I don’t know why I find graffiti interesting. I don’t like it ninety percent of the time I see it, but occasionally I come across a phrase or image that makes me pause, and sticks with me. The ones that are templated are some of my favorites because of the design involved in an ornate template conducive to spray paint. When graffiti is political, it is extreme and succinct. Always.
I once photographed an act of graffiti I committed and put the image on Wikipedia. In 2006 I was out for a long night with friends in the East Village, and we stopped at the bar Nowhere. I used their bathroom, and someone had written on the wall “SAMO Shit”:
In my inebriated state and trying to keep my urine stream straight, I immediately recognized it as the tag of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, who used to write it on walls in the East Village. So somebody had homaged Basquiat on the bathroom wall, in the East Village and I boozily beamed at the moment. I had a Sharpie, and wrote “Jean Michel Basquiat did it first” with arrows for emphasis. Basquiat just used to write “SAMO” but that’s what it stood for: same old shit.
I put the photo above on the Jean-Michel Basquiat Wikipedia article, and it was there for perhaps a year or two before someone removed it. Rightfully so; it was a youthful indiscretion in my early days on Wikipedia.
Below are some Israeli graffiti shots I recently uploaded to Wikimedia Commons:
Joan Rivers – a Musto-inspired photographic Creative Commons essay
I’m living with a ghost in New Jersey
A man has lived in a van outside my home for 8 years
Making out in public – good or bad?
Obama Condoms in Union Square
New York City water shots
RNC characterizes Republican base as ‘Reactionary’ and ‘Ego-Driven’
Celebrities and downtown denizens salute 25 years of Michael Musto
Enjoyable read about “SAMO” and I appreciate the artistry of the graffiti in the images. I do not care for the stenciled stuff though; I really love the time and design someone would put into their street art.