Ling: Crushed Can

Crushed Can by artist Ling is part of a major street art exhibition launched in Melbourne's lanes for the 2022 summer. The crushed can is located in Wills St, which runs between A'Beckett St and La Trobe St a block away from Flagstaff Gardens. View Map lingerid: After working on this in one form or another throughout almost the entirety of the pandemic I'm beyond stoked to finally share this piece for @flashfwdmelb A look back at Flash Forward By Mark Holsworth If Melbourne was to be represented with a big thing, it would be a big spray can. So I applaud the big spray can by Ling in Wills Street because it acknowledges the graffiti in the city. It fits the location; its spray painted surface is vandalism resistant, and the west of the city needs more public art. It fits in with the street tree and the benches and really makes the location. And Ling has been spraying walls in Melbourne for longer than I've been writing this blog. Ling's big spray can is part of Flash Forward, a COVID safe cultural public art in central Melbourne's lanes. Forty visual artists teamed with musicians in some inexplicable combination. And how could I resist a walk to see some artworks responding to the laneway? There isn't a path to follow for Flash Forward and I ran into other trails. Lanes that have long been a fixture in Melbourne's graffiti and street art scene. So I was somewhat confused to run into Ling's work again at Finlay Alley, given that there is no shortage of graffiti writers who also do murals in Melbourne. Finlay Alley is an established location for graffiti. So established that there is one of the old "City of Melbourne street art permit stencils" at the entrance. And there are plenty of pieces by Sofles and others in the dark of the covered alleyway. For years, if not decades, I have complained that public art events in Melbourne ignore the street art and graffiti that is all around them. Ignoring paintings the size of an elephant while promoting the work of some contemporary art-school trained artist. Pretending that they aren't competing with the street art and graffiti. Now when Flash Forward integrates them, I will be critical of its efforts because that is what I do. I appreciate Ling's piece in Finlay Alley with its interlocked letter style and subtle fade from candy pink to purple. The problem with the big spray can and his mural is that it is obvious and bland. It is giant fantasy art.