At a very young age, I was taught that writing on the walls is wrong. I never understood why, and probably never will. My mother would scream if she found marker or crayon scribbled near the baseboard. I remember while seeing Empire Strikes Back at the Metropolitan Theatre, I was caught writing my name behind one of the curtains on the second floor balcony. I can still feel how the ballpoint pen rolled on the antique wallpaper. It was an erasable pen so I was able to remove it, however the action of erasing also destroyed the layer of antique wallpaper that housed my signature - a sort of bittersweet effect to the retribution. That event will always stand out in my mind. Not because of the illegality of the action, but more so the willingness I possessed to do such a thing.

I suppose my “mark” was still left behind, but it was less specific. Somehow it feels the same with all the grey “buff marks” or blurred lines of baking soda blasts that are ruminants of graffiti removal. A history still exists below. Generally this course of action creates a surface less appealing than some “squiggly lines”. I like those lines. I like looking at them, I like trying to discover what they say, and I like the fact they magically appear where once there was not. It’s not what the lines physically spell that is important, more so the suggestion that the person that did this has chosen to share it with you. They’ve done so with out any external mediation. It’s fascinating to think of the motivation it takes a human being to do such a thing, to “deface” - an impulsive sporadic change to a visual surface. 

The world has never really been a stranger to public mark making. History proves graffiti to be human nature. A primal action rooted deep in our subconscious. Never has a civilization existed without some form of graffiti. The only thing that has changed throughout history is our perception of it. Lately the blanket term graffiti is dissolving and more specific terminology now applies to the dynamic breadth of the street art happening today. People have taken graffiti to another level. Artists are making elaborate paintings and pasting them in public venues. Stickers, stencils, adhesive installations, posters, spray paint, bucket paint, prefabs, dolls, ribbons, shoes, chalk drawings, magnets, shrines, frozen clothes, performances/happenings, light art, and sound attacks. In it’s abandonment, graffiti has become a very complex art form and not all of these artists are waiting for you to come see their work in a gallery Their exhibition is in the street and usually at the artist’s discretion. Bypassing all hierarchical constraints of the gallery system, a contemporary street artist makes their work happen free of charge. That’s amazing.