DO-IT-MONDAY

Just like last week we keep ourselves in the spirit of the environmental-friendly expressions out there and this week we want to highlight an intervention that shows us how dirty we really are… or actually how dirty our cities really are  ; )

REVERSE GRAFFITI

Also under the name of grime writing, clean graffiti, clean tagging, green graffiti… this reverse writing on walls is an eco-friendly (though as much controversial) style of creating temporary designs on walls and other kind of surfaces by removing (or reducing) the dirt from its surface.

One of the very first pioneers who took the effort to start cleaning and scrubbing the walls, sidewalks, benches, and all kind of urban surfaces of his city by leaving behind his (commissioned) mark at the very same time, is Paul “Moose” Curtis. In the newspaper the Guardian, he refers to this eco-graffiti as «an impact-free means of self-expression writ large on city walls and tunnels».

But also in Brazil, one artist took similar steps to create more «dirty» awareness. Alexandre Orion is his name and along with this unpermissioned act of cleaning the walls, he started to design wicked figures and characters. Here you have a little video of one of his very first interventions in 2006 in a tunnel in São Paulo; under the name «Ossário» (referring to the resting place of skeletons, which were the designs he used on this 1000ft long wall). Ps. check also the reaction of the people passing by ; )

So how you DO-IT yourself?

Very simple !

You take a brush, a fabric, a highwaterpressure… and you just focus on those urban parts you want to clean/scrub/mark. You can use pre-made stencils to remove the layers of dirt while creating letters, trees, bees, flowers and so many more magnificent designs.

Share your results and/or tips & tricks on our (#yesyoucanspray) facebookpage !