Transit Art vs. Ads Ad Nauseum

Photo: Sara Fusco

Photo: Richard Sandler

I remember stopping dead in my tracks back in the early eighties in NYC upon first coming face to face with what talented graffiti artists could actually do when they went all out on a subway train- and that was in no small part because most graffiti just flat out sucked and had a pretty negative effect on one's everyday psyche. The great majority of it was to the painterly arts what the vast majority of Flickr is to its photographic counterpart. People bitched till they went numb- it helped defeat one mayor, and elect another.

Photo: Todd Hull

But I've yet to hear of any public furor anywhere decrying the commercial abominations now festooned over much of our public transportation systems the world over all in the name of the almighty, corporate dollar. Not satisfied with the billboards, posters and regularly placed cardboard inserts of yore- they now plaster over the little view we pay for, blotting out the occasional glimpses of sunlight with their massive, coma inducing logos and food by products galore.

I'll take graffiti any day...