Leah Lievrouw

Laser surgery

August 22nd, 2007

In the spirit of trickle-not-surge…some August-type thoughts on a cultural favorite of late, graffitti artist in Amsterdam, nom de spraycan Laser 3.14.

Story for me goes back about four years, to Sept 2003…was in A’dam for an academic conference, traipsing around the P.C. Hoofstraat area one afternoon, didn’t know much about the burg yet, maybe my first time in town and was just taking it in, tourist-mode…a district often described in English-language guidebooks as the “Rodeo Drive” of Amsterdam (for those who don’t understand the innate tackiness involved, well…)

anyway turned a corner into a side street between P.C. Hooft and the van Gogh Museum, across from a tidy preschool playground full of lively, cranking kids. Garage door, neon paint, downstairs from a lovely townhouse, saw the tag: “they want you dead or in their lie” — and shot a picture.

I’ve been back to Amsterdam plenty since then, and have been so intrigued by these little thoughts (almost always appearing on temporary construction materials or sites) — it’s almost like the tags are saying ‘welcome back!’ I’ve collected a bunch more pictures in four years, but never actually found any background on the tagger or the work until I was just back from another trip earlier this summer, and found his very snazzy website, http://www.laser314.com, with plenty of details and scores of great pictures of the work by the artist and enthusiasts — great stuff.

L

Entry Filed under: CulturlStudys, Places to Do