Goodbye Graffiti

While Matt packs his bags for his publicly-funded pan-America graffiti research trip, I want to memorialize my new favorite graffiti in the city, since it will soon be torn down. Experts agree that, “Eighty-five percent of graffiti is just tags and another 10 percent is gang communication” but there’s some art on the last remaining wall of a cinderblock building on the corner of N Williams and Cook that falls into the esteemed top five percent.

Despite biking past the graffiti most days, I never really noticed it until I was walking around the area this weekend after dumpstering stale cinnamon rolls from the Hostess Thrift Store a block away (long story – not recommended). The neighborhood is full of vacant lots gathering rain – the watery graves of construction projects failed or never begun. The contractor for the corner site says they don’t know yet what will be built there, but the heavily-graffittied building was a big liability because people could camp out in there and do drugs. In that area, it’s safer to have an empty fenced-in lot than an abandoned building.

So the awesome graffiti is ephemeral, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Tagging a building slated for demolition is an interesting site-specific choice. I just want you to see it before it’s gone.

more photos below the cut