Reverse graffiti......something we might be able to relate to!!!

An art revolution that is pretty new & innovative is one which is happening on the streets of San Francisco done by a group of local artists who aim to contribute their bit to the environment.

Called as 'reverse graffiti', the project uses guerrilla tactics of street-art on public walls, thus reversing the effects of pollution & actually turning the definition of graffiti on its head to produce wall art that is both unique & beautiful. It is a type of street art that instead of defacing public property, actually effaces it. Confused??

Well, to simplify it, the artists who practice this kind of art, actually remove filth/ dirt from public property like walls etc which acts like their canvas & in doing so, create imagery that is one of a kind. Thus the art created, is a mural that is both simple & expressive which goes to show that even without putting paint on a canvas, art can be expressed by removing something from it!!!!

The project was the brainchild of artist Paul Curtis, who together with other US artists created a clean, green 140 ft mural on the walls of San Francisco's Broadway tunnel by actually scrubbing away dirt & grime from the tunnel walls to reveal a stunning portrait of a flourishing forest of native plants, providing an inverse reflection of how the site may have looked 500 years ago. Since the tunnel sees a continuous rush of vehicles everyday, the soot & dirt caused by them had to be washed by high pressure water streams & eco-friendly cleaning agents to get it back to its former glory.

Maybe it is work such as this, that is ultimately needed to jolt people out of their complacency & make them realise that the world is a really dirty place & what is found outside, will in most certainty be found inside since we inhale the same thing!!!