ENDER

ENDER is one of the more prolific Taggers in Halifax. (S)He appearas to be a member of the FYPT Crew, given that ENDER and FYTP are often written together in the same material, and the presence of ENDER as a tag on larger FYPT pieces. The most prominent of these is at the old Infirmary parking lot on Queen Street, which seems to be the neighborhood with the highest concentration of ENDER tags.

ENDER as a tag is quite variable, Caps, lower case, angular and rounded are all common - more than one person, or a subgroup within the FYPT crew - who knows? Maybe time will reveal all...

Oops it's not YOOPZ (Time+Knowledge=PopStarz)

One of the more prolific tags around Halifax is what I have refferred to as YOOPZ - a consistently written, loopy tag which clearly contained the letters present.OPZ.

I found what seems to be an older YOOPZ tag, which on inspection, is POP*Z, ie 'PopStarz'. Sure enough, in hindsight, the little mark for the star remains present, if diminished. As always, once the meaning appears clear, I can't see in hindsight how I could have thought it was anything else.

Mystery solved - Goodbye YOOPZ, Hello POP*Z!

ADICT in Action - "SAY"

On Good Friday I went to the Water Street lot and found 3 of the panels freshly undercoated with pieces sketched in. Shortly thereafter 3 guys showed up and started working on them. They gave me permission to shoot them while they worked (no faces). Turns out they are 3 members of the ADICT crew (about 8 members in total).

I found them friendly, smart, TALENTED, committed (it was cold and took about 5-6 hours overall), generous, and informative (they answered all my questions, even the stupid ones). They have been writing (writing, not tagging) for several years. They sketch their work out in advance on paper. They use special nozzles (caps) for the spray paint, depending on the desired effect. They are mid-twenties, employed, articulate, and at least one with a family. It costs them $40-50 in materials for each large piece. From what I saw, if I wanted to have some work done - these would be the right guys for the job.

They also told me about BC Silver School - another 'Legal Wall' in town, which is spectacular - more to come soon.

This Flickr set shows the work by "SAY" from start to finish (actually FINISH to START as Flickr seems to insist on the reverse order). He also writes as "SENSAY", but this piece says "SAY"

Changes 2 - Water Street Parking Lot

Given the colder than normal weather of the last month, I might have thought it would be a slow time for new graffiti, but no, I was badly wrong. These 5 shots show changes to one panel at the Water Street Legal Wall previously shown here, with paintovers here).

As you can see it's been very busy the past month, and those of you with sharp eyes will notice that I missed at least one between March 18th and 27th. It's a popular place with writers - and I've had the chance to meet a few, and even watch them work - more on that later. Today seems to be a nice sunny day - I wonder what tomorrow will bring to the lot?


March 18/2007


March 27/2007


April 9/2007


April 12/2007


April 13/2007

Do I have a Graffiti ADICTion?

ADICT - Art Derived In Criminal Technique

OK, I admit it - maybe I'm getting (?am) a little obsessed with graffiti lately. I was therefor amused when I started to notice ADICT tags cropping up here and there, around town. I can relate to that. The tags, though relatively few, seem to show some variation and imagination. In my recent travels, I have noticed more ADICT pieces, and came to the conclusion that "ADICT" is a crew tag. Their work is well represented along the railcut, at the Water Street lot, and at the BC Silver School in Spryfield (along with Water Street - the only "legal" walls in Halifax.

In my opinion the pieces are spectacular - with each artist with a well developed style and sensibility. What do the pieces say? Many remain a mystery to me, but SPACE, SAY, SENSAY(a SAY Variant, and ADICT are among them.

If I had a graffiti problem with taggers/bombers at my business - I'd seriously think about hiring these guys to put up some pieces to discourage the vandalism - they truly are artists, producing excellent art.

ADICT - Art Derived In Criminal Technique - as good an acronym as any!

Exploring the Railway Cut

The peninsula that Halifax started on is bisected by a channel cut into the local bedrock. The rail lines run through it (freight and VIArail only, not the much needed light commuter rail, but don't get me started). My sharp eyed son saw a small area of graffiti that led to a family walk recently (5 km along the tracks, 10 km total for my daughter and I searching for a lost cell phone, but that's another story). The graffiti is spectacular - lots of tagging/bombing, but alot of big pieces as well. It's well worth the walk - the tracks can easily be accessed behind Olgive Towers, and there are (were) no, 'No Trespassing' signs to be seen, so presumably is not prohibited. Just keep a sharp eye out for trains, if you walk the tracks, but there is no need to as there is loads of space.

If you want to give the walk a miss - just enjoy the photos here. If you do walk, keep an eye for my cell phone - leave a comment for me if you find it (I'm not holding my breath though).