June 4, 2019 A word about graffitti

It's everywhere! France seems to have the ability to ignore graffiti. And perhaps it makes sense since once whitewashed away, the graffiti artists just cover it again. But there seems to be a code about where graffiti is placed. Natural places like rock faces are left alone, as are private businesses, signs, and historic buildings. Walls, overpasses, backs of signs, and blank walls (such as those facing highways) of public buildings are fair game. Most signs are simply initials tagged on a wall. A few are protests. (I saw "Boycotte systeme" on an overpass yesterday.) Most are artfully done and occasionally, you'll see full-on works of art painted on a bus stop or wall. In the run-down parts of town, graffiti will be everywhere - on doors, walls, and other surfaces of abandoned buildings in particular, but also on houses. These are the only places where I have a feeling of sadness and wish the graffiti could be erased. Otherwise, these "decorated" spaces seem to me like kids joy-riding - a bit stupid perhaps, but harmless. I imagine the challenge of accessing these places late at night and spray painting illicitly in precarious situations. I don't really know how the French feel about their graffiti - you find it in the best of neighborhoods and the worst. But given the national passion about public art, perhaps it's just that a wall uncovered is an artwork asking to be created. I'm sorry now that I didn't collect more samples - as some of the graffiti could easily be in a gallery. But the images collected on the highway between Sarrians and Bourges will have to suffice as examples. Personally, my brain doesn't see most of the graffiti as we pass. Occasionally, an "installation" is noteworthy, but for the most part, graffiti seems to be just a part of the landscape.

A noteworthy building decoration from Monteux, near Sarrians

 I am behind in describing our days and will try to get some of the missing days finished as we travel. We did have adventures to blog about, but our days were full of friends and adventuring, so blogging needed to be on the back burner. A la prochain!