For some time now, Norwegian artist Sinnsykshit has made Melbourne his temporary home, and, during his stay here as a part of studying for his honours, he has done a wide range of research looking into ways in which the “Melbourne attitude” towards street art and graffiti could be applied to his homeland. In the process od doing this honours thesis, Sinnsykshit has produced the first issue of a magazine, SplitCity, and will be presenting this along with the Fractured Encounters exhibition at Deakin University.

“The aim of this research is to compare attitudes of in´situ art (such as graffiti and street art) in Norway to those in Australia. I propose that attitudes to graffiti may change if it is compared with outdoor advertising. In ways similar to advertising, graffiti intrusively invades our private lives and can be seen to follow similar values. Both in Norway and Australia the benefits of advertising are obvious, but Melbourne has accepted graffiti as an art form while Oslo has not.

Having completed the research project I now believe that I understand why people in Oslo have difficulty accepting this form of art and put the answer as, quite simply, a lack of knowledge. After the zero-tolerance in Oslo and brutal anti graffiti campaigns for almost two decades, people in Oslo have been constantly fed with propaganda that portrays graffiti and the artists in a negative light.

Complementing this exhibition I have designed an online and print magazine which will serve as an information channel for underground art such as graffiti. I will feature photos of the work in this genre and interview the artists, and the magazine is highly inspired from it’s well functioning counter parts in Melbourne. This way I will educate the people not by telling them how it is or should be, but by letting them read, look and make up their own decisions. This magazine concept will be named SplitCity Magazine, and represent the two views of Oslo, those for graffiti and those against. I hope SplitCity Magazine will help to contribute to a shift in the anti graffiti culture of Norway”.

Outside perspectives like this are important to us here, because although the outside world does view us as being more tolerant to this art form, we still struggle with many of the issues that they do. There are still councils with zero-tolerance, there is still a lack of education, and anyone or any thing that bring attention to these issues, globally, is a good thing. Not only is Sinnsykshit a talented artist, but he’s a smart dude with a lot of things to say – we hope his message gets through to those that need to hear it, but, in the meantime, we wish him luck with his show!

Here‘s a few previews that the man sent through to us …

There are also a whole bunch of other exhibitions on the night from a variety of honours students – so you should head down there are check it all out.

Who: Sinnsykshit & more
What: SplitCity Magazine and Fractured Encounters group show
Where: The Phoenix Gallery, Deakin University, Burwood. (located behind Building P. You can there from the city by tram 75)
When: Show opens Wednesday 7th November from 6pm til 9pm

Check out the entire event on Facebook and check out SplitCity Magazine on fb. The website for this will be launched on the 7th November so check back then for details.