One Love / One Like
It used to be about One Love. A very popular phrase about positivity and universal peace and acceptance.
I changed the love for like. In this day and age likes are a currency of acceptance.
This short arrangement of lettering, correction and 'like' notification sums up my despair in modern society in a succinct way.
It takes the rebellious act of going out and writing on something and then trashes that in a demeaning way with the correction like that of a school teacher.
The orange heart is the push notification that you receive once somebody double taps on your image, this is the part of the technology that is addictive.
That rush of endorphins is the thing that makes you want to post things online in the first place to get that acceptance from your followers/peers.
With graffiti you get the initial buzz from committing the act of spray painting at the time.
You are trying not to be seen.
You aim to be as quick as possible yet your trying to do something to the best of your abilities.
It is based on predicting how this paint is going to leave the nozzle and hit the surface.
You have a muscle memory that activates, its based on you using this tool (the spray can) over and over again in the past.
You have to control your nerves as rushing rarely helps matters in stressful situations, it reflects in your quality of line.
Once the chosen site has been completed you still have to get home without the long arm of the law catching up with you.
The following day you have the secondary and most satisfying part of committing the act. Seeing your work in the daytime. This can too be disappointing if you have not put enough time into mastering the spray can.
So at these two points endorphins are released. Now the graffiti artist has a third chance to get a rush- putting it on social media.
This is a short lived thrill. Determined by algorithms it gives a wider audience a chance to see the artists handy work.
It takes the act of spraying and shows it off to the world. The downside to this is that it is also logging your illegal activity if the chosen site for your work is not a sanctioned one. This leads to the next point of endorphin release the sound of the Graffiti squad knocking on your door at 6 am to have a chat.
The crux of this article is be careful what you choose to put online if you are a graffiti artist. The thrill of drawing something on a wall is not enough for people anymore these days. It would seem it is an important part of the process to document the act, post it online and validate it with likes. Likes are an imaginary orange heart or blue thumb that somebody invented in silicone valley to keep you interested with there app or social media platform.
Graffiti is pure act of rebellion, a crime of passion.
