It started as a normal morning some time last month with the same train ride to work, apart from spotting a few passengers taking photos of the train after alighting. I wondered what was special about the train, and I found out when I alighted: one whole carriage was completed painted over by pink and golden graffiti. But I only caught a glimpse of it since I was in a hurry to change trains.
上月某天上班坐火車，看到中途有人下車後為火車拍照，很是好奇，待我下車後便明白究竟：原來其中一車卡整卡被人噴漆塗鴉，一片鮮粉紅一片鮮黃的頗搶眼，不過人多且趕換車，所以祇是匆匆一瞥。
Little did I expect that I would travel on the same train back home! It was indeed a rather rare occurrence, with so many train services in a day and the possibility that trains would switch lines in a network of more than a dozen lines. I decided to sit in the ‘graffiti carriage’ to mark such an unlikely coincidence. It was bright sunny outside and the carriage was flooded with a dreamy mix of pink and yellow light as the sunlight shone through. The usual views outside the window were replaced by the huge colourful letters and other shapes of the graffiti. It felt like a fantasy world.
沒想到下班時坐的火車，竟然仍是塗鴉依舊，心想一天悠悠長這麼多班次，而且火車會在整個網絡的十多條線四處調度，所以早晚都坐到同一架車，還有同一塗鴉，難得才有一次，所以我也選坐塗鴉的車卡，「感受」一下。當日外面陽光猛烈，曬進車廂內，泛起一片混合粉紅和金黃而成的光茫，抬頭望窗外，看到的不是平常的風景，而是那些斗大的粉紅和鮮黃的噴漆字母和圖案，感覺大不同，彷彿置身於夢幻世界中。
Graffiti are really commonplace in Western countries, and in Melbourne it’s not unusual to see trains roaming about before they get a chance to be stripped of their graffiti. But that was no ordinary graffiti compared to the ‘tags’, the squiggly ‘signatures’ which are seen quite often on the trains and elsewhere. It was probably no mean feat to paint so elaborately along a carriage of some 20 metres long and 4 metres high during the 5-hour overnight break of train services. Since the train operations in Melbourne were taken over 4 years ago by a consortium headed by Hong Kong’s MTR Corp., a few new business models were introduced, including extensive advertising placements inside the carriages and painting advertisements on the exterior of carriages. Undoubtedly it helps to raise revenue, but those who detest and reject rampant commercialisation would probably see those advertisements merely as ‘officially sanctioned graffiti’ and may even loathe them more than normal graffiti.
塗鴉在外國是家常便飯，火車遭人「落手」後未及清洗便要四出行駛屢見不鮮，不過這個大字母塗鴉比平時見慣的「鬼畫符」、「草書簽名」顯然更具心思和看頭，在一夜停駛五小時的空檔期，沿著整個二十多米長、四米高的車廂噴漆也非容易事。此間的火車服務，自從四年前由以港鐵為首的集團接手後，引進了一些新的經營手法，包括在車廂內廣為張貼和在車身上髹上廣告，商業味甚濃，對向來不喜歡甚至抗拒過度商業化的澳洲人來說，有些或會認為這些廣告祇不過是一種正式認可的塗鴉，說不定比一般塗鴉還惹厭。
Over the years I’ve taken a few photos of memorable graffiti. Not all graffiti are created equal in quality. Tagging is the most common and arguably the ugliest, most unimaginative form as it is nothing more than a random squiggle. But there are obviously ‘artists’ who put the effort to turn graffiti into an art form and often attach a meaning to their drawings. They allow passers-by to take their minds temporarily off the real world, appreciate some artistic creativity and immerse themselves into the universe depicted in the paintings. These graffiti can be seen as a kind of urban art, which may at the same time act as a chronicle of contemporary life and even become part of the cultural identity of a place (such as Banksy’s graffiti in London or elsewhere in England). Graffiti are often illegal and associated with criminality (a house which has been tagged is often a mark for burglars). In extreme cases graffiti painting may even prove fatal. Many are eyesores but some do a great job as a decoration. The aesthetic ones help to lift the mood and spirits on, for example, dull winter mornings as the train to work passes under a series of flyovers and the colourful graffiti offer a sharp and warm contrast to the grey skies and concrete. Graffiti may be loathed by many, yet there will be equally many who comes to appreciate their raison d’être and artistic value.
多年來我偶然也會把一些獨特的塗鴉拍下來留念，塗鴉分好幾個「級數」，那些胡亂噴一通的「簽名」，看得多也令人生厭，但也有些藝術「造詣」頗高，創意洋溢，甚至有更深一層的含意，讓觀看者的思維短暫離開現實，在畫中世界裡奔馳，這些塗鴉算得上是城市藝術的一種，也是日常生活的一種記載，甚至可視為構成本土文化的一環（例如Banksy塗鴉便是倫敦和英國其他城市的標誌之一）。雖然塗鴉很多時都犯法，有損市容，也往往跟罪惡扯上關系（家門遭人噴塗鴉「簽名」，便很容易便成為入屋盜竊的標記），甚至會招致生命危險，但在無傷大雅的地方，有塗鴉點綴一下倒也無妨，例如在冬天陰暗的早上，火車經過一個又一個橋底時，鮮豔繽紛的塗鴉繪畫，便為本來冰凍又灰沈的四周帶來色彩，使人精神為之一振，相信不少城市人，都像我一樣，對塗鴉既恨又愛。
上月某天上班坐火車，看到中途有人下車後為火車拍照，很是好奇，待我下車後便明白究竟：原來其中一車卡整卡被人噴漆塗鴉，一片鮮粉紅一片鮮黃的頗搶眼，不過人多且趕換車，所以祇是匆匆一瞥。
Little did I expect that I would travel on the same train back home! It was indeed a rather rare occurrence, with so many train services in a day and the possibility that trains would switch lines in a network of more than a dozen lines. I decided to sit in the ‘graffiti carriage’ to mark such an unlikely coincidence. It was bright sunny outside and the carriage was flooded with a dreamy mix of pink and yellow light as the sunlight shone through. The usual views outside the window were replaced by the huge colourful letters and other shapes of the graffiti. It felt like a fantasy world.
沒想到下班時坐的火車，竟然仍是塗鴉依舊，心想一天悠悠長這麼多班次，而且火車會在整個網絡的十多條線四處調度，所以早晚都坐到同一架車，還有同一塗鴉，難得才有一次，所以我也選坐塗鴉的車卡，「感受」一下。當日外面陽光猛烈，曬進車廂內，泛起一片混合粉紅和金黃而成的光茫，抬頭望窗外，看到的不是平常的風景，而是那些斗大的粉紅和鮮黃的噴漆字母和圖案，感覺大不同，彷彿置身於夢幻世界中。
My turn to take a photo when I got home!
回家後便輪到我拍這張塗鴉照了！
Graffiti are really commonplace in Western countries, and in Melbourne it’s not unusual to see trains roaming about before they get a chance to be stripped of their graffiti. But that was no ordinary graffiti compared to the ‘tags’, the squiggly ‘signatures’ which are seen quite often on the trains and elsewhere. It was probably no mean feat to paint so elaborately along a carriage of some 20 metres long and 4 metres high during the 5-hour overnight break of train services. Since the train operations in Melbourne were taken over 4 years ago by a consortium headed by Hong Kong’s MTR Corp., a few new business models were introduced, including extensive advertising placements inside the carriages and painting advertisements on the exterior of carriages. Undoubtedly it helps to raise revenue, but those who detest and reject rampant commercialisation would probably see those advertisements merely as ‘officially sanctioned graffiti’ and may even loathe them more than normal graffiti.
塗鴉在外國是家常便飯，火車遭人「落手」後未及清洗便要四出行駛屢見不鮮，不過這個大字母塗鴉比平時見慣的「鬼畫符」、「草書簽名」顯然更具心思和看頭，在一夜停駛五小時的空檔期，沿著整個二十多米長、四米高的車廂噴漆也非容易事。此間的火車服務，自從四年前由以港鐵為首的集團接手後，引進了一些新的經營手法，包括在車廂內廣為張貼和在車身上髹上廣告，商業味甚濃，對向來不喜歡甚至抗拒過度商業化的澳洲人來說，有些或會認為這些廣告祇不過是一種正式認可的塗鴉，說不定比一般塗鴉還惹厭。
Over the years I’ve taken a few photos of memorable graffiti. Not all graffiti are created equal in quality. Tagging is the most common and arguably the ugliest, most unimaginative form as it is nothing more than a random squiggle. But there are obviously ‘artists’ who put the effort to turn graffiti into an art form and often attach a meaning to their drawings. They allow passers-by to take their minds temporarily off the real world, appreciate some artistic creativity and immerse themselves into the universe depicted in the paintings. These graffiti can be seen as a kind of urban art, which may at the same time act as a chronicle of contemporary life and even become part of the cultural identity of a place (such as Banksy’s graffiti in London or elsewhere in England). Graffiti are often illegal and associated with criminality (a house which has been tagged is often a mark for burglars). In extreme cases graffiti painting may even prove fatal. Many are eyesores but some do a great job as a decoration. The aesthetic ones help to lift the mood and spirits on, for example, dull winter mornings as the train to work passes under a series of flyovers and the colourful graffiti offer a sharp and warm contrast to the grey skies and concrete. Graffiti may be loathed by many, yet there will be equally many who comes to appreciate their raison d’être and artistic value.
多年來我偶然也會把一些獨特的塗鴉拍下來留念，塗鴉分好幾個「級數」，那些胡亂噴一通的「簽名」，看得多也令人生厭，但也有些藝術「造詣」頗高，創意洋溢，甚至有更深一層的含意，讓觀看者的思維短暫離開現實，在畫中世界裡奔馳，這些塗鴉算得上是城市藝術的一種，也是日常生活的一種記載，甚至可視為構成本土文化的一環（例如Banksy塗鴉便是倫敦和英國其他城市的標誌之一）。雖然塗鴉很多時都犯法，有損市容，也往往跟罪惡扯上關系（家門遭人噴塗鴉「簽名」，便很容易便成為入屋盜竊的標記），甚至會招致生命危險，但在無傷大雅的地方，有塗鴉點綴一下倒也無妨，例如在冬天陰暗的早上，火車經過一個又一個橋底時，鮮豔繽紛的塗鴉繪畫，便為本來冰凍又灰沈的四周帶來色彩，使人精神為之一振，相信不少城市人，都像我一樣，對塗鴉既恨又愛。
Theft at the storage warehouse - taken in 2009 (now totally defaced!)
2009年攝——貨倉的監守自盜（現已面目全非！）
Fitzroy, an inner suburb hot-spot for graffiti
離市區不遠的Fitzroy區是塗鴉熱點
Richmond - these paintings are almost as good as murals!
這些位於Richmond區的塗鴉，水準可媲美壁畫！
Graffiti blend in with Melbourne CBD's laneway culture
塗鴉和墨爾本市中心的「橫街小巷文化」緊扣在一起
Graffiti outside the new HQ of European Central Bank in Frankfurt will be just as relevant when it opens next year, as the global economic crisis and Eurozone crisis may still be lurking then.
法蘭克福未來歐洲央行總部外的塗鴉，題材圍繞金融危機和歐元困境，相信明年落成入伙後，這些塗鴉仍是社會現況的真實反映。
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