Is Shepard Fairey in Melbourne ?

I have often wondered whether Shepard Fairey puts up all his work or if he also has some minions to do some of the pasting also.  Can't confirm anything on that front but I do know that there is some new pastes going up in Fitzroy. 

It's good to see some pastes in general.  It would be good to see some of the Melbourne pasters to do some pasting around again.  Rone had some good ones and DOMMAD had good ones also, vandal spruce used to get up and there were plenty others that I can't even bring to the hazy old brain. 

Fuck the graff vs paste war, good to appreciate something fresh whatever the style it's in.

Anything that's fresh and getting up is what the city needs.  The buff squad need to earn their keep and the councils need to realize that street based art and graff isn't lying down while the city slathers on murals puts on it's cool mask and pretends it's hip. 

The underground is what made Melbourne and it will be the force that continues to push the city to new heights.  Anyone involved in the Melbourne Arts is responsible for a continuation of a culturally evolving environment or one that pats itself on the back and stagnates. 

What the fuck is this hatred of tags anyway - isn't all this land stolen ?  Or coerced from the traditional owners unfamiliar with the guise of a fair trade.   What if there was a law proposing the hypothesis that walls in the public space remain the property of the public?  That they can be altered by anyone who has something to add to the space, creatively, contexually, politically or for the betterment of society.  Is a bit of paint really such a big deal ?  Everyone has their own ideas of beauty, or nescessity ( which is a type of beauty perhaps ).  If a land "owner" wishes to paint their wall white let them, after a while they are generally left alone.  The idea would be not to open the floodgates to a city wide vandal fest as would be probably feared most, but more likely a community moderated arena.

When trains run TAB and sports bet advertisements and run hate campaigns against train writers it's time to ask ourselves what kind of place we are keeping for the future ?  It is better to come to a compromise between two extreme because the alternative is generally not good for either those for, or those against.  Sometimes this is the perfect solution.