Changing Spaces

It's been over a year since I first posted here, and after a long absence I'm returning to some old subject matter: graffiti.

It's interesting the things that are written to people anonymously. Notes about life, a written history of love on a street pole. These bits and bytes are being written by someone and will be viewed by thousands who pass by, whether the author knows it or not. Now that I'm here sharing it with you, even people who didn't pass by Union Square will know that this was the place that Kittin and Muffin loved each other.

There's something attractive about the fact that someone writing a note on a bathroom wall, which seems like a really small act, will be viewed by everyone who goes into the bathroom at this cafe. Now, because I took a picture of it, the already public piece will be viewed by people who might never visit this cafe or even New York City.

This is an exchange that was written on one of the subway ads for philosophy classes at the 169th St. stop on the F train. You can click through to read it more clearly.

We pass by complex thoughts every day without knowing it. There are people who talk on walls, who discuss and debate and put forth ideas that you might never see because you weren't looking at that phone booth or at that street sign. There is a character to the world around you that's defined in part by these anonymous messengers. They're speaking their mind and not censoring themselves because of outside pressures. There is honesty there.

I had a part in writing this today on the board at the Honor's Commons, and I have a connection to all of the words there that is different from the connection that anyone else will have. Specifically, the words remind me of two very important people who left New York City at the end of this summer and the memories I had with them over the past few months. On looking at this I can't help but think of their faces and all the words we shared.

There is beauty in how those words on that blackboard relate to me, but there is also beauty in thinking about it the opposite way. All the other pieces of graffiti in this post have a story or a thought process behind them that is greater than what you see written on the wall.

Think about the stories that are behind the wall.