merely talk

As I walk to and from school and work I have occasion to see a lot of graffiti. I have to say that Edmonton artists can be quite creative. I mean sure there is a lot of stupid and useless stuff out there, but there also seem to be many artists who understand that if their going to be defacing public (or private) property with a message, the message should be a decent one.

Two particularly fun ones have recently caught my attention. The first is near a school who's field I cut across on my way to work. It's a picture of three smokestacks with the words "Go Oil Go!" written above. Well done my lefty friend. Making fun of the oil industry and the hockey fanatics all in one.

The other one I've particularly enjoyed is on the side of a grey mailbox-y thing. The one the mailperson gets their letters out of, instead of the kind you put mail into. I think it's on 111th street, possibly 112th. I don't really pay attention. Anyway it's ribbon like letters stenciled on and in neon orange spray paint. And it says: "Needs more colour". The first time I saw it, it made me smile. And for the next few blocks I tried to figure out why I enjoyed it so much. As messages go it isn't that interesting. It's cute sure, but was the grey mailbox really improved? Was this a message that could justify the crime? And really no. But then I realized I was just really happy with it because the artist spelt colour with a u.