LOCALNEWS

BY CARLOS HERNANDEZ

Writing it up in D.C.

Walking past Lalibela Restaurant on 14th street in northwest, D.C., you’ll see the words “BORF” tagged in red spray sprawled over the side of a vent on the top of the building. BORF is an infamous tag that is a memorial to Borf’s friend Bobby Fisher who committed suicide because of his inability to socialize with the world.

Graffiti artist at work.

At 11th and Irving, you’ll probably stumble upon a mural by another local graffiti artist, AMAK. He like many other “Writers” use graffiti as his vehicle to de-stress and express himself. “Basically the reason why people do graffiti first off, is that they feel like an outcast, so to not be one they start to do graffiti to get known,” said AMAK.

Known for his character, “mental,” which represents him in his vulnerable stage during his childhood, AMAK is also one of the few artists who are no longer confined to the underground. “I work for Words, Beats, and Life, and they’re a nonprofit organization that do murals in D.C.,” he said. Graffiti has found a new opportunity through nonprofit organizations such as this one, who gives permission to artists to tag certain places, with the intentions of giving meaning to an otherwise dull wall.

Of course, there are writers out there who still enjoy the adrenaline rush of jumping a fence or two or scaling ledges, deep in the night just to reach a big open spot to showcase their art. OHVE is one of those who follow that tradition. Most notably on his last adventure he broke into an apartment complex, forced his way onto the roof and tagged the big white building to the right.

For OHVE it’s all about the world being able to see his work. He can’t get enough of the fame. Although OHVE still makes it known that there are certain rules you just don’t break in the world of writing. “You can’t spray on worship grounds, or schools. It’s just not right, I respect a lot of the old school taggers, they showed us the way,”he said Meanwhile, both AMAK and OHVE share a common disgust for writers who feel they can pick-up a can and go out and work immediately. Many seasoned writers believe that they haven’t done their homework or established their skills, and are out to make graffiti look bad in the nation’s capital.

“Graffiti has come a long way from when it was on trains, but it‘s always going to be looked at as vandalism in people‘s eyes because of the tools we use, if we were using a paintbrush, it wouldn‘t be called vandalism. If I did a piece with a brush, people would look at me like I‘m an artist, but since I use a spray can I‘m a graffiti writer, and that’s wack,” said OH, a famous Old school New York writer, in the book Burning New York by James T. and Karla L. Murray.

For more information on the organization, please visit www.wblinc.org

 

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