It’s not easy to see but the tag TYPO has been applied to the back of an interstate sign. It was also not easy to get a picture of it and I was only able to do so because my wife was driving; if I’d been in the driver’s seat I probably wouldn’t have even noticed it, let alone been able to take a picture of it. I’ve seen the TYPO tag a few other places—always next to the interstate, in one case under a bridge, and in another on a retaining wall. It’s been difficult to get pictures of those too because we were moving at high speed.
I’ve been a defender of graffiti for most of my life, though I have mixed feelings about it. It goes back to a documentary I saw in the 1980’s about graffiti artists in New York, showing how many of them were very talented. Some were even being given gallery spaces and materials as a way of getting them off the streets, though there was a bit of a catch-22: to be recognized they had to first create graffiti, breaking the law and risking arrest. I thought, and still think, there should be another way to recognize and foster talented artists.
The tag TYPO is also interesting. It prompted me to think about how it’s a shortening of “typographical error”, compressing two words and seven syllables into just one two-syllable term whose meaning is still understood.
With that preface what I’d really like to say is this is some of the stupidest, most unnecessary graffiti I’ve ever seen. I could make a lengthy statement about how important art is, how it doesn’t just enrich our lives but makes living worthwhile, but I can’t defend this. TYPO, whoever you may be, you risked your safety, maybe even your life, and you endangered others too. You’ve created a distraction that’s still potentially endangering others. I know it’s not easy but I see real skill in your work, and the effort you put into painting on an interstate sign could have been redirected elsewhere. You can do better.
SAMO! My fav.????
M.L. James recently posted…What’s Up, Doc?
Basquiat! Yes, he’s still a great example of someone who started out doing graffiti and made it big. Also Keith Haring.
I agree. Whenever I see graffiti on places where it would be extremely dangerous to tag, I always wonder why the person didn’t do something more profound!
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I can appreciate that it’s hard for graffiti artists to get attention without doing something really bold but, yes, taking unnecessary risks just undermines everything I think they want to achieve.
No typos here, Chris. Thanks for all the care you take with your words, making the world a little bit safer.
Finding your blog, and you as a friend, was not a mistake.