Features

Graffitirazzi – It's Everywhere

By Gar Smith
Saturday March 30, 2013 - 10:17:00 AM
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The next time you're waiting for an AMTRAK train, cast your eyes upwards to the University Avenue overpass to the north. You might spot a piece of defiant art known as the "Resist Fist."
Gar Smith
The next time you're waiting for an AMTRAK train, cast your eyes upwards to the University Avenue overpass to the north. You might spot a piece of defiant art known as the "Resist Fist."
Gar Smith
Dumpsters are targets-of-opportunity for urban taggers canvassing the neighborhoods in search of, well, canvases. This four-wheeled art gallery was spotted at the Herrick Campus of the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center.
Gar Smith
Dumpsters are targets-of-opportunity for urban taggers canvassing the neighborhoods in search of, well, canvases. This four-wheeled art gallery was spotted at the Herrick Campus of the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center.
Graffiti most commonly appears on walls, but sometimes a tagger's art-mark can be found directly underfoot -- like this Peace Symbol that adorns a curb near Shattuck and Dwight Way.
Gar Smith
Graffiti most commonly appears on walls, but sometimes a tagger's art-mark can be found directly underfoot -- like this Peace Symbol that adorns a curb near Shattuck and Dwight Way.
When graffiti pops up on a wall, the location of the wall can provide context for the message. Case in point: This simple message -- "Broke" – was neatly sprayed on a campus wall at UC Berkeley.
Gar Smith
When graffiti pops up on a wall, the location of the wall can provide context for the message. Case in point: This simple message -- "Broke" – was neatly sprayed on a campus wall at UC Berkeley.
A graffitirazzi's search can lead to hallucinatory extremes. Is this the face of a monkey? Or is it a rendition of famously botched face of Christ on a fresco in a Spanish Church (after it was "restored" by a well-meaning 80-year-old woman)? No, it's just a random pattern left behind by someone using a wall to knock the dust off a dirty mat. (If this was on a piece of toast, it might have fetched some serious money on EBay.)
Gar Smith
A graffitirazzi's search can lead to hallucinatory extremes. Is this the face of a monkey? Or is it a rendition of famously botched face of Christ on a fresco in a Spanish Church (after it was "restored" by a well-meaning 80-year-old woman)? No, it's just a random pattern left behind by someone using a wall to knock the dust off a dirty mat. (If this was on a piece of toast, it might have fetched some serious money on EBay.)
Graffiti can spring up in some surprising places. Such as inside a USPS mailbox…
Gar Smith
Graffiti can spring up in some surprising places. Such as inside a USPS mailbox…
Or on an illuminated 7-Eleven sign. No, wait: Make that inside an illuminated 7-Eleven sign!
Gar Smith
Or on an illuminated 7-Eleven sign. No, wait: Make that inside an illuminated 7-Eleven sign!
Recently, in broad daylight, a team of graffiti chalkers appeared in front of the Venus restaurant on Shattuck Avenue and inscribed the Sanskrit word "Satyagraha" -- in honor of Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolent resistance.
Gar Smith
Recently, in broad daylight, a team of graffiti chalkers appeared in front of the Venus restaurant on Shattuck Avenue and inscribed the Sanskrit word "Satyagraha" -- in honor of Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolent resistance.
Alas, the artwork could not resist the impact of nonviolent raindrops that pelted down overnight. With the passage of a storm front -- and the passage of many shoes -- the message was all but lost two days later.
Gar Smith
Alas, the artwork could not resist the impact of nonviolent raindrops that pelted down overnight. With the passage of a storm front -- and the passage of many shoes -- the message was all but lost two days later.
Impermanence is the fate of the urban graffiti artist. Most of the time. But keep your eyes on the sidewalk as you walk south past Venus on the east side of Shattuck. Within a few blocks, you may spy a message that proclaims: "Trees Are Brothers." This message, scratched into sidewalk cement more than ten years ago has outlasted many storms. Unlike most graffiti, this is a memento was built to last.
Gar Smith
Impermanence is the fate of the urban graffiti artist. Most of the time. But keep your eyes on the sidewalk as you walk south past Venus on the east side of Shattuck. Within a few blocks, you may spy a message that proclaims: "Trees Are Brothers." This message, scratched into sidewalk cement more than ten years ago has outlasted many storms. Unlike most graffiti, this is a memento was built to last.

Most graffiti are ephemeral. All graffiti are anarchic and adventitious. They can crop up anywhere -- not only on walls, but on dumpsters, bridges, curbs and sidewalks. Some graffiti only survives a day or two but, once in a while, someone leaves behind a graffito that is built to last.