Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Dumpster Graffiti...

Over ten years ago, I was asked by the owner of a dumpster service to paint graffiti art on the dumpsters to give them personality, and make them stand out. Over the following years, the man who owned the business would become one of my closest friends. He had me paint over 25 dumpsters inside 3 years, and our dumpsters changed the look of the streets of this city by adding color and creativity wherever they were parked. I was almost never told what to paint, so most of the murals were straight from my head. Many of them are strange, to the point where I wonder if I made some of so weird just to make the average person scratch their head when they saw them.
I always covered every inch of those steel boxes with paint, often having a theme on both sides, while painting a graf piece on the ends. Now looking back, the days when I would ride my bike to the yard and paint in the hot sun are some of the best times I've had. My friend is now gone, along with his business, his dumpsters, and all of my artwork. People in this city still remember those colorful boxes that would be scattered though out the neighborhoods, and I try hard to remember all the good times spent with my friend














2 comments:

  1. Beautiful work Atomic. Reminds me of Friedrich Hundertwasser's idea of reclaiming the ugliness of industrial technology and architecture through street art.
    Amazing how one person, given a little freedom and artistic license can subvert the banal landscapes we see every day.

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  2. These are completely fantastic! What a shame they are gone.

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