Writing On The Wall: Secret Wars Finale
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Secret Wars, Tiger Beer
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As Saturday came around, and night-time fell, we knew we had places to be. The grand finale of Secret Wars was due to kick off in about an hour. An anticipation swelled inside the dimly-lit church on Chalmers St. Backlit with the colours of stained glass, yellows and reds, the DJ began his set – beats bouncing and echoing off the walls of the bustling church. The crowd buzzed, mingling and milling about with a cold Tiger beer in hand. Looming ghostly white over the crowd were two large blank canvases, eagerly awaiting the face-off between Creon and Houl.
The countdown began – a live stop watch starting at 90 minutes.
Houl, armed with his trademark selection of markers, was straight off the mark – a strange zombie-like figure emerging bold and black on the page within minutes. On the other side, a lead pencil furiously danced as Creon sketched out a complex blueprint for his large-scale design.
It soon became clear that this was going to be a battle of the dimensions – Creon’s elaborate 3D designs slowly taking form and lifting off the page, while Houl’s sharp 2D detail and bold use of line created a fantastic, quirky world before our eyes.
Bit by bit, Houl’s design expanded to fill the canvas, his steady hand and fine detail in stark contrast with the swift, rough brush strokes of Creon. Black paint oozed down the artists hand, and though heads turned and eyes squinted, trying to catch a glimpse of Creon’s final vision, the artist kept us in suspense, building up his work layer by layer.
As the countdown for 10 minutes began, Houl’s ‘graveyard of artists defeated’ had taken shape, but Creon was yet to counter – a large speech bubble floating empty over the head of a large figure being kicked head first into the ‘basement of St. Creon’.
It wasn’t until the final minutes that Creon bit back, – ‘2D’s Dead Ass Houl’.
The clock hit zero and the artists stepped back to check out their work. The winner was to be determined through the cheers of the eager crowd – both artists supporting a sizable fan club of screaming girls. Both names were raised to thunderous cheers, chants and applause, but in the end it was Houl who came out on top – leaving the night with a cool grand and a warm grin on his face. The night was a huge success and we loved following the whole competition. Always excited to see emerging talent on the street art scene, we eagerly await next year’s Secret Wars!
Photography by Parallax Fotographix and Rebecca Slater
