Memorial day - 39

Is it a piece of graffiti or a memorial?

Outside the entrance to the Imperial War Museum in London stands a section of the infamous Berlin Wall. The section formerly stood near the Brandenburg Gate.

The graffiti on the wall is by the graffiti artist Indiano.

The wall was erected in August 1961 by the East German security force to isolate the East German sector of Berlin.

On 9th November 1989, following a civil unrest, the East German Government announced that it would allow its citizens to visit West Berlin and West Germany. This was the signal for the citizens of both East and West Berlin to demolish the hated wall.

Between 1961 and 1989, 80 people died while attempting to cross from East to West Berlin.

Ephemeral art

The photograph was posted on My Shared Images

It was a cold wet Monday afternoon in early November, London's South Bank was blessedly free of tourists. Passing by Festival Hall I saw two figures under the Queen Elizabeth Hall podium - this area is normally crowded with skateboarders, trick-cyclists and graffiti artists. One was spraying while the other watched.

I stopped to watch as he meticulously applied the final touches to his painting. I was struck by the time and effort invested in the work - particularly as the graffiti would not be seen by many, or last very long. A Tag painted on the wall lasts on average at most a few days, before it is covered by another tag, or the daub of some paint toting young yob. I was inquisitive to know - what was his motivation.

I went to speak to the artist, who turned out to be a German visiting London for the day. Why paint graffiti? Why not put his obvious talents to another form of painting?
The answer was simple - it's what I do.
But it will only last a few hours.
It doesn't matter, I know for a few hours my work will have appeared on a wall in London.

At the time I couldn't understand the motivation, but on reflection I realise a large section of performance art is ephemeral - music, ballet and drama. Appreciated by the audience at the time of the performance, then just a memory.

The next morning I walked past the wall and as anticipated the graffiti had been obliterated by another.

The photo on the right? Well that's what the same piece of wall looked like yesterday afternoon - but there's a good chance its already been painted over by more graffiti.

As I said in Friday's blog "Artists give a representation of perceived reality", so it is with graffiti - we live in a disposable world.