Yesterday I was on the bike again, rummaging the city for more graffiti – not the smearing on walls – but real images and stylish tags. It slowly becomes an obsession.
I cannot even explain why I am so attracted by these kinds of paintings. Maybe it is the “freedom” with which they are executed, that spirit of opposition against authorities, rebellion and protest or simply the joy to play with colours that is so attractive for me.
Although vandalism is a part of graffiti, the pure ugly smearing containing only expletives, which people get really angry about with justification when they find them on the walls of their homes, these clearly do not belong to my objects of interest. I consider these as the same kind of vandalism with which public telephone boxes are destroyed or public gardens. It simply does not make sense.
In the meanwhile I learned that the “freedom” with which the sprayers work is in fact not really that kind of freedom one would expect – that’s why I put it in quotation marks. There is not only a strict hierarchy among the sprayers, but also a kind of code of honour that prohibits crossing legal tags (placing your tag on top of another, legal one). Doing this can end up in a bad “punishment”. Generally the sprayers stick firmly to their rules which they have given to themselves. An interesting aspect from a social point of view.
Well – I am not going to glorify the sprayer scene but I wished more ugly factory walls would be given the chance to be transformed into colourful spaces and more youngsters the chance to prove their talent.
And as usual money and hype has found its way into this niche as well. Nothing wrong with it and certainly a fantastic way of earning a decent living this but I think the true spirit is getting lost when you sell your heart-blood to the consumer industry.
Enough words – here are some new images:
Much more images can be found on my website under the photography section. You won’t regret it.
