Alternative London

Graffiti gets a bad rep. And in many cases this is fair, buildings and streets defaced with scrawls of 'I luv Wendy' and tags with anxious political intent. Street art is a whole different kettle of fish though and this was demonstrated on the Alternative London walking tour which guided us around the Brick Lane and Spitalfields Market area of London to show us pieces by some of the worlds best street artists.

This area of London is like two worlds, separated by the old city walls but in no need of a physical barrier as the two worlds occupy the same space but are culturally and visually worlds apart. One the one side of Liverpool St for example is the great railway station, broad gate skyscrapers and the dripping wealth of the city. On the other, East End culture and the poverty to match. The street art is often considered a great rebellion, an opposition to culture but in situ it reads as more of a defence. A defence of hundreds of years of and old London melting pot of immigrant and East End culture. The city encroaches but the spray cans will prevail.

The art itself is fascinating. Not just paint on walls but a real exploration of people and their interaction with space around them.

Ronzo uses paint to define the juxtaposed worlds. His odd figures have a traditional graffiti look, but are more profound.

Vhils completely redefines the phenomenon of street art. He first plasters a wall an then implants explosives in the wet surface, blowing it away to reveal the image. Can it be graffiti and vandalism if he's creating the surface of his work too?

Space invader as the name suggests, creates tiny pieces from
Lego that recall the 1970s game. You move around the area spotting these tiny pieces which offer an aspect of the search. It's like hide and seek for the streets and enables people to fully interact with the area.

Despite the freezing March Saturday, we really enjoyed and fully recommend the Alternative London tour.

www.alternativelondon.com