If you’ve tuned into any major news coverage in Australia in the last 24 hours, you may have caught wind of Luke ‘E.L.K’ Cornish’s latest mural at Bondi Beach in Sydney. I jumped in my car this morning and heard him on the top of hour news headlines on triple j, and I’m seeing this story everywhere today: newspapers, radio, social, and it’s about to hit every major TV station’s nightly news broadcast as I send this off. There’s a fuss-a-brewing at it’s gone all the way to the top.
Luke Cornish has been creating elaborate stencil murals and artwork for a hot minute, he prefers to layer his stencil work to give it depth, and he makes rather large works, which means… large stencils. It must be a pain the neck. But not as much of a pain in the neck as the current situation. You see, the man also known as E.L.K recently displayed his latest body of work ‘The Sea’ at Bondi Pavilion Gallery. The work was informed by his trips to war-torn Syria, the people he has met there, and the destruction and desperation that he has witnessed first-hand. As a part of this exhibition, he was invited to paint a mural on the iconic sea wall at Bondi Beach. The mural is a depiction of twenty-four Australian Border Force agents, armed to the teeth, in riot gear, and a Soviet-era font proclaiming ‘WELCOME TO BONDI’, with the word ‘NOT…’ positioned over the top. The people are pissed! Petitions. Name calling. Hair pulling. The message is lost.
Yesterday, I caught up with E.L.K to find out more about the meaning behind the mural, and how he’s feeling about all this fuss. Since the below interview, there have been some developments: 1. Last night The Waverley Council voted 5 to 4 in favour of keeping the mural. 2. Also last night “some angry punter went and buffed it”.
Hello mate. So, it seems like you’ve got some people all hot and bothered about your most recent piece at Bondi Beach. Any publicity is good publicity, right?
Hi mate. Yes, yes, I did. I’ve never been a huge believer of the saying ‘any publicity is good publicity’. I think it’s far better to be receiving publicity for an altruistic project or accolade, than say, not paying penalty rates, or beating your spouse.
This isn’t your first crack at the Bondi sea wall. This time around you were invited to paint the wall as part of your exhibition at Bondi Pavilion Gallery. Tell me the background of the piece and how it came to be?
I painted a mural there with Melbourne artist Kaffeine a couple of years back. It was an anthropomorphic depiction of a capitalist pig and his wife, who had a dogs head, wearing a shoal made from the skins of dead Syrian children. Funnily enough, no one seemed to care about that one. The exhibition I have on at the moment at the Bondi Pavilion is work that was informed by three trips I’ve made to war-torn Syria in the last three years. So, when the council asked to me to paint a mural and said, “you can paint whatever you like”, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to make a comment on an important issue.
You knew you’d be ruffling feathers with this one, but perhaps not to this extent. How has the response been generally? The good and the bad. What’s surprised you about it?
Sure, I knew I’d be ruffling feathers. I could never have had anticipated starting a national debate. The response overall has been largely positive. Although, I don’t have access to the Murdoch press paywall, so luckily, I’ve been shielded from the majority of negative feedback. The critical comments that I have seen, have been quite respectful and well thought out points of view. I’ve tried to remain super respectful to anybody that does find the mural confronting or offensive, but there are some serious mouth breathers out there who the subtlety of meaning is lost on. One guy actually told me to fuck off back to where I come from. Canberra?
The Mayor of Waverley has been incredibly supportive. Though he’s not gone so far to say he likes the mural, he has stringently defended its right to exist. The Rabbi of Sydney has reached out, and also been quite vocal online of his support for the mural, which is comforting, seeing that the mural has been likened by some to the swastikas that were graffitied on the wall 12 months ago. Ironically, I’m talking about ending concentration camps.
I think the most surprising thing to come of all this is the support I’m getting from Sydney graff [writers]. Surely if graff [writers] and stencil artists can be united on something, there’s hope for the rest of the country.
This latest body of work at Bondi Pavilion Gallery, and the subsequent mural at on the sea wall, was in response to your travels to war-torn Syria, working with charities etc. Can you talk a little bit about your travels to Syria, what you encountered there, and the impact these trips had on you?
I’ve been to Syria three times in the last three years. There’s a children’s charity in Damascus and Aleppo that I’ve been supporting – SOS Children’s Villages. My experience in Syria has been life changing. Witnessing first-hand the destruction, and hearing so many stories of loss and pain, but also meeting so many wonderful and amazing people that I’m honoured to call friends now. War brings out the worst in some people, but it also brings out the best in others, and the hospitality and kindness of the Syrian people I’ve met really is heartwarming.
You’re not exactly taking shots at Bondi beachgoers with the mural. It seems like some people take it personally though. My take is that people don’t like being forced to think of unpleasant ideas on their recreation time, or ever, really. At the risk of making you repeat yourself; can you give us a quick breakdown of the intention behind the mural, and what seed of thought you’re trying to implant?
To be honest, I’m not taking shots at anybody. I’m really just trying to start a conversation about an incredibly important subject that we can’t ignore. The mural itself consists of twenty-four armed Australian Border Force personnel and the slogan ‘Welcome to Bondi’ with a bright red ‘NOT’ tagged at the start. The twenty-four figures represent the twenty-four suicides in Australian detention facilities since 2010. The meaning of ‘NOT Welcome to Bondi’ is pretty obvious. I’m certainly not attacking Australian Border Force, I understand they have a very difficult job. Though the policies they are implementing do equate to human rights abuses.
Unfortunately, the shitstorm around the mural has descended into left versus right, which really was never my intention. There are good people on both sides of politics. I merely held a mirror up to society, and a lot of people didn’t like what they saw. I’m pretty sure the twenty-four armed guards is far less confronting than the twenty-four dead refugees I was going to paint.
There’s currently a petition for the mural to be removed. One argument I’ve seen for the removal is that it doesn’t align with the sun, beach, sand of Bondi. That’s the whole point isn’t it? Lifting the veil?
I totally get why these people want it removed. It’s a very confronting image. However, it’s an interesting observation that the people who are usually espousing the importance of free speech are now scrambling to shut someone up. It’s all good though, there has also been a petition started to save the mural, which has over double the signatures of the one to remove it, I’ve been told they’re both being submitted to council.
In reality, I just got lucky. It almost resembles a Stephen Bradbury moment, where firstly the council supports it and wants it to stay (surely them having it removed would be admitting that they fucked up), and secondly the people that want it removed, led by a local Liberal councillor, can’t get it removed because Labor/ Greens hold the balance of power. And thirdly, it’s a public artwork, so anyone caught defacing it will receive a criminal conviction. So, this mural, that I thought would only last about two days, is going to stay there permanently and there isn’t a fucking thing anyone can do to change that. I was planning to make a statement, now I’m completely controlling the agenda.
One of the things I find fascinating, that always seems to pop up with these things, is the notion that artists (musicians, celebrities etc) should stay in their lane, and stay away from politics. EG: “there is a big difference between art and political statements, one does not belong in the other.” As though people with any kind of platform are not allowed to use said platform to express their opinions. What are your thoughts on this?
I think it depends on what their politics and beliefs are. If they’re using their platform to help others and raise awareness for issues that need addressing for the betterment of society, then yeah, it’s very important for these role models to be a positive influence on anybody that looks up to them. If they’re just saying some stupid shit like ‘gay people are going to burn in hell’, then no, they should keep their mouths shut. The political opinions of creatives are far more authentic than the political opinions of politicians, many of whom are mainly concerned with attaining or retaining power.
I realise there are people in the community that are probably far more qualified to be a spokesperson for asylum seekers than I am, and a general misconception in the negative comments online is that I’m a ‘bleeding heart leftie inner-west soy latte drinking wanker’. The truth is, I’ve spent time in the conflict zone some of these people are escaping. I’ve experienced the terror they are fleeing, and met the families they left behind. So, I’m far more qualified to ask that they be treated with basic dignity and respect, than anyone who says they should not.
I agree with you. To play devil’s advocate, if we believe in free speech, wouldn’t people argue that they should be able to express their opinions like that also? Even if we don’t agree? Where do we draw the line with this stuff? Being uncomfortable with other people’s opinions versus allowing hate to spread.
That’s a tough one. Bear in mind I’m not an academic, I’m someone whose been using spray paint for twenty years. It’s pretty simple really – DON’T BE A CUNT TO PEOPLE – but Jesus said it better “do unto others as you would have them do to you”. People should obviously have the right to say whatever they want, without fear of persecution. That’s key to living in a civilised society. But they need to take into consideration the responsibilities that come with that basic human right, and they need to be mindful of who their words are offending and why.
If you’re attacking someone over an issue that they have absolutely no control over, because they’re either gay, or trans, or black, or a rollerblader etc, and your words leave them ultimately traumatised and self-loathing, what’s the point of speaking out? It really just shows that you have neither the emotional nor mental intelligence to be allowed to make noises with your mouth.
So yeah, there’s freedom of speech, and there’s responsibility of silence, and they’re mutually exclusive.
And are you a soy latte drinking wanker? What’s wrong with being a soy boi anyway?
I don’t drink soy, but I do masturbate sometimes. There’s a lot of reports that claim excessive soy consumption in men boosts oestrogen levels to extreme numbers, and some males have been known to grow breasts as a result of this. Now you mention it though, I wouldn’t mind my own pair of tits to play with while I’m having a wank, maybe, not really.
Hahah, too funny. Glad I asked. Back to the task at hand (pun intended):
How do we find common ground on this issue? It seems like our society is getting more and more divided on issues like this, with such hardline stances to the either side of an issue, it’s getting increasingly harder to meet in the middle and actually move forward with solutions. It stifles the conversation to the point where we’re all just yelling at each other, making noise. Can’t we all just get along?
The outrage machine grows stronger every year, and while people are literally making billions of dollars by keeping us divided, it’s only going to get harder and harder. So no, we can’t all just get along. Though we can compromise. Because the irony is, the people protesting the mural, these people are pissed off at having to tolerate something that they hate, which is exactly how I feel about asylum seekers being driven to cut their wrists open as a result of our countries policies. I’ll gladly go back to Bondi and change this mural, when our policies are changed, so that some of the most desperate people in the world, are treated with love, kindness, and compassion. Is that really asking too much?
Lastly, what’s next for you? Any projects in the pipeline you can talk about?
I’m actually at a bit off a cross roads right now. This morning I officially left the two commercial galleries that I’ve been showing with since 2011 (goodbye money). No animosity, I consider them close friends, but painting this mural reminded me of why I started doing this in the first place. And, it made me realise that I can’t truly be myself and make the art that I want to make, when other people have a say in the decisions I make.
So the future is uncertain for now, and it feels amazing. I do know that this mural was just a jab, the next one will be an uppercut.
To stay updated with the work of Luke ‘E.L.K’ Cornish, check the below links:
Instagram: @e.l.k
Website: www.elkstencils.com
The exhibition ‘The Sea’ by Luke Cornish at Bondi Pavilion Gallery, finishes tomorrow, 8 August. Be quick. Link: www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/recreation/arts_and_culture/bondi_pavilion_gallery
For more information about SOS Children’s Villages please visit their website: https://www.sos-childrensvillages.org/
Luke Shirlaw is the founder of Artillery Projects – a graffiti art publisher, and visual studio specialising in mural production, graphic design, and content creation. Follow him on Instagram, or subscribe to Artillery’s ‘The Drop’ for exclusive email interviews.