Canadian Graffiti

Buenos Aires is a treasure trove of street art.  There are huge pieces on most walls, ranging from hasty tags to elaborate murals.  While not technically legal, a blind eye seems to get turned towards graffiti, or maybe it is so prevalent that no one can be bothered to paint over it.  There are a few walls that operate as a kind of political facebook.  Every night, someone whitewashes over the previous day's message and posts a new slogan in letters six feet tall that can run for an entire block.  There are street art tours that will bus you around to different pieces and let you know about the artists responsible for each one.

A few days ago, I went to a graffiti class with Steph and Johnny.  It turned out to be a stencilling class, and the instruction was face-palmingly obvious.  See, what you do is, you cut out the part that you want to make a picture, and you don't cut out the part that you don't want to get paint on.  Despite being the equivalent of a Grade 2 art class, we had a pretty good time.  The 'teachers' were an amiable set of brothers who provided an impromptu political history lesson as we painstakingly tried to colour between the lines.  Steph made a 3D airplane, Johnny made a tank with a speech bubble ("FART!"), and I made an Ace Frehley with chunks of his eyes missing.  I guess I failed Grade 2 art again.