A Graffiti Phase

I said in my application to study abroad that I was interested in Copenhagen because it's an great place for art and artists. I was lying, like I was in most of my application, about my reasons for going. In truth I was more intrigued by the low GPA requirement for the program as well as the convenient fact that it was estimated to be the cheapest study abroad location offered (hard to believe in such an insanely expensive place). But right now it seems like I actually have been harboring some fascination with art. Since first arriving here I have already gone to the National Gallery six times and actually enjoyed myself. I've even been drawing everyday, which is sort of a shame since I should be reading or writing more since I actually plan on making money with those skills some day.

In any case, it's obvious that Copenhagen has more artistic energy than the average metro area. In addition to the numerous private and public galleries, the expensive art dealers, and the modern architecture that everyone can see in any guide book, there is also great variety of entertaining graffiti covering buildings around town.

Many of the spray paintings and stencils I've seen have been cool enough to belong in an Urban Outfitters coffee table book. It seems like all the creative energy has overflowed from hands of the rich and high brow art of the ritzier areas of the city and developed into a strong community of anonymous street artists. Although most of the graffiti I've seen has been nothing more than the usual stylized typography, there's a lot of work out there that I would argue is genuine art.

But some of the typography is pretty rad in its own right:

In conjunction with my new drawing habit, seeing all this casual creation is making me want to try out tagging for myself. I've been learning enough about light and shadows to make a good stencil by this point without using Photoshop to filter an image for me. I've wondered if I have the skills necessary to free hand a big fist. Since I've never touched a spray can before, I can't be sure. It would be sweet though, I saw that a guy had already beat me to the idea in an abandoned building near Christiania.

On second thought, this looks like it may actually be a print that's been pasted to the wall. In that case, I don't feel so bad about not being able to replicate it with nothing more than a couple spray cans.