Graffiti Artists at Work

I was down by Deák Ferenc tér after stopping at Red Bus Bookstore. The square by the old bus terminal which is now a design center has these semi-permanent little wooden huts selling cheeses, palinka, ice cream and other things I have not been able to identify. 

At various spots, there are guys, three that I noticed, who have a plastic wrap spread between two trees or poles as the case may be. They are creating graffiti on the plastic. It is quite fascinating to see what can be created with cans of spray paint. A little breeze and you could lose control of your painting.

Here are two I caught in action. The third one seemed to be lagging behind. He had barely stated.

 

It was so hot, the city has water stations set up. There were a number of water dispensers so people could help themselves.  Funny, but what was Coffee Heaven up until just weeks ago, is now another Starbucks. Their prices are comparable; it isn't a cost factor, but Starbucks is being a monopoly.

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Art is in the Eyes of the Beholder

Somehow and for some reason, I happened to mention in one of my classes last week the foreigners' first lasting impression of Budapest that I hear repeatedly. 

"I have never seen so much graffiti anywhere as there is here." 

One student volunteered the fact that they allowed graffiti artists to decorate one of the metro stops, Moszkva tér. I had to investigate this outdoor gallery of post-modernism expression. Expecting murals to some titillation to a square that looks like post-modern devastation, disappointment was sure to be engraved in my expectations. 

There are only trinkets to brighten ones’ outlook if one has the imagination of a circus contortionist. Amongst the objects described as décor are six painted rock like structures that are meant to function as seats. Yet they are so low to the ground, the average robust person will need a crane to help them return to a full-length vertical status. 

In the distance, now visible are decorated boxes that look like they fell from a carnival trailer as it was passing through town. If they existed prior to painting, they were invisible in their surroundings. That is how they should have remained.

Ron’s friend Martha sent him a blog post from an Iowa writer who is here visiting for two months. One of her posts just happened to be about graffiti, so I mention it to my students via e-mail. As I was typing I went blank on how to spell Moszkva tér, it is so entirely different from English you can see (wink, wink). Being rooted to my chair and knowing if I try to stand, my legs will protest for the next two hours. I just looked it up on the web.

I went to BKV.hu, the official site for Budapest public transportation. The site immediately translates to English. Thank you Google! When I reached metro line schedules, I was thankful I didn't have a mouthful of tea, water, wine, or a healthy mouthful of saliva. They list the last red metro station translated into English as “South Station - Leader of Criminality Square”. Wow, talk about truth in advertising, perfect. Moszkva tér is shown as Moscow Space. The next time I am around there, I will have to take better notice to see if Moscow space feels any different from Hungarian space. Could there be any relationship to SPUTNIK? 

One of the students did a follow up with these links to 

Budapest graffiti art. Again, some may use the term art more loosely than others.

Art Gallery - Click here and then on the arrow on the page to move forward.

Wall Art - Click here.

Related articles

• Graffiti lover remembered (cbc.ca)
• City can't clean up notorious graffiti hub (seattlepi.com)
• Graffiti of New York's Past, Revived and Remade (nytimes.com)

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