Xylo’s work is politically charged and represents a stark commentry on the nature of modern sociert. Policitcal themese thus far represented in Xylo’s art include the poverty & misery created by western capitalism in the developing world, mass species extinction and the encroachment of the state into the lives of ordinary citizens.
I think [Street Art] offers a very necessary arena of expression free from the constraints of commerce, and has an important role to play in providing a physical manifestation of dissent. This in turn then makes people feel slightly more liberated by it’s presence, perhaps looking on it as something essential to the human spirit which defies an increasingly sinister type of sanitization and control of public space.
— Xylo, in Hyperallergic Blog, July 6
On a more personal level, I’ve found that making it can help lessen feelings of alienation and powerlessness that arise due to various negative aspects of society. Hopefully through the use of street art to highlight some of these issues people will become more aware of the need for change and thus form a critical mass of consciousness to overcome inertia.
— Xylo, in Hyperallergic Blog, July 6
Recently, Xylo’s has been putting up small slate plaques depicting the Panamanian golden frog to highlight the critically endangered nature of the species. Xylo has also put up cement iPhones on walls around East London depicting depicting suicides to highlight the high suicide at Chinease electronics factories used by large western manufacturers such as Apple.
Other themes in Xlyo’s street art touch on protests against CCTV in London and ways in which the State observes everyday citizens. For example, Xylo has a sticker akin to the Oyster card which reads ‘Voyeur’. You can find these dotted around London if you look hard enough.