There
stands on the outskirts of my town a homage to a big cheese created a
hundred years ago. It has long been forgotten by the town but I see
it every day when I park my car.
Creative
souls painted it a few years ago with their own tag. No one has
noticed, well almost no one. It sits in silence almost in deference
to the so called progression in this town.
Two
years ago the same tag was painted on a derelict barn the town owned.
No one noticed or at least spoke not a word until one day a so
called reporter contacted the town to enquire what it was about.
Shortly after the second tag was white washed with a response that it
was vandalism and would not be tolerated. Ummm, vandalism? I had to
shut me mouth in fear the original would suffer the same fate.
I was
tempted to contact the reporter and suggest she investigate the
meaning about the first one and its connection to the second, but
pondered she doesn't really have a clue about the soul of the town
and decided not to just in case this was white washed as well. And
so the original still sits in silence.
While I
understand some may call it destructive graffiti I have always
admired the underground artisans. I relish sitting at the train
crossings and seeing the tags, always colourful and full of meanings
to the artists, while I attempt to decipher. Rolling Hello's I have
named them.
We all
want to leave our mark on this world and I believe this is their way.
The next time you sit and curse at the crossing, seek the tags and
wonder who and why painted them. But most of all smile and nod as
you too understand their need for recognition.