The Artistry of Lansing Graffiti: A Gallery
I think at some point in our lives we've all done a little graffiti.
We can't help it.
Some people get bored while sittin' on the can in a public restroom, so what happens? The urge to put something on the stall wall gets instilled in the brain. OH NO! Nothing to write with! So what do you do? Something sharp will do...keys, jackknife, pen...anything that will mar the wall with our juvenile scribblings or dirty pictures.
While bathroom walls are the favorite mode of most minor graffiti-ists, coming in second would be abandoned buildings. Investigating an abandoned building usually uncovers an enormous amount of graffiti. Most of these scrawlings are dirty words and pictures, usually of the male and female anatomy. It doesn't take an Einstein or any kind of creative genius to print the “f” word on a wall – that's why we find so much of it.
But within the boundaries of these childish squiggles and doodles come the true graffiti artists...and artists they are. Some of this is true artwork...I mean 100% AWESOME artwork. It's a shame to let this artistry go to waste. These masterful graffiti artists should stay away from abandoned buildings and do some legal murals. Many of them do, thank goodness, and you can see a lot of their work in downtown areas, where business owners welcome the artwork.
Some people see these works of art as vandalism (the cheesy, vulgar stuff definitely is) while others see through that veneer and appreciate it for the excellent artwork. Personally, I am a big fan of graffiti art – it's colorful, creative, beautiful, Bohemian, and carefree.
Below is a gallery of still shots taken by a man known as “The Graffiti Wanderer”, who came through Lansing a while back and got some great footage. Take a look and see!
CAUTION: As with most graffiti, there may be an unsavory word or two that slips through in the photos below.....just a heads-up.
Lansing Graffiti
MORE LANSING STUFF!
Miscellaneous Lansing, 1870s-1960s
Life In Lansing, 1850s-1960s
Lansing Miscellaneous Part 3
Lansing Restaurant Memorabilia
Lansing Theaters and Memorabilia