Glued On
I’m not a fan of graffiti, and especially tagging, which seems to have degenerated into something wannabe edgy young adults inflict on cities but never do to the suburbs where they come from.
But I have a softer spot for stickers, which are small, easier to remove, and usually creative. They pop up on lightpoles and the backs of signs almost everywhere I walk. And they’re clearly meant to be seen only by pedestrians – they’re too small for someone driving by to read.
Here’s a selection.
They’ll often end up in big bunches placed next to each other, but possibly showing respect don’t usually cover other stickers.
A bunch of them are pretty clearly ads for musicians or other artists, although I’m often not aware who they are.
A lot of others seem to be just an expression of something that the sticker maker wanted to put out into the world.
And sometimes you’ll see a series of stickers that seem connected, but you really can’t tell what they’re about at all.
“Squid Facts”. New band name.
…I was perplexed by the covered letters in the one that looks like a tattoo
“all [i]n hi[m]”
“Bright
as [da]y
Dark
as n[ight]”
…was my best guess…no idea what part is missing between @nur & ember at the bottom though as I assume that’s a handle for twitter or instagram or something?
I think printing on a glossy waterproof surface of a sticker can be a glitchy process if you don’t take enough time to let the toner/ink get fixed right or if your printer heads aren’t exactly right.
I sometimes see big stacks of these left around as promos, and I’m guessing DIYers just want their brand image getting into people’s heads most of all, with any Twitter or Instagram tag lookup being a secondary goal.