Graffiti
Graffiti, whether it be framed as art, billboarding, or vandalism, is enough of a challenge to the statuesque to warrant its own distinct category. While modern impressions of the term may bring to mind murals of spray painted text, the concept itself can be long traced back through the roots of human history. Amongst artifacts from the ancient world we can find traces of names, "tags", gossip, and political messages, all which tie and tether the raw, pure reality a human experience to the spinning globe of the world and the eternal ebb of time.
This collection of exhibits is captures a range of graffiti from various areas across the United States. Each piece is unique, some are rough while others are more refined, and many are composites created layer by layer from numerous people tagging the same spot over time.
1: Railcar and Train Track
Tethered to the liminal, names and tags are scrawled across the sides of trains and rusty rail cars. Here graffiti finds itself a testament to the transient nature of trains, and a reminder of the lives that surround them: the people who ride, and the places they pass through.
2: The 🜄☰☉ Tags of Hartford and New Haven
For nearly two decades drivers passing through the greater Hartford and New Haven regions of Connecticut have noticed the recurring presence of three symbols spray painted on the sides of tunnels, spanning overpasses, and on structures throughout the region.
The characters “🜄☰☉” consisting of a triangle, three horizontal lines, and a circle with a dot in the middle, have left onlookers wondering about secret meanings since the they first started appearing in the early 2000s.
Some attribute the work to a graffiti artist going by the name Veo, the name derived directly from the symbols of the tag. Unconfirmed reports of places the tag has appeared extend as far as Puerto Rico, which could suggest a spanish translation of the word veo, which means “I see”.
Others have compared these symbols to the “hobo code” used by traveling gig seekers during the Great Depression. The symbols were said to have been used to communicate information such as a location’s level safety, or the availability of food. The symbols also resemble other ancient scripts, the “🜄” being a symbol used on ancient Greek manuscripts to denote water, and “☉” representing gold.
More likely than not, many instances of the tag are the work of copycats, who whether they are aware of it, are participating in a tradition as old as human history. From the walls of the Grand Palestra of Pompeii, possibly to the walls of ancient caves, the perpetuation of viral phrases, pictures, and “memes” has been a part of human culture for as long as we have been able to communicate.
At present, this digital museum has documented tags in the following locations:
- Hartford, CT
- New Haven, CT
- Enfield, CT
- Springfield, MA
