Increase the Peace

Sauce’s idea about Hutcho’s wall started when we moved to Murwillumbah in late 2010. As a professional aerosol artist, Sauce is always on the hunt for new walls the paint and practice his craft on, and he saw the potential in the site. The Hutcho’s wall had a pre-existing mural on it, however it was several years old and the artwork was well past it’s used-by date. We both knew it was going to take time, effort and cash to make it happen, so we waited until we could organise all of the necessary details to make the production happen.

After opening The Sauce Studio in March 2013, Sauce and I were adamant something had to be done “about that wall”. By then the wildlife mural had some new additions including genitalia to the fauna and some political statements about drug use, which just reinforced Sauce’s ideas about reinvigorating the wall with a fresh coat of paint. After a quick chat with the store owner and a few discussions with the building owner, we secured permission for the wall, but no funding, so we had to wait a little longer. I tried to source some grant funds, but the timing wasn’t right and since it was an aerosol project it added another level of challenges with various funding concepts. At one stage both Sauce and myself tried to approach both the local Tweed Council and the local Tweed Regional Art Gallery, however both organisations made it abundantly clear they had neither the infrastructure or the interest to make such a project happen. When we had a meeting with the management of the Community and Cultural Services (after numerous weeks and months of waiting) we were informed there was no budget for any public art and despite recently passing a new policy and people employed to approve such projects, there was still no way council would be involved with any artist driven projects. 

Sauce also knew he needed the right mix of Writers for the production, since the projected required quality and professionalism (but still with no budget) we needed to be patient and find a time when everyone could make it to Murwillumbah on their own steam. We finally managed to pull everyone together over the Easter break, which was serendipitous as there were plenty of tourists who received a colourful surprise when the pulled into the KFC car park. Everyone who drove by voiced their appreciation; oldies and teens alike. 

This appreciation was also due to the theme. Sauce wanted something which was futuristic and peaceful, something that was easily recognizable but still challenged his capabilities. The space concept grew out of a previous mural which Sauce and Ksino completed at Lindum Station circa 2003. Space is both ancient and modern and is the final frontier of exploration. Sauce explored these themes last year with XIX LXIX, however the mural was never completed. This project was about bringing together experienced Writers, creating new challenges and collaborating with like-minded artists. The space theme was an excellent way to bring everything together and to also communicate to the public the potential of aerosol art.

 

For pictures of the finished work, see Best Bits.