Art in the back lane

Since the Squeeze and I moved into our house about ten years, the back lane has provided a measure of the social dynamics of our suburb. The row of terraces, one of which is our home, was built in the 1870s, which makes our place pretty old by white Australian standards. The back lane, which my grandmother would call a 'night soil lane' provided access for the dunny men to come and empty the raw sewerage out of the tanks which sat below the outside toilets. We still have our outside lav, but its plumbed into the sewer line.

When we moved here the back lane still retained some of its original night soil functions. Local dog owners would let their dogs shit in the back lane, junkies would come and shoot up there and often do the same. You had to wear shoes at all time for fear of poo and needle-stick injuries.

Over the years though, the suburb has gentrified. Now you are more likely to find someone trying to park their convertible BMW there amidst the dumped 1970s style kitchen cabinets, discarded by people renovating their kitchens.

Recently New View Gallery arranged a street art project for our back lane, which has reincarnated it all over again.

I couldnt resist using it as a backdrop for some snaps of my latest knitting project. Its Evie, another Kim Hargreaves design. Here she is up against our back gate.


And here is a shot of the waist detail. Its a combination of purl and reverse stocking stitch. Could that be Horus lurking in the background?