Occupy Melbourne protester Carl Scrase takes the cash

Carl Scrase

Carl Scrase says his artwork is about “creating conversations”.  Picture: Tess Follett
Source: Herald Sun




AN Occupy Melbourne protester who claims to be against capitalist greed has taken $17,000 in grants and awards.


In return for generous patronage, Melbourne artist Carl Scrase has delivered a postcard of his hand, a bull-nose paper clip sculpture and a collage of cut up photographs of his face on a wooden board.

Scrase, 28, who is a key player in the Occupy Melbourne movement, said his artwork was about “creating conversations”.

He used a $2000 art grant from the City of Melbourne in 2010, for his work Is this what it’s all about? – which was a picture of his hand on a postcard that alternately flicked between the peace sign and a “V” for victory gesture.

He distributed the postcards in cafes around the city.

The Parkville-based artist also received a $10,000 Federal Government ArtStart grant, which he used to set up a

business to help get his work in galleries.

He won the 2010 Archangel Prize, a $5000 award from St Michael’s Grammar School sponsored by Bendigo Bank, for piecing together thousands of bull-nose paper clips.

Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, a strident critic of Occupy Melbourne, has labelled Scrase a “hypocrite” for taking public funds.

“I would have thought that someone who was a recipient of that generosity of taxpayers’ money might actually acknowledge and recognise that we do those things,” Cr Doyle said.

“If we are so terrible and they have to occupy us indefinitely until capitalism falls, well then where are they going to get their grants from?”

Scrase told the Herald Sun he was a “social entrepreneur” whose work has inspired others.

He made no apologies for taking taxpayer and ratepayer money, saying he was anti-greed, not anti-capitalist.

Asked if the City of Melbourne received value for money from his $2000 grant, he replied: “I’d rather not comment at this stage.”

After being told of Cr Doyle’s criticism, Scrase said that he would launch a campaign to topple him in the mayoral elections next October.

“The City of Melbourne is a like a very beautiful boat but with a very bad captain,” he said of Cr Doyle.

Scrase said he was proud to be part of the Occupy Melbourne movement, which took over the City Square for a week.

“Occupy Melbourne has been life changing for me, I have had some amazing conversations with people, it’s taught me a lot about the world,” he said.

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