Mr. Tate has also made a video about this. The precinct will include an art gallery, production studios and showrooms for arts and creative industries, and a New Arts Museum and Living Arts Centre. All of these things sound great, but if the Mayor is unable to respect artwork in this instance, I doubt very much he has the ability showcase the city’s culture and creativity to the world. In fact, I assert in his video address, not only does he denigrate Hip Hop Culture, he is tarnishing the Gold Coast’s appearance too. 

In Sauce’s video, he touched on Mr Tate’s use of the word “Princess.” Gender stereotypes can be difficult to unpack in a two minute clip, but I want to expand on it here. By using the term “Princess” to refer to a male is rude to both men and women. Specifically, from Mr Tate’s position of power (with wealth and public leadership), it infers that a Princess is a negative position, and as girls are Princesses, they must be negative. It also emasculates the male and creates levels of good verses bad. I would like to invoke such a gender stereotype and suggest that a gentleman of Mr Tate’s position should know better than to use stereotypes as put-downs. I expect more from our leaders, and I believe we need to keep them to account.

So, in sum, Mr Tate has done nothing to cultivate creativity on the Gold Coast nor act as an ambassador for Gold Coast tourism. By acting in an immature and ignorant fashion he as added to Justin Bieber’s profile. Nice work, Mr Tate.

Peace, Ainslie Rose. 

Could Murwillumbah Become a Cultural Hub?

On Wednesday (4/12/13) NBN News Gold Coast popped in for a quick interview about Murwillumbah becoming a cultural hub.

At The Sauce Studio, we’d love to get some boutique or gourmet markets and festival style events happening in Proudfoots Lane the CBD of Murwillumbah. If you’re local and have some ideas, drop by and have a chat. Let’s make this happen!

Upper Mt Gravatt State School

I wanted to organise somewhere to paint on my down time during the summer break, so I contacted Upper Mount Gravatt State School, as I have an older mural which I would like to renew. The Principal agreed, but he also wanted to commission another mural for the school. The design process for the mural outside the library was different from usual, as it was already created by Bec who is a member of the P & C. While it deviated from my regular style, I am satisfied with the end result and it was an interesting process working with someone else’s concepts. 

Inala PCYC

This interior mural for the Dukes team at Inala PCYC was a little out of my comfort zone. I used brushes for the majority of the work and in the middle of the three day project, we threw 20+ young people into the mix, but somehow it worked. It was a challenge to keep the chaos organised as the young people were enthusiastic about applying paint to the wall, however, this was about letting the young people have some ownership over their area. 

Uki Supermarket

In between fighting bureaucracy and nailing some designs in the studio, I packed up my trestles and ladders and headed to Uki Supermarket, a local village fifteen minutes out of town. Dave and Bec, the Supermarket owners, required something which incorporated their branding, suited the locality and combined their own theme and design. I was pleased with the end result as I think it makes an excellent showcase of combining hand-crafted artwork with a unique branding perspective.  

Capalaba Jam

Last Sunday, I was part of an eight namer on the back of a factory wall in Capalaba. I really enjoyed painting some good old fashioned graff and it was great to see some many different lads from numerous crews all painting alongside each other. 

A massive shout out to Kosie for doing all the hard yards with organising the gig and colour scheme. With so many walls being painted over and shut down, it’s a rare moment to have free range and paint something intrinsically motivated as opposed to a brief. It was even better to see all the lads out, as I’m sure that between us all there is a century of experience. 

I can’t wait to do it all again soon.

How was your Monday?

How was your Monday? At The Sauce Studio, it was a regular, no nonsense Monday. The kind where a little bit of work gets done, some procrastination happens and then it’s lunchtime and the day is nearly done. Monday, was just the regular run of the mill Monday until Sauce made a follow up call to the Manger at Visible Ink. 

For the past six months, at The Sauce Studio we’ve been following the Walls and Colours project. You might have seen the post where we expressed frustration about the project delivery, and, you’re probably wondering why we’re bothering to continue to whinge and whine about a project. Our complaints, might even sound like sour grapes, but…

At The Sauce Studio, we stand up for what we believe in, and we believe aerosol art is a legitimate art form which deserves more recognition than it currently receives. Aerosol and graffiti art is a part of the bigger sub-culture of Hip Hop and has been exploited by marking gurus for too long. We value transparent processes and practices when delivering projects to the public. Paperwork, the necessary evil, provides accountability and ensures agencies and organizations have a tangible justification for service provision.

Which takes me back to the original complaint. This Walls and Colours project, well it’s a pile of shit. The $150,000 project which is funded from the Proceeds of Crime has zero accountability. At no point has The Sauce Studio received or found an Expressions of interest. Even when we specifically requested one. But really, the bigger problem and the most disappointing fact is that young people, aerosol artists and the greater community is missing out when it comes to great public art and activities for aerosol artist enthusiasts. The proof is in the pudding. You can see the artwork and judge it yourself for quality and talent. 

As a business, The Sauce Studio doesn’t require to maintain or hold a monopoly on aerosol art projects or murals, but here’s the thing; out of ten walls, and $150,000 worth of funding, we find it difficult to swallow that The Sauce Studio and Sauce would be so systematically excluded from this project. Here in the studio, we can’t join the dots to find out why this is the case. Sauce has worked with countless other councils and community agencies, all over the East Coast of Australia and we find it hard to believe that his years of experience and artistic talent could not be utilised in come fashion for this ten wall project.

So, our Monday, was a bit overrated. And that phone call with the Manger from Visible Ink, well, it was an hour of talking in circles. In fact, it would have made more sense to play chess with a pigeon.

Why are we ‘airing our dirty linen’ on the blog post? Because traditional media outlets don’t care. We want something positive to come out this mayhem. It it truly disappointing to think this type of mismanagement, incompetence and nepotism is allowed to continue while the community misses out on something which could be the benchmark for public art and community engagement. These types of tokenistic projects do little more than alienate the target audience and they certainly don’t effect cultural change. 

Tadpoles Eatons Hill

It was business as usual this week, which means battling the Brisbane traffic and smashing out another quality mural in suburbia. This was a rejuvenation gig, as I completed a mural on the same site in 2010/11, however a section of the wall was replaced and rebuilt due to cracks. The commuters showed their appreciation with plenty of ‘toots’ and ‘thumbs up’ from the busy roadside at Eatons Crossing Road so I must be doing something right.

Moreton Bay Boys College

Fresh from my week long residency at Calvary Christian College, I headed back to Brisbane and guided the young men at Moreton Bay Boys College through the finer points of aerosol art. This was my second visit to the school and my Senior’s mural was still looking fresh.

I was invited to their Art Show on Friday, the 25th of October, which should have some interesting and exciting works. I also had the pleasure of meeting Christian from CJ Sprayart. Apparently, he was so inspired from last year’s visit, he created his own business. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Arts Fest Week at Calvary Christian College

For the first week back at school of term, four I was Artist in Residence for Calvary College at the Carbrook campus. This marked my fourth year at the school and as always, the school community was great to work with. I did several workshops with the art classes and completed a mural for the sports shed.

Update on 2013-12-02 04:15 by sauce