Tucked in a San Francisco alleyway, in a neighborhood now gone from memory, we met up for a sunny afternoon kick it with a new mission.
Half of the group were graffiti artists with tags all around the Bay, but instead of the usual covert outings, they organized a legal street painting session down a row of garages in the city. This was 2015, and most of us were happy to just to get a paycheck from some mediocre job so we could buy weed and booze and kick it watching sunset after sunset together. As friend groups intermingled, I got to meet more of these artists and we spent many days adventuring to obscure places. Places you'd never find in a travel guide, but ones that make you experience the area in a deeper and more meaningful way.
It was a new kind of art to me. I noticed the art itself with the imaginative designs, impressive locations and techniques, as well as the camaraderie and creativity it brought out in those that channeled it. Of course there were some that had beef that caused drama, which was low key annoying but also entertaining. Once I learned what they wrote, it was fun seeing their tags around town. It's when you see something they did high up on the side of a building and say damn props for pulling that off. And it becomes a sort of dance; rhythms of this subculture saying fuck your rules with quick feet (and a smart mouth) around any authorities.
And to anyone who hasn't seen behind the curtain of graffiti artists, they very well could just see it as disrespectful and a nuisance. And honestly there are the stupid shitheads that live up to that reputation. But what I saw was passion and community, supporting each other and pushing their boundaries.
And, they're relentless. Try to paint over their work, and they will come back with something more badass. Try to fence off a building, and they'll find a way in.
It's why being adaptable and curious are my lifelines because they let me see into the lives of others that run parallel passions.
So, what do you think?
Do you think graffiti artists are vandals?
0%Yes
0%No
0%I could see both sides
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