Earlier last week, a series of anonymous graffiti paintings appeared across campus, sparking debate and concern. The graffiti pieces were found at BiHall, Forest Lounge, the Center for the Arts, Virtue Field House, Warner, Hillcrest, Ross and Munroe, according to Facilities Services and student sources.
At BiHall, one stencil spray-painting depicted a riot police officer holding a baton, with the words “TOO MANY COPS, TOO LITTLE JUSTICE.” The stencil appeared next to a large sprayed security camera and the words “NO CAMERAS.” At the entrance of Ross dining hall, a graffiti work read “BLACK POWER MATTERS”.
A stenciled rat in a suit appeared in multiple locations: Warner, the Field House and a trashcan at the entrance of CFA.
Another, on the exterior wall of the CFA entrance, read “THIEF,” which is stylistically different from the others. “It does not make any sense, unlike the stencil ones, which are better done. I think they are trying to say something but just not in the right way,” said Elyse Barnard ’15, who saw the isolated one at the CFA and a few at Ross.
The appearance of the graffiti coincides with a wave of campus events focusing on street art. Most notably, the exhibition held at the College Museum of Art, “Outside In: Art of the Street,” which launched on Feb. 13. Other events included the completion of a new Museum façade and a museum piece commenting on Andy Warhol both painted by British street artist Ben Eine over Winter Break and a documentary screening of “Style Wars” by the co-producer and photographer Henry Chalfant.
The College exhibition contrasts with the black and white graffiti that appeared outside the CFA and on College buildings. The juxtaposition reveals not only the different level of artistic expression, but also the divergent destinies of the works by famous graffiti artists and the ones that appeared on campus.
Many current social issues are at play in the messages inherent to the graffiti. Joanne Wu ’15 commented on the display outside of Ross Dining Hall, which read “BLACK POWER MATTERS.”
She said, “I think damaging public property in any form is irresponsible, in part because we are in this living space together. There are many non-destructive ways to get out your message that are equally, if not less, impactful. I do not agree with it. But I do agree that it has a high impact factor because it gets people’s notice.”
On the effectiveness of the message, Wu mentioned the installation in the Davis Family Library focusing on the issues of Mexican immigration and mistreatment of Mexican labor.
She points out the deficiency of context of the campus graffiti and compares it to the more academic way of putting an installation in the library, which goes through the bureaucracy. “I think they have a very provocative display in the library. That also attracts attention,” she said.
However, not everyone knew as much about the graffiti pieces that appeared. Professor of American Studies Timothy Spears saw the graffiti at the Athletic Complex and heard about others, but could not speculate about their purpose or origin. Many people, like Nika Fehmiu ’17, did not hear about it at all partly because the Facilities Services were called in promptly to remove the graffiti works.
Director of Facilities Services Michael Moser explained the cleaning process in an email response to the Campus. He said, “A solvent is used to remove graffiti on painted surfaces, then these surfaces will be repainted when weather allows. For stone surfaces we use a special paste to extract the graffiti. Both of these methods are effective, and are labor intensive.”
Moser and Spears confirmed that this is not the first time graffiti has appeared on campus. According to the College archives, numerous incidents of graffiti have occurred at the College, from basic desk inscriptions in 1966 to political messages on the cement canisters outside Weybridge in 1979. From 2006-2008, Lower Forest almost became a studio and gallery for student graffiti, murals and stenciling until the room was painted over in 2012. At the same time, homophobic graffiti appeared in Ross and prompted the then Ross Commons Heads Steve and Katy Smith Abbott and the administration to resolutely step in. These incidents and the most recent all point to a long history of active and passionate students with a desire to be heard.
