Street art is incredibly transitory. One day it’s there, the next it’s gone… particularly if the local councils are made aware of it. As such, it’s hard to keep abreast of exactly how this movement moves. Until now.

The Butcher Shop have utilised the magnificence of Google Maps to create a living breathing Art Map designed to not only capture what’s happening now in the Perth street art scene, but create a historical context too. Local artists and lovers alike (those who habitually photograph street art) are able to upload images and locations of pieces they’ve seen around town.

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The end result is a spatial and temporal feast of imagery that is growing every day. And will continue to grow, without boundary, hopefully providing a definitive progression of the Perth street art scene… in time.

Creator and local business owner Aimee Johns – who is partly responsible for The Butcher Shop’s Art Map – took some time out to chat to Perth Street Art about the reasoning behind this bold and exciting creation.

Why did you start up the online street art map? The map came about after attending a state government Graffiti Forum. The day consisted of presentation from a number of police, local councils, educators, community workers and the like. The atmosphere was very negative as a whole, so sprung the idea of the map. I think its all to easy to demonise anything that has any visual relation to graffiti – and little thought is given to how this demonisation impacts on the broader community of legitimate aerosol artists. The map was a small thing we could do in retaliation – to highlight the immense talent within our community, to recognise the artists who are true community spirits. Those who donate their time, talents and often own money for the greater good of their communities.

What do you hope to achieve with the street art map? To create awareness within the broader community of to encourage a rethink of peoples views on street art.

Street art can be incredibly ephemeral – will the map create a history of street art? Yes we really hope so. We only have a couple of historical sites on there at the moment, with the hope to add more and update the status of existing sights as they disapear.

How important is a project like this? I don’t know of anything quite like this, and one day it will be the most amazing historical resource. It’s a really interesting way we can use a very simple new technology to create something we couldn’t have dreamed of doing ten years ago.

How can people contribute? You can grab your cameras and email us through images and addresses of sights you see, or send in old photos – visit the online map for detailed instructions.

Go to http://www.thebutchershop.com.au/index/Art+Map/ to check out what’s already been uploaded. The map can also be viewed on Google Maps. Alternatively, email info@thebutchershop.com.au for instructions on how to upload.

Scott-Patrick Mitchell