Street art makes street tunnels more beautiful
In a competition, the magistrate selected the three artists who were allowed to embellish part of the dark tunnel. In 40 hours of work, colorful works of art on the subject of “a non-violent city” were created on an area of 60 square meters.
The design by Werner “Mops” Bauer from Graz can be seen on one side of the street: It depicts people from different nations and generations embracing. A little love – the message “non-violent” can be conveyed that easily. Bauer explains how he works: “First there are hand sketches, which I then work on on the computer so that I can make the templates. They are projected onto cardboard with a projector, traced and cut. The choice of color actually comes last – depending on the environment, that depends on what the wall needs.”
Colorful animals from siblings
The siblings Luka Leben and Sigfrid Sindinger from Salzburg prevailed against eleven other applicants and designed the opposite tunnel wall. Their fantasy animals are supposed to take away children’s fear of the rather gloomy road from the state hospital to the Lehener side.
Luka Leben, a civilian AHS teacher and illustrator, most recently at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and began spraying with her brother as a student to bring more lightness back into her artistry: “We wanted to implement the topic of a ‘violent city’ Above all, by also illustrating diversity,” she says. “Perhaps you can see it in my design: I am also a mother and am expecting my next child. And I also wanted to do something that appeals to children, that is colorful and that shows this diversity.”
Street art in the street tunnel
City becomes “bridge between high culture and subculture”
“I’m happy that our design worked out right away,” adds Sigfrid Sindinger. “There are already a few walls in the city (for sprayers – note). But in the last few years some have been closed, which is why opportunities have been lost. In particular, you rarely have such a long and high wall as here.”
At the latest since works of art by street artist Banksy have been traded on the art market for between ten and 20 million euros, sprayer art has arrived in the mainstream. It should also be used for urban development, says Herbert Wührer, youth officer for the city of Salzburg: “What’s extremely cool about this part of the city is that Gaswerkgasse and the underpass are incredibly busy. We simply wanted to bridge the gap between high culture and subculture. And that’s where we found the stage where we can appropriately anchor street art.”