Some say a picture speaks 1000 words, while others believe the universal language of mankind is music.
Blend both concepts together and you will be transported to three pieces of public art at Cold Chisel, Sia Furler and Paul Kelly lanes, as well as a tribute to the Exploding White Mice at Paxton Walk, as a nod to Adelaide's rich musical culture.
The lanes invite locals and visitors alike to explore the stories of artists and their connections to the city, while serving as pathways to the many nearby live music venues.
The artworks within acknowledge the individuals and bands that have not just built a local fanbase but have captured the hearts and minds of audiences across the nation and the world.
The City of Adelaide has celebrated these laneways through a series of new videos with the artists behind the projects, allowing them to delve into the city's rich musical history and significance as a UNESCO City of Music.
Cold Chisel Lane
Midway between Hindley and Pirie Streets is Cold Chisel Lane and, there, you will find an atypical mural—one without images.
The project brings together stories from a broad cross-section of people who speak about how the band—headlined by rocker Jimmy Barnes—has impacted their lives.
“There (are) no pictures of people (and) there (are) no pictures of the band,” says the man behind the painting James Dodd.
“It’s a collection of words, statements and text that I have collected ... some are taken from posters and statements celebrating Cold Chisel, or I might take a picture of something I’ve seen.”
“Like something written on a toilet wall.”
The project is a way for Dodd to celebrate Adelaide’s musical roots and acknowledge the city as Australia’s first and only UNESCO City of Music.
“We should all celebrate live music and band culture in Adelaide because it is a little bit isolated,” he says.
“We have great musicians, great artists and, as a whole, a great cultural network in Adelaide and South Australia.”
Sia Furler Lane
Travel further west to find a mural of ARIA award winner and Grammy nominee Sia Furler—an Adelaide-born singer/songwriter who has worked with the likes of Flo Rida, David Guetta and the Hilltop Hoods.
The mural was a way artist Jasmine Crisp created a “gallery” for the public.
“Some people aren’t just going to walk into a gallery, particularly in Australian culture when not everyone feels welcome to walk into a small or even large gallery space,” Crisp says.
“It can be intimidating, or people might not feel like they're informed enough to enter a gallery.”
When Crisp first heard about the Sia mural project she thought about her own connection with Furler’s music—one formed when she was at the Big Day Out in 2010.
“The whole stage was covered in crochet blankets and pom-poms, and she was wearing a cardboard suit that was all hand painted,” she says.
“So I thought I have a lot of visual material there.”
The project was a chance for Crisp to “remind everyone nationally” that Adelaide is a location rich in musical culture.
No Fixed Address Lane
No Fixed Address Lane mural artist Thomas Readett shares Crisp's sentiment, acknowledging that Adelaide is a loved hub for music, with many big names starting their career on the city's pub circuit.
Readett's mural, at the former Lindes Lane, shows No Fixed Address in its youth and features contemporary representations of the band's heritage, history and impact on the community and music scene.
Readett, a Ngarrindjeri and Arrernte man, finds great pride in giving typical city spaces a lick of colour to become more “curious”.
He worked alongside artists Elizabeth Yanyi Close and Shane Mankitya Cook to create the mural that recognises the achievements of the Indigenous band.
“You can go down a random alleyway and there can be something awesome,” Readett says.
“We were super interested in working with No Fixed Address, and we were really engaged… about how we were going to pull this together.
“We wanted it to be a celebration of (its) career …. and No Fixed Address had a lot of influence.”
Readett says changing the names of laneways in the city to honour musicians “that have done a lot for Adelaide” brings a new sense of identity to local streets.
Paul Kelly Lane
Using few words, visual artist Heidi Kenyon was able to completely change the feel of a laneway that runs from 25 Pirie Street to Flinders Street. It is now known as Paul Kelly Lane as a nod to the Australian rock music singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Kenyon created light-based artworks that feature song lyrics from Kelly’s extensive back catalogue.
“Sometimes there's that sense of things that look cool that, you know, people might stop and notice and take interest in," she says.
“But there's also placemaking that happens on a bit of a deeper level.
“I chose to focus on use of the word 'love', or the way that the word love was used in different lyrics.
“The reason that I was drawn to that as a concept is, I guess, thinking about the way that Kelly is a storyteller….his honesty vulnerability and complexity.”
Kenyon had to find a typeface for each sign and used the handwriting of friends and family as a basis.
She wanted the lightbox to feel “present” both day and night to show the impact of Kelly and his musical influence on the City of Adelaide.
One side of the lightbox has the word love while the opposite has an associated lyric.
“This project, in particular, is highlighting musicians that a lot of people probably wouldn't even realise were initially from Adelaide,” she says.
“We've had a great history of music and contemporary artists in Adelaide.”
Exploding White Mice at Paxton Walk
Graphic designer turned artist Greg Mitchell used band Exploding White Mice’s connection with the city to create waveform imagery called Fear in Paxton Walk.
Fear celebrates Adelaide's vibrant East End and its live music culture, using a graphical interpretation from a digital sample of Exploding White Mice’s track Fear (Late at Night).
The design includes glitches and irregularities in the sample, reflecting the energy and rawness of live punk music.
“Dave (of the Exploding White Mice) told me that the Mice were one of the first live acts that the Exeter had…so I thought it makes sense to use a bit of local music (as a) local connection,” Mitchell says.
“I asked a mate of mine who was kind of into digital sampling and mixing and stuff like that if he could take the analogue recording and make a digital print out of the waveform.”
Mitchell says working on an artwork that has such significance in Adelaide is a feat of his career.
“I think it is a great feather in Adelaide’s cap to be acknowledged as a UNESCO City of Music,” he says.
“It is a great honour to do one of the artworks that celebrates it.”
To learn more about city murals click here.