Platform

Easiest absorption of culture ever! Get off/​on train, take tunnel and view interesting contemporary art.
The tunnel is an interesting local feature regardless of the art. The pastel tiles and retro fittings take you back to the 50’s when an underground tunnel would have been considered ‘moderne’ so its kind of fitting that the space is used to display the current ‘moderne’. Sorry rambling.
The walls are lined with glass cabinets that house the rotating display of art which varies from sculpture, illustration, projection, audio/​visual etc.
The Platform group are an artist run not for profit group helping bring a little colour to the commuting grind. Check it!

I love this little passageway to the nook of shops down Degraves Underpass and, though sometimes the art on show can be a bit iffy, I love the concept of free art for commuters rather than the usual advertising billboards and graffiti chaos.
That raises an interesting point: there is never really any graf splattered over the walls down here. I got no problem with graffiti and street art, don’t get me wrong, but the Degraves cave is relatively free from it due to the early close times I guess, but also, I reckon, because there’s a bit of respect for the space.
Where else in the city can you get an eye full of art while walking to your train? There ain’t many of this type (i.e. visual art booths) around the place. And this spot is presenting constantly, turning over artist after artist. It’s a little gem and should be embraced.

When I leave Flinders St. Station I take the middle exit down to the Degraves St. underpass that goes under Flinders St. The Degraves St. underpass is also known as Campbell’s Arcade and was built back in the 1950s. I think that is a more interesting route to take, as there are some trendy little designer shops down there and Platform, a public contemporary art space.
Platform consists of a series of glass fronted cabinets set into the walls on both sides of the underpass. There are also the glass cabinets on both side exits up to Flinders St. and a couple more cabinets on the side of the Majorca Building that are also part of this artist run space.
There are different exhibitions in these every month and the quality of exhibitions varies considerably depending on the artists. This time I am in luck, as there is a mad creation, a useless machine turning and pumping away in one of the cabinets. I am less impressed by some of the other work in other cabinets but it was worth using the exit to see this one creation.