The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal

A few years ago, while driving underground on our way out of the Philadelphia, a friend of mine and I began discussing the city's attempts at removing the graffiti from the tunnels and how painting over it was merely anti-graffiti graffiti.  We came to the conclusion that we could easily go around painting colored squares on walls as our "tag", and no one would know the difference.

Fast forward to last semester, when I stumbled across this short film by Matt McCormick.  It's called the Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal and does a much better job than I did at analyzing the same anti-graffiti efforts.  

Taken from his website, the plot is described as "Emerging from the human psyche and showing characteristics of abstract expressionism, minimalism and Russian constructivism, graffiti removal has secured its place in the history of modern art while being created by artists who are unconscious of their artistic achievements.

It is no coincidence that funding for “anti-graffiti” campaigns often outweighs funding for the arts. Graffiti removal has subverted the common obstacles blocking creative expression and become one of the more intriguing and important art movements of our time. Emerging from the human psyche and showing characteristics of abstract expressionism, minimalism and Russian constructivism, graffiti removal has secured its place in the history of modern art while being created by artists who are unconscious of their artistic achievements."

Anyway, his theory is really interesting to me and I think the documentary is worth watching, so I figured I'd dig it back up and post it for everybody that wasn't aware.


http://www.rodeofilmco.com