Urban Hierogliph

?

2012-01-11T02:53:00.000-08:00

Tasso

2011-11-19T01:11:00.000-08:00

I wish I could say I saw this in person. Alas, only via internet.

This street artist (you can see his/her signiture on the taught tendons; "Tasso") is based in Germany. I guess it's a good reason to go back to visit again.

Naked Men

2011-10-23T15:52:00.001-07:00

I found this new addition in Berkeley yesterday...

It reminds me of old Samurai illustrations;

Spread Anarchy!

2011-10-17T00:17:00.000-07:00

Found this on the internet...

I don't remember being let loose with a can of blue spray paint...

a wall in Prague

2011-05-03T17:59:00.000-07:00

Where to even start with this wall? Che Guevera? Yuri Gagarin? Russian go home? This is from a wall in Prague, a city that was ruled by a horribly oppressive communist regime for decades and for the most part the locals consider to have been devistating to Czech culture... I'm afraid I can't even comment... this wall is so perfect it seems fake.

Amerikanish

2011-04-20T00:56:00.000-07:00

Found in Berlin;

The Wall, after the fall, and after the resurection...

2011-04-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

The Berlin wall came down. It was torn down with fervor... later on people thought that it might serve some historical interest to have a small part of it up. It is still in the process of becoming a historical site with museum and all. We chose not to take the cheesy tourist shots of us "escaping" through the wall or posing with the bright blue Berlin Bear that could be seen through the holes in the wall... yes I left that to Other American tourists...

Faithless

2011-01-23T22:55:00.000-08:00

Safe?

2011-01-21T00:58:00.000-08:00

It appears that the ebay auction I posted about last week has been removed... perhaps a piece of paper with a name on it isn't something ebay thinks should be sold for a million dollars.

The internet (a source of all accuracies) tells us that the seller was paid off.

Hoo-ray.

Shady.

2011-01-15T11:14:00.000-08:00

Apparently someone thinks they need to reveal the identity of one of the best street artists out there. An ebay auction claims to have proof of knowing the identity of "Banksy". If the artist wishes to remain anonymous and just continue to make art Why put that at jeopardy?
The bold political statements told through cleverly thought out work is this artist's passion and gift to the thinking class. Spray painting amazing statements on the sides of buildings is still illegal and this auction threatens to put an end to works like these.

I'm sure there are a few public officials who would love to win this auction if the name they get is the right one. Urban Heirogliph does not condone outing artists against their will.

"If you win this auction I will mail you a piece of paper revealing the true identity of "Banksy".

I have uncovered his identity by matching up the prices of his sold pieces to corresponding tax records. I will reveal no more details.

The winner of this auction is the only person I will ever share this information with. The piece of paper will say his name, nothing more.

I give you 100% assurance that it is most certainly the full name of the street artist known as "Banksy".

Ebay previously ended this auction because I was selling something that was not "tangible".
It is now tangible."

I personally hope Banksy has a name like "John Smith" so that if this auction is true, it won't do the winner any good whatsoever. Screw you Ebay dude.

Venice Eyes.

2011-01-04T02:53:00.000-08:00

Venice California is full of oddities... some are painted on walls

Oh the adorable macabre.

Street Koi

2010-11-23T23:42:00.000-08:00

A school of Koi decided to take over a block on Post street in San Francisco...

Eggbeater Dad?

2010-06-20T13:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day... or something.
My Dad likes to cook so I instantly thought this is an eggbeater Dad although it could just be an Eggbeater Man...

Rainbow Buffalo

2010-05-24T14:50:00.001-07:00

This appeared on what used to be a Ritz Photo shop. It is somewhat reminiscent of Banksy (who I should write more about and will soon). Although the image is layered and politically interesting, I think that Banksy manages to capture essence of intent with less ambiguity. Banksy is a British street artist who I equate to the Beatles; all of their work is so simple and so perfect it leaves the world stunned that it's never been done before. This artist is taking on a lot in one graphic (the American Bison, the crippled military? the tie dye...) are they saying that the American military is defunct, or that the hippies are? It's intreguing... and at the very lowest explination "cool", but I'm not really sure of what's going on.

Gift Giver

2010-03-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

What does it mean?

Hygenic Dog Food

2010-03-16T00:02:00.000-07:00

I love this old relic of the past. The building stands all alone... and the name is so antiquated. Now we're overrun with slick advertising and clever business names that I don't think hygenicdogfood.com would ever work these days...

... but then perhaps that's why this building stands unoccupied today.

Signs of the Past

2010-03-14T23:59:00.000-07:00

Once was a building with windows... before 1927... bricked over thereafter...

Once was a billboard of sorts, for a family business, for a plumber...

commerce before the great fall of '29,

before the fall of '08

and all the little stumbles between...

These bricks have seen marching in the streets...

possibly arrests, stolen kisses, drunk students...

Paint fades ever so slowly, overlapping itself,

waiting for the new

as the past bleaches in the sun.

William Blake

2010-02-21T00:54:00.000-08:00

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

A robin redbreast in a cage
Puts all heaven in a rage.

A dove-house fill'd with doves and pigeons
Shudders hell thro' all its regions.
A dog starv'd at his master's gate
Predicts the ruin of the state.

A horse misused upon the road
Calls to heaven for human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted hare
A fibre from the brain does tear.

A skylark wounded in the wing,
A cherubim does cease to sing.
The game-cock clipt and arm'd for fight
Does the rising sun affright.

Every wolf's and lion's howl
Raises from hell a human soul.

The wild deer, wand'ring here and there,
Keeps the human soul from care.
The lamb misus'd breeds public strife,
And yet forgives the butcher's knife.

The bat that flits at close of eve
Has left the brain that won't believe.
The owl that calls upon the night
Speaks the unbeliever's fright.

He who shall hurt the little wren
Shall never be belov'd by men.
He who the ox to wrath has mov'd
Shall never be by woman lov'd.

The wanton boy that kills the fly
Shall feel the spider's enmity.
He who torments the chafer's sprite
Weaves a bower in endless night.

The caterpillar on the leaf
Repeats to thee thy mother's grief.
Kill not the moth nor butterfly,
For the last judgement draweth nigh.

He who shall train the horse to war
Shall never pass the polar bar.
The beggar's dog and widow's cat,
Feed them and thou wilt grow fat.

The gnat that sings his summer's song
Poison gets from slander's tongue.
The poison of the snake and newt
Is the sweat of envy's foot.

The poison of the honey bee
Is the artist's jealousy.

The prince's robes and beggar's rags
Are toadstools on the miser's bags.
A truth that's told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.

It is right it should be so;
Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.

Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine.
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.

The babe is more than swaddling bands;
Every farmer understands.
Every tear from every eye
Becomes a babe in eternity;

This is caught by females bright,
And return'd to its own delight.
The bleat, the bark, bellow, and roar,
Are waves that beat on heaven's shore.

The babe that weeps the rod beneath
Writes revenge in realms of death.
The beggar's rags, fluttering in air,
Does to rags the heavens tear.

The soldier, arm'd with sword and gun,
Palsied strikes the summer's sun.
The poor man's farthing is worth more
Than all the gold on Afric's shore.

One mite wrung from the lab'rer's hands
Shall buy and sell the miser's lands;
Or, if protected from on high,
Does that whole nation sell and buy.

He who mocks the infant's faith
Shall be mock'd in age and death.
He who shall teach the child to doubt
The rotting grave shall ne'er get out.

He who respects the infant's faith
Triumphs over hell and death.
The child's toys and the old man's reasons
Are the fruits of the two seasons.

The questioner, who sits so sly,
Shall never know how to reply.
He who replies to words of doubt
Doth put the light of knowledge out.

The strongest poison ever known
Came from Caesar's laurel crown.
Nought can deform the human race
Like to the armour's iron brace.

When gold and gems adorn the plow,
To peaceful arts shall envy bow.
A riddle, or the cricket's cry,
Is to doubt a fit reply.

The emmet's inch and eagle's mile
Make lame philosophy to smile.
He who doubts from what he sees
Will ne'er believe, do what you please.

If the sun and moon should doubt,
They'd immediately go out.
To be in a passion you good may do,
But no good if a passion is in you.

The whore and gambler, by the state
Licensed, build that nation's fate.
The harlot's cry from street to street
Shall weave old England's winding-sheet.

The winner's shout, the loser's curse,
Dance before dead England's hearse.

Every night and every morn
Some to misery are born,
Every morn and every night
Some are born to sweet delight.

Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.

We are led to believe a lie
When we see not thro' the eye,
Which was born in a night to perish in a night,
When the soul slept in beams of light.

God appears, and God is light,
To those poor souls who dwell in night;
But does a human form display
To those who dwell in realms of day.

Black Submarine

2010-02-20T00:52:00.000-08:00

What happened to John Cross?

2010-02-19T00:48:00.000-08:00

And let it be hereforth known;

2010-01-14T19:50:00.000-08:00

Kilroy was here...

2010-01-12T19:54:00.000-08:00

What graffiti wall from the 70's would be complete without this guy?

Funny...

2010-01-11T19:47:00.000-08:00

Be(e) here now...

2010-01-10T19:45:00.000-08:00

Oddly this meditation helps me whenever I notice it.

skull bones

2010-01-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

new posts coming this week... mostly just Kaufman's scrawl... emjoy!

more modern writing...

2009-11-23T12:56:00.000-08:00

Dude... you sign your name and the year... someone's gonna be mad... at least it sticks with the theme.

the Fly on the wall

2009-11-22T12:51:00.000-08:00

lyrics from U2's "The Fly"

Melbourne is a haven for street art...

2009-11-21T22:13:00.000-08:00

...cool. no?

abducted web image...

2009-11-15T12:09:00.000-08:00

I'm stealing this because it's so cool;

I think it's a painting... but I'm not sure

Image credited to Joe Baran

Dolls are scary...

2009-11-05T12:20:00.000-08:00

Funny thing is I never noticed this one until Halloween day this year...

Where should you be?

2009-11-04T23:18:00.000-08:00

Where some of us should be... others say we shouldn't

Questions of the Day

2009-10-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

What is our mayoral hopeful trying to proove?

(photo credit; Troy Holden via SFist.com)

Since when is grafitti good publicity?

Is spray paint the new baby-kissing?

Does Gavin here think this gives him "street cred"?

--Ugh! Vote Jerry Brown instead.

Politics like the Kennedy's

2009-10-22T22:57:00.000-07:00

"No one should be allowed to talk politics except on all fours. Hey now baby, get into my black car, I wanna just show you what my politics are..."

Have I posted this before...?

2009-10-21T01:38:00.000-07:00

Executive Privelages

2009-10-19T12:23:00.000-07:00

This mark is currently covered by a strategically placed cork board since it's in a slightly more public venue, and not "historic" as some... I like it anyway.

Do What thou Wilt...

2009-10-17T01:47:00.000-07:00

Learning to count...

2009-10-07T01:43:00.000-07:00

San Francisco helps education with civic art... tee hee

Insanity...

2009-09-11T23:44:00.000-07:00

To boldly go...

2009-09-10T23:42:00.000-07:00

I love this tiny Enterprise. It's only an inch tall. The vast space that concrete provides is oddly perfect.

Christianity on the Kauffman's Wall

2009-09-08T23:31:00.000-07:00

"Let he who is without aim, throw the first stone"

This is a cute take on the Christian "fish" but I must put up a link here because I think that the origin of the ICTHUS is really cool if you don't know it...

Arte Guerilla por el districto Mission

2009-09-02T00:39:00.000-07:00

Civic poetry

2009-08-01T09:25:00.000-07:00

On Addison Street in Berkeley the sidewalk is covered with poems... usually too long to stand there and read, but sometimes I get the chance and find a few that are quite lovely...

I'm seeing spots...

2009-07-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

Street art in the Mission District;

Paper and Brick

2009-07-19T02:03:00.000-07:00

Street art in San Francisco's Mission district;

Wealth Inflation

2009-06-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

a joke...

2009-06-17T12:46:00.000-07:00

Jack & Life

2009-06-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

This is stoner logic at it's peak... something that sounds profound until you think about it...
so Jack and the beanstalk...
Life is the thing that comes from the folley created from you screwing up and selling the cow for crap?

Or is life that thing that you climb in order to steal from people who have more than you?

Or is life that thing we cut down so that we can get away with stealing all that crap and kill those who try to reclaim it.

yea... life Is like a beanstalk afterall...

The 5th Beatle

2009-06-14T23:33:00.000-07:00

The real "5th Beatle" was Stuart Sutcliff... I assume this is a loving homage to a lost friend.

Teeth Graffiti

2009-06-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

These toothy faces are all over my town... I'm not sure who is responsable, it's reminiscent of Shepherd Fairey... but I'm not sure. More research is required... they are fascinating though.

Spiritual Experience

2009-06-13T12:39:00.000-07:00

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are Spiritual beings having a human expirence."

Marx on the Wall...

2009-06-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

... and from the greatest hits of Karl Marx;

a faded "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need."

... yea and everyone knows the first two sentences of Hamlet's 'to be or not to be' monologue, doesn't mean you know anything else about it... we are non-plussed but still feel the need to document the wall as best we can.

Peunguin on the Tele

2009-06-12T12:25:00.000-07:00

Wha?...

Sidewalk Chalk

2009-05-30T21:15:00.001-07:00

--found on a Berkeley sidewalk.

Tattoos

2009-05-17T13:20:00.001-07:00

Walking down the street in San Francisco the other day I noticed a sad hobbling man. His ankles were swollen, his feet were too deformed to have real shoes so he wore rubber swim booties instead. As he ever so slowly crossed the street I took note of his tattoos and thought about how they were probably markers of a better time. His shabby clothes and mussed appearance made him look truly down on his luck. Just as I let out a small sigh of pity I noticed a flash of blue and red on his calf... it's Shephard Fairey! Rather, it's Shepherd Fairey's famous Obama poster, on this guy's calf.

So this fellow within this past year paid a couple hundred dollars for a three color tattoo.

Money that could have been spent on medicine, healthy food or orthopedic shoes was spent on a tattoo.

I'm still not sure what to think about it. Appearances are deceptive, perhaps my impressions of how badly this fellow is doing were wrong. Perhaps his priorities are as twisted as I imagine. Perhaps he has a tattoo artist friend who did it for free... all possibilities make my head spin a bit.

Grateful Dead?

2009-05-14T15:36:00.000-07:00

Truckin' on the Kaufman wall...

2009-05-12T15:31:00.000-07:00

this one is right next to my door, and I'd never seen it before today... humm.

Life is...

2009-05-07T23:21:00.000-07:00

...a little optimism for you today.

The moon in the Pond

2009-04-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

I asked my facebook friends for clues about what this might mean... I got the answers of Narsisis, Aesop's Fables, a tale called "The duck and the Moon" and a tale by Chinese poet Li Bai... what do you think?

Question the Moody Blues

2009-04-21T10:14:00.000-07:00

Berkeley drug culture on the Wall

2009-04-20T16:37:00.000-07:00

yea... er happy 420 to all of you who care.

Rock n' Roll isn't Dead...

2009-04-19T01:16:00.000-07:00

...It just smells Funny.

I have no idea what the Censored box is alluding to. I looked up California code 473 and it said this;

473. Corporations may consolidate. Publication of
notice. Copy to be filed. Any railroad corporation incor-
porated under the laws of this state may consolidate with
one or more railroad corporations incorporated under th

laws of this state, or under the laws of any other state
or territory of the United States, its capital stock, prop-
erties, roads, equipments. adjuncts, franchises, claims
demands, contracts, agreements, obligations, debts, lia:
bilities and assets of every kind and description, upon...

Perhaps it was something different in 1971?

Way before Obama...

2009-04-17T01:14:00.000-07:00

A man without...

2009-04-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

Building on Building

2009-04-13T00:11:00.000-07:00

In the Castro district is a fantasy world that has surfaced on the side of this old San Francisco Building...

It is a city of chaos, inhabited by buildings of all sizes and animations... of elephants,

and birds...

... someday it may break free of this wall and reach out into the sky...

Free O-boy

2009-04-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

I have no idea what to make of this cartoon... but it fascinates me.

Monster! Strikes agian...

2009-04-11T17:49:00.000-07:00

R.D. Laing

2009-04-11T01:05:00.000-07:00

Words of Scottish "anti-psychiatrist" R.D Laing appear along with so many song lyrics, at first I thought he might be a musician... it's amazing with how much the Scots seem to chop up language that they're so good with words.

Gordon Liddy

2009-04-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

Sometimes these quotes on the Kaufman's wall are amazing little snaps reminding you what was going on...
That Watergate thing... Gordon Liddy; he's that jerk on the radio right? Oh yea, he was a jerk in the Whitehouse first...

Still despite how the country was going to hell in a handbasket, gotta focus on the positive (like a "good rumpin'" ). Seems like something we can still relate to.

Monster!

2009-04-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

This image brought to you by SFist.

oo- waa oo-waa

2009-03-28T15:01:00.000-07:00

I can't find these words via Google...
They look like lyrics, but I don't recognize them...
anybody know?

Swallowed...

2009-03-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

Fail

2009-03-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

This isn't exactly what you want to see when you look up...

The Grafitti Goddess

2009-03-16T01:39:00.000-07:00

This four armed lady overlooks a small street in San Francisco's Mission district.

Beatles at Kauffman's

2009-03-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

Shepard Fairey and Punk Rock...

2009-03-08T00:51:00.000-08:00

You've probably seen his work...

Shephard Fairey is currently one of the most successful street artists of this age. Most recently his portrait of now President Obama was acquired by the national Portrait Gallery. His "Obey" stickers and stencils are widely distributed across the country...
Here's an interview for some Sunday viewing enjoyment.

Famous Last words

2009-03-05T12:51:00.000-08:00

Kaufman's 2 cents...

And just for fun, John Green's 2 Cents;

Homage to the company store

2009-03-03T12:36:00.000-08:00

I get the feeling that the Fabricland workers were less than enthralled with thier jobs... many of the marks left indicate;
futility

a general sense of "poopiness" (see the foreground of the company logo)

and ironic devotion...

Zim?

2009-03-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

Out on this pier...

I found this...

... which I believe is an homage to this;

-at least it's not Disney or Spongebob...

Welcome to the Berkeley Warehouse...

2009-02-28T10:22:00.000-08:00

"Don't leave me standing here, I can't get used to this lifestyle"

2009-02-24T18:22:00.000-08:00

This is the last line to one of my favorite Talking Heads songs. It's an exploration of a return to nature and the whole deal being rather disappointing. Sometimes I wonder if the quotes on the wall are merely lines taken out of context or taken from context with the rest of the song in mind. Is this a Kaufman's employee longing for the fabric factory to be dessimated? Is it merely that they were tired of the working day to day? Were the also perhaps grappling with the balance of urban comforts and nature? The happy nature of this song along with its discontentment in Eden is clearly an entrancing piece of work..

Nothing But Flowers, by The Talking Heads

While looking for the song on YouTube, I came across a mockumentary inspired by this song as well.
If you have 10 more minutes to kill online, this is well worth it;

Quid Pro Quo

2009-02-19T01:00:00.000-08:00

The Real Pigs?

2009-02-17T01:00:00.000-08:00

"The Real Pigs Always get Away"

...What does it mean?

Fine Art at Kaufman's

2009-02-16T01:08:00.000-08:00

I wonder... how much down time did these fabricland employees have?

Mona Lisa...
this lady...
Vetruvian man...

God, is that you?
and Jeff...

Dreams of tiny camels...

2009-02-15T01:21:00.000-08:00

ah a biblical allusion...

My Bronchial Tubes are Enticing

2009-02-14T01:06:00.000-08:00

In Naples...

2009-02-13T01:01:00.000-08:00

Grafitti in Australia

2009-02-11T00:56:00.000-08:00

the Angry Aussie also has a fascination with Urban Art...

Bowie on the wall

2009-02-09T21:54:00.000-08:00

The Kaufman's wall has many snippets of song lyrics. It's fascinating to see what bits of songs that have grasped at people who wish to re-count them in out of context places. These are the songs that keep you going, that echo in your brain, this is when you know Bowie truly knows my pain...

Queen Bitch By David Bowie;

The Kaufman's Wall

2009-02-08T22:29:00.000-08:00

In downtown Berkeley, a small theater company set up its abode in what used to be Sheaf Bakery and Kaufman's Fabric warehouse. The workers left a long hallway of scrawl that the theater decided to keep. I've fallen in love with the wall and hope to document it all...

There Must Be Another Way

2009-02-07T02:47:00.000-08:00

New Blog coming...
Stay Tuned