If you’re in Melbourne, spend your Saturday afternoon at the Metro Gallery. Adnate, Shida & Dvate will be there from high noon working on three of their own pieces and one fine, fine collab. The collab will be auctioned off on artFido.com to benefit the family of Lewis Marnell, a pro skater who died of hypoglycemic shock earlier this year.

Tonight I was in the cheap seats, getting a sneak peek at the start of their individual works. I wasn’t really there long enough to watch paint dry, but I watched it drip, and it was pretty mesmerising.

Shida was the first to kick off. I had a bit of a chat to him while he was staring down the white wall. He seemed pumped about painting and creating, putting some of the recent tagging behind him. If you don’t already know, his work has been capped quite a bit lately – from downtown to uptown, northside to southside. But new day, new slate, ya know. Doesn’t take long for the smell of aerosol to fill the air. By the time I looked up Shida was well on his way to owning the space, expanding his work into place.

Adnate attacked his canvas with a thick black. It matched his painting gear and he really started to blend into the deep space of the piece. He hadn’t gotten much further than adding another background colour by the time I left, but I can’t wait to see what he puts over the top.

Unfortunately, I split before Dvate could begin to create.

What’s really exciting is that each of the guys has his own distinctive style. It will be awesome to watch the art come together – aerosol swirling and brushes swishing. When pressed on the theme of the collab, all Adnate gave away was… pause… pause… pause… “clash of styles”… pause… “open theme”. I like the sound of that. Throw it wide open, dudes. I hope everyone in Burncity descends on Armadale.

Ben Harper is also raising funds for the family. This is from Ben’s official site at www.benharper.com: “Harper has reunited with the Innocent Criminals for the first time since 2007 to re-record the song “Jah Work” from his 1997 album, “The Will to Live.” The song is now available on iTunes, with all proceeds going to the Lewis Marnell family memorial fund.” Watch here. Purchase the track here: The website also says that Lewis Marnell’s personal guitar, signed and dedicated by Ben Harper, will also be put up for auction mid-May.

Jah bless.

By Robert Babb: iamrobertbabb.wordpress.com