Secret Walls X Hong Kong
You've seen rap battles and dance-offs… but have you ever seen an art-off? Secret Walls is the world's premier live street art battle, and it returns to Hong Kong this month for a second series of artistic smackdowns.
From beginnings in a small East London bar in 2006, to tours through NYC, London, Dublin, Berlin, and Tokyo, Secret Walls is back in Hong Kong after a successful debut last year. The event features one-on-one art battles between a variety of local artists, accompanied by live DJs and refreshments.
There will be seven rounds in this year's tournament, in which two artists go head-to-head for 90 minutes, armed with nothing but black paint, black markers, and a blank eight-by-eight-foot wall. At the end of each round, the winner is determined via two judges… and the crowd, whose cheers will be measured via a decibel meter.
To join the competition, interested artists submit portfolios and the organizers decide who they think can handle the heat. Most important to the organizers is artistic variety within the competition: This year, participants range from tattooists to graphic illustrators. "What we don't want is to have eight people who all have the same style," says Louisa Falla, one of the event's organizers.
The illustrations of Alex Wong. Photo: Secret Walls
The diversity of the artists is certainly reflected by this year's first two competitors, Alex Wong and Jason Cawdell. Despite studying animation and digital art in Scotland, Wong now works in an unrelated family business. Cawdell, by contrast, is a toy designer by day, leading a team of fellow designers. "I'm trying to get back into the field where I started from," says Wong. "I see Secret Walls as a great opportunity to get back into the scene." His style is cartoon-like, comical, and very spontaneous: "I like merging different concepts together to create my pieces." Cawdell, on the other hand, is inspired by pop culture, movies, and comics. "Art for me has always been quite a solitary experience. But seeing two guys in front of a crowd feeding off each other's energy just mesmerized me."
Other than the fun and festivities, the main purpose of Secret Walls is to bolster Hong Kong's art scene, support local artists, and give up-and-comers an opportunity to show off their illustrations. Artists have to showcase their skills in a high-pressure environment: they face a crowd of 250 people, with a time limit and limited tools. "It's very nerve-wracking," says Cawdell. "You're facing a huge blank white wall with a fat black marker in your hand; any mark you make will stand out a mile and there's no eraser. The first time you put the pen to the wall is probably the scariest part, until you hear the crowd and the adrenaline kicks in."
It's called a battle for a reason; most of the artists incorporate an element of humor in their works, often taunting their opponents. Just like hip hop battles, artists have to think of clever ways to bring down their opponents through their pieces."Imagine a rap battle with two MC's trying to out-do each other, feeding off each other's last blow, hitting each other with little digs," says Jay. "This is no different."