Eternity at REMO
For 37 years Arthur Stace walked the streets of Sydney, and wrote on them; one word, always the same word: “Eternity”. In 1990 REMO commissioned artist Martin Sharp to paint a mural in tribute.
For 37 years (1930–1967) Arthur Stace walked the streets of Sydney, and wrote on them; one word, always the same word – in chalk, in large, elegant copperplate. That word was “Eternity”.
He worked before dawn, alone and in secret, travelling to a different neighbourhood every day. For decades this divine prank mystified the people of Sydney. The scrawls were an enigma. People grew up with them. Newspaper columnists wrote about them. Out of respect, street sweepers swept around them.
Artists like the late Martin Sharp were inspired by them.
Before his conversion to Christianity in 1930, Arthur was a derelict alcoholic and living on the edge. Then one day at a Baptist Church he heard a noted give-’em-Hell preacher shout to the congregation: “I wish I could shout ‘Eternity’ through the streets of Sydney.” He repeated himself and kept shouting “Eternity! Eternity!” The words rang in Arthur’s head as he left the church. He began to cry, bent down and wrote it for the first time. He knew what he had to do.
Eternity at REMO
Ed: I don’t normally write REMORANDOM posts in the first person. However, I am in this story – and so I will do so on this occasion.
I’m just old enough to remember coming across Arthur’s chalkings from time to time in the Haymarket area of Sydney, and I recall the aura of mystery that was evoked. Martin Sharp also recalled his first brush with Arthur Stace’s Eternity. Indeed, Martin incorporated references to Arthur’s Eternity in a number of works over the years.
Martin had been a frequent visitor to REMO from the day it opened in 1988 (that’s a photo of us at the opening night party), and we had been talking about him designing some T-shirts for our range as a tribute to Arthur Stace’s Eternity chalkings.
I was visiting Martin at Wirian (his home) one day in 1990 to discuss just that – but I also had with me a scale grid of what was our already-famous 5 metre long Crown Street Window.
Martin and I were trading ideas back and forth between three things: REMO T-shirt designs, Mr Eternity, the big window – when, at one point, Martin picked up a black marker pen, and scrawled the word Eternity across the window template. We looked at each other and realised in that instant that the three ideas had become one.
The five-metre canvas adorned the REMO Crown Street Window during November 1990 – jogging memories, triggering smiles, stopping traffic, even causing some traffic accidents.
CustOMER souvenirs for the homage included: limited edition prints, T-shirts, postcards, etc. REMO was never one to miss a good merchandising opportunity.
This was such a happy marriage for all concerned. Aside from Martin’s mesmerising image, Eternity dovetailed perfectly with one of REMO’s primary merchandising philosophies: anti-disposability i.e. “Buy it once and own it forever”, and a belief in the universal importance and value of commitment, perseverance and, most of all … passion.
Quoting Roy Williams and Elizabeth Myers from their book Mr Eternity from 2017: “Remo Giuffré was the man most responsible for rekindling interest in Arthur Stace.” Credit accepted :)
Awareness of Eternity has continued to increase since the turn of the century. As a tribute to Arthur’s legacy, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was lit up with the word “Eternity” as part of the celebrations for the 2000 New Year’s Eve celebrations, as well as being featured in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony – thanks, in part, to longtime CustOMER Ric Birch. Both very special moments.
Early last month I visited Wirian for the first time since Martin died to browse the works and objects being auction by his estate through Shapiro. I wanted to pay my respects to the family – but also visit the Eternity at REMO mural for one last time.
We had a moment.
REMORANDOM Book Chapter
General Thinker Chapter
