Street artist Above has established himself as a thoughtful practitioner who creates site-specific stencil artworks that directly respond to contemporary events and social conditions. His approach combines visual impact with philosophical depth, often incorporating profound slogans and messages that encourage public contemplation and dialogue. During Brisbane’s devastating 2011 floods, Above demonstrated his commitment to empathetic art by immediately flying from Sydney to create a powerful stencil depicting Noah’s ark sinking, emphasizing the unprecedented scale of the natural disaster without trivializing the tragedy. His philosophical series in Melbourne features large-scale fat-cap slogans exploring themes of fortune, knowledge, and trust, challenging viewers to interpret cryptic messages that blur the lines between profound wisdom and deliberate ambiguity. Through his travels across Australia and beyond, Above consistently demonstrates how street art can serve as both immediate response to current events and timeless philosophical commentary, creating works that engage communities in meaningful reflection.
Above’s Street Art Philosophy
Philosophy Art | It seems, that famous street artist Above carries on to travel through Australia. After those flood stencil artworks in Brisbane, you can now find what I would call street art philosophy in Melbourne: More or less profound, large-scale fat-cap slogans on walls… Slogans like “Losing all of your fortune is much less painful painful than losing only half of it!!!”, “Academia is to knowledge what prostitution is to love” or “Trust people who make a living lying down or standing up more than those who do so sitting down” encourage people to think, although or better because of the final sense seems to be not that clear… ...
