Wax On, Wax Off

Just like Mr Miyagi's instructions to his pupil in the Karate Kid, the lessons in fighting graffiti can seem pointless, repetitive, and not particularly rewarding on an individual level. It is suggested that graffiti should be removed or covered up as fast as possible to discourage the Tagger from continuing to vandalise. Of course to some Taggers, this likely represents a challenge - one person's obscured graffiti, may well be another's blank slate.

Help Me Thursday #4

Last week helpful comments decoded "SIAMER" from unrecognizable squiggles into a discrete and legible tag. This week I need help with one of the most common, and first tags I came across. It's the very loopy Tag I refer to as YOOPZ. I just can't shake the feeling that I'm misreading this one in a big way - What are your thoughts on what it actually says - let me know by leaving a comment.



And for those of you who breathlessly wait for new posts to appear (LOL) - check back Saturday - I'll have a spectacular new site for you.

Maynard and Gottigen Street Walk

Previously, I had reposted a letter from The Coast - bemoaning the vandalising of a neighborhood by the Tagger SAME. At the time I wondered where the author lived, as I had not noticed SAME vandalising personal private property too much. However, after a walk through the neighborhood around Creighton, Maynard, Cunard and Gottigen Streets, tucked in beside Citadel Hill, I think I know where the author of "More of the SAME" lives.

Although there is alot of very good graffiti - nice Pieces, witty Stencilling, and boldly coloured Outline Tags; BUT there is an amazing amount of tagging on houses, which is just plain old vandalism. This would be unfortunate anywhere, but is all the more so in this beautiful neighborhood, with its lovely, unique, coloured houses. The main offenders are the VA Crew (SAME, HEUS et al), ENDER, BOS, and the artless JEM (who is a pure vandal in the true sense of the word, without any apparent redeeming qualities in his/her graffiti).

Graffiti can brighten up dreary post-industrial landscapes, but defacing homes? - I have to agree with the Coast letter-writer - "Don't paint my neighbors' homes, fucking green bins, local businesses, sidewalks...any of it. Just don't. We are a COMMUNITY and one that is sick and tired of your shit" (Actually I thought the sidewalk pieces I saw were lovely...)

March Break Madness

Obviously I've been spending too much time with graffiti. This past week was March break in Nova Scotia, and after my wife and I had abandoned the kids while we worked all week, we had the opportunity to take them to
Clay Café to glaze some pottery. What did I make? A platter. The theme of the paint job? You guessed it - graffiti. A GRAFFITI PLATTER!

Mind you, I am pretty happy with how it turned out. A fun time was had by all.

Scratchiti

scratchiti (skra.CHEE.tee) n. A form of graffiti in marks are etched into windows and other glass surfaces (scratch + graffiti). Also: scratchitti.



Earliest Citation: "It is costing the Transit Authority upwards of $ 20 million yearly to combat the "scratchiti" inflicted on us by a new generation of defacers. The money is spent replacing scratched glass and on cleaning crews who can wipe off the lighter scratches."
—Dennis Duggan, "A New War on 'Scratchiti'," Newsday, April 6, 1995

Gouged into a surface - glass or plexiglas windows, scratchiti is a fairly crude form of graffiti, which in Halifax is most commonly found defacing bus shelters. It's certainly my least favorite form of graffiti - unartistic, not particularly nice to look at, and decidedly a pain in the ass to photograph (Tip - High speed lens, dark background for contrast, shot wide open (fast shutter speed) to throw the background out of focus).

Graffiti Archaeology

Of the many sites I've seen devoted to Graffiti, this one stands in a league by itself. The author has collected photos of graffiti from specific sites, on specific dates and stitched them into panoramas that can be peeled back or replaced over time. The result is a beautiful website, that allows one to see the evolution of various sites in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and of course New York over time.

It's a pity the software isn't made available - even though it would likely require a high bandwidth server to set up on a website - it is simply an amazing way to document a site over time - truly Graffiti Archaeology.