Darlinghurst Nights

Archive for the ‘Campbell Street’ tag

Eternity or oblivion

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Signs saying ‘Oblivion’ have appeared all over the neighbourhood – @nellgreco spotted this one on the corner of Campbell and Smith Streets, Surry Hills, as she walked home.

It’s obviously a take on the chalked signs Arthur Stace used to scribble out saying ‘Eternity’ – but why and who remain a mystery. Reference to the state government’s electoral hopes? New band? Buckminster Fuller graffiti?

We even had an email from Barry Divola, asking if we knew who was behind it.

I thought it might be a pessimistic 21st century response to Arthur Stace’s “Eternity”. I’m hoping that it is, anyway, and not just some guerilla marketing campaign for some new product or fashion company.

We thought it might be another bit of guerrilla advertising, but so far we’re none the wiser. Any ideas?

Cardboard robots

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Walking up to Taylor Square this week, I couldn’t help but notice these boxes on the pedestrian crossing.

What are they, I wondered? Public art? Improvised cardboard robots?

Actually, no.

Looks like the days of walking unimpeded across the corner of Bourke and Campbell Streets are gone.

And there’s the culprit, a new set of traffic lights.

So this is what culture is

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As I was out spotting Mardi Gras carnage this morning, I came across something I had not noticed before.

It’s on Crown Street, at the foot of the “No Stopping” sign outside Urban Uprising, near the corner of Campbell Street.

A cement sculpture of a teddy bear and a mobile phone. They are fixed to the pavement.

Does the bear say “culture?”

Or perhaps “vulture” or “sculpture?”

Intriguing.

Hollowed out house

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I love peeking through the gaps on neighbourhood redevelopments, like this one on Campbell Street, Surry Hills.

Sometimes the city streets seem so fixed – apartment blocks and shops and street signs are such planned things.

I love moments of change – not so much when restaurants or other businesses fail, that’s always sad – but those moments of transition when a house or a warehouse implodes to form something new, they’re totally exciting for me.

The Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst, warehouse below has been in redevelopment for months. At first, you could peek in and see the hollowed out shell. But now it’s pretty dark and full of floors.

I guess I just like moments when you realise how ephemeral the buildings and structures of the city are, it makes me like them a lot more.

In this street lived a good chap

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Some street names are easy to understand.

For instance, Reservoir Street – where the reservoir was found. Or Elizabeth Bay Road – the road leading down to said bay.

And then you come across one that makes you smile, and speculate as to how it was named.

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Back when they were naming streets, was there a really good bloke who lived in the Surry Hills area, somewhere between Campbell and Reservoir Streets? Council just couldn’t remember his name, but everyone agreed he was a “good chap”?

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I’d like to think so.

The Pop Shop is back

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A couple of years back, the Pop Shop, on Oxford Street, shut its doors.

I noticed the familiar faces of owners Angelo and Robert in Blueprint, on Macleay Street, earlier this year.

And then today, walking down Crown Street, between Campbell and Albion Streets, I noticed this:

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They’re back!

What’s the 3111

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There’s a nordic man peeking out from a corner, just behind Taylor Square, Darlinghurst.

His helmet says ’3111′ – what’s that about?