I, in no way, condone graffiti. I can, however, appreciate the self expression some people choose to freely exhibit. We are lucky enough to live in a country that allows freedom of speech. The following pictures may or may not reflect my personal opinions, will be offensive to some and can be considered both art and vandalism. These were found on the side of an out of commission train and its tracks. I find all of the points of view interesting despite my own views. Some are out of anger or hate, hurt or disgust while others are out of peace and love.
Enjoy and feel free to leave any thoughts.
This was one of my favorites. It's simple and although it was defacing property, it spreads a positive message.
I'm pretty sure this was intentional misspelling (unlike others to follow) but I find that it adds an endearing quality.
A positive, upbeat vandal. . .
This was actually my doing. Vandalism and littering? I wonder what the fine would be.
There are so many things happening here. I'm not sure it's all from the same person/group either. Most of it, probably, but I think others added on.
No interpretation needed here. I do find it interesting that this particular piece was very well thought out. This person had to bring pre-made stencils with them. Premeditated vandalism? Apparently there is a lot more involved than just a spray can.
If you reference two pictures up, this appears to be the people overthrowing the government, ready for war. They appear to be above the bombs being dropped. Either way, gas masks freak me out.
So I looked up, "Fuck the government" on google and found entries on Urban Dictionary. My favorite one was this:
"Phrase commonly heard coming out of the mouths of uninformed preteen retards who like to think they know what's going on in the world."
This person had a very direct message for Mr. Obama.
This statement was on the same collage (if you will) about government, capitalists and freedom. My thought is it's from a different tagger. They are either agreeing with the previous tagger, and saying no to government by not voting, or is begging the previous tagger to not vote (based on their views). Take from it what you will.
Graffiti takes a different form on Seattle's famous, "Market Theater Gum Wall". This may fall under the category of littering as well! Voted one of the germiest tourist attractions, it was horribly disgusting as well as a beautiful collaboration from people of all walks of life, all around the world.
People stuck various things in their gum: money, gum wrappers, even cigars. I find the empty gum pack, hanging on a wall full of chewed gum, so symbolic. . .
And then there are random things that people wrote:
I'm sorry to tell this person that they are now lumped in with the guy who told us the world was going to end. I'm also unsure as to how human interaction and social networking could possibly die. I am a BIG "fan" of the person who tagged a "like" button under the other tagger's "post".
I have never done drugs, never plan to do drugs and am not quite sure where I stand on the issue but this person definitely has an opinion. I do, however, appreciate his/her art work.
This person just made me laugh. Unlike the first vandal, who I believe was intentional with their erroneous spelling, I think this person just needs to put down the spray paint can and pay more attention in school. Hayley might be "a air hade" but "Johnny" is an ignoramus.
This just goes to show that you can't judge a book by its cover. It's safe to say that if you tag a bible verse, you probably know the words to said verse and have read some of the bible, therefore must possess some sort of moral fiber (or, at the very least, put on the front of it). I don't know a whole lot about the Bible but I'm pretty sure it doesn't preach, "Tag thy neighbors' property", no matter what the subject matter.
