Walking through the city, I came across the stencilled work of the graffiti artist known as “Banksy”. I had seen it before and it was in the same place I had seen it but this time it was different although what exactly was different about it I couldn’t say. The rat with the “I love London Robbo” sign stared impassively back at me and dared me to make the connection.

Looking through the artist’s book, “Wall and Piece” (1) I did find and image of the original (2) where it was listed albeit with a different message on the sign, this time saying “Welcome to hell”. Whether this was the artist recreating the original with a different message or a copycat is a question that will likely never be answered but it does point to the transient nature of graffiti art. It’s a form of expression with a “Use by” date inherently attached. By its very nature, it is not something that can be retained and discussed for years to come even if the artist is widely respected although some have attempted to circumvent this by removing the wall itself for auction at a later date. Inevitably, someone, usually the authorities will go about the process of removing the piece, either by cleaning it off or by painting over it.

Another artist, known as “Mobstr” (3) chanced upon a means to exploit this process. His daily commute took him past a particular wall where a section was painted red. Noticing that graffiti on the red section was painted over with more red paint while graffiti on the rest of the wall was cleaned by high pressure water hose. Over the course of a year, he taunted the local authority by painting a singular word “RED” – in black paint – over the red part of the wall.

On each occasion, it would be painted over and he would repeat it, moving slightly further up each time until he wrote on both parts. His website documents by way of photographs, the course of the year leading to a remarkable (and hilarious) conclusion. Click on the link below to see what happened.

1 Wall and Piece Publisher: Century; New Ed edition (9 Nov. 2006) ISBN-10: 1844137872

2 “Welcome to hell” photo taken from (1)

3 http://www.mobstr.org/red/