When is cleaning the sidewalks a crime? When you’re doing it to create art. Obviously.
A number of street artists around the world have taken to expressing themselves through an innovative practice known as Reverse Graffiti. Taking a cue from the “Wash Me” messages scrawled on the back of delivery trucks, they seek out soot covered surfaces and inscribe them with images, tags, and even advertising slogans using scrub brushes, scrapers and pressure hoses.
The UK’s Paul Curtis, better known as “Moose,” is one of the technique’s pioneers. Operating around Leeds and London, he has been commissioned by a number of brands, such as Smirnoff, who want to convey a sense of “clean” in an innovative way.
On a more overtly environmental bent, Brazilian Alexandre Orion, turned one of Sao Paolo’s transport tunnels into a stunning mural last summer. The mural, comprised of a series of skulls, very succinctly reminds drivers of the impact their emissions are having on the planet.
The practice puts authorities in a definite moral quandary. According to Moose, “Once you do this, you make people confront whether or not they like people cleaning walls or if they really have a problem with personal expression.” The Leeds City Council decided to lead their attack with an hilariously nonsensical position:
“Leeds residents want to live in clean and attractive neighborhoods, and expect their streets to be free of graffiti and illegal advertising. We also view this kind of rogue advertising as environmental damage and will take strong action against any advertisers carrying out such campaigns without the relevant permission.”
What action was taken against the advertisers is unknown. What is known is that Moose was charged under the very scary sounding Anti-Social Behaviour Act and ordered to clean up his clean act. I’m not exactly sure how he managed to did this. By making it dirty again?
The Brazilian artist’s work came to a happier resolution. The authorities were certainly miffed but could find nothing to charge him with. They had no other recourse but to clean the tunnel — but only the parts Alexandre had already cleaned. The artist merely continued his campaign on the other side of traffic. The utterly flummoxed city officials then decided to take drastic action. Not only did they clean the entire tunnel but also every other tunnel in Sao Paulo.
Bravo!
Yo crazy graffiti is good is not crime or ”Vandillism” its a for of art or a form of a message and if you dont like it then you dont know the true meaning!!
i live in são paulo (yes that is how we write it) and i’ve seen alexandre’s work, it really blows oyu mind, i didn’t know it was reverse graffiti untill i saw this
it’s incredible if seen personaly, and i think this is a kind of street art that creates a certain conciousness of how dirty the place is by knowing that your looking at a clean spot
This and the live-green graffiti are making me feel really excited about art… street art… the green movement… Wow, this is so awesome. What a silly city council statement though!
these are some excellent examples — this technique is very similar to that known as “selective buffing”, removing select parts of another, damaged graffiti piece or stencil, in order to create a new artwork.
clearly the authorities here have completely missed the point of the works, but it had the desired effect to some extent nonetheless.
METRO OTB ROCKS SHIT!
graffiti is alright if u do it in a place where you are aloud,and it is bad for the envoirment aswell so STOP DOING GRAFFITI AND RESPECT FOR OTHERS!!!
This is brilliant!
A top-notch idea I wish I had thought of myself.
arrt is the best
when you look at the broader picture, at how polluted our cities are, its bassically a match made in heaven, using art for protest, yet without the use of aerosoles, solvents or the like, yet showing the people how much more unpleasent, our own ignorance can be when painted on a wall.
Just be careful when you do this kind of graffiti! All that soot is very toxic and not good to breathe in — so do like Moose and wear a mask and gloves! I totally approve! I think it’s wonderful to pose such a paradox.
hi i was just woundering where one could get one of these jet cleaning pistlols, for a cheap price or anywhere .?
Go to http://www.bright.tv/series/de-ban-van-het-ding-aflevering-4 for an item on Alexandre Orion (fast-forward to 10:14 min).
Shouldn’t be doing them for advertising. Art is art. Ads and marketing are toxic…
Its awesome! So simple, so in your face!
Im sure every city has a lot of issues to solve, and cleaning street art shouldn’t be among them. You cant fight it! Unfortunately, people and officials dont wanna see the difference between vandalism and art. Much easier to call it all illegal. And spend tax money on cleaning it, Its been decades and centuries already, they still havent learned the lesson. Street art will always be there!