Project 4:Invisible Places Made Visible

THE INSPIRATION:
World travelling graffiti artist ABOVE’s work

THE PLACE:
Graffiti Alley in Ann Arbor, MI, beside the Michigan Theater

WHy:

Beside the Michigan Theater, where the A&D School’s mandatory lectures are every Thursday, there is Graffiti Alley. Graffiti Alley is a well known place here in Ann Arbor. It is where strange mean dress up in outfits and play on upside down trashcans. It is where we sneak out of the Penny Stamps distinguished lecture series.  It is where photo shoots of sorts often take place. It is were amateur graffiti artist go to practice spraying. It is where those foreign to Ann Arbor feel unsafe passing by.

  The walls of graffiti alley have so many layers of graffiti that it’s often difficult to appreciate what is around it. Even when there is a piece of graffiti standing out amongst the others, it still gets muted by the surrounding colors, sprays, and stencils.

HOW:
To make the invisible aspects as well as expose the potential of graffiti alley, I want to take white spray paint and do various, consistent stencils over the colorful walls. Because of the walls being so suffocated by layers of color, the white stencils will stand out. For stencils I would like to make a variety of gallery-like frames to place around selected graffiti. This would help to separate the space and bring attention to the work. In addition a friendly sign with arrows pointing down the alley will read “Welcome to Graffiti Gally”.  

THE PROCESS

¡Took Preliminary Photos, to make a rough plan

¡Set Time, had to be strategic

¡Gathered Materials: tape, spray paint, stencils

¡Went to Work/Problem Solved

THE DURING

Random guy dancing....to michal Jackson the entire time....

THE AFTER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My classmates suggested using real frames, but I thought this was beyond what the wall was criminal wise. For the owners to rip off a frame as opposed to just painting over the layers of paint would be annoying. However it could be interesting to play with this in the future with maybe a easy way to remove the frame from the brick wall.

i was harder than I thought to separate the varying spray paint on the wall. The frames I placed ended up being more random. I would like to have some of the frames filled with blank white to suggest needing to be sprayed. Additionally I would still like to attempt to frame works through the alley which are lost.

I would like to re-do this project to improve it's effectiveness. The white paint in some areas was segregated as I liked, but not as strong. I did end up just experimenting and playing with the paint. I learned a lot from attempting this and could do so better next time with more planning as well as experience. The paint would be liquid as opposed to sprayed. Also the frames themselves would vary more with decorated edges, circles and ovals, and size to clearly read as frames. 

artist’s Statement

Overall with “Graffiti Gally” I would like for those passing by to feel safe and welcomed. Also for those who have dwelled around the alley or go through it to stop and relook at the space to gain a new appreciation.