Not all art craves attention, some of it hides in secret places. Some of it is buried treasure, out in the urban wilderness, left scattered in empty rooms of derelict buildings like strange markings left by an unknown tribe. These works are gifts given only to the occasional explorer, found in abandoned factories, warehouses and industrial sites. This is art you have to earn by leaving the designated areas and heading out past the No Entry signs of the urban environment.
A diverse range of artists find themselves attracted to these twilight zones and in recent years something of a movement has come to light, huddled around the idea of urban decay and abandonment as the ultimate canvas. This burning curiosity to see what is behind the fence exists to a greater or lesser degree in most people, but for some it is irresistible.
Urban ruins are like the woods in the old fairy tales, they are the place where the ordered reality of modern city life gives way to the irrational, the ambient and the surreal.
So next time you think about scouting for art, why not look a little off the beaten track? Visibility is good for certain projects but the delightful, terrible intimacy afforded by art found in the urban woods is just begging to be explored.
