I've been having wierd days lately. I think part of this may be the near-continuous stream of intoxicants being pumped into and filtered out of my body, but I think also some of it has to do with the shit I've been reading latley. Lots of anarchist/free spirited/traveler kid kind of stuff. Got it from The CrimethInc Collective. Pretty wild stuff. Good to read tho.
I think also it may just be that I've been having some wierd days.
Por ejemplo: Today I wanted to paint the freewall on 1st. The weather was nice, and despite the clouds that were out earlier at ten, it looked like it might be nice. Then, out of nowhere, rain. Fucks up everything. No dry space means no paint. Fuck. So I yelled at God, which I have come to decide is a futlie and effectivly empty act, and is simply symbolic of frustration. I sulked home to be an ass and smoke a little and just be grumpy.
Then the sun came out again. Dried everything out. Pretty sweet. This itself would not have been so fantastic if it weren't for what happened when I finally went down to the wall to paint. I met Azheem the Pakistani.
I noticed Azheem while I was doing my fun with teevees on the wall. There was a really nice piece a while ago, and while the letters themselves have since been crossed out and scrawled on (I hate that "No Fear Drink Beer" dude), the characters at said piece were left pretty untouched. In a way to sort of enshrine or otherwise keep intact some semblance of their existance, I decided to paint each of them inside a teevee and quote my man Aesop Rock: "rappin is my radio, graffiti is my teevee.." and call it good.
Azheem was watching me pretty intently, and seemed pretty intrigued by the whole idea of the freewall and what I was doing. He stayed back by the picnic tables with his bike for a while, and then inched hi way up closer untill he was up at the sidewalk. That's when I turned and said hi, and then he asked about who painted what on the wall, what it all meant, why people do graffiti, and why I did it. What was so amazing about talking to Azheem was that he was just so purely curious; not judgemental, not critical, just interested in something he had never seen before. I explained that most of the graffiti on the wal were actually representations of english letters, and how much I saw a similarity in the abstraction and embellishment of english in graffiti to the embellishment and decoration of words in arabic calligraphy. He seemed surpised that i even had a vague idea of what I was talking about. Azheem was more interested in the idea of the wall
He explained to me that in Pakistan, it is completly legal to paint of other people's buildings. Especially during elections, it is not uncommon for people to simply paint slogans and, as he put it "the propoganda" of their favored political party. At least he can see it for what it is, I guess. He went on to say that he and some of his friends and family would mix up a homemade paint and, using brushes, paint murals on the sides of buildings for one another, and he confessed that sometimes he would even paint on newly constructed buildings. "Even the buildings that are new, the not old ones. We paint on them too." It was like talking to a graffiti artisit that didin't realise it was graffiti. I explained to him that the freewall was fair game, but that it was no good anywhere else. He said that is okay, because he does only portraits, and he has not much time here in the US; he heads back to Pakistan in a month or so. He showed me how to write his name in Urdu, an arabic dialect that is the most common tounge in Pakistan, with a can of paint on the wall, and then signed his name in english, and the town he was from. I was geeking out; the dude repped his set as if he already knew what he was doing.
The best part of the whole thing, was the look on his face after doing so. It was like he had just gotten off of a rollercoaster for the first time or something, it was that big a grin.
The second best thing about my conversation with Azheem was that, by my guess, dude couldn't have been any younger than 37. I'd guess closer to early 40's. It was so cool to see someone like that be so curious and open-minded about something so different. I'd like to think that under different circumstances, Azheem and I could have painted together, and as he was leaving, I told him he should at least come down with some paints and do a realistic portrait on the wall. Just so he could take part in the act of art for the public. He seemed so pleasant and happy. I wish more people were like Azheem.
And, if it hadn't been for the fucking lame Oregon weather, I may habe never met this him. Kind of wild, at least, for me it is.
Duone DSL DPK
I think also it may just be that I've been having some wierd days.
Por ejemplo: Today I wanted to paint the freewall on 1st. The weather was nice, and despite the clouds that were out earlier at ten, it looked like it might be nice. Then, out of nowhere, rain. Fucks up everything. No dry space means no paint. Fuck. So I yelled at God, which I have come to decide is a futlie and effectivly empty act, and is simply symbolic of frustration. I sulked home to be an ass and smoke a little and just be grumpy.
Then the sun came out again. Dried everything out. Pretty sweet. This itself would not have been so fantastic if it weren't for what happened when I finally went down to the wall to paint. I met Azheem the Pakistani.
I noticed Azheem while I was doing my fun with teevees on the wall. There was a really nice piece a while ago, and while the letters themselves have since been crossed out and scrawled on (I hate that "No Fear Drink Beer" dude), the characters at said piece were left pretty untouched. In a way to sort of enshrine or otherwise keep intact some semblance of their existance, I decided to paint each of them inside a teevee and quote my man Aesop Rock: "rappin is my radio, graffiti is my teevee.." and call it good.
Azheem was watching me pretty intently, and seemed pretty intrigued by the whole idea of the freewall and what I was doing. He stayed back by the picnic tables with his bike for a while, and then inched hi way up closer untill he was up at the sidewalk. That's when I turned and said hi, and then he asked about who painted what on the wall, what it all meant, why people do graffiti, and why I did it. What was so amazing about talking to Azheem was that he was just so purely curious; not judgemental, not critical, just interested in something he had never seen before. I explained that most of the graffiti on the wal were actually representations of english letters, and how much I saw a similarity in the abstraction and embellishment of english in graffiti to the embellishment and decoration of words in arabic calligraphy. He seemed surpised that i even had a vague idea of what I was talking about. Azheem was more interested in the idea of the wall
He explained to me that in Pakistan, it is completly legal to paint of other people's buildings. Especially during elections, it is not uncommon for people to simply paint slogans and, as he put it "the propoganda" of their favored political party. At least he can see it for what it is, I guess. He went on to say that he and some of his friends and family would mix up a homemade paint and, using brushes, paint murals on the sides of buildings for one another, and he confessed that sometimes he would even paint on newly constructed buildings. "Even the buildings that are new, the not old ones. We paint on them too." It was like talking to a graffiti artisit that didin't realise it was graffiti. I explained to him that the freewall was fair game, but that it was no good anywhere else. He said that is okay, because he does only portraits, and he has not much time here in the US; he heads back to Pakistan in a month or so. He showed me how to write his name in Urdu, an arabic dialect that is the most common tounge in Pakistan, with a can of paint on the wall, and then signed his name in english, and the town he was from. I was geeking out; the dude repped his set as if he already knew what he was doing.
The best part of the whole thing, was the look on his face after doing so. It was like he had just gotten off of a rollercoaster for the first time or something, it was that big a grin.
The second best thing about my conversation with Azheem was that, by my guess, dude couldn't have been any younger than 37. I'd guess closer to early 40's. It was so cool to see someone like that be so curious and open-minded about something so different. I'd like to think that under different circumstances, Azheem and I could have painted together, and as he was leaving, I told him he should at least come down with some paints and do a realistic portrait on the wall. Just so he could take part in the act of art for the public. He seemed so pleasant and happy. I wish more people were like Azheem.
And, if it hadn't been for the fucking lame Oregon weather, I may habe never met this him. Kind of wild, at least, for me it is.
Duone DSL DPK
i was planting squash in the sun, followed by rain, followed by more sun.
re: prior note.
no dude. it's really just those two. i just enjoy sweeping comments like that. we need to strike out and put something down. i scrapped the stencil due to my gross overcomplication of things. need to start fresh. like a series or something. or i should stick to airbrushing shit in my backyard.
anyway, to a better summer.