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An independent, secular, contemporary journal of political and environmental issues dedicated to peaceful reduction of human impacts on Earth

BadwaterJournal.com

WHAT UNSUSTAINABLE URBAN GROWTH LOOKS LIKE

Smut, filth, profanity, anti-social, criminal mischief and misdemeanor violation--thats what graffiti spray painted on Louisville’s exterior surfaces is--to the dominant culture. That dominant culture has for too many decades been guided and informed by white racist impulses. And the edifice of culture extruded by the ‘owners of everything’ produces exclusive licenses and labels that draw lines around property--public and private--lines that privilege the owners and exclude the rest.  Those lines criminalize the poor person that dares to cross.

Enter the young artist, with his green army tote sack stuffed with spray paint. Acrobatic, subversive, nocturnal, young, and bursting with the need to mark his urban canyon environment, he lurks in the shadows, penetrates the forbidden spaces and then leaves his message. In the morning, curses-- as the building owner or manager finds garish nouns or verbs, six feet tall, with spectacular highlights, drop shadows and cartoon imps running for yards down his property.

Too avoid being cited by the ravenous building code inspectors, the property owner must get his own paint out and roller under the rude marks. Both graffiti artist and coverup artist are producing a rich canvas across the city.

An amazing gallery is viewable in the concrete channelized portion of the South Fork of Beargrass Creek. The concrete channel begins at Eastern Parkway near Poplar Level Road and runs all the way to the JBS pork plant at East Main Street in Buthchertown. This area is a heavy use area for the urban artists and markings can be found on buildings, walls, and major equipment like tanks and railroad cars from below ground level to multi-story heights.

The sheer energy and gallons of paint involved is staggering. The creativity and individual talent is impressive in some works--less so in others. But thats an aspect of the subversive nature. No license or permission required, no entrance examination or degree necessary--the thrill of violation and the adamant claim to the environment consults neither law not good taste as defined by others.

And in a surprising echo, the hastily rollered coverups, using odd ends of left over interior latex, produce a rich weathered texture in blocks of color that mimic art found in the galleries on Market Street.