Can you figure out this graffiti that has strange, asian looking characters?

June 16, 2010 8:50 AM

Can you figure out this graffiti that has strange, asian looking characters?

So I am currently in Montevideo, Uruguay and while walking in the old city, I noticed a rather strange set of graffiti. I have no clue what it could mean, but am pretty fascinated by it, and thought that the good people of mefi might be able to solve this mystery.

Here is an up close photo and here is a little more context

Obviously, there are multiple languages here...but I have no idea what they are. They look familiar to some languages--hindi, thai, japanese, chinese--but slightly off.

posted by wooh to Writing & Language (8 answers total)

Best answer: Here is an blog post with other examples by the same artist. This appears to be a page of images posted by the artist.
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 10:22 AM on June 16, 2010 [1 favorite]

Could these be numerals? The second down in the middle block of characters look like Japanese numerals to me.
posted by Kattullus at 10:24 AM on June 16, 2010

Actually, I just checked with someone who knows Japanese and these aren't Japanese numerals at all. Of course, I should've checked first.
posted by Kattullus at 10:28 AM on June 16, 2010

Response by poster: Awesome work Lazlo. I'd really like to know the name of the artist, will dig through those links when I have time. Still curious what it says. Love his work, have seen it around town and didn't realize it was all his. This city has great graffiti.
posted by wooh at 10:45 AM on June 16, 2010

"Nicolás Sánchez, conocido como alfalfa, genera un mundo propio a través no sólo de sus personajes sino también de las variadas técnicas que utiliza, que van del stencil al sticker o a dibujos lineales generados con un marcador sobre los muros de la ciudad. Esos personajes mezclan aspectos religiosos y culturales, creando seres llenos de fantasía, aspecto que se ve reforzado por una paleta sumamente psicodélica y technicolor. Sus seres habitan en: http://www.fotolog.com/alfalfarte"

(Last link gone, unfortunately.)
posted by MonkeyToes at 11:13 AM on June 16, 2010

See also here and here.
posted by MonkeyToes at 11:15 AM on June 16, 2010

Best answer: Last links, I promise: flickr gallery, more pictures, even more pictures, and, finally, several more examples. Identifying artists from halfway around the world sure beats doing housework...
posted by MonkeyToes at 11:19 AM on June 16, 2010

"Nicolás Sánchez, known as alfalfa, creates a world of his own, not only through his characters, but also through the various techniques he uses, from stencil, sticker or line drawings done with a marker on walls throughout the city. These characters mix the religious and the cultural, creating fantastical beings, a characteristic of his work that one can see reinforced by a totally psychedelic, technicolor palette. His beings live here: http://www.fotolog.com/alfalfarte"
posted by umbú at 12:30 PM on June 16, 2010