Graffiti Tunnel
There is an overpass near my home that takes drivers from east O’ahu towards downtown Honolulu. Underneath that overpass is a short tunnel which leads to a small community of homes and to the back entrance of the University campus. Students comprise most of the flow in and out of the tunnel, either by car, bike, moped, skateboard, scooter, or on foot.
Not only is the tunnel a convenient shortcut, but it is also a favorite site for graffiti artists. The graffiti never lasts for more than a day or two, as there is someone in the neighborhood who paints over it. All along the tunnel there are patches of blue and beige paint where graffiti has been. But like the graffiti that it has replaced, the blue and beige patches don’t last very long without being painted over with more graffiti.
The graffiti is never what one might consider high quality graffiti. I don’t know if this is due to lack of talent, a lack of spray paint, or the knowing that the life expectancy of the graffiti is rather short. The blue and beige paint is applied in similar fashion, drab house paint slapped on with a roller with little thought given to aesthetics.
I never see the graffiti artists, nor do I ever see the person with the blue and beige paint. It is a mysterious dance of back and forth, a tug-o-war where the weapons are paint cans and a roller.