I discovered that the written words are Sir Thomas More’s entire novel ‘Utopia’. The old Eastern Electricity building was due for demolition and inspired local artist Rory Macbeth to paint his favourite novel on its exterior walls for the EASTinternational 2006 contemporary art exhibition. He said his reason for painting Utopia onto the building is that the novel is “as valid now as it was when it was written”.
“I like expressing the text through graffiti,” he explained, “as most graffiti is utopian – the world would be perfect if this or that were different.”
The building is incredibly visually striking creating a sense of mystery and intrigue. You can see from standing near the building that the decoration is written words but you cannot make out each individually, making it impossible to derive any meaning from them.
1 comment:
Saw this on Fabio's little column get you on a pogo stick. Pretty interesting way to display a novel especially with the link of Utopia. Was also wondering whats happening to the building is it being demolished now its a 'peice of art' or not?
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