The Suveran Cafe, Bondi Junction
Videos by Oscar Louis (Inner Frequency, The Chrown Productions)
The Framed Project
Over the past couple months, a team of cultural collaborators, known as The Chrown, have been pasting up brightly painted red frames across Sydney’s cityscape. Aptly titled ‘Framed’ this participatory public art project aims to act as a catalyst for artistic expression in public spaces Instigated by the new government’s zero-tolerance approach to street art and graffiti, Framed challenges our pre- conceived notions and negative associations with artistic self-expression in the public sphere. The lack of streetart culture in Sydney is reflected in the new laws that criminalize all acts of public art and graffiti as punishable by excessive fines and gaol time.
Framed is part of a larger underground movement that asks Sydney to embrace and understand the many benefits to culture and creativity that spur from street art. Local governments such as City of Sydney, are a springboard for change in this area, placing street art at the top of the culture agenda.
Opening up a positive social dialogue is at the heart of this public project. By implying another meaning to blank space, Framed asks people to think outside the box of what is conventionally acceptable. It provides a window into a more vibrant, open and creative environment. It questions why commercial advertising monopolizes public space and highlights how it affects our socio-cultural identity and our ability to evolve creatively and culturally.
By taking back public space and utilizing it for artistic collaboration and important social dialogue; Framed, inspires a more alive environment and aware community.
Their live art launch event will be hosted at The Basement – an iconic venue reputed for hosting the best in live mu- sic and now also live art on Thursday, 14th November 6.30pm – til late.
The Chrown Projects
The Chrown is a project is I launched with Oscar Solomon (Obelix) in 2010. The brand developed into an artist collective, collaborating with many creatives from Sydney, and abroad. We Initiated projects such as collaborative art exhibitions, particapatory art installations, large mixed media events with live music and art, a clothing line, public social experiments and more.
''The conceptual basis for our project is grounded in the idea of intrinsic connectivity, when one succeeds we all succeed. we hope to utilise the connections that exist between us and create a cooperative collective to magnify exposure through cross promotion/catalyze the creative potential of our peers by creating opportunities for collaboration, growth and experience.
Freedom of expression is something that we have always held at the core of what we do, as this is essential to encourage emergent creativity and is a societal issue which we challenge through our art, design, community projects, events, and social media. For any projects initiated by The Chrown the artists are given absolute creative control and open design and collaboration is encouraged and facilitated.''
Video by Oscar Louis (Inner Frequency, The Chrown Productions)
Paint Me Projects
Our goal for the Paint Me Project is to transform Sydneys’ concrete jungle into an interactive community canvas: host to inspiring public art, social commentary,
and creative community collaboration.
We want to deliver a message of change, unity, love and understanding. The monopolization of our aesthetic environment by commercial advertising has
affected our culture and social identity in a way that has promoted materialistic values while suppressing creative and cultural evolution. We are in need of a more intelligent, compassionate and sustainable way of life. By taking back our public space and utilising it for artistic collaboration and important social dialogue, we aim to inspire a more living environment and socially aware community.
So far we have collaborated with Waverley Council, 3 shops in Charing Cross (Bellagio, Shasta Bray, Lesley Lee), Sydney city council, Oniell strata in Bondi Junction as well as 16 local independent artists (Knoswet, Nico, Sally Gottlieb, Angus Yarrington, Jerry Washington, Henry Curchod, Sprinkls, Cam Wall, Nico, Onshow, Veks, Taylor Ferney, Oliver Hupfau, Alsoe, Zoe Edema, Bec Levy, Oscar Louis, Oscar Solomon)
Videos by Oscar Louis (Inner Frequency, The Chrown Productions)
Bronte Local art project.
Video by Oscar Louis (Inner Frequency, The Chrown Productions)
Terra Lucida
Video here:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=506754822769848&set=t.824140202&type=2&theater
For the affecters exhibition common sense, I wanted to explore the somewhat forgotten sixth sense and the ambiguity of the third eye and what it can teach us. I chose to do a sculpture to represent the intrinsic connections we share with one another, and to bring the transient nature of infinity into something tangible. By sculpting some clay faces around a large quartz geode, i wanted to show that we are all the same when it come shown to the most fundamental parts of our being. All masks on the outside share this common core, just as we do. Infinity is all around us, in every reflection we see there is a doorway into the endless unknown. We are often so preoccupied that this integral part of reality is overlooked.
This piece seeks to remind of us of our metaphysical connection with one another and the world beyond our earthly existence. The title of my work, Terra Lucida, means world of light. I chose this to describe the domain outside space and time. The spiritual dimension that we engage through the third eye, that give a glimpse into the infinite possibilities of our experience.
The human imagination is perhaps our greatest and most common sense.