Street art sells

“That’s a really nice position to be in,” says Liew. “You establish a signature style or look, and then they get something coming through and say this’d be good for you to do – as opposed to a young dude coming out of graphic design school and basically becoming a Mac operator and doing whatever is asked, when all you want to do is make what you think should be done. So it’s a good way of getting around that model and it seems to have worked.”

The collective has painted live for music events or festivals, including last year’s Public Access sponsored by 42 Below, the Shake n Bake staged by Base FM, and the Powderkeg Rail Jam at Ohakune. Live events are a different context for creating art than public spaces, where art’s juxtaposition against a commercial environment is often part of the message. How do they walk the line between doing public street art and wanting to be seen as legitimate to build a commercial profile?

“Cut Collective paints murals inside and out, commissioned and non-commissioned,” says Liew. “There have been instances where we have not had explicit permission but implied permission.”

He acknowledges that at times they work within a grey area. “We are bound by our own decision-making framework that is based on pretty robust ethical values. We are business owners and ratepayers, so we are respectful of others in that position. By the same token, being contributing members of society in that way, we also feel we have some right of reply within a public space dominated by advertising imagery and messages.”

Permission is sought where possible and this applies in the vast majority of instances. Liew says they approach their public art with a positive and constructive attitude, looking to enhance space: “This is recognised by the public and their feedback corresponds with our approach.”

The group’s combined talent was recently on display at TheNewDowse gallery in Lower Hutt, in an exhibition called “Common Ground”, which ran from February through May. Organised by the Goethe-Institut, a German cultural organisation promoting cross-cultural events between Germany and New Zealand, it was a fully funded, collaborative effort between Cut Collective and German art and design outfit Via Grafik, whose commercial clients include Nike, Adidas, Nintendo and MTV.

“Both collectives walk that line between art and vandalism, creativity and destruction,” says Leanne Wickham, who is concept developer at TheNewDowse. “They both shared the common belief that ‘If the wall is grey the mind will follow’ – one of Cut Collective’s sayings. They came back with a proposal of their creative expression inspired by the urban landscape and featuring their posters, a collaborative mural and some structural pieces.”

Wickham says art institutions are waking up to the fact that this is an art form that can be embraced and celebrated in a legal way by bringing it inside to be shared.

“Of course,” she says, “some artists will say that the whole point is to get it out there on the spaces that they choose. But our step towards encouraging and inspiring creativity is to bring it indoors to a legal environment.”

One of the ways they’ve been doing that is to provide workshops and programmes for young people, in conjunction with the exhibition. “They’ve been able to go into the gallery and see that it is an art form, that it’s accepted. We’re not getting into trouble for it; people are enjoying it. They’re encouraged to get their sketch pads out and do something that’s not going to end up in juvenile court.”