BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
Street Artist Barlo sends us this mural he did in his hometown Hong Kong in the back of a bar that features caricatures sculpted of Mao, Stalin, and Hitler – which gives you an idea of what sorts of rabble rousers might be there having a drink. He says this is actually his second mural there – his first one was of such a political nature that it had to be painted over to avoid some undefined conflicts. The newer one is decidedly less political, more representational of a general feeling of living in a land that feels like it is “upside down”, he says.
Barlo. “The World Upside Down” Hong Kong. May 2016. (photo © Barlo)
He calls this one The World Upside Down
“Since the beginning of civilization men have believed in the existence of another world, parallel to ours but opposite in every sense, to the point of believing in people walking upside down. Through the centuries the myth took many names and forms, from ‘Heaven on Earth’ to the myth of the Antipodes or the land of Cockaigne,” he says.
As an aside, you may know Cockaigne is a place in medieval myth where life is completely enjoyable and luxurious and food literally falls out of the sky, which sounds awfully appealing, but you may need to carry a dinner plate around with you wherever you go, right? Otherwise that ham sandwich might land on the sidewalk, right? And what about gravy? Does it come in its own gravy boat? Not sure how that all would work. Also, what about spaghetti sauce?
Anyway, returning to Barlo’s description. “In popular folklore these stories represented a naive hope, an illusory land, where tyrants would meet their justice and the people who remained would live free from their misery, thus subverting the natural order of things.”
Barlo. “The World Upside Down” Hong Kong. May 2016. (photo © Barlo)
Barlo. “The World Upside Down” Hong Kong. May 2016. (photo © Barlo)
Barlo. “The World Upside Down” Hong Kong. May 2016. (photo © Barlo)
Barlo. “The World Upside Down” Hong Kong. May 2016. (photo © Barlo)
Barlo. “The World Upside Down” Hong Kong. May 2016. (photo © Barlo)
Barlo. “The World Upside Down” Hong Kong. May 2016. (photo © Barlo)
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