The Lunch Hour

Caitlin Leishman

Quite a lot can be gleaned about a person from the way they spend their lunch hour. For example, are you: 

a.     That member of the work family, chomping at the bit for the baked goods offered up by the full-time manager/part-time baker of the group?

b.     A victim of the lunchtime meeting who cannot help but spend longer than needed waiting in the trendy coffee line along with an equally guilty colleague?

c.      Someone who catches themself looking down at their keyboard wondering how long the bits of brown rice and quinoa have been stuck in it? 

Me? I try to cram as many errands as possible into a lunch hour. This generally ends up with a long line at Priceline, prescription in one hand, and sushi roll in the other getting frustrated by my inability to multitask any further. So I scroll Instagram to pacify myself. What does this say about me? Don’t worry I’m working on it…    

After a brief, though perhaps not so scientifically reliable, Google search I can tell you that there is a lunch hour alternative that could contribute to a more productive afternoon. The answer is your local artist run initiative (ARI) or gallery. A few CBD suggestions include:

NO VACANCY:  34-40 BELL LANE MELBOURNE, QV BUILDING

No Vacancy blurs the lines of an ARI and a commercial gallery. It’s a welcoming and experimental space like an ARI but it is also a great spot to purchase art from local artists. The space itself is hired for functions and artist talks or book launches and is adjoined to its own espresso bar. Although in the heart of the CBD, the industrial interior of exposed piping and concrete walls provide an escape from the surrounding office environments. The nature of the building has even been known to influence artists exhibiting, altering their exhibition to make the most of the industrial elements. 

WESTSPACE: LEVEL 1/225 BOURKE ST

Getting into Westspace has you stomping up past a lawyers’ office and onto a second staircase. If the retro tiling and OH&S approved stair labels, reminiscent of a high school change room, are concerning you then you’re heading in the right direction. The walk is worth it. Westspace began as an ARI in 1993 but is now more of a blend between a not-for-profit experimental ARI space and a contemporary gallery. With four varying but large gallery areas weaving into each other it lends itself well to group shows and public talks and programs. 

NEON PARC: 1/53 BOURKE ST 

Situated down an alleyway by a Wilson’s parking complex, the entrance to Neon Parc is generally obscured by a vehicle so you’ll need to keep your eyes peeled for signage. It is an intimate two-room space, which differs from the much larger renovated factory of Neon Parc’s other location in Brunswick.  

So, to avoid morphing into a figure from John Brack’s Collins St 5pm, I can suggest a daily dose of art. Just 10 minutes in an ARI or gallery, or a stroll down a lane full of street art is a distraction from the everyday grind – even if it is just on the way back from getting your sushi rolls to eat over your keyboard.