Thing 176 Graffiti

It's a well established fact that if you ever own a can of spray paint, for the purpose of street art, better known as graffiti, that you're obliged to pose for a photo pretending that it's deodorant. Will Smith said it. And who are you to argue with the Fresh Prince of Bel Air?

Graffiti in Ireland is very, very slowly improving. Most of it is just some giant tool with a marker or a can of spray paint telling the world that he "luvs Jenny 4eva", or that "Liverpool are fags". These little shits fill me with a violent rage, for many many reasons, not the least of which are the many massive spelling mistakes.

But the times, they are a changing. Graffiti art is becoming gradually better. In some spots it's down right good. Skate park in Limerick being a good example of some fine ink work. It does encourage amateurs though - like The Thief...
Have you ever in your life seen someone less suited to graffiti? Banksy better be watching out.

Speaking of which, The Banksy Effect is basically responsible for the massive increase in public support for graffiti as an art form. It's anti-establishment, it's frequently offensive, and it ruins perfectly beige walls. Still relatively little known about the man, except that he's quite cool, and doesn't like Israel. But if you're interested in reading up on the person who's single handedly managed to make graffiti worth money: Click!
The reason I mention him is the stencil bit. Banksy likes to stencil, and so I decided I'd emulate him. It's a sincere form of flattery, except I'm shit at art. Good with scissors and card though. Kind of.

So here's what I came up with. A club, a spade, a diamond and a broken heart. It's post modern, or something. And something else about juxtaposition of images. Also something about all being black because of art reasons that are high-brow.
The point of graffiti is expression. Which basically makes my graffiti a response to playing the Microsoft Hearts game when I'm bored on my laptop. Or else there's no point to it, which makes it a stupid kind of expression. But lots of things on here are stupid. Why change the habit of a lifetime?