a life in words: solving the pac-man graffiti puzzle

24th March 2012

Melbourne, Australia

On my second day in Melbourne I went for a stroll into town and when lunchtime rolled around, I stopped to eat a sandwich on the steps of the lively Federation Square, enjoying the sunshine and indulging in a considerable amount of people watching. Casting my gaze about the square, I surveyed the hive of activity that buzzed around me until my eyes fell upon the striking St. Pauls Anglican Cathedral opposite whose three towers surged towards the clear sky above, piercing the vast blue canvas with their crucifix tips. Finishing my lunch I decided to take a closer look and was crossing the road when I noticed a flash of colour creep into my peripheral vision to my right. Turning my head and walking slowly backwards towards the pavement I had just left, I could just about see the edge of a red and yellow graffiti mural that seemed to be creeping out of one of the alleyways just up the road; a subtle tease, inviting those who notice it to come for a closer look. With all interest in the Cathedral wiped out of my mind by this intriguing visual invitation, I crossed the road and headed along Flinders Street towards the alleyway, and upon turning the corner was faced by an explosion of colour that screamed down from both sides of the narrow back street. Every conceivable bit of wall had graffiti sprayed over it, ranging from basic tags and anti-establishment stencils to works of astounding street art. The graffiti-alleyway stretched all the way through to Russell Street at the far end while a second alleyway curled around a building that rested at the centre of the block. Looking around me, I was faced by a surreal world where numerous styles and visions clattered together: skeleton horses, a lady in red, rainbow-coloured underworlds, a crying skull, a rampaging line of elephants, star-crossed lovers, bogans and even a Picasso representation of the tyrant Gaddafi peered down at me as I walked through the lane in awe of the sea of colour that washed over my senses, pulling me further into it's depths with every step I took. It seemed that at the heart of this graffiti-bubble was an art gallery by the name of 'Until Never' which occupied the central building but unfortunately it was closed on a winter hiatus which was a shame as I had read about it online and was eager to have a look inside. It seemed, however, that the graffiti which adorned the walls on the street outside was part of the gallery itself; a twisted exhibition where anyone could come along and spray their own mark upon this carnival of colour. Having spent half an hour taking it all in and taking numerous photographs (see below) I returned to the entrance of the alleyway to leave as I was supposed to be meeting up with Sally when she finished uni for the day. Just as I was exiting the alleyway, I noticed a poster had been plastered high up on the wall above the line of graffiti, which seemed to be a screenshot of the Pac-Man game map with all the little alleyways filled by ghouls, ghosts, fruit treats and of course the yellow blob himself. At the time I assumed it was just a cool poster that didn't have any deeper meaning and as a result didn't study it too carefully. An error that would be corrected a few days later....

On Saturday the 24th of March, I was once again in the city, having spent the morning down in St. Kilda, and was walking down little Bourke street which incidentally lies a few blocks north of the graffiti alleyway I had come across a few days earlier. As I was about to pop into a 7/11 to get a drink, I noticed a splash of colour which seemed to be spilling out of a small alleyway and onto the street across the road. My attention was once again completely diverted and I quickly approached the nudge of colour that seeped out of the dark alleyway to see what it would reveal. Turning the corner, I was faced yet again by a long alleyway immersed in another exhibition of Melbourne's street art as more graffiti had been lavishly scrawled and sprayed onto the unsuspecting walls, rubbish bins and back-doorways of businesses. Another graffiti-spot made official by a small sign that read, 'Graffiti Encouraged' with a red tick sprayed across the black image of a spray can below. Strolling up and down the alleyway to admire a new range of vibrantly colourful faces that peered out from their concrete hiding places, I noticed that another Pac-Man poster had been plastered on the wall just above the line of graffiti that coursed unobstructed along the wall below. Thinking that there must be some significance in seeing this Pac-Man poster in two separate graffiti lanes, I examined the poster more carefully and realised that each lane within the game map was marked with a street name. Quickly getting my lonely planet out of my bag, I turned to the map of central Melbourne and realised that the Pac-Man map I was looking at was a direct representation of the central area of Melbroune, north of Federation Square, with each "game-lane" corresponding to an actual street in the centre of the city. The "game" area covered by this Pac-Man map consisted of twelve blocks that rest between Flinders Street to the South, Elizabeth Street to the West, Lonsdale Street to the North and Exhibition Street to the East. I had taken a photograph of the Pac-Man poster when I had been over on Flinders Street a few days prior and getting the image back up on the digital display of my camera, I noticed that Pac-Man had moved position on this new poster, occupying a lane in the top-left of the map where I now stood. Looking at both maps, I realised that a piece of fruit occupied the street I had been in the other day and it dawned on me that maybe each piece of fruit signaled another graffiti hot spot and upon reaching each spot you would find Pac-Man there. Eager to test out my theory, I took another photograph of the new Pac-Man poster and along with my Lonely Planet map, navigated my way through the "game" to the nearest piece of fruit and sure enough, in a side-alleyway that connected Bourke Street and little Collins street, I found another graffiti spot and another Pac-Man poster map! Needless to say, the hunt was on and over the next couple of hours, with the "game-map" up on my camera display and a real map in my hand, I located the other pieces of fruit which all yielded more graffiti hotspots that were each filled with mind blowing street art. I took heaps of photographs but the following are my favourites.

Bristol's got Banksy.

Melbourne, it seems, has got Pac-Man.

The Pac-Man game map. If you look carefully at the lanes you can see street names written in grey letters. Each piece of fruit you can see is a graffiti hotspot and I guess the ghouls are the police. This square block of streets fits perfectly onto an actual map of Melbourne's Central Business District.