Sunday, August 29, 2010

Things Change & the Walls Speak

One of the things about graffiti I've been documenting is how it changes. Well, the graffiti itself doesn't have the power to change, but writers go over one another's work so that what's on a wall changes. Here's a simple production the ADHD crew did on a stanchion supporting part of an abandoned freight line:


From left to right it reads FARO NAKED BLOKE. Notice that someone's added gone over NAKED. Now, look at the lower right corner; you'll see KH1 written several times on the base of the stanchion. KH1 = Kosher Howie 1. I took that photo on 30 Aug. 2008, almost two years ago. Here's the same wall as it appeared on 19 Dec. 2009, albeit from a rather more dramatic angle:


In the large, it's unchanged, but in the small, you can see that someone's gone over FARO and BLOKE in orange and there's some blue over FARO that wasn't there before.

Here's the same wall as it appeared last week in a photo I took on 21 August (which is pretty much the same as a photo I took on 3 July, but the lighting is better):


Major changes. You can see the remnants of BLOKE at the right, but FARO and NAKED are all but obliterated. There's a throw-up plus some other stuff over FARO at the RIGHT, but the major action is in the middle, over NAKED. FALSER has gotten up with something that's a bit more elaborate than a throw-up but perhaps a bit austere for a piece. Notice the year in the top stroke of the "F."

Here's what's there today, 29 Aug., eight days later:


FALSER is all but gone. I count at least two layers since last week. There's a green name over FALSER that I can't make out, and there's some writing in yellow, orange, and red over that. If you look to the left you'll see a yellow dreidel outlined in orange and signed KH1 at the lower right. To the right RUOK (I think) has a throwie in while letters outlined in purple. Below that he's written:


"This spot is dead!" Perhaps it is. If so, only for awhile. There's other fresh action only 100 yards away. And where there's fresh action, there's hope. Stay tuned.

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