Laneways 9

This is a little lane way in the heart of Hobart.The lane way alongside the church leads to a block of flats, built using similar bricks to the church. That makes the area look neat and orderly.

Perhaps that's why the graffiti first stood out to me. Although not on the brick work it is striking in its juxtaposition to the bricks. It's not just the colors and the untidyness that struck me. It was also something about respect. About tagging a church building. About not showing respect to the parishioners who belong to the church and may well be horrified by this form of vandalism.

There's always something interesting about graffiti.The idea of marking the spot, leaving a tag for others to see. Letting them know you've been there. Making your presence felt. Then the audience's reaction when they see the graffiti. Shock, annoyance, seeking of revenge, efforts to remove it, worry about it coming back again. This might be compounded for the parishioners of this church as they could see it as an attack on their belief system.

I wonder if the graffiti artists viewed it that way. Did they target the church explicitly or was it just another wall? Would they be thinking about the impact and frustration and worry their actions cause? Or just having some fun?

Perhaps the graffiti will trigger a clean up, a tidying up of the lane way, a fixing up of some the brick work. Perhaps the parishioners will choose to leave the graffiti there, fearing that it will just return if they clean it up. Perhaps they will wonder who did it and want to meet them. Maybe they will be forgiving and seek to understand the messages underlying the tags.

#__Graffiti
#__Lane_way
#_Messages
#__Forgiving

%darlingshe