Hosier Lane representing Melbourne as a place of street art

Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia and has, as such, a distinctly urban character. Both the high-rise buildings in the central business district and the urban bustle, which is not found in so many places in Australia, contribute to this. This impression is further reinforced by the recognizable modern architecture and the graffiti and street art culture present in many places. The numerous quiet suburbs, especially along the long coastline, offer residents the opportunity to relax and provide a counterbalance to the urban hustle and bustle. Street art, especially graffiti, is common in Melbourne. Graffiti refers to lettering and images created freehand using spray cans, while stencil art utilizes stencils. These and similar artistic phenomena are often summarized as street art. Although street art was originally largely unauthorized, it is now often carried out with the permission of the owner of the building being sprayed on. This dichotomy between illegality and legality is reflected in public perception. Attitudes range from vandalism, the violation of property rights, and damage to the identity of the neighbourhood on the one hand, to lively urbanity and expressive art on the other. In any case, street art and graffiti in particular can be understood as rebellion and act of expression, which creates sub-cultural identities and shapes the urban character (Dovey, Wollan, and Woodcock, 2018). In the context of this dichotomy, complex relationships have been established between graffiti artists, authorities, and commerce (McGaw, 2008). Street art as an antithesis to gentrification and commercialization leads to a mutual relationship of influence and disengagement (Dovey, Wollan, and Woodcock, 2012). As is usual in many other places, street art has helped to shape the place identity in Melbourne. This usually happens unasked by appropriating street space. Graffiti is added to existing architecture and forms a symbiosis with it. This relationship is subject to constant change, with existing graffiti and stencil art being modified or replaced by new ones. Works that have more of a fine art character and are of high quality are not overwritten by new graffiti as quickly as those that are of lower quality. This results in an everlasting chain of transformation, which turns individual works into temporary appearances and establishes only constant change as a permanent phenomenon of street art. In this way, a progressive sense of place is created. In the 1980s, street art was mainly found along the railway lines in Melbourne. With the privatization of the railway in 1993, changing conditions led to a shift in the street art scene to engage throughout the city. The processes of creating, transforming, and erasing graffiti as well as perceiving, appreciating, and tolerating it have become an integral part of Melbourne's urban habit (Dovey, Wollan, and Woodcock, 2012). This distinctive graffiti culture has gained international recognition due to its early emergence and the collaboration of many artists. Some of Melbourne's laneways have even developed into 'informal graffiti galleries' (Dovey, Wollan, and Woodcock, 2012). Hosier Lane, located in Melbourne's central business district, is a striking example of this. Despite its small size, it has become widely known as an iconic place with a large variety of street art. This is partly due to its early use for then often unauthorized spraying activities and its staging as a graffiti gallery. As part of the City Lights Initiative in 1998 and the All Your Walls project in 2013, extensive and well-planned transformations of the existing art works were carried out. As a result of this development, Hosier Lane has evolved into a vibrant meeting place for the corresponding subculture. This is evident not only for the artist, such as, for instance, jonydee80 who has created several graffitis in this street, but also for the passers-by: the street shows colourful and modern, partly edgy street art. The image of Melbourne is formed both by printing and reading travel guides and descriptions on the Internet as well as by visiting the city with an awareness of its street art. This reciprocal relationship between information about street art in Melbourne and the perception of it when being in Melbourne has shaped the iconic nature of Melbourne's street art and made it one of its most important landmarks. The pulsating urbanity, vibrancy, and modernity expressed through the street art such as can be found in Hosier Lane is thereby imputed on Melbourne as a whole, even if these characteristics do not apply to every part of the city. Hosier Lane has thus become a symbol for Melbourne as a street art place. The same applies to street art culture as a whole. It is interesting to note that this representation is partly the result of local place-making in Melbourne, but partly also the result of being mentioned in relevant media such as tourist guides. This blurs the boundary between touristic place-making and representation-making through tourist guides.