URBAN SPACE ARTISTS
MEET THE URBAN ARTISTS
WESLEY VAN EEDEN AKA RESOBORG RESOBORG is an artist, illustrator, graphic designer and muralist. Since beginning his career in Durban, where he attended Durban University of Technology (DuT), he now works with clients from across the world! It is the convergence of all these disciplines that inform his visual style that is infused into various projects. As a youth, he discovered skateboarding and street art which has played an influential role to his ‘low brow’ aesthetic in his art. Playing in bands in the early 2000’s and making posters for the local music scene, his work is a montage of these “Do It Yourself” ethics and local African culture he was brought up in. Handmade signage, African patterns and informal African settlements all play a role in his organic approach. His work reflects contemporary global issues found in politics and youth culture, and, he is driven to seek fresh perspectives with bold shapes and textures. His current paintings and murals reflect his digital illustrations as an attempt to create a graphic style that is complementary to the different disciplines he is involved in.
FREEDOM PARK MURAL Why you were commissioned for this mural at Freedom Park? The local council developed a sports ground for Kwamashu in Durban that is free to the local community. The sports ground was located in Freedom Park which has indoor soccer, tennis, basketball, table tennis and netball. What was your brief from the municipality? The client was eThekwini Municipality and the brief was to create a 3D mural that wraps around the ablution facilities for the sports ground. It was important to create a male and female sports dominated mural so that the local community can identify with both male and female toilets. It was also required to include the words "Freedom Park" in the mural on the back of the containers so that on the main road it can be easily read for passersby. The budget for this project was R40 000, including material cost. What types of paint would you use for a mural of this nature? Depending on the surface, I would usually use acrylic household paints but because this was on a metal container, I had to use Montana Spray Paint so that the paint would not come off. Spray paint is generally very expensive and the spray paint for this mural was about R10 000 of the full budget.
and to create a boys and girls graphic for the toilet area. The containers where very dull and needed to be livened up, they have thus transformed the space and given some identity to Freedom Park. People want to visit this site and the bright colourful mural makes it distinguishable from any other space. It has identity! In your opinion what is the role of art in Urban Spaces? There are many unique uses for art in an Urban Space. As a commercial artist I like to work with specific clients, communities and their needs. Therefore, the role of art is always changing, based on the client and each unique environment. I do however believe, that art can change a space dramatically, by making it interactive and humanistic. It can take a concrete or metal structure that is taken for granted and reinterprets mundane objects into an interactive space that can help bring attention, or to evoke a certain feeling such as safety, hope, positivity, community as well as complement other aesthetics of the site. Its Important to explore this as a means for public identity and pride as well.
What was the intention behind the mural? The intention of the mural was to reinvigorate the containers with bright and colourful motifs
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Pro Landscaper Africa | April 2019
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