In Shoreditch, a giant mural called ‘Connectivity Matters’ can be seen. It is a huge collaboration between sixteen of the country’s top street artists.
Organised by Global Street Art, the mural can be viewed from King John’s Court and New Inn Yard on the COLT Technology building just opposite the Amnesty International Office. It’s an area known for it’s street art already but this is by some way the biggest piece that’s been created here.
Table of contents
The Connectivity Matters Mural
Hunto and Mr Thoms
The first collaboration saw London based Italian artist Hunto combine with Mr Thoms. They stuck with the theme as they connected their abstract styles. Hunto’s Picasso-esqe portraits finding themselves merged with Mr Thoms’s surreal imagery. Hunto’s faces seemingly showing the connectivity of the human whilst Mr Thoms showing very much the connectivity that we have with all things.
Tizer and Captain Kris
The next part of the connectivity matters mural is a collaboration between Captain Kris and Tizer. Both London based and both known for their characters. Their piece features a robot portrayed by the Captain dancing with a woman drawn by Tizer. Behind, a series of TV’s are connected with wires linking in to the adjoining mural from Mr Thoms. The woman dances in front of a backdrop of faces and scenes from nature. As the two join hands in the dance, there is a spark, as if a connection between nature and technology.
Ed Hicks and Zadok
Ed Hicks and Zadok joined forces for the next part of the connectivity matters mural. Both formerly part of the 54 Crew they have for some years forged solo careers. Now the pair found themselves together again combining to create a forest scene as viewed from the floor. Dominant in the piece stand giant mushrooms whilst underneath the spores spread. This is about the hidden connectivity of nature and its ability to connect with all things.
Oliver Switch and BUSK
The corner of the building features a combination of work from Oliver Switch and BUSK. Painting together since 2000 they have says Switch “a pretty instinctive synergy.” The mural shows connectivity through time. Representing an unbroken line from the art of the old masters to modern graffiti and street art. It has been created in the style of a classical ‘Vanitas‘ painting. These were generally compositions depicting the process of life and death.
The artists have shown a number of objects to represent that evolution. Explaining, Switch told us that, “the Nautilius is a creature which has lived on Earth since the Dinosaurs. The book is a copy of ‘On the origin of species’. The flowers representative of “the perceptible brevity of life. Blooming and dying before your eyes day by day”.
Best Ever
Taking a human approach to the theme of connectivity. Best Ever’s section shows a number of interlocking shapes and hands. The hands depict meetings, greetings, introductions and friendships. Inter-weaving amongst the shapes this is about the differing types of basic human connectivity we experience every day.
Nomad Clan
A homage to retro connectivity has been painted by the Nomad Clan. The arrows representing the forward and rewind actions of old cassette tapes. They sit amongst a hand holding a letter about to post and a pigeon about to land or maybe it’s about to pick up the letter. The pigeon itself, represents a means of connecting in years gone. The activity of pigeon fancying and the training of homing pigeons is still a popular pastime in many parts of the North of England. For another similar piece from the Nomad Clan, have a look here.
Mr Cenz and Lovepusher
The collaboration between Mr Cenz and Lovepusher shows a woman deep in meditative thought holding an orb. The woman, created in Mr Cenz’s identifiable style appears to be connecting mentally with the orb painted by Lovepusher and which contains the word ‘Future’. This is about future connectivity and our ability to imagine ourselves connecting into the future world.
Autone and Neist
The final pairing of the Connectivity Matters Mural placed together the styles of Autone and Neist. The resulting creation is a blaze of crossing lines and patterns. Reminiscent perhaps of a kind of giant mother board connecting the world electronically. The work is much more abstract than the others with connections being made in all directions. This perhaps was the intention. Connectivity here seems to reside in the electronic and the connections made within the web.
Connectivity Matters is a mural curated by Global Street Art for Colt Technology. It was started in April 2018 and concluded in August 2018.
For more posts about Street Art in Shoreditch take a look at:
3 Comments