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A derelict federation-style house in Melbourne has been transformed into a beautiful piece of artwork — just days before it is set to be demolished to make way for a new housing development.
Internationally renowned Melbourne street artist Rone decided to celebrate the abandoned house in Melbourne's inner north by painting murals on the walls and decorating the interior with 70s furniture.
"I've always had my eye on the house — it was more than just painting one wall in there, you needed to have the whole thing done," Rone said.
Rone has spent the last few years painting abandoned houses.
He said he was approached by the property developer behind the large residential development on the former Amcor paper mill site, who was also a collector of his work.
"He approached me and said: 'You know, I've got this huge site and a lot of stuff is being knocked down, there could be some opportunities for you there,'" Rone said.
Beauty and decay
Rone then spent a month painting the interior of this lonely house sitting on a vast empty space.
"It's quite kooky inside," he said.
"One room is painted half green and half blue, and then other rooms are purple on the roof and cream on the walls.
"I also used the house for a lot of the inspiration of the colours that I'd paint things — I'd just work with what was there."
The end result is a series of striking portraits of a young woman.
"For me, the way I'm using her image is more a representation of beauty," he said.
"It's just this contrast of beauty and decay and you can see how she is so fragile. She is the house, in a sense, and she's on the brink of collapse."
Amongst these stunning portraits, dust and decay gathers on classic Australiana 70s furniture styled by interior designer Carly Spooner.
"I've got no idea about the history of the house," Rone said.
"I've tried to make it more stuff that anyone can connect to, that lets a lot of people put their own story into it."
Tapping into 70s nostalgia
On a dreary Monday afternoon, there is a stream of people waiting to enter the house. Rone says he's been amazed by the public interest in the project.
"You think it's going to be the cool kids into street art and graffiti, that are 18 to 24," he said.
But instead the visitors have ranged from the very young to the very old, and he says it is appreciated most by those who grew up in the 70s.
"People who are probably over 40 are really connecting with the space because they often grew up in homes like this, especially people who live locally," he said.
Even families who used to live in the house have made their way to the exhibition, sharing their memories of their life in Alphington.
"I've had granddaughters telling me about how they remember having Christmas here," he said.
"They told me that in the front room they used to have a piano and her grandfather used to play the banjo and they used to have singalongs."
House destined for demolition
As construction progresses on the site of the Alphington redevelopment, the abandoned house is ultimately destined for demolition.
"As of next week it's supposed to be demolished, which kills me in one way, but I think I would have been really heartbroken if no-one got to see it," Rone said.
It is a common experience for the renowned street artist, who often paints in temporary spaces.
"As a street artist you put your work out there and you're back the next day and it's been painted over," he said.
"I guess you get thick-skinned about letting your work go when it's done. It's forced me not to be too precious about something and to live a little bit in the moment."
He said The Omega Project also told a bigger Australian story about how communities are dealing with the housing affordability crisis.
"This is what we're losing. A lot of people blame the developers, but I think we're all responsible for it," he said.
"Most people don't want to live in a house like this. We don't want to live this way anymore."
Topics: street-art, history, community-and-society, visual-art, house-and-home, arts-and-entertainment, alphington-3078, melbourne-3000, vic
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