Man removes graffiti only to find image of himself on the same wall hours later

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
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This is hilarious:​

Sent to clear up some unwanted graffiti, this man couldn't have imagined he would be the inspiration for the next work on the very same wall. ​

But this is the moment an artist decided to turn an image of the man sent to remove his artwork into art.​

Stencil artist - who is known only as ‘DS’ - created his first piece ‘Bad Kitty’ on a wall in London as an amusing comment on the ‘squeaky clean image’ of the Hello Kitty character.​

DS, who is 28, and from London, created his artwork in May but eight hours later he was surprised to see someone already in the process of removing it.​

Deciding to document the act of erasing his work, DS took photos of the moment and then used one to show the man that removed it.​

Amazingly the artwork featuring the mystery man has not been removed and is still on the wall in Essex Road, Islington, in north London, today.

DS said: 'I did the first piece ‘Bad Kitty’ late last year with the second May this year.​

'The first piece isn’t my style but I have a bit of a dislike of Hello Kitty's squeaky clean image so I wanted to use her and Miffy.​

​
Centre of attention: A stenciled representation of the man, pictured removing the Hello Kitty work, left, is now featured on the same wall, right, which he was sent to clean up


Exhibition: The new work is becoming a local fixture having been left on the wall of the shop on Essex Road, Islington, north London​

'My reaction to it being removed was a little different than normally. ​

Knowing a piece as been removed or painted over doesn’t bother me, it’s the name of the game in graffiti but this time was a little different as it only lasted eight hours.​


In action: Stencil artist - who is known only as DS - decided to make the removal of his first piece of graffiti the basis for his second work​

'So you can imagine my frustration when coming back I found the council (or private company I’m not sure) starting the process of erasing it from the wall - which I documented.​

'Looking through the images I took I saw a great one of the removals man so I wanted to put him up in the same space.​

'Having known they were mighty quick to respond to graffiti there I was up early the next day in hope to get a photo of him, removing a stencil of him, removing a stencil.​

'I thought it would rip a hole in the space-time continuum or something. He came when I was across the road having breakfast, after a while and having his photo taken next to it lots of times he left it.'​

Islington Council said it was not aware of the graffiti and that it was not one of their employees who had removed the work from the wall.​

A spokesman said: 'There are three reasons we would clean off graffiti: If it is offensive, if it is on council property, or if it is on private property and the owner wants it removed.'​


 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
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bliss
"DS said: 'I did the first piece ‘Bad Kitty’ late last year with the second May this year."

That's a lot of hours later. Good job on the details media. lol.