How they fought in Sydney with a street artist who haunted the townspeople for a quarter of a century

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

If the residents of Sydney were asked about what one word they can describe their city, this word with a high degree of probability would be … Eternity, which in English means eternity. This should not be surprising: in the period from 1930 to 1956. the townspeople faced the phenomenon. Every night the word "eternity" appeared written on various streets, an unknown author painted graffiti on roads, fences, buildings, but for many years he was never caught.

The yellow graffiti was not just driving the janitors crazy. When the inscription began to appear with enviable regularity, even the local authorities drew attention to the problem. Measures to capture the bully did not lead to anything, and everything ended with the inscription being made a symbol of Sydney. It was decided not to wash off or clean the inscription.

The mystical artist remained elusive for 25 years, until one early morning a Baptist preacher on Burton Street witnessed a janitor pull a crayon out of his pocket and drew the word "eternity." "Are you Master Eternity?" - the preacher turned to the offender. He nodded in response. When the mystery that had tormented everyone for a quarter of a century was solved, the Sunday Telegraph published an interview with Arthur Malcolm Stacy, the author of the mysterious graffiti.

Arthur said that he was born in 1885 in Redfern, his childhood was very difficult. The parents were alcoholics, the sisters earned their living in a brothel. In order not to die of hunger, the guy often stole milk and bread. At the age of 12, he went to work at a mine, but this did not last long. By the age of 15, Arthur had turned into an alcoholic and went to jail for systematic drunkenness. Later, he whiled away his life in drunken revelry in brothels, pubs and casinos. During the First World War, Arthur tried to serve, but due to advanced bronchitis and pneumonia, he did not pass the medical examination.

Everything changed one day when Arthur entered the service at a Baptist church. During the sermon, he heard a call to ponder the word "eternity", as well as an allegorical argument that a believer should appeal to every person on the streets of Sydney. It was then that Arthur put a piece of chalk in his pocket, he already knew that the first thing he would do was write the word "eternity" on the floor of the temple. Even though Arthur had no education and could hardly reproduce his name on paper, he wrote the word Eternity without mistakes.

The next 35 years until his death, Arthur devoted to ensuring that as many people in the metropolis as possible saw this word under their feet. He miraculously managed to avoid the police. In total, according to his personal admission, he created more than half a million inscriptions. Soon, residents fell in love with these drawings, street artists began to add the word to their drawings. In the year when the millennium was celebrated, the word Eternity was written in huge yellow letters on the bridge, the city symbol was officially recognized. The same inscription was used during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in 2000.

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