The Abandoned Power Station

I mentioned a few months ago that Perth has adopted "graffiti" as a legitimate form of art. It is respected openly, people and companies dedicate space for artists, community projects make sure walls are updated and evolving, and its relatively prolific throughout the city.

This past weekend, as I was wrapping up my time in Perth, I made the short little trek down to South Fremantle / North Coogee Beach area. (By the way, "Coogee" is a fun word to say). This is the location of the abandoned power station, where artists have wall-to-wall graffiti'd this enormous structure. A co-worker had tipped off me that it is a worthwhile and intriguing visit if you like alternative types of sight-seeing, and with only a week left in Perth, I had few opportunities to do so.

Some of the artwork is really complex and detailed, while others are of the "tagging" variety. One of the more impressive things, which is mostly lost in a 2D picture, is the location of the artwork. Imagine painting a 2 meter by 4 meter piece from 20 meters up with only narrow, rusty scaffolding at your feet. Some locations boggled my mind even if the person used safety equipment. I have to imagine that some people must have died, or at least were seriously injured, in the history of making this place what it is today.

I'm not going to say much more than that. I've updated the link with all the pictures from the trip to the power station, and few more pics I snapped of graffiti elsewhere in the city. Below I've put my top favorite pictures (in no particular order) I took at the plant. I hope you enjoy the impressiveness of their artwork, whoever they are. All I did was simply take a picture.

I took this picture while exploring the empty lot adjacent to the power station, while trying to find a way in. 

Missing from this shot is the entire stairwell, which is pretty cool, but that picture didn't turn out well because it was so heavily backlit. 

If you can imagine it, this is a power station literally on the beach.  Nowadays, power stations are hidden away as best as possible and it seems unthinkable to put one on a beach. 

This picture really helps show the scale of the building and just how much artwork there is in the place. This is one of four sections of the entire complex. On the top level in this picture,  there is no floor or obvious access. Making art is hard enough when you're relaxed, but imagine being terrified.

A creepy hallway. I actually walked all the way through here. As I was a third of the way through, I heard the sound of a metal door hinge creaking... nearly lost it. I didn't have the guts to go into the basement where little natural light penetrations.

Here's a picture of the exterior that shows some of the interesting and difficult places people have managed to graffiti. 

This is my last blog post from Perth!