FOES2

FOES2 seems to be a member of VA, along with SAME, AP3R, HEUS, POP*z(YOOPZ), SODA, SIAMER. There are two versions of the tag I have seen - FOES and FOESTwo - which look similar, and I therefor assume are the same person, but who knows?

New Water Street ADICTion

I had wondered how long the defaced piece by SLUG would last - the answer was not very long. ADICT came, scraped, topcoated, and put up a whole section of the wall on Sunday.

Bearly's Mural

A new mural has gone up on the wall at Bearly's - a great combination of Graffiti and Advertising, which I think improves the overall look greatly, and hopefully reduces tagging on the wall at the same time. The top piece is tagged AP3R, but apparently it was not done by AP3R, despite the tag.

SLUG the Snitch?

SLUG has been around Halifax for a while, a few tags here and there and several large pieces. The most prominent of these was on the Water Street Parking lot - the downtown 'legal wall'. I had assumed that since this piece had stood undefaced and uncovered over that this indicated something of SLUG's status around town - but maybe not anymore.

In the last few days it has been defaced - "Snitch" "Rat" "Punk Goof" "SLUG is a Snitch" "Mut"

It will be interesting to see how long the piece remains up for...

Under the Bridge (Jubilee Road)

I had previously explored the train line from the Port as far as Coburg Road. During a lull in my son's baseball practice tonight I hopped a fence and checked out the Jubilee Road rail bridge. It was not a disappointment, nor were the two further bridges along. Here are the shots from the Jubilee bridge - more to follow soon.

Graffiti - Going, Going, Graffiti Gone...

SHUK continues to be very busy - this tag seems to be the most prolific the last few weeks on the mid-peninsula. At noon on Monday I happened by the Spring Garden Place mall and found Graffiti Gone pressure washing a fresh SHUK tag off the wall.

Graffiti Gone may have a very busy summer the way things are shaping up so far. If they were really adventurous, they might contract with SHUK or SAME, as they are clearly able to synergise each other's businesses. Now, would that just be good business in the 21st century, or a plain old conspiracy? Hard to tell nowadays with Enron, WorldCom, Nortel, and Conrad Black isn't it? Certainly in this instance the graffiti is well and truly gone.





If you are interested in pictures from all over the world of ex-graffiti, check out this Flickr photo group - "The Secret Art of Graffiti Removal"

Pillars of the (Graffiti) Community

Although Tags may be interesting in various ways, they are rarely visually arresting by themselves. On my recent trip to BC Silver School, I noticed that the pillars of the (?North) wall had been tagged repeatedly in various colours, and that the final result was quite artistic. The cacophony of colours and patterns are preserved here, and can still be seen at the school - which is well worth the trip for anyone to see before it is torn down.

Striking Gold at BC Silver

The guys from the ADICT crew had told me that I should make sure that I went out to BC Silver school in Spryfield if I wanted to see some good pieces. An abandoned school, it is the one of two 'legal' walls in Halifax for graffiti (the Water Street parking lot being the other).

As I pulled into the parking lot (top photo) I wasn't too impressed. However, if you ignore the first impression, and persist, the rewards are well worth the trip (as with many things in life). Around the back of the school, there are multiple spectacular pieces, many by the ADICT crew. Great care has obviously been taken including bringing staging in, to paint the second story.



While tagging may bring things down, this work does the opposite - amazes and inspires. It is a great pity that the school and it's artwork is due to be torn down. Halifax will lose 50% of is't legal graffiti walls, and all of us will lose something more, which most of us didn't even know existed. Like they say - if you are only planning to see one legal wall of graffiti in Halifax - this is the one. (Google Map Directions)

Arm Lot With a View

Nestled between buildings off Quinpool Road overlooking the Northwest Arm is likely one of the most expensive vacant lots in Halifax. A low wall adjoining the neighboring parking garage is adorned with old graffiti, including a spectacular piece by
THESIS.

The graffiti is older, and does not appear to have been done within the past few years. For some reason this otherwise ideal seeming site (easy to access, but hidden from view while working) seems to have become inactive.

Next time you are driving down Quinpool towards the Rotary, take a right into the driveway to nowhere, and at check out the THESIS piece - so far, it's the best I have found around Halifax in my travels.

Stickerfitti - Coming To a Surface Near You

He (or she) is not the only one. Some taggers prefer stickers to paint for their marks. Some, like SAME seem to do this for completeness (ie:covering all media) while others may choose a sticker for speed/stealth of application. Some likely choose it for the sheer humour of tagging with a "Hello, my name is" badge. Some choose commentary rather than the ego of a Tag. And others use postal stickers on Mailboxes in some kind of offbeat irony.

At least stickers are easier than paint to remove...

A THESIS on Streetart

Thesis is the 'nom de spray can' of a graffiti artist who paints internationally. It is a little hard to find out much about him as a Goggle search ends up flooded with Masters and Doctoral theses on Graffiti and StreetArt. I have found two pieces of StreetArt by THESIS around Halifax.



Anyone know of others?

If you want to pique your curiosity about the academic side of graffiti - just google "Graffiti Thesis"

If you want to see a wider selection of Thesis' stuff - go to Flickr.com and search for Thesis & Streetart.

And You SHUK Me All Night Long...

In the six or so months that I have been paying attention to tags, I find that I have become familiar with most of the tags that are on the Halifax peninsula at least. I have wondered if Spring and warmer weather would bring out new tags, and sure enough I have recently spotted several instances of SHUK. So far, I have seen SHUK at the Mumford Road Rail Bridge, and at the Skate Park. Note the one shot of the tag in white, likely done with an ordinary spray cap, as opposed to a cap designed specifically for graffiti - lots of overspray (fuzzy edges).

SHUK's style is still evolving, but they seem to be done by the same person (or at most two). My favorite is the one with the matching flourishes on the Lead S and Trailing K. So far SHUK seems to be avoiding the road of private property vandalism - we'll see what the coming seasons will bring...

Tuesday's Tag - APER

APER (or AP3R) is a fairly common TAG, which usually appears by itself. On a couple of large Pieces APER has been up with VA, suggesting that APER is one of the many in the VA Crew.