Paper Graffiti Dissolves
Yesterday I had a shot of this paper graffiti which to me was a new thing. Comments on that post revealed it is a known form of graffiti, and observed previously in this area. The decomposition of such graffiti must be considered by the creator as part of the artistic process, and I suppose sheds light on the concept of transformative art. The picture above was taken yesterday (December 13th) and is a similar view to yesterday’s shot that was taken on November 24th. As you can see, we had no sun yesterday, but the Olympic Peninsula seemed to be in it for much of the day; thank goodness for that distant sun as this would be a really boring shot otherwise!
The photograph below is a detail cropped from yesterday’s image. Looking at it while cropping I notice that three weeks ago it was already beginning to dissolve. There are scraps of the blue in the grass and the brown drawing is peeling away from the concrete barrier.
Paper graffiti detail from yesterday’s post (taken Nov 24th)
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This next shot is a detail as found yesterday. Most of the image has unglued and fallen, and is all folded on itself.
As found 13th December
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I unfolded the pieces that had fallen to get see details of what had been, and that is what you see in the following two photographs. I find this quite interesting. It would be very cool to be able to do a timelapse sequence over a month or so of the art dissolving away. Hard to set up and implement though, so we will just have to imagine it.
Opened up to see detail
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Opened up to see details
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Canon EOS 5D MkII, Canon 50mm/f1.4 lens, ISO100, top: f5.6, 1/60th, +/- 2.0 E.V., processed in Photomatix, lower three: f5.6, 1/25th and 1/40th.
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burnt embers 
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…nap rule…LOVE IT! Sounds like you had an awesome day, so jealous! 🙂
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A few days like that, and then it will be nose to grindstone – a different one, but still…. Even so, looking forwards is going to fun.
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It looks like you had an Adventure on your first day of retirement! Thanks for going back to the paper graffiti and looking at it again. It was very interesting to be able to see the work up close; did you take the pieces home to frame them?
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Hi Melinda. It was right on the way to see my daughter and granddaughter, so it combined for a very nice morning. We went for a nice bowl of soup and the little one ate all of the carrot from both our bowls, all of the celery, much of the potato, demolished the centres out of both my slices of bread and we all had a good time! I had a nice long nap in the afternoon, but also fit in some planning for an upcoming research project and a few other odds and ends.
As to the artwork. I think it would be wrong to take it away and interrupt its transformation via the elements (other than by ‘taking’ pictures of it). I even felt a bit bad about opening up the wet pieces to photograph them as that too interferes with that process, except that I am part of the environment so I guess that is OK. I might have to read more of those articles you linked to yesterday and see if there might be some discussion hidden away on the idea of decay in this kind of art.
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I understand that you’d leave the graffiti where you found it – and understand, too, that you’d have second thoughts about opening it up. I have similar rules for myself when I am shooting.
Your first-day-of-retirement story was adorable. There’s a chance I am jealous that you’ve got time to spend with your family. And take naps.
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Speaking of rules, naps rule.
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I know! At work, I have volunteered to be part of a study group looking into implementing Mandatory Safety Naps. It’s a grueling assignment, but I AM pretty loyal.
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That is the kind of work I want. Paid naps, even Pilot Project Naps would be great.
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