There is a house....

There is a house... in the Lofoten Islands, on Gimsøy (Gims island). Gimsøy is on of the smallest islands in Lofoten, but really beautiful and Hov in the northern part is a perfect spot for watching the midnight sun.

The house has been abandoned for years. Gimsøy, as many areas along the coast of Northern Norway experiences depopulation and today only 206 people lives on the Island.

Dolk and Pøbel have painted abandoned houses in Lofoten for years and by this work, they have raised awareness about depopulation and decay in rural parts of Norway

Work by Pøbel

It's difficult to think of a better scenery than Lofoten. The nature and light is awesome. This house had a pretty anonymous life, left alone to dacay untill the street artists found their way, and today the house is a landmark in the area.

Most of the works of Dolk and Pøbel is gone now, most of them degraded by the of harsch climate of the north. It may look beautiful on a quite summer day with light around the clock, but most of the year it's dark, windy, cold and rainy.

I wonder if people will come back, restore the house and live here again. I don't know, but there are an increasing interest too save and live in these houses, at least part of the year and people from the south of Norway is buying up property in the north as vacation homes.

The work by Pøbel is one of the best preserved street art pieces and one of the few left in Lofoten.

Borderlines

The borderline in Poblenou

 As Cities grow, some parts of the city is New and modern and other parts gets old, and some times left to decay until real estate Developers see the opportunity to make money on renewal and modernisation. They develop plans and projects, then they bring in the contractors and work force.

The wall of Demarcation (Big Waalls Project / RerobinART Barcelona)

Graffiti and Street Art thrives on the boarderline where the modernisation force meets the old and worn parts of the city. In this sense street art is a part of counterculture and the public art is a an easthetic demarcation of the frontier.

Mural by Yrwig

Poblenou in Barcelona is a good example of such a frontier where the old meets the new.  Poublenou is an old indurtrial area that had harsh living conditions. But prior to the Olympic games in 1992 the Council started a process of renovation and modernisation. Today, most of the Poublenou area is a modern residential and business area near to the sea shore. On the outskirts of the area it's still some remains of the old industrial parts where street artists can use their creativity.

"A new face" by Penao in Poblenou

 As long as the commercial interests can push forward, it's almost like a "silent agreement" that the street art culture can flourish at the borderline as long as the commercial interests wins in the end. They usually win because they have the money and the resources, and are supported by the Council.

Joint work by El Xupet Negre & Chanoir

Could economical crises and remission be good for street art then? At least some borderlines can survive for a longer time, but I don't think it's that simple because less money also means less interest for art and culture, and less tolerance for countercultures. Street artists can't be left totally in the shadows, they have to survive too!

Stencil mural by SM172

So I guess that the street art culture have to live in the borderland between growth and decay. However, street art is dynamic and as the city grows and modernise, it's always a new fronitier and new demarcations to paint.

Barrow Gurney : The abandoned asylum

The hospital area from above (Cropped from google maps)

I first saw photos from Barrow Gurney on instagram and my interest for street art and urbex was awakened. I had to go! At arrival only two of the original buildings left, but enough to explore.

In order to prevent over crowding at the existing asylums in Somerset in the 1930s it was decided to build a new mental hospital in Barrow Gurney. Work began in 1934, finnished in 1937 and opened in 1938. The Bristol architect Sir George Oatley designed the the hospital made of red bricks.

In the 60's the hospital's population peaked at 453 patients but numbers began to fall as more provision was made for care at home or by community support workers. 

The abandoned Barrow Gurney Hospital left to decay

Long corridors on several floors to explore

The hospital is not well secured and I had to be careful walking inside

A JPS piece : Freddy

JPS piece with clear reference to Banksy's 'Balloon girl' and of course Stephen King

By 1970 there were about 200 patients in care at the hospital and the number progressively declined until in the 1990s. In 2005 a national survey of NHS hospitals was carried out and Barrow Gurney became famous for being the notorious 'Dirtiest hospital in Britain'. Barrow hospital had particular poor standards of hygiene with "an unacceptably dirty environment". This harsh criticism led to the closure of the hospital. Two of the remaining wards were shut down immediately, and by 2006 the last ward closed it's doors and Barrow Hospital was left to decay.

Difficult to trespass sometimes

Parts of the indoor areas are very dark

Madness and horror (Work by JPS)

JPS (Jamie Paul Scanlon) have during time made several stencils in an on the Barrow Hospital buildings. Some where left when I arrived. Many believes the place is haunted. Jamie have contributed with illustrations that underpin the the creepyness of the place. JPS is based in Weston-Super-Mare near Bristol. JPS have made several street art works similar or inspired by Banksy. In an Interview about the works in Barrow Gurney JPS told "I did not have permission to paint at Barrow however i knew it was going to be demolished and security there very weak so it was a perfect place to make sure I got my work looking right although they still get painted in a very short amount of time I never had any problems although it’s pretty dangerous there. The Settings in which I paint my work is very important to me everything has a place in my eyes." 

I explored Barrow Gurney alone and took in the creepyness and horror of the present and the past and left Barrow Gurney when it was about to get dark.

Good Bye (stencil by JPS)

Derelict and abandoned buildings: A good space for Street Art

FIRST TIME

I first visited the old paint manufacturer a gloomy dark evening in January more than a year ago. The IFA factory on Damsgård is abandoned and left to decline. Couriosity made me take a walk inside for a look.

All factory equipment was removed and big the naked halls was empty and dark. Just pipelines, steel doors and concrete columns was left. The "can artists" had been there! the place was sprayed down with graffiti works. It looked like a practice ground for the graffiti crews. Probably illegal, but not illegal enough to lead to prosecution or fines. Here they could work relatively peacefully and use time to develop their writing and use of color.

SECOND TIME

Second time visit to the abandoned buildings was quite a suprise! During easter time, local street artists had made an inside street art gallery in the old factory buildings. I piecefully walked around and looked at the works. 

It was lovely and the space was perfect!

THIRD TIME

My third time visit i found that most of the street art was tagged or destroyed by vandals with cans. A small scale "graffiti war". There is a conflict in the Bergen area between "spray vandals", between the ones that do street art in the form of figurative stencil and paste-up works and those who do more old time graffiti writing and marker writing. I think that the street artists had moved in to wrong territory this time.

At this moment they are tearing down the old factory building and the spray can vandals are gone. For a short time the abandoned building had served as a graffiti and street art gallery. I think abandoned and derelict buildings serves well as a presentation space for graffiti and street art. A kind of "popup gallery" for a limited time, curated by the street artists them selves.