Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with graffiti

Who painted this door?

boots — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:12:59 -0800

Is this street art in Brooklyn by Swoon? If not, can anyone identify the artist?

Help me find a light graffiti machine

citybuddha — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:24:01 -0800

While in various locales I have seen what what appear to be advertisments or graffiti that appears to be light generated that is projected onto a wall. I would like to use this technology for a sign for my business. I am not able to find anything with my google talents. Can someone point me in the right direction to locate and price this technology?

"I can't believe I got the whole thing!"

GJSchaller — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:00:32 -0800

Graffiti Filter: Looking for a photo or confirmation of a myth of an epic and humorous piece of graffiti. A friend recounted the tale of someone unlocking a train yard one morning, only to find a (previously) clean multi-car train tagged with "I can't believe I got the whole thing!" sprayed the entire length of the train.

Google-Fu has failed me, images comes up with the ever popular "ate the whole thing," and text comes back with a large amount of NSFW fiction involving things fitting places they shouldn't...

It's like Banksy meets candid camera.

Bobby Bittman — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:29:20 -0800

Some friends and I want to take a series of staged pictures of pedestrians standing in front of street art to comic effect, and I need your help brainstorming, hive mind. For example, imagine drawing an arm on a wall holding a pistol towards an imaginary head, and then a businessman stands in front of it so the arm looks like its coming out of his shoulder. Comedy gold.

Other ideas I've come up with:

- a real cop standing sideways in front of a drawing of a protester's placard saying "Fuck The Police"

- anyone standing under a falling safe

- a giant vice squeezing someone's head

- a giant face shushing a real person talking on a cell phone

They don't all have to be this violent or offensive. Cute is fine. It just has to be funny or visually striking.

What else ya got for me?

Tag It, Mark It, Find It.

fantine — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:56:23 -0800

Where can I find the best graffiti in Paris? It's pretty simple. I have a week in Paris and I want to find the best/weirdest/craziest graffiti since I enjoy photographing street art. Where is it (within the city limits)? Metro stops would be helpful to include, please. I'm not afraid of sketchy areas but nothing super dangerous.

I know about the Tag expo at the Grand Palais but I want to see some graffiti in the wild.

Graffiti tours in NYC?

limon — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 08:03:01 -0800

Do you know of any walking tours in NYC dedicated to street art / graffiti?

What does Getty Images care about Lenin?

saeculorum — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 18:20:20 -0800

SeattleFilter: What does "[t]his photo opportunity © Getty Images" mean? Today, while wondering around the magnificent and awesome Fremont Fair with many naked people riding bikes, I noticed two instances of the following statement template-painted:

"This photo opportunity © Getty Images"

It was in front of the Fremont Statue of Lenin and near Gas Works Park. I can't find any references to this online, so I was wondering what it means? I'm assuming it's parody of something, but I can't figure out what!

Gentle-Pac-man burps up a dove

pjenks — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:58:17 -0800

Does this graffiti art image have some well-known meaning? I took the picture on the shoreline in Estoril/Cascais (outside Lisbon, Portugal) and I've seen the image stenciled on a few other structures in town. I like it, but I wonder if it has some sinister associations...

banking on banksy

kidsleepy — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:30:17 -0800

I'm looking for a photo of Banksy-style graffiti involving rabbits fighting each other. I had it as my desktop image a year or two ago, and now I can't find it. I don't recall too many details, but it did somehow involve rabbits and violence. I think it was stenciled graffiti, very similar to what Banksy does. Does this image ring a bell to anyone? Know where I can find it online?

(ps - I looked through his book back in January and this image wasn't included, so that leads me to believe it might not be his)

Free the wherever-they-are 3!

electroboy — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 10:00:34 -0800

Is there a legal defense fund for these kids?

Oddly enough, I didn't come to Italy for the churches.

twins named Lugubrious and Salubrious — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 03:23:59 -0800

I just landed in Italy. Help me find the Florence and Rome that no one writes about. My family and I will be staying in Florence and Rome for Christmas and New Year's. History, museums, and churches are great, but more their thing than mine. Where can I find what I'm looking for? I want to see the local street scene: where are Florence and Rome's skate shops, the parks where the people are loitering, the secret places to stumble on tags? Where are the best streetwear stores, and the "best kept secret" boutiques? TIA.

And for those of you who celebrate it: Merry Christmas!

Is this photo doctored?

Mo Nickels — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 08:55:17 -0800

Is this picture from Time magazine photoshopped? To my eyes, that laser beam is just wrong. I realize it's not an earth-shattering story if the photo is doctored, but if it is, it should be noted in the credit line. The article the photo belongs to is How Graffiti Artists are Cleaning Up.

Turkish (?) graffiti in Japan

No-sword — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 01:46:10 -0800

Can anyone shed some light on this Turkish (I think) graffiti my friend saw in a (Japanese) train station and copied down in a hurry? (Text inside -- might be unsavory or even NSFW for all I know.) I am hoping that someone will be able to make sense of it despite the many transcription errors that my version here no doubt contains. (Apparently it was particularly difficult to identify the spaces between words.)

VAKKAS
SENYOKDİYE SATLERCEOTURDUM
SELS SENSİZ VAKKAS BALIBAY
YOK YÜREQUMDE
TELİKLERIN ENSON GIKROIN
BEN GİDİŞIN YERSİZ DÖN HABESIZ

My sincere apologies in advance if it is in fact something offensive, and you can understand Turkish, and it offends you. My friend and I have absolutely no idea what it might say.

The gasmask in street art

Chrischris — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 07:41:07 -0800

What's with the persistent gas-mask motif one finds in so much contemporary graffiti & "street art"? I first noticed it a number of years back in Banksy's work, but now it seems to be pretty much ubiquitous. Is there some association or cultural resonance (beyond the obvious Great War and Pink Floyd references) to this iconography that I'm missing?

Very strange art?

pdb — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 16:42:46 -0800

What on earth is this thing? I saw this one in London, at the top of the pedestrian subway on the south side of the Westminster Bridge. I also saw similar small mosaics in other parts of London, and also in Paris.

Are they just incredibly random graffiti, or do they actually relate to each other and/or mean something? They're pretty cool, either way, I'm just not sure what they are exactly...

Where to find street art supplies, Atlanta

priested — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:07:37 -0800

Anyone know a good place ITP, Atlanta, GA to buy spray paint/ spray paint tips for "street art"? I have very little knowledge (have appreciation, though) of the needs for the art form, but have set up a great spot (owner of wall sanctioned project if that matters) for my bro-in-law to work his magic and he's coming to town... I vaguely remember Little Five Points having supplies available somewhere and live close to there- Any help/direction greatly appreciated...

What are these stickers?

idledebonair — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 17:53:00 -0800

What are these stickers I keep seeing on the NYC subway? I keep seeing these star and triangle stickers in NYC subway cars. What do they mean? Where do they come from?

Decrypting Italian Graffiti Symbols

Ogre Lawless — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:44:09 -0800

Italian graffiti: questions about two common symbols in modern spray art. There are two standouts I'm curious about.

The first is what could be described as a "rifle sight": a circle overlaid by an overlapping cross. This symbol most often stands alone and is pretty common. It's not the Anarchist's circle-A but I thought perhaps it was related. I've got no clue as to what this one's about.

The second I know is loosely translated as "basso" or "down with" and looks like two overlapping V's and always used in conjunction with whatever we're wishing down and sometimes shown inverted in what I understand is the reverse -- "up with". I've been able to figure out (obviously) the "what", here, but is anyone familiar with the etymology? Perhaps some clarification on its use? I -thought- I saw it used formally in a town where a nice cloth banner read "VV the class of 88" or so and that didn't quite jibe so maybe my guide for this information was only partially correct in her understanding.

What is the pi symbol?

Holygrail2 — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 15:18:54 -0800

For those of you who live in Western Washington: For the last 5 years or so, I've noticed graffitied pi symbols all around the Seattle area (North to Everett and South to Tacoma). What is up? There are at least 2 in every neighborhood that I've found. They are on signs, walls, trash cans, newspaper dispensers, sidewalks, bus stops, and everywhere else. No one seems to have an answer for what the purpose of them is? Is it a nerdy gang? Is it an art project? Is it just a meme? It's been driving me crazy since high school. Does anybody have any insight? Is this just a Western Washington thing?

Resources to learn graffiti

RufusW — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 13:45:30 -0800

What good online/offline sources are there for learning graffiti? (lettering, composition and skill[z] with a spraycan)

The greatest henge of all.

MsMolly — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 18:49:10 -0800

Translation help (Korean & Japanese). Help me translate some graffiti found at Carhenge. This is the one I'm most interested in. What does the Korean (I think) commentary on this piece of deathless prose say? I'm hoping it's something making fun of the writer for unoriginality. :)

And while I'm at it, what about these? I think the ones in this photo are in Japanese and am assuming that they're more the standard "So-and-so was here" variety, since I've been told they contain the dates when the writers visited.

Thanks for helping me scratch the curiosity itch!

female tricksters, pranksters, radical artists

nyoki — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 13:01:28 -0800

I'm looking for female tricksters, prank-sters or radical grrl artists who are creating contemporary playful political art in any genre including: pranks, graffiti, installation art or performance art, street protest groups, etc. Does anyone know where to find these wild women?

graffiti in soho

provolot — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 11:39:19 -0800

Graffiti in SoHo, NYC? Exactly where? I'm looking for some good looking, full stretches of graffiti in Soho, NYC -- I'm shooting a fashion photo that needs a good backdrop.
Where are some good locations with graffiti (specific addresses)/street art/etc?

Also, where in SoHo is this?

Thanks!

I can't shoot the little bastards so help me clean up

Optimus Chyme — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 16:03:14 -0800

What's the best way to remove permanent marker from semi-porous plastic? Some idiot tagged our cable box yesterday; it's a yellow plastic material, and I have no idea what to use to get this shit off. My vaunted Magic Eraser only got the top coating off. I'm cool with using harsh chemicals, or if all else fails painting the damned thing black, but I'd rather not.

What are these strange symbols?

rxrfrx — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 13:14:30 -0800

What are these symbols spraypainted on the sidewalk near Boston, MA? My photo might be upside-down or sidways. At first I thought the markings (which appeared some time in the last few weeks) might be an example of traditional hobo signs or some kind of warchalking but I can't find any of these symbols in online guides.