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On 7th Ave NE, south of NE 53rd Street.

Walking south.

 

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Presumed official graffiti identifying some sort of plugs in the sidewalk. I'd venture to geuss that it was done by a city crew as it spanned several properties on the public sidewalk.

Several more of these were found continuing southward.

 

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The following two images show that any surface can, and is, marked. Poles and vertical pipes are popular substrates for writing; writers align text in all orientations along these surfaces.

Mailboxes, too, are popular targets.

 

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Sometimes, writers play with the elements of the surface and "write within the lines". Here one writer has carefully stayed within the ring encircling the hydrant just below the cap.

 

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North of NE 50th Street.

Unsanctioned writing on poles and pipes...

 

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... juxtaposed with sanctioned writing on private property.

South of NE 50th Street.

 

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8th Ave NE.

"Official graffiti" on private property tries to appropriate the official look and authority of regulatory signage.

 

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Garbage dumpsters are another popular substrate for graffiti writing. Their often singular original color attracts marks of all sorts, some more colorful than others.

 

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7th Ave. NE, south of NE 42nd St.

Official graffiti sprayed onto sidewalk.

 

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NE 40th St., east of 7th Ave. NE.

Official, private graffiti

 

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It was sold by the time I called the number

 

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NE 40th St. / Campus Pkwy, underneath Roosevelt Way.

Odd-colored, geometric paint blocks cover unwanted graffiti. These are a form of graffiti in themselves. They stand out because the color of the paint never matches its surroundings. Ironically, rather than entirely masking graffiti, they explicitly point to the location where it once existed.

 

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Cereal & The Breakfast Club

Common marks found in the U-District. On the left is the abbreviated, "bubble font", version of Cereal's tag; on the right is a more signature-like version. The CE abbreviation is in itself an abbreviation of the CEr tag.

 

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"Calligraphic aggression" (Kostka, 1974)

Someone has demonstrated his/her disagreement with Cereal by augmenting the original mark in a negative way. This is a common practice.

 

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More calligraphic aggression

The car turned up a day or two after Cereal's moosehead.

 

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More members of The Breakfast Club.

 

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NE Campus Pkwy, west of 12th Ave. NE.

Presumed official graffiti painted in street.

 

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All images © Rev. Tom Dobrowolsky