Standing in front of one of the dirtiest tunnels of Leeds, England, Paul Curtis, called “Moose”, saw the signs left from the shoulders of wobbly drunks and the fingers of curious children and, with just a pair of socks as a tool the “Reverse Graffiti” was born. No paint, no defacement. Moose creates his art cleaning; removing the dirt and dust of the pollution. Once the art work is done there is no type of trash left, just the traces of a masterpiece totally eco-sustainable. In conclusion, graffiti are the contrary; instead of using toxic paints they are doing a favor to the environment cleaning the walls of our cities from the thin dusts, and at the same time creating an art work.
The techniques are different, but they all reach the same goal. Less filth and more beauty in the city. Depending on the location and the surface to work on, the “socks” can be replaced by high pressure nozzles which, in order to conserve the total absence of environmental impact, use strictly gathered rainwater! In the past 10 years, Moose has refined and improved his technique, thanks to which he has gained more and more notoriety, up to the point to start receiving real assignments on commission.
Not only, his idea was considered so brilliant that a lot of companies begun to be born, which use this method for real publicity campaigns. Considering the low making costs and the possibility of being used on any surface, many well known companies and multinationals have invested right away this phenomenon giving birth to what many advertisers call “streetbanding”. In my opinion, what makes these works of art even more unique and interesting is their short life. Unlike the common graffiti these have a limited life span…in fact depending on the pollution level, the pedestrian passing, the climate and the type of surface, they can last from 1 to 5 months. Moose’s passion for these types of legal graffiti is truly immense, even if at the beginning he was labeled as a vandal of the media organs.
The movement of pressure “Keep Britain Tidy” opposed itself strongly to the Reverse Graffiti. In 2005 some of them appeared on the Wills Memorial Building in Bristol, to remove them £750.000 were spent (around the million euros). Curtis was accused to have broken the law on the anti-social behavior but, up till now the sentence and the real implications are still unknown. Many petitions from various authorities were moved against this phenomenon. Fortunately none of them has found legal holds to be continued. Just as Moose sais “Nobody owns the dirt”!
Thanks to: reversegraffitiproject.com
Edited by: ANDREA CARRARA
Published on Dolce Vita International 3
