On a run through Fry’s Spring last week, I took a left turn not far from Dürty Nelly’s and headed towards Highland Avenue and one of my favorite graffiti spots—PoemSite, a mixed-media installation by Andrea Korotky and Laurance Wieder. Every so often, Korotky sends me an e-mail to let me know that the couple finished another piece; sure enough, I found a salvaged, painted window in the yard of their home, along with copies of one of Wieder’s poems, “Happiness Is My Beat.”
“Songs in the Landscape,” Korotky and Wieder call PoemSite—and if there’s a better description for graffiti, well, I’m all ears. When I solicited examples of local street art on the Feedback blog last week, a reader commented: “Spend all day trying to get that CRAP off of your own property and you will have a different point of view too.” But others wrote in about a memorial mural beneath the Ninth Street bridge and messages on the trains that cross Second Street with curiosity, if not affection for the work.
While discussion of local graffiti comes and goes, the presence of art on the body of our city is something of an ongoing dialogue—between the artists, onlookers and the physical landscape. A scrawl or signature on a sidewalk is often conceived as more than an act of vandalism, even if it’s only perceived as such; often, it’s an answer to a question, or the start of a new topic of conversation. Or, for Wieder and Korotky, a new song.
Feedback decided to round up some of the recent street art in our city. You can find a slideshow of more graffiti from around town elsewhere on c-ville.com; e-mail feedback@c-ville.com to add your own to the mix!
Worn, with pride
Not too long ago, Worn in Red drummer Brad Perry sent a few new tracks to Feedback for a listen, and thoroughly thrashed your columnist’s thinkin’ cells. Now, it sounds like such brain-rattling devastation may be yours in the not-too-distant future: Worn in Red will reportedly release its next full-length album through No Idea Records, a Gainesville, Florida-based punk rock label behind releases from punk acts like Hot Water Music, Against Me! and This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb. Way to go, fellows!
