What we're doing right

Graffiti that will grow on you

6th September 2008

"A lot of graffiti is considered detrimental - this is meant to highlight environmental issues"

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Artists have always made statements on environmental issues, and these days more and more are practising what they preach. In abandoned lots and derelict public parks, guerrilla gardeners plant flowers, trees and vegetables. On dirty walls and other surfaces, “reverse grafitti” artists delineate words or images by removing grime – not only a striking way to draw attention to urban pollution, but clever as well since there are no legal grounds to arrest them. Artists in Chicago have cleared dirt from sidewalks to create messages about air-quality legislation. In San Francisco, a 42-metre-long mural displays the stencilled shapes of trees and plants alongside the highway that has replaced them.

Taking it even further is London-based illustrator Anna Garforth, whose “Mossenger” project involves making graffiti out of moss instead of paints, which contain harsh chemicals and are often washed away with other harsh chemicals. “A lot of graffiti is considered detrimental,” Ms. Garforth says. Her project involves spelling out a poem by Eleanor Stevens: “In this spore borne air,/ Watch your skin peel,/ Feel your lungs split open -/ Slowly the slits appear…” The first line is up on a wall in London – letters cut out of moss affixed to the surface with a mixture of yogurt and sugar. She hopes the eco-friendly murals will inspire others, provide habitat for insects, enrich local biodiversity and “highlight environmental issues through nature reclaiming the city.”

Published in The Green Report in The Globe and Mail

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• Tags:
• Art
• Cities
• England
• Guerilla Gardening

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