Tuesday 7 October 2008

A countercultural trip in Birmingham.....

Fancy a trip to visit an alternative cultural place in Birmingham where creative countercultural activity continues to take place? Pop along to Bournbrook Recreation Ground in Selly Oak. Here, you’ll see a place littered with graffiti. It’s overwhelming. I was delighted to come across such a large public space that is decorated and dedicated with so much (ongoing) graffiti. All parts of this small park are up for spray-can grabs: walls, sides of houses and offices, graffiti on paving stones, lamp posts and railings - all make for a superbly creative individual place here in Birmingham.

There seems little to literally read, and whilst personalised tagging is triumphantly marking people’s designs, what is fascinating is the saturation of colour when you spin around on the spot. It’s a living organism! The paint has taken-over, slowly and surely creeping like veins across fences and doors, bricks, along pathways etc…

Birmingham counterculture salutes those individuals that have made Bournbrook Recreation Ground a special place in Birmingham!











Flickr link I came across:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/newfolder/2764341625/

Location:

Between Selly Oak library and Lidl supermarket.

Transport:

Buses:

Travel West Midlands (0121 254 7272) - Route Numbers 11A, 11C, 21, 44, 61, 62, 63, 69

Major Roads

A38 Bristol Road (N) / A441 Pershore Road (N) - Northbound towards Birmingham centre, M6
A38 Bristol Road (S) - Southbound towards M5, M42, Northfield, Rubery, Bromsgrove
A441 Pershore Road (S) - Southbound towards M42
A4040 Oaktree Lane / Harborne Lane - Outer Ring Road

1 comment:

paving birmingham said...

You can catch this spot from any bus that runs down the bristol road. Just near the overpass next to selly oak train station. Some amazing works here but I wouldn't reccomend going in the late hours as selly oaks more unsavoury characters have the tendancy to gather there for no particular reason.