A photo blog all about people ruining other people’s stuff cuz it’s funny.
bestrooftalkever:

Have you ever walked around in Lower Manhattan and noticed a trail of paint on the sidewalk?

About 3 years ago, one of my friends in school decided to follow the trail around and noticed that the trail produced the image that you see above; a strange-looking rendering of what appeared to be the word “momo.” MOMO, we found out, was the name of an artist that used to be based in NYC, and sure enough, the one responsible for tagging his name across the width of Manhattan.
After requesting a meetup, MOMO told my friend that he accomplished this task by fixing 5 gallon paint buckets to the back of his bike, poking a hole in the bottom of the containers, and riding though the West Village, SoHo, Greenwich Village, East Village, and Alphabet City. Momo made the tag in 2006. Some parts of the line have been covered up by roadwork and redone sidewalks but most of the line is still visible.
To me, the interesting thing about the line is how both similar and different it is to regular graffiti. Essentially, most graffiti writers enjoy seeing their name on things. The bigger they can paint it and the more visible their tag is, the more people will notice their conquering of the city. MOMO created the largest tag in New York, yet the scale of his work here, so massive that it can’t all be viewed at once, means that thousands of people will walk on it each day and never even notice it. It’s simultaneously the biggest and smallest artistic statement I have seen in my time here.
MOMO made a video about the line which you can see here.
If you ever walk over it, now you’ll know what you’re looking at.

Large scale defacement

bestrooftalkever:

Have you ever walked around in Lower Manhattan and noticed a trail of paint on the sidewalk?

About 3 years ago, one of my friends in school decided to follow the trail around and noticed that the trail produced the image that you see above; a strange-looking rendering of what appeared to be the word “momo.” MOMO, we found out, was the name of an artist that used to be based in NYC, and sure enough, the one responsible for tagging his name across the width of Manhattan.

After requesting a meetup, MOMO told my friend that he accomplished this task by fixing 5 gallon paint buckets to the back of his bike, poking a hole in the bottom of the containers, and riding though the West Village, SoHo, Greenwich Village, East Village, and Alphabet City. Momo made the tag in 2006. Some parts of the line have been covered up by roadwork and redone sidewalks but most of the line is still visible.

To me, the interesting thing about the line is how both similar and different it is to regular graffiti. Essentially, most graffiti writers enjoy seeing their name on things. The bigger they can paint it and the more visible their tag is, the more people will notice their conquering of the city. MOMO created the largest tag in New York, yet the scale of his work here, so massive that it can’t all be viewed at once, means that thousands of people will walk on it each day and never even notice it. It’s simultaneously the biggest and smallest artistic statement I have seen in my time here.

MOMO made a video about the line which you can see here.

If you ever walk over it, now you’ll know what you’re looking at.

Large scale defacement

bestrooftalkever:

Have you ever walked around in Lower Manhattan and noticed a trail of paint on the sidewalk?

About 3 years ago, one of my friends in school decided to follow the trail around and noticed that the trail produced the image that you see above; a strange-looking rendering of what appeared to be the word “momo.” MOMO, we found out, was the name of an artist that used to be based in NYC, and sure enough, the one responsible for tagging his name across the width of Manhattan.
After requesting a meetup, MOMO told my friend that he accomplished this task by fixing 5 gallon paint buckets to the back of his bike, poking a hole in the bottom of the containers, and riding though the West Village, SoHo, Greenwich Village, East Village, and Alphabet City. Momo made the tag in 2006. Some parts of the line have been covered up by roadwork and redone sidewalks but most of the line is still visible.
To me, the interesting thing about the line is how both similar and different it is to regular graffiti. Essentially, most graffiti writers enjoy seeing their name on things. The bigger they can paint it and the more visible their tag is, the more people will notice their conquering of the city. MOMO created the largest tag in New York, yet the scale of his work here, so massive that it can’t all be viewed at once, means that thousands of people will walk on it each day and never even notice it. It’s simultaneously the biggest and smallest artistic statement I have seen in my time here.
MOMO made a video about the line which you can see here.
If you ever walk over it, now you’ll know what you’re looking at.

Large scale defacement

bestrooftalkever:

Have you ever walked around in Lower Manhattan and noticed a trail of paint on the sidewalk?

About 3 years ago, one of my friends in school decided to follow the trail around and noticed that the trail produced the image that you see above; a strange-looking rendering of what appeared to be the word “momo.” MOMO, we found out, was the name of an artist that used to be based in NYC, and sure enough, the one responsible for tagging his name across the width of Manhattan.

After requesting a meetup, MOMO told my friend that he accomplished this task by fixing 5 gallon paint buckets to the back of his bike, poking a hole in the bottom of the containers, and riding though the West Village, SoHo, Greenwich Village, East Village, and Alphabet City. Momo made the tag in 2006. Some parts of the line have been covered up by roadwork and redone sidewalks but most of the line is still visible.

To me, the interesting thing about the line is how both similar and different it is to regular graffiti. Essentially, most graffiti writers enjoy seeing their name on things. The bigger they can paint it and the more visible their tag is, the more people will notice their conquering of the city. MOMO created the largest tag in New York, yet the scale of his work here, so massive that it can’t all be viewed at once, means that thousands of people will walk on it each day and never even notice it. It’s simultaneously the biggest and smallest artistic statement I have seen in my time here.

MOMO made a video about the line which you can see here.

If you ever walk over it, now you’ll know what you’re looking at.

Large scale defacement

Posted 1 day ago 132 notes

Notes:

  1. stephanielynne7 reblogged this from carriepuchta
  2. amillionfalsestarts reblogged this from tanya77
  3. katietothemax reblogged this from kristinagrossmann
  4. xtinee reblogged this from jessicalikesorange
  5. rockhawkjohnny reblogged this from danzilla and added:
    i think it looks like a kinda funky pair of glasses… deal with it.
  6. freebird-ly reblogged this from itsdesigned
  7. jessicalikesorange reblogged this from danzilla and added:
    I really want ot find this the next time I’m there.
  8. agermanwordforthat reblogged this from defaced
  9. anextraordinarymachine reblogged this from defaced
  10. danzilla reblogged this from defaced
  11. mrwcase reblogged this from onedarlingday and added:
    This is so rad. I’ve always wondered what that paint was but never thought too much about it. Props to MOMO.
  12. jessicalovesyou reblogged this from johnnyonespur
  13. essandk reblogged this from defaced
  14. johnnyonespur reblogged this from defaced
  15. anotherginontherox reblogged this from theotherjac and added:
    Fucking awesome.
  16. thisiswhereileaveyou reblogged this from blackenedbutterfly
  17. theotherjac reblogged this from defaced and added:
    of his work here, so massive that it can’t all be viewed at once, means that thousands of people will walk on it each...
  18. weroseupslowly reblogged this from museumsandstuff
  19. kristiewilliams reblogged this from kristinagrossmann
  20. hell-low reblogged this from defaced
  21. oigaoilegor reblogged this from markagbayani
  22. museumsandstuff reblogged this from defaced and added:
    bestrooftalkever:...Have you ever walked around in Lower Manhattan and noticed a trail of...
  23. vide-cor-meum reblogged this from nowaitbutreally

About:

Defaced is a blog all about rejoicing in spotting things that have been drawn on, torn apart, covered in stickers, or just plain sullied.

It was started in 2010 by Justin Johnson. You can contact him here.

See a great defacement when you're on the go? Email it to defacedblog at gmail dot com! (add us to your phonebook!)

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