Used by kind permission of Jack Murray / rappersdelight532@yahoo.co.uk.Humans have been expressing themselves on stone for over 30,000 years [1], but while Palaeolithic rock art is held in awe, and ‘historic’ graffiti subjected to extensive academic study [2], contemporary ‘writing on walls’ is of more ambiguous cultural status. Despite the high prices reached by a handful of cross-over ‘star’ urban artists like Banksy [3] the niche in which graffiti art is accommodated in the UK is a narrow one, as ably demonstrated by the following turf war over territorial claim to the expansive jagged grey rock faces of a former North Wales slate quarry.In October 2012 a passage in a short on-line profile of Jack Murray, “one of the key figures in the UK graffiti scene over the last decade,” was spotted by members of the rock climbing community. The profile, featured in a street art culture blog site Better Never Than Late [4], lauded Murray’s reputation for “consistently pushing his distinct style of work both on and off the streets into innovative new spaces” and reported his recent trip to the former Dinorwig slate quarry at Llanberis thus:“Day 1. I went on a trip with a couple of other chaps to Snowdonia in North Wales to seek out an abandoned, mountain slate quarry, that was closed over 50 years ago. We found it, and it was definitely worth the 6 hour drive. A vast network of old tunnels, metal structures, workers huts, gravel pits and waterfalls looping through the side of a mountain is the best way to describe it. I brought some paint with me and dropped a little something at the highest point we got to. In the future I want to go back and paint site specific, 20ft plus, murals on some of the rock faces in the old quarry pits. Some people will cry and say I’ve spoiled the place and others will say it’s amazing but that’s just life.” [Read the rest of the article]: No rock art here!Author informationLuke BennettSenior Lecturer, Sheffield Hallam UniversityIn 2007, after 17 years in commercial practice as an environmental lawyer, Luke switched to an academic position at SHU. Key projects include research into metal theft; the afterlife of abandoned military bunkers and owners and climbers’ perceptions of safety and liability for access to abandoned quarries (a project he's working on in collaboration with the British Mountaineering Council).Original article: No rock art here!©2013 PopAnth - Hot Buttered Humanity. All Rights Reserved.
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