and there it was, gone

One of street art's attractions is its epheremality.  It pops up in the night, blossoms for a short time and then gets painted over, maybe by a council worker with a tub of whitewash, maybe by another graffiti artist.  Catching it while it's there is part of the attraction, knowing you're seeing something that not everyone is going to get to see.  Just seeing them makes us part of the process, like hearing a tree falling in the forest.  If we didn't see it perhaps it wouldn't have happened.  Photographing it, blogging it takes it a stage further: puts it out in the world for all to see.  Part of the process.

Here are three amazing pieces, from a subway in Southampton UK, photos taken a couple of weeks ago.

Lark 37, Southampton

Samer, Southampton

 Samer, Southampton

That last one, including the tags that partly cover it, might just be my favourite piece of street art.  Look at it today:

An entirely pointless piece of graffiti.  Vandalism.  And look at Lark's piece:

Why? Oh, why?

Samer's other piece is underneath this tag.  That's ok, that's the natural cut & thrust of things.  But those other two, pffffnrrrggggggggggg.  If you're gonna go over a piece, leave something better.

Here's a couple more by Samer in Portsmout.  Samer may be from Basingstoke, may have gone to university in Portsmouth and gets down to Southampton every now and again.

Samer, Portsmouth, 2013

Samer, Portsmouth, 2013

And finally, here's a long gone Lark 37 tag:

Lark 37, Southampton, 2014