Espied in SF

The backlash started within two weeks of the appearance of the We Can Save Each Other stencils.



Little did we know that this wasn't the end of the story.

A few months ago the city of San Francisco was innundated with a series of stencils that started appearing on the sidewalks. Valencia Street was covered with them. Each side of the street one could find stencils such as this:


And this:
And this:

Other sayings included:

• Love Me Till My Heart Stops
• You're the One I Wanted to Find
• I've Waited My Whole Life For You
• Can You Find Love For Me?
• Your Love is All I Think About
• This Time It'll Be Different
• With Hope Anything is Possible

They also ventured out into the realm of stickerdom:


Other stickers included:

• This Time It Will Be Different
• I'm Saving Myself Through Loving You
• Your Sweet Voice Breaks My Heart
  

We slowly started to realize that not only did this group of stencil grafitiostas hit up the Mission, they hit Hayes Valley, the Castro, Dolores Park, and practically every inch of sidewalk in San Francisco.

While the Staff of the Painted Ground gushed over the beauty of their statements, the rest of San Francisco started to get annoyed.

The backlash tomorrow.

We giggle every time we see this picture.

In Late 2005, the staff of the Painted Ground (namely, me and DDT) started noticing that a new stencil graffitiosta had moved to the neighbourhood. He called himself Zefrey. Little did we know that he was going to be prolific and hold the honor of the second NRG we've ever talked about.

At first we did not know what to make of Zefrey's statement of longing and self-importance. Was Zefrey a band? Was a new blockbuster movie we were not aware of? What kind of product was Zefrey selling?


Relief came when we started seeing the hand written Zefrey stickers around town. We came to the conclusion that either the hype machine ran out of money or that Zefrey is a one-man graffiti-ing machine. We prefered to think of it as the latter.

We're still a bit uncertain as to why Zefrey loves us so damn much. We've personally never met the guy, but we think we know someone who knows someone who had a class with Zefrey's great aunt's daughter once removed. So, we kinda know him. We've never had a drink with him or anything. Although, I suppose it's possible that he was in line in front of us at Papalote once.

It's good to know that he believes in something, though.

God knows we need another person with another agenda in San Francisco.

Recently he started branching out into another medium, that of posters on the Wall. It came to a surprise when we saw the above poster. It's quite nice. Although, we are beginning to worry about him.

Does he need to get laid? Did someone break his heart so much that he has irrepairable damage? Y'know, there comes a point where you have to let go. Find someone else. There are so many fish in the sea and all tha crap. Craigslist is a great place to meet women. We know someone who met their future spouse on MySpace, too. Granted, he lives a continent away, but they seem to make things work.

Zefrey tends to make San Franciscans know that he is responsible for his own work.

There is one exception that we've come across, though.

If this wasn't written on the neon green sticker, then we would have overlooked it.

Is this a sign of confidence or sloppiness? What is he trying to accomplish? Why do we keep asking rhetorical questions?

Welcome to the first of what I hope to be many posts about Non-Repeat Graffitiostas.

Non-Repeat Graffitiostas (NRGs) are those graffiti artists that tend to be varied in their numerous postings all over a certain city. Usually there is one thing that acts as the glue to connect the postings. Whether it be a symbol or the same signature or name. NRGs are quite often original with their statements.

Take Loverboy for, example.


Loverboy, unlike his (?) Canadian rock group counterpart, posts stickers all over the city with different comments. I've never come across a repeat, although I suppose it is possible.

The little heart after each of his statements caused me to dub him Loverboy. I guess I wasn't in an original mood then

Like many of the other NRGs, Loverboy's statements can be found in the nooks and crannies of San Francisco. Look close enough. I'm sure you can find something in your neighborhood. Check out the newspaper boxes and street signs. I found the following on a sticker in the middle of a median.


He tends to get around as well. I've seen his stickers in the Mission, the Lower Haight and the SOMA. Although I've yet to look in other neighborhoods, I'm sure he has hit several others.

Yeah, I know. They're comparing two different things. I don't get it either.

It reminds me of the conversation I had with my mom. When Blockbuster started to convert to solely DVD's my parents took advantage of the VHS closeouts. They would buy three movies on VHS at a time for something like ten dollars.

Being the snooty movie snob son that I am, I chastised her for doing this. The VHS tape had gone the way of the dinosaur and here she was trying to preserve these fossils. I let her know that DVD's were so much better than tape. They look better, too.

She insisted that VHS looks a lot better than DVD. I couldn't convince her otherwise. Still, my dad knows that she's full of "balloon juice." After decades of being married you have to just ignore your spouse's idiosyncrasies. Otherwise it'll just drive you nuts.

At least my dad knows the power of the DVD.

All hail the DVD.

If anything better comes to replace the DVD I won't accept it, though. Damn kids and their new recording formats.

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[espied right next to lost weekend]

A few weeks ago I made a comment about how much I love the grafitiostas named "We Are Ravens!"

A lot has happened since then. DDT has moved out of town to establish the second chapter for the Painted Ground and the following Saturday I got drunk lamenting the fact that he has left the neighborhood. What does an self-respecting drunk man do on a Saturday night? Why, surf the web of course!

An idea had been mulling around my brain for a few days. Alcohol was the culprit who let that beast out. With reckless abandon I decided to head on over to the best place in the net to communicate with complete strangers. You know it as Craigslist.

I posted the following:

"We Are Ravens!!

Where have you been?

We miss you.

Love,
Espied and the Painted Ground."

What did I have to lose? An anonymous post like this had an extremely large change of being ingnored. I knew that. I just wanted to see what would happen. I did not expect a damn thing.

A week passed. I nursed my hangover and life went on.

Then, last Friday night (6/9/06) I came across the following, posted at 24th and Guerrero, right across the street from the hallowed garbage can:


If I were a teenage girl I would have squealed with delight. Instead, I immediately ran home and grabbed my camera. I couldn't I was filled with glee the whole night long. In fact, I had trouble falling asleep. It's as if I just made contact with an alien race. I'm not positive that they were talking to me or not, but I'd like to think that they were.

It seemed that We Are Ravens! was busy that weekend. PG staffer Vigilant_Josh also found this a few steps away from his apartment:


I would love to take this one home with me, but I'm afraid of this cushion. I'm almost positive it smells of dog pee-pee by now. If I wash it I'd be afraid that the ink would be washed away.

*sigh*

We Are Ravens! Thanks for making our weekend a little happier over here in the Mission and up in the Pac NW. It's true. We did miss you! Now that you're back, won't you visit more often?

I realized in my last post I mentioned a wall. I then realized that I have not given you fair readers a proper introduction to The Wall.

The Wall is part of a building that was once the Mission Police Station before the new, state-of-the-art station was built on Valencia and 17th. It's situated on Valencia Street between 23rd and 24th Streets. Once the boys in blue evacuated the premises someone converted it into condos. Or so I'm told. I never see anyone entering or exiting this little building. For all I know it could be still vacant.

The Wall is one of the many places on Valencia Street where street artists can express themselves through the many posters, stickers, and stencils. The ever-changing wall is a sight to see. Come by and visit when you get a chance.

Just when I thought all that was left of David Bradbury HÅning was a shadow...

I recieved an e-mail.

More DBH can be found here:
DBH Flickr set.
Someone else blogged about DBH. I'm starting to think my ideas aren't so original.

Thanks Tellumo.

***********************
[espied on Mission between 3rd & 4th]

Fridays are nice, aren't they? You have the whole weekend to look forward to. A weekend full of sunny days and warm evenings where sitting on the back patio and drinking beer is almost required.

Try as you might, you know that Monday is coming. Just like this sinister looking character, Monday hides behind the corner, ready to pounce when you least expect it.

I'm just saying, is all.

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[espied on Guerrero @ 22nd Street]

A quiet day over here at Espied.

The Painted Ground is taking a small respite, too.

See you tomorrow.