G Stop Graffiti Watch #1

As my regular readers (both) know, I've become enamored with subway advertisement graffiti. I find it's a simple but often clever form of art, and when it's done right it can completely subvert the message of the advertisement, or address the same meaning in a different light. Of course the simplest, most juvenile, and most common tactic for tagging subway ads is to draw phallic symbols. I've seen countless ads with these additions, and it seems that certain ads are almost begging to get tagged.

So, on the way back from our practice space in Greenpoint last night, Ben and I passed three (relatively) unmarked ads:







Come on, look at these things! They're tailor-made for dick drawings, and they're all right next to each other! Someone could (nay, SHOULD) have a field day with these! But besides the obvious Bush comment above Beyonce's head and some very small irrelevant doodlings, these ads are unscathed. I don't know how long they've been up, but it's amazing that they all remain penis-free. This can only last a short time in the seemy underbelly of New York, so every week on Nothing Terribly Grandiose, we'll follow the progress (or lack thereof) of those Sharpie-wielding renegade artists of the subway tunnels.

Let's go, you subway ad taggers! Get out there and make us proud! Don't let us down!


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[*editor's note: While waiting for the train, we also encountered a dude we immediately dubbed "Doppelganger Shal" because he looked exactly like our friend Andy Shal. We'll keep an eye out for him in the coming weeks, too...




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